Determine the Future (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 10)

by Sarah Noffke

  Sophia fired it back. “I went to the Official Brownie Headquarters.”

  “And gave them my regards, of course, right?” Liv asked.

  “Of course,” Sophia replied.

  “Then what happened?” Liv hit the puck with expert grace.

  “Then I avoided getting mobbed by angry magical creatures on Roya Lane, hired an assassin to create something I’ll need for the case, and escaped the clutches of a magician who’s suffered greatly due to the Rogue Riders and thinks I’m to blame.” Sophia tried to erase the hurt from her voice as she spoke.

  Liv glanced up at Clark. “I rest my case.”

  Although Sophia could have taken that moment to score a point, she sent the puck to the corner and smiled at her sister. “I’m fine, guys. But hanging with you two is nice. It’s nice to cut loose, and things are pretty stressful right now.”

  “I can’t even imagine, Soph,” Clark stated. “The world has been confused about dragonriders since being reintroduced to you all. I look forward to you all getting your real spotlight, the way you deserve.”

  Sophia nodded, feeling suddenly heavy. “Me too. I think that with all this responsibility comes a lot of problems. Some don’t want us in power, and some want to take all the power. We have to find a balance.”

  Liv narrowly blocked Sophia’s next shot and gave her a cunning glare. “Remember that you’re a Beaufont, and we don’t play the game by other people’s rules.”

  “You don’t play the game by anyone else’s rules,” Clark argued.

  Liv sent a shot straight at Sophia’s goal. It nearly went in, but she caught it at the very last second.

  “After this, Clarkey, you’re going to win me one of those giant pink teddy bears playing the bean bag toss.” Liv winked at Sophia, impressed by the block.

  “What are you going to do with that?” Clark asked. “It will only sit in the closet.”

  “I thought it would sit perched over your headboard, but only once you go to bed at night,” Liv replied.

  Sophia laughed easily, so grateful to be out with her sister and brother. It was exactly what she needed after the battle with Tanner and Coal. After being attacked on Roya Lane. After everything. Sometimes, family were the only ones who made you feel normal again, even if it was because they were a bunch of nutters.

  “When will you tire of trying to spook me in my sleep?” Clark shook his head at Liv.

  “When I’m one hundred and twenty,” Liv replied. “That’s when I think I’ll hit maturity.”

  Clark glanced up at the ceiling. “Oh. I should’ve known you’d be a late bloomer.”

  “Still waiting for you to stop wetting the bed, my dear brother.” Liv hit the puck and smiled at Sophia.

  “Ha-ha, very funny.” Clark didn’t at all sound like he meant it. “When you two finish with this never-ending game—since neither of you ever scores a point because you both have super senses and hypersensitive reflexes, which make this very boring—then I’ll buy you both some nachos.”

  Sophia’s arm shot forward in a blur. She hit the puck and made it spiral through the air at lightning speed. It flew by Liv faster than she could register and fell cleanly into her goal. Sophia held up her hands in victory and smiled. “I’m ready. Let’s go. I want extra cheese.”

  Chapter Ninety-One

  “Do you want me to kill you?” Lee said in a flat voice when Sophia entered the Crying Cat Bakery.

  She’d received a message from the baker assassin that the imposter dessert was ready. The timing was perfect since she was anxious to get Happily Ever After College repaired and learn the information she needed about the Rogue Riders. Tempers were high, and everything was at a heightened threat level.

  Not wanting to make the same mistake as before, Sophia wore a disguise when she entered the portal onto Roya Lane, which she removed once she’d entered the Crying Cat Bakery and received confused glares from Lee and King Rudolf Sweetwater.

  The pair sat at a corner table with a bunch of documents between them, as well as a menacing bread knife as if Lee considered sawing the stack of papers in half—or Rudolf. It could probably go either way at this point based on the annoyed expression on Lee’s face.

  Both the baker assassin’s and Rudolf’s expressions changed when Sophia removed the disguise that made her look like an old man magician.

  “Oh good, it’s you,” Lee said with relief. “If you were a customer, I was going to throw the knife at you.”

  “And it’s ever a wonder that the bakery is always empty,” Sophia said dryly.

  “No, it’s not,” Lee replied. “I threaten anyone who comes in that door. They’re always like, ‘I need a pastry.’ ‘Fix me coffee.’ ‘Can you stop trying to strangle me?’ The answers are no, no, and no.”

  Rudolf tapped the table between them and offered an uncertain smile. “You do get that you’re in the business of making money, right?”

  “No, I opened this bakery because I like to make cake and eat it, and it was a good tax write-off.” Lee pointed to the back. “Cat is the one who wants me to make money, but that’s because she needs booze and cigarettes, so we have a compromise. I make enough to feed her addiction and mine. Anyone who comes through that door after we’ve hit our profit margin gets cut.”

  Rudolf let out a breath as though this conversation weighed on his patience. It was about time he felt her pain, Sophia mused silently. “Thing is, I’d like to make money with this new investment opportunity you’ve brought me, so we need to figure out how to curb your work ethic so that can happen.”

  “I’m prepared to do nothing different except offer my superior expertise to fix water supply issues on an irregular basis, which means when there isn’t a new show on Netflix that I want to watch,” Lee stated.

  Rudolf nodded. “I can work with that.” He tapped the paper in front of Lee. “I’ve outlined a full business plan that will only require you to provide solutions to water pollution problems on a consultant basis. I’ll hand-filter all requests and have applied for government grants that will help impoverished nations to pay us top dollar for our services. If you agree to the terms I’ve laid out, all you have to do is sign on the dotted line, and we’ll be in business.”

  Lee studied the document, then looked up at Sophia with utter disbelief. “Who is this person and what have you done with King Rudolf Sweetwater?”

  Sophia laughed and nodded. “I told you. It’s bizarre. He can’t tie his shoes and therefore has to wear slip-on loafers but could teach Harvard business classes.”

  “Not that I’d want to,” Rudolf said smugly.

  “You wouldn’t want to teach classes at Harvard?” Lee challenged.

  He shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t want to wear loafers with ties. What is this Harvard place? Some kind of indoor play center?”

  “Sort of,” Sophia joked. “Anyway, if you can take a break for a moment, I’m here to get the imposter dessert you made with the special ingredients.”

  Lee gestured at a large blue box sitting on the counter with a big bow. “It’s right there. You owe me tons of praise, a favor of my choosing any time I desire, day or night, and one ‘Get Out of Jail’ card from the House of Fourteen.”

  “First, you’re pretty swell, and that’s the extent of the praise you’re going to get.” Sophia peeked at the imposter dessert. It looked exactly like a cheeseburger oozing with sautéed onions and crisp green lettuce. On the side were fries cooked to perfection, and she even got the scent of the salty goodness. It reminded her of an In and Out Burger.

  “Okay, that’s enough gushing.” Lee gave her a scolding look. “If you keep that up, Cat will have your neck for hitting on me.”

  “Second, I don’t work for the House of Fourteen and can’t guarantee you immunity on magical laws that you break. But when you break mortal laws, I’ll look the other way when I can as long as you do your best to keep the details from me.”

  “Deal!” Lee said victoriously. “Whatever you do, never
look under the Eastside Bridge off Kensington.”

  “Why?” Rudolf picked up his cup of tea, his pinky high in the air in a dignified manner.

  “Because that’s where I keep the bodies, although there’s nothing to trace them to me,” Lee stated. “For that, one would have to discover the murder weapons, which have my fingerprints all over them, but I’m not telling anyone where those are.”

  “Good, then we have a deal.” Sophia closed the lid of the imposter dessert box and put the container under one arm as she headed for the door. She remembered to put her disguise back on before leaving. As she was about to head out, Sophia caught sight of a large cardboard box in the opposite corner. Printed across it in black letters were the words: Murder Weapons—Don’t Touch!

  Sophia groaned and pretended she hadn’t seen that. “Oh, and as for the favor, Lee. You can call on me at any time.”

  “Thanks!” Lee chirped. “I was going to ask you—”

  “Yeah, I got to go,” Sophia interrupted, then dashed through the door onto Roya Lane after a quick wave to the pair.

  Chapter Ninety-Two

  When Sophia entered the Rose Apothecary, she remembered to wipe her feet. However, she guessed that Bep didn’t notice since her face was pressed up against the far wall, seeming to try and peep through a hole she’d made in the plaster.

  “Ummm…what are you doing?” Sophia strode over to the counter and slid the box filled with the imposter dessert onto the surface.

  “I’m spying on the new neighbors,” Bep stated. “There’s constant traffic going into that shop and the cash register dings every few minutes. I know they’re up to something illegal.”

  Sophia looked up at the ceiling as though searching the heavens. “Angels above, if this is all a joke for your entertainment, then I thoroughly hope you’re laughing.”

  “The angels aren’t up there,” Bep said matter-of-factly. “That’s the attic, and I only keep old mannequins and hair dye up there.”

  “I feel like that admission warrants further questions,” Sophia said dryly. “However, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything, a habit that I’m getting really good at these days while on Roya Lane.”

  Bep shrugged and returned her attention to peeping through the hole into the Heals Pills shop next door.

  “You do remember I told you earlier that I’m part-owner of that shop, right?” Sophia asked.

  Bep continued to crane her eye more into the hole while trying to look around. “Honestly, Gidget, I can’t be expected to remember anything you tell me.”

  “My name is Sophia.”

  “You look like a Gidget,” Bep insisted.

  Sophia sighed. “Furthermore, the constant traffic you see and hear coming from Heals Pills are customers. The sound of the cash register is sales we’re making to said customers.”

  Bep pulled away with a red indention around her neck from spying. “That’s preposterous. No one sells directly to anyone. All my sales are online through Amazon and eBay.”

  Sophia shrugged. “Well, we have a different business model. Rudolf proposed that we’d only offer our products directly through the store, so we cut out the middle man. Once customers are in the store, we upsell them, telling them that the product is soon going to be on limited release, so they need to stock up before it’s backordered.”

  “That’s cleverly deceptive,” Bep scolded.

  “Not really,” Sophia argued. “The product is limited based on how many dragons have hatched and how many egg shells we have available. It so happens that we have a full stock right now, but one day, there won’t be any more hatching dragons and therefore no more eggs, so technically we’ll be out of stock at some point.”

  “That must be sad for you to think that one day there won’t be any more dragons,” Bep observed, her tone suddenly turning sensitive.

  “I try not to think about it. I’m happy that we got another batch of dragon eggs. There are still plenty to hatch, so hopefully, I won’t see the extinction of dragons in my lifetime.”

  “I wish you a long life then, but not one that’s too long. May you go out on a high note,” Bep said thoughtfully.

  “Thanks. That’s sweet.”

  Bep nodded. “Yes, may you perish before the prophecy comes to pass of the great apocalypse and the extinction of most magical races and the devastation of this very planet.”

  “And like that, you turn it dark again,” Sophia muttered. “It’s a gift you have, isn’t it?”

  The potions maker shrugged. “I have many a gift. Hopefully, that prophet is wrong yet again, like when they said I’d bowl a perfect game on my birthday. But who knows, they didn’t specify which birthday so you know how I celebrate every year?”

  “Bowling?” Sophia guessed.

  Bep shook her head. “No, I despise the game. Bowling alleys are so loud with the pins falling and people cheering. Not to mention that the balls are so greasy.”

  “That’s what she said,” Sophia mumbled and laughed to herself.

  “No, every year for my birthday, I get myself a delectable dessert. This year, you did it for me.” Bep strode over to the counter and lifted the lid off the dessert box. “Oh, but you failed me, Gidget. I asked for a sweet treat, and you got me a burger. I thought you knew that I didn’t eat lettuce.”

  “Why don’t you eat lettuce?” Sophia had to ask.

  “Because there’s too much water in it,” Bep answered. “I also avoid melon and cucumbers for the same reason. Mother Nature really messed up with those foods.”

  “I’ll pass that along,” Sophia muttered. “That’s not a cheeseburger. It’s an imposter dessert. It’s supposed to be a fun trick.”

  Bep’s face lit up with a brilliant smile. “That’s fun! What a wonderful idea.”

  “Did I hear you right?” Sophia asked. “This is for your birthday? Is that today?”

  “It’s all week. That’s how long it took for me to be born.” Bep eyed the burger with fascination.

  “Sounds about right. Well, happy birthday. Maybe you should go bowling to test this prophet.”

  “No, this is how I’m going to keep the big prophecy from happening,” Bep explained. “If you keep one prediction from occurring, then it discredits the other ones and keeps them from happening. That’s the reason no one’s invented a cure for male pattern baldness.”

  “I’m not sure I follow you.” Sophia laughed upon realizing this was par for the course at this point.

  “Well, it was prophesized that I’d invent the cure for male pattern baldness,” Bep began. “But that same prophet also predicted my death would be several years ago. So I simply refused to create the cure and all these years, I’ve cheated death.”

  “That’s strangely smart.” Sophia was impressed.

  “Yes, I have to be careful not to accidentally create the cure when working on medicines for toe fungus and collagen production. I suspect the solution to male pattern baldness is deadly close if those two mix together.”

  Sophia chuckled. “Deadly close.”

  Bep strode for the back and disappeared through the open door of her potions workshop. “Now, I believe I owe you a solution to your toxic goo problem at Happily Ever After College.”

  “Yes, that would be great. Is it ready?”

  “Yes, yes.” Bep made a lot of commotion in the back. “But I’ll warn you that the solution to your problem is incredibly heavy, and using it will take a great deal of strength. I hope your reserves are full.”

  Sophia smiled, grateful that she’d had a full plate of nachos at Dave and Busters. “I’m up for the challenge.”

  “Oh, this thing is so extremely heavy.” Bep groaned, sounding like she was overexerting herself.

  “Do you want my help with it?” Sophia craned her neck to the side and tried to get a glimpse of the back.

  “No, no,” Bep answered, followed by the squeal of wheels turning. “I got it on the dolly, and I’m bringing it through, but you’ll have to carry it on your own
because I can’t loan my hand truck out. No one ever brings it back. The awful neighbors next door had it for a solid week!”

  “Again, that’s me that owns the shop next to you,” Sophia muttered dryly.

  The dolly’s tires screamed their complaint from the heavy load as Bep wheeled it into the shop area.

  Sophia expected to see a large box or contraption or anything oversized sitting on the hand truck. What she didn’t expect was a tiny velvet ring box.

  “Ummm…that’s supposed to be heavy?” Sophia asked.

  “It weighs a ton.” Bep wiped her hand across her brow and huffed.

  “Are you sure that you’re not simply tired from all the peeping?” Sophia bent to pick up the ring box. For a moment, she thought it was glued to the hand truck. She lifted it but only a smidge and felt the incredible weight of the small object. It could weigh a literal ton.

  “Lift with your legs, dear,” Bep encouraged. “Remember to breathe.”

  Sophia did as instructed and picked up the ring box with a loud grunt. She nearly fell backward from the incredible weight.

  “What’s in this thing?”

  “Magic,” Bep answered casually.

  “Could you have put a weight spell on it?” Sophia held the object with both hands, suddenly sweating from the effort.

  “I could have, but that would have negated its effects. Now you should be off before you’re too weak to do the rest of what it requires to use the solution for your toxic goo.”

  “Which is?” Sophia asked through clenched teeth, taking each measured breath carefully.

  “Open the box, of course.”

  “And then what?” Sophia questioned.

  “And then nothing,” Bep stated.

  “But you said it was complicated,” Sophia argued.

  “It is,” Bep began. “The toxic substance at Happily After Ever College was an attempt at a love potion that went fatally wrong. To rid the place of it, you have to open that ring box, but doing that will take a lot of strength.”

  “I’m not sure I’ll have much left.”

  “Not that kind of strength,” Bep countered. “You’ll need muscle to get the box to the college, but you’ll need the strength of your heart and soul to open it. Only someone who loves without abandonment will be able to do it, so if you have any reservations in your romantic relationships, then it won’t open.”