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

by Sarah Noffke

  “I think all we can do is wait until she wakes up,” Willow, the headmistress for Happily Ever After College, advised.

  Mae Ling sighed. “Yes, and I daresay that we have enough to occupy our attention. Girls, please take Ms. Sophia Beaufont to someplace more comfortable than the front steps and ensure that she has everything she’ll need when she wakes up.”

  “Does that mean…” one of the girls asked, her voice trailing away.

  “I think you know it does,” Mae Ling responded.

  Chapter One Hundred

  The smell of confections was heavy in the air when Sophia stirred. She felt like she was waking from sleeping on a cloud made of cotton candy. Her head jerked from side to side as she wrestled with coming out of sleep, which seemed to be holding her hostage.

  Diffused light kissed Sophia’s eyes and greeted her when she was finally successful at opening her lids. For a moment, she thought that Don Ectoplasm had succeeded in killing her and she was in heaven.

  Above her was a soft pink paisley canopy-top to a bed that hung over like a puffy cloud. The matching blanket around her made her feel like she was lying in a bed of pink frosting. The pillow under Sophia’s head felt like a giant marshmallow and smelled like it too.

  However, when Sophia pushed herself up with her hands behind her, she realized that if she had died and this was heaven, she was okay with it.

  Trays of every possible amazing dessert she could have ever imagined sat alongside her bed. A mound of vanilla bean ice cream covered in thick hot chocolate fudge syrup rested next to the right side of her pillow as though waiting for her to open her mouth and let the desert fall in.

  Beside the mountain of ice cream was a chocolate cake covered in sprinkles that smelled like angels. Next to that was a pile of cake donuts dipped in chocolate.

  On the other side and starting at the headboard was an Oreo cheesecake that was the size of a car tire. Next to it was a bowl of chocolate mousse streaked with white chocolate mousse to make an elegant design. Beside that was a plate of chocolate chip cookies that Sophia instinctively knew were still hot.

  As if that wasn’t enough, lining the foot of the bed were fudge truffles that weren’t only elegant in design, all made by hand and decorated to perfection, but smelled like what little giggles and smiles would be if packed into a piece of chocolate.

  Sophia stared around wide-eyed. She only saw the desserts for a moment before she realized that there were other amazing things in the room. The entire bedroom was elegantly appointed with the finest furnishings. In the corner was a Tiffany lamp with a glass shade of every color Sophia could think of.

  Beside the wall was a regal chaise lounge that was pink with gold fringe hanging off it. There was an ornate chest of drawers on the back wall, an armoire, a full-length mirror, and curled up in the far corner was the most beautiful creature Sophia had ever seen.

  “Lunis!” Sophia exclaimed as her eyes finally adjusted and took in the blue dragon lying next to the roaring fireplace.

  Chapter One Hundred One

  “Lunis!” Sophia exclaimed again while trying to untangle herself from the bed, but was too weak for the arduous task.

  To her relief, the dragon lifted his head and extended his neck to meet her at her bed. “Hey, bum. I see you’ve decided to join the world of the waking. It’s about time.”

  Sophia rubbed her eyes and felt the sleep edging from her mind as she came to and remembered everything that had happened. She wore a pink silk nightgown that felt like butter. “How long was I asleep?”

  “Ten long years,” Lunis answered quite seriously.

  Sophia glanced at the bedside table where her phone was lying and tapped it. The date showed that she’d been out for roughly twelve hours. “Haha, does it make you feel better to tease me after a near-death experience?”

  “It does,” Lunis stated. “Next time, bring me along and I’ll tease you less.”

  “Less?” Sophia felt the lightheadedness from before returning, which made her think she’d pass out again.

  “Well, the same amount, but I’ll feel better since I can more directly keep an eye on you.” He nodded at the ice cream sundae, which surprisingly wasn’t melting. “Go on and eat before I have to give you mouth-to-mouth to resuscitate you.”

  Sophia grimaced. “Please tell me that won’t ever happen. I love you, but not like that.”

  “You’d thank me if I brought you back from the dead,” Lunis teased.

  “Doesn’t mean I want scaly lips on mine.” She pulled the ice cream to her. “What is all this?”

  “It’s the fairy godmother infirmary,” Lunis explained. “Mae Ling brought me here after you were put into your room, knowing that you’d recover faster if I were close by.”

  “Wow, I thought at most hospitals you had to share a room with a guy named Eddie, they gave you orange Jell-O, and the nurse smirked at you when she couldn’t find a vein.”

  “That’s probably accurate, but Happily Ever After College is different, and I daresay they’ll probably rename the school after you.”

  Sophia took a bite and instantly melted back into her pillow from pure bliss. “Oh my, that’s the best ice cream in the world. Did they grind up angel wings to make it?”

  “And melted fairies for the chocolate syrup shell,” Lunis offered with a laugh.

  The shell he referred to was hard and soft at the same time. It cracked from a slight tap of Sophia’s spoon, then melted as soon as it hit her tongue. She felt more of her energy return with each bite.

  “I’m not sure I could eat through all these sweet treats in a year if I tried.” Sophia looked at the giant Oreo cheesecake.

  “They aren’t all for you, Chunkster,” Lunis teased. “The fairy godmothers knew I had to keep up my strength too. That cake pretty much has my name on it.”

  Sophia leaned over and got a whiff of Oreos and cream cheese, and thought that was what heaven had to smell like. “Sorry, but unless your name is invisible, I don’t see it.”

  Lunis gobbled up a donut while Sophia studied the cheesecake and looked nonchalant when she glanced back at him. His eyes slid to the right as though there was nothing strange about him having chocolate frosting all over his snout.

  “You have something on your horn,” she offered.

  He turned and looked at his appearance in the full-length mirror. “Probably the blood of my enemies.”

  “Oh, were those donuts your enemies?” She giggled.

  “Yes, and I slew them,” Lunis said triumphantly. “I say all these desserts are our enemies and we can leave no man standing.”

  Sophia’s stomach rumbled right on cue, and she sat up more with the ice cream sundae still in her lap. “Well, I am hungry.”

  “Plus, you don’t want to disappoint your fairy godmother,” Lunis added. “She wants you to recover and will worry if you don’t refill your reserves.”

  Sophia noticed a table in the corner where there were a few more dishes. She recognized a carton of strawberry ice cream, a carrot cake, and a loaf of banana bread. Around the table was yellow caution tape. “What’s that about?”

  “It’s for those who prefer not to have real desserts and is offered to accommodate other, more non-discerning tastes,” Lunis explained.

  “Why is there caution tape around it?”

  “So that you know not to fill up on such things when there are obviously better choices you could make.”

  Sophia picked up one of the chocolate chip cookies that were the size of her face and still perfectly warm like they just came out of the oven. “Like a soft-baked cookie?”

  “Exactly!”

  Chapter One Hundred Two

  When the trays around Sophia’s bed held only crumbs, she sat back against her pillow and felt her extended belly. “That was a magical experience.”

  “How do you feel?” a familiar voice said from the doorway.

  Sophia glanced up to find Mae Ling standing in the doorway with a thoughtful smile o
n her face. Sitting up, Sophia wiped chocolate frosting from the corner of her mouth.

  “I’m great. A little full, but that won’t be the case in a few minutes once my magic starts to burn through the calories.”

  Mae Ling strode over while pushing her short black hair off her forehead. “Oh, yes, you and Lunis have done an excellent job taking your medicine.” She eyed the empty dishes all around Sophia’s bed.

  Sophia combed her hair with her fingertips, feeling like she needed a shower. She glanced down at her pink nightgown and blushed. She also needed some clothes. “I don’t remember everything clearly. How is the college?”

  Mae Ling circled her finger through the air, and all the empty trays of desserts disappeared. A soft poufy pink armchair appeared beside the bed, and the fairy godmother sat.

  Lunis settled down on the other side of Sophia’s bed and laid his large horned-lined head on her lap. She caressed the side of his face while feeling his relief that she was safe and recovered from the whole ordeal with Don Ectoplasm.

  “Happily Ever After College is forever in your debt, Sophia,” Mae Ling began. “The deadly potion that went wrong and took over the school is contained forever in that ingenious ring box you used. We’ve put it somewhere safe and on display so that we’re always reminded of the repercussions that happen if you force love. Our job as fairy godmothers is usually to coordinate ideal situations for two people to fall for each other. It’s never to force things.” She tilted her head back and forth with her hands in her lap. “Sometimes, I think our mission gets away from us, and we think it’s to make Cinderellas fall in love with Prince Charmings, but that’s not the case. It’s to offer them a chance they’d otherwise miss. Two people fall in love because they want to, not because of some spell or potion.”

  Sophia let these words sink in, then let out a breath. “That makes sense. So the school will be okay?”

  “There are many repairs to be done, but yes, we’ll recover,” Mae Ling stated. “We really couldn’t have done it without you. In all my time, I’ve never seen anything like that toxic substance that so quickly took over. If not for the chi of the dragon, then you wouldn’t have been able to help, and I fear we would have lost the college altogether.” Mae Ling looked around the room with an undeniable fondness. “I can’t even imagine that. What would happen to fairy godmothers without Happily Ever After College? What would happen to the world? I mean, the Dragon Elite protect mortals. The House of Fourteen, the magical world. But we…well, we fairy godmothers pride ourselves on creating and protecting serendipity in the world. Mortals and magical creatures alike are our domain, and I want to believe that the world needs us.”

  Sophia reached out and laid a comforting hand on Mae Ling’s. “Of course, the world does. We all play a crucial role, and without you, we’d lose the real magic of the world. The one that strings the moments of synchronization together that creates love and happiness. I can protect justice all day, but it isn’t worth it unless someone is out there making others smile.”

  Mae Ling squeezed Sophia’s hand. “This has all made me extremely sensitive to our mission. I guess I needed something like this to remind me of why we do what we do. Of what’s important. We need that now and then or otherwise, I think we would lose sight of why we did all this in the first place.”

  Sophia nodded. “I’m glad that you have found the silver lining in all this.”

  “Me too.”

  The two fell silent for a long moment before Mae Ling said, “You need to leave soon.”

  Sophia was surprised by this and sort of felt like she was being kicked out of the fairy godmother infirmary. Perhaps they needed to turn the bed over to someone else who needed it.

  Sensing this, Mae Ling snickered and waved her hand. “I only mean that you have more pressing matters to attend to, although I am grateful that you made Happily Ever After College a priority. I know that you have toxic sludge to fight.”

  Sophia nodded. She’d forgotten her problems for a while. “Yeah, the Rogue Riders are making trouble for the Dragon Elite and me.”

  “And you need help, do you?”

  Sophia had dealt with Mae Ling long enough to know that the fairy godmother, even if she knew what Sophia needed, had to be asked directly. “Yes. They have a special kind of barrier we can’t pass, and we think they have something called soul stones that help them cross it. Wilder believes their leader gave them the stones.”

  Mae Ling nodded. “He is correct. It is not a common barrier since soul stones are rare, but it also does not take ongoing magic to maintain like the barrier we have here or the one you have at the Gullington.”

  “Can you tell me how to get through it?”

  “You need one of the soul stones,” Mae Ling answered. “Usually they are handed over by leaders and allow only certain members to cross into their lands. It’s one soul stone to a person.”

  “So we couldn’t use one for all of the Dragon Elite?” Sophia wondered how she would get all of the Dragon Elite onto the elfin island that the Rogue Riders had invaded.

  Mae Ling shook her head. “Plus, it’s unlikely you will get one the way that the Rogue Riders members have.”

  “What are our options?”

  “The stones are sourced from specific mines,” Mae Ling explained. “They are detailed in a book in the Great Library called exactly that: Soul Stones. However, there are many caves throughout the world, and you have to find the specific ones that the Rogue Rider leader used for their people.”

  Sophia thought for a moment. “What if we got hold of one of the soul stones? Could we use that to identify the right cave? If we went there and mined the ones we need, then we could cross the barrier into the territory they’ve invaded, right?”

  “You could,” Mae Ling said with a sly grin. “But doing so will be risky, you realize?”

  “Risky is my middle name,” Sophia stated defiantly.

  “I thought it was Helga,” Lunis cut in.

  Sophia smirked at him. “You know it isn’t Helga.”

  Mae Ling held out her hand, and a glass of ice water appeared. She handed it to Sophia, probably sensing that she was parched after all the sugary desserts. “It seems that you know what you need to do and realize it won’t be easy. However, I can confidently say that you’ve recovered enough to do it.”

  Sophia took the glass and downed it in a few swift gulps before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Yes, I feel better than I did before this whole thing started.”

  Mae Ling smiled proudly. “That’s what a good dose of sugar will do for you. Remember that the next time you go to a salad bar and try to load up on vegetables. They may make the mortals grow, but magicians need chocolate. That’s the stuff that feeds our soul, and that’s what fuels our magic.”

  “I’ll remember to tell my vegan boyfriend that.”

  Mae Ling combed her hand through the air. “He’ll be fine. He eats enough fried food to make up for all the fruits and vegetables.”

  Sophia laughed and looked around for her clothes, realizing she should get ready and be on her way.

  Mae Ling snapped her fingers, and the doors to the armoire opened. “You’ll find them in there. I hope you don’t mind that the fairy godmothers took the liberty of upgrading your garments. Let’s just say they got a little worn in battle and we thought you could use something new.”

  Sophia smiled as her chest warmed. “Thank you. I’m sure the new clothes are lovely.”

  “Armor,” Mae Ling stated. “And they are, if I say so myself. Fit for a queen.”

  Chapter One Hundred Three

  To say that the new armored clothes fit well was an understatement. They felt made for Sophia. She’d heard the cliché “fit like a glove,” but the garments felt more like an extension of Sophia’s skin.

  The top was armor that was light but also felt incredibly strong. It was more like everyday clothes, unlike the armor that Jeremy Bearimy had made for the Dragon Elite. Also, it was incredi
bly fashionable and made Sophia feel edgy while also professional. The metal was light and didn’t cut into her skin, and the blue and black trim was snug in all the right places.

  The leather pants were so much nicer than the ones Sophia had worn. Her old ones had a ton of wear and tear thanks to the many battles when they’d been seared by lava or torn by the claws of rabid vultures or crazed villains on the loose.

  A new set of clothing made Sophia feel almost as brand-new as the sugar coursing through her veins. As Sophia brushed her long blonde hair over one shoulder, she reveled in the fact that she had the information she needed to get one step closer to stopping the Rogue Riders while also helping the fairy godmothers. And to top it all off, she strangely felt better than she had in ages.

  “Who says that risking your life and going nonstop would run someone into the ground?” Sophia asked aloud, then remembered that she’d sent Lunis out of the room so she could get dressed.

  She laughed to herself after realizing she’d have to find him so they could take off on another mission. He was all healed, and so was she. It was time to focus their attention on stopping the Rogue Riders. All she needed to do was stop by the Gullington and enlist a little backup because Sophia knew better than to risk going it alone on the next mission. The Rogue Riders didn’t fight fair, which meant she needed someone to watch her back.

  Sophia opened the door to her room, not sure what she’d find since she was unfamiliar with that area of Happily Ever After College. However, even if she knew the grounds well, she wouldn’t have expected what she found on the other side of the door.

  Chapter One Hundred Four

  Lining the hallway outside of Sophia’s room were dozens and dozens of fairy godmothers and students. They all wore what she believed to be their ceremonial blue gowns with the hoods pulled up over their heads, and a single white rose in each of their hands.