by Sarah Noffke
Mama Jamba gave Quiet a pointed stare. “Monkeys can be taught to do all sorts of things.”
Evan sat back in his seat, crossing his arms. “Do I always have to be the butt of the jokes?”
Sophia smiled across the table at him. “You don’t. But you offer us entertainment, so what’s wrong with that?”
“Everyone has their part to play in this place,” Ainsley added. “Sophia is the smart one, Wilder is the handsome one, Mahkah is calm and you, Evan are the comic relief. I might actually miss you a tiny bit when I’m gone.”
He blinked at her in surprise. “Wow, I have to admit I’m happy to hear that.”
The elf smiled at him fondly. “Then, I’ll just get an untrained lap dog that makes a mess and barks incessantly, and the feelings will be gone.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Liv Beaufont hadn’t had a day off in years, and that wasn’t about to change. Even though she was lounging beside the turquoise waters of Zanzibar, it still didn’t count as a vacation day.
Sitting on the steps of a shack perched on a set of rocks off the coast, Liv tinkered with a digital clock that had a particularly stubborn problem to fix that she couldn’t figure out. Her role as a Warrior for the House of Fourteen didn’t give her a lot of free time to fix electronics like she used to before taking back her magic and reentering the world she’d once known.
However, since she was on a stakeout for her sister, Liv figured she could spend the time fixing electronics for John. Before setting off to guard the Great Library, Liv had loaded up on a bunch of broken items from the repair shop and was now occupying her time fixing them and portaling them back to John.
“Have you tried turning it off and back on?” Plato suggested beside her on the rickety steps to the Great Library.
She rolled her eyes at the lynx. “Thanks, but your years in tech support won’t help here.”
He shrugged, staring off before saying, “You know, I’ve got security measures up again. I’ll know if Rudolf gets close.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” she fired back immediately.
“No…maybe.”
Liv lowered her chin and scowled at her familiar.
“No, I just wanted to offer you the opportunity to go home and see Stefan if you wanted,” Plato said, his voice uncharacteristically sympathetic.
She nodded. He had sensed she missed her husband. More than that, since the lynx was pretty much in her head full time. “I appreciate that, but I need to be here in case things shake down fast. I promised Sophia.”
“You’re worried about the fae,” Plato added.
“No!” Liv exclaimed, too fast—her eyes sliding to the right. “Maybe a little bit. I get he’s managed for all these centuries somehow. What if he can’t bumble his way through this one? What if he’s hurt? Shouldn’t he have led them to the Great Library by now?”
“Of everyone, I have the least amount of confidence in that man,” Plato began. “With that being said, I’m not worried. The gods or angels or whoever reigns over this place seem to always be looking out for him.”
Liv messed with the wires inside the digital clock and shook her head at Plato. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know who is in charge of this place, and you haven’t met and had tea.”
“They don’t drink tea,” he informed her.
“Nectar of the gods or whatever,” Liv said with a laugh.
“So when are you and Stefan having kids?” Plato asked coyly.
She knew he was trying to get her mind off her troubles and worries. It was sweet, but if she told him that, then he’d bite her.
“When are you getting married, Plato?” she queried him in reply. “There’s that sweet neighborhood cat that keeps coming around from the village. I think she likes you.” Liv nodded in the direction of the huts on the shore.
“What do you think you’ll name your baby?” he questioned right back.
“Billy,” she answered at once. “Can I be your best woman at the ceremony?”
“What if it’s a girl?” he asked.
“Still Billy,” Liv declared. “Where will you and kitty honeymoon, you think?”
“What if you have twins?” Plato questioned.
“Billy and Billy,” Liv replied. “Do you think she’ll take your last name? Wait, do you have a last name?”
“Yes.” He sounded offended. “It’s Plato.”
“What’s your first name?” she asked, surprised.
“Do you want me to throw your baby shower?”
“Do you want me to throw a shower for your wedding? Can I make the toast at the ceremony? Can we get a DJ?” Liv asked in quick succession.
“No, no, and no,” he quipped. “The wedding is off.”
Liv snapped her fingers. “Darn it. I already bought my dress.”
“It won’t fit anyway when you’re as big as a house and pregnant,” Plato imparted.
“You know, you’re a real pal, No-First-Name Plato.”
“You know I’m always here for you. Got to go.” With that, the lynx disappeared.
Liv laughed and shook her head and saw the digital clock lighting up. Thinking she finally fixed it, she turned it over to find something she hadn’t expected.
“What the hell!” Liv exclaimed. “Rudolf, what are you doing in there?”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Staring back at Liv from the screen of the digital clock was none other than King Rudolf Sweetwater, the very man she was looking for.
“It’s cramped in here,” Rudolf said, shaking his head, which was the only thing Liv could see. It appeared to be floating inside the device.
“You’re inside of a clock,” she stated.
“Oh, that would be why I keep seeing numbers all around me,” he remarked. “It’s two-thirty, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Liv said. “Now tell me why you’re inside of a digital clock, where you are, other pertinent information, and if we have time whether you’re all right.”
“I’m not okay.” Rudolf let out a sigh.
Liv’s heart dropped, as worry coursed through her. “Have they hurt you? Starved you? What’s happening? Do you need me to come and break you out?”
“Liv, it’s worse than you would have ever guessed,” Rudolf began. “Do you know what they serve my food on? Metal plates. It’s like we’re camping or something.” He shivered with disgust. “When I asked if they had something more palatable to look at like Wedgewood or Haviland china, they grunted at me and told me to eat up.”
Liv sighed. “So they are feeding you, then? That’s something, at least.”
He shook his head. “They are, but I’m not eating it.”
“Ru, if you’re turning up your nose to the food because it’s not caviar and truffles, then you better hope they kill you before I do.”
He smiled at her. “You’re so thoughtful. I appreciate you want to put me out of my misery. I’m not eating because although the pork and beans they serve me is atrocious, it’s also drugged to take away my magical powers.”
It suddenly made sense. Liv had wondered how Rudolf had managed to magically appear on the surface of the digital clock if he were being held hostage. Of course, his captors would find a way to block his magical powers so he didn’t escape, and somehow he’d managed to figure this out and get around it. This man surprised her more than anyone. He couldn’t so much as cross the street by himself but could navigate and persevere in the face of extreme and complex dangers.
“So you’ve been starving yourself,” she said, thinking.
“Yes, and then I was able to use my magical powers to scry you via a device,” Rudolf explained. “I knew you’d have one around you because you always do since you’re a nerd who will never ever get a date and die alone.”
“I’m married,” Liv reminded him. “Once again, you walked me down the aisle. Remember that?”
“Not in the slightest,” Rudolf answered at once.
“Anyway, if you have your mag
ical powers, can you break out of there?” Liv asked.
“I can, but I won’t,” he replied. “You see, I found out who had me abducted and why.”
She nodded at once. “Yes, Nevin Gooseman. He wants you to lead him to the Great Library. That’s where I am now.”
“Oh,” Rudolf said, drawing the word out. “You stole my thunder on that.”
“Tell me where you are, and I’ll come and get you.” Liv tried to sound encouraging.
Rudolf glanced around in his surroundings. “It’s awful, Liv. The cell where they have me is bad enough, but I broke out of here, and you won’t even believe what Nevin Gooseman has in his house.”
Liv bolted to a standing position, holding the digital clock between her hands. “Does he have caged animals? Other prisoners? Dragons?”
Rudolf blinked at her. “Not that I’m aware of. No, but this is serious.”
“What is it?” Liv questioned, her pulse suddenly beating in her head.
“I think, when I escaped, I spied something incredibly disturbing in his living room,” Rudolf said in a whisper, looking over his shoulder.
“What?” she demanded, the suspense almost too much.
“A Jackson Pollock painting,” he said.
Liv rolled her eyes and blew out a breath. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I am?” he asked, offended. “I’m not the one who tries to pass off splatters of paint as artwork.” He glanced over his shoulder as though he heard something. “Liv, this guy scares me. I haven’t been able to sleep properly since I got here.”
“Because of fear of what they’ll do to you?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Because they expect me to sleep on flannel sheets. You know my body requires a high thread count.”
“I know that your body is about to have a few new broken bones,” Liv said dryly.
“Worse than that.” Rudolf continued to check over his shoulder. “I don’t have long, because they are going to put me in a coffin tomorrow if I don’t start cooperating, and I don’t mean in a good way.”
“Is being in a coffin ever in a good way?” Liv had to laugh.
“Serena and I have this fun game where she likes to pretend that I’m dead,” he offered. “It’s really cute. She says I look sweet when she shuts me in the coffin.”
“You two, a love story for the ages.”
He nodded, not catching the joke. “Anyway, I hadn’t been giving them any information about the Great Library because I thought whatever reason they wanted it for would only lead to bad stuff.”
“Yes, they want information on how to uncover the demon dragons,” Liv explained.
He sighed. “You’re really ruining all of my reveals for this convo, but whatever. Anyway, I’ve run out of time and heard them say they were going to off me tomorrow if I didn’t talk.”
“Then get out of there,” Liv urged, her heart pounding again.
He shook his head. “No, I’m going to tell them how to get to the Great Library, which they plan to raid and then flatten.”
“Great idea,” Liv said. “Do you want to tell them where the Gullington is while you’re at it? Maybe give them a way to get into the House of Fourteen? My home address?”
“No one would want to go into your place,” Rudolf answered. “Plato watches your guests in the bathroom. Stefan leaves demon blood everywhere. You can’t shut a cabinet to save your life. Clark doesn’t let anyone do anything and demands a coaster be used at all times. Total fun ruiner.”
“I don’t disagree there,” Liv chuckled.
“Anyway, my idea is that I slowly lead them to the Great Library, but stall a bit,” Rudolf explained. “You see, you need evidence that Nevin Gooseman is corrupt. If I get a bit more time here, I think I can unearth that and help Sophia bring him down.”
Liv smiled wide. “That’s genius! Good work, Ru. There’s also a strange disease circulating amongst magicians that I think Nevin Gooseman might be behind.”
He pursed his lips and sighed. “Oh, Liv. Your race’s ugliness isn’t a disease, nor do I think it can be cured.”
She rolled her eyes. “New disease. It’s called distortion and hit right after you were abducted. It makes magicians and elves blur until they fully disappear. It’s happened to a few already.”
“Oh,” he said with a laugh. “Sounds like it might do you all some favors.”
“Ru, this is serious.”
“Of course,” he said, his laughter fading at once. “Anyway, I’ll dig up some information—as much as I can. In the interim, I’ll buy some time by asking for maps and telling them that finding the Great Library is really difficult and takes planning.”
“Good,” Liv chirped. “That will give us a chance to prepare. You say Nevin Gooseman plans on storming this place?”
“Yeah, apparently he has a magitech army.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Liv replied darkly.
“I’ll start sending over information as I find it so that you and the Dragon Elite know what you’re up against,” Rudolf told her. “Then, when we’re ready, I’ll lead them to you.”
Liv smiled, feeling victorious. “Thanks, Rudolf. You really came through on this one.”
“I haven’t yet, but I plan on it.”
Although he annoyed her to no end, there were few as good as King Rudolf Sweetwater and Liv was grateful to call him her friend.
“Okay, I’ve got to go,” Rudolf said in a rush. “I’m going to conserve my magical powers until I can sneak out of here and find some food. Where should I look in this abstract and modern art freak show of a house for something to eat?”
“You could try the kitchen,” Liv suggested.
He shook his head. “I don’t know this foreign word you use. I’ll just hunt around until I find something. I’ll let my nose lead the way.”
She grinned, grateful that Rudolf was okay and hadn’t changed a bit. “Good luck, Ru.”
Chapter Seventy
“You called for me, sir,” Sophia said, standing at Hiker Wallace’s door. She’d been trying to organize the new walk-in closet Quiet had added to her bedroom for her birthday when Trin came to tell her Hiker wanted to see her in his office.
The cyborg had also helped with the renovation by adding magitech that made the clothes rotate on a rack like one would find at a dry cleaning shop. All Sophia had to do was stand under a spotlight at the front of the closet and think about what kind of clothes she wanted, and the intuitive beam picked up on what she needed. Then the system rotated until it created the right outfit and pulled it from the racks.
“Yeah, come in.” Hiker waved her in, cutting his eyes over to Mama Jamba—a deliberate expression on his face.
“If you want me to leave, son, then that’s all you have to say,” the old woman chimed, leaning over the Elite globe.
“I need you to leave,” he told her.
“Well, I’m busy working on this tracking spell,” she replied, winking at Sophia.
He sighed. “Fine. It’s not like it matters. There’s no privacy from you anyway.”
“No, there’s not,” Mama Jamba sang. “Still, I’m sure you like to imagine that there is at times and that I don’t know about that one habit you have.”
“What hab—never mind.” He cut himself off.
Sophia strode farther into the office, wondering what this was about. She was between cases, waiting on Bep to finish replicating the cure for distortion and then finishing the healing elixir for Ainsley. Liv was at the Great Library, and there hadn’t been any word about Rudolf from her. Mama Jamba was still working on the tracking spell for demon dragons.
That meant there was little for Sophia to do, which left her time to organize her closet and train with Lunis on the Expanse. She was grateful for the break, but it also made her antsy, knowing magicians were suffering from distortion, and her friend Rudolf was being held captive. For her birthday, Hiker had given her advice, telling her to know when to fight and when to rest and dele
gate. This was one of those times when she apparently needed to rest and prepare for the next mission.
On the heel of her thoughts, Hiker said, “I have something I need you to do.”
Sophia’s eyes widened with excitement. “Really? A mission? Something to do with adjudication?”
He scratched his chin, uncertainty bouncing around in his eyes. “Sure, we can call it a goodwill mission.”
Mama Jamba snickered to herself. “Call it what you want, but I know the truth.”
He cast an angry look in her direction. “If you have to be here, can you at least pretend like you’re not so that I forget you’re eavesdropping?”
“I can try,” she sang.
Sophia returned her gaze to the leader of the Dragon Elite. “Lunis took some of the dragonettes on a flight up north for a training mission, but once he returns, we can set off for this mission.”
Hiker shook his head. “You won’t need Lunis for this.”
“Oh,” Sophia said, surprised.
He cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable. “This will involve you going to Roya Lane.”
Sophia’s brow scrunched up. This was a different request for Hiker to make. “Really? To go to see Papa Creola? Subner? Visit the Brownie’s Official Headquarters?”
He shook his head. “No, there’s a seamstress on Roya Lane. The very best. I need them to make something.”
Sophia had met an interesting seamstress in Montana when she had to have a dress made to meet Saint Valentine. That dress had magical properties, so she was curious who this one was and what made them so special.
“It’s called the Silk Armor,” Hiker explained.
“Ooh.” Sophia realized Hiker needed armor made. That would be a good use of her idle time. “Is the armor for you, sir?”
“What?” he asked, confusion springing to his face. “Um, no. Not me. It’s not really armor. I mean, it is, but…well, I need the seamstress, Jeremy Bearimy to make a dress.”
“Did you say dress?” Sophia asked, thinking she might have misheard.