by Sarah Noffke
“But his magic could be locked,” Clark argued.
“Adler doesn’t suspect him. It’s the Beaufonts he’s worried about,” Liv said in a convincing tone.
“Well, what am I supposed to do with this?” Clark asked, holding up the book.
“Read it,” Liv stated. “That’s the real history. Once the signal is shut off, we can activate the real history so that everyone remembers it. But for now, you have to keep it safe. Maybe there’s something in there that can help us.”
“Yeah, you don’t even know what you’re up against, or how you’re going to shut down the signal,” Clark said, still trying to make a case for why he should go.
“I might be able to help with that,” John said, speaking up for the first time since they’d started this meeting. “Alicia and I have been discussing this signal business.”
The scientist had asked a lot of questions when Liv had asked her to help with unregistering her magic. She trusted Alicia, but she didn’t want to burden her the same way she had Stefan. That was why she had told her what she thought was relevant to her, which was the signal broadcasting from the Matterhorn.
Carefully, John moved Sophia off of his lap and stood up. “I couldn’t figure out what sort of signal could be broadcasting from the Matterhorn that was so powerful it could affect mortals worldwide. However, Alicia explained how magic tech works, and that got me to thinking. Shutting something of that caliber down won’t be easy. It’s not like flipping a switch since it’s magically fueled.”
From his back pocket, he pulled out what appeared to be a jump drive. “Alicia and I made this. It’s a virus of sorts. If you plug it into the electronic power supply of whatever is broadcasting the signal, it should corrupt the magic aspect and thereby bring down the entire thing.”
Liv’s face lit up. “That’s genius, John. Thank you. I was just going to blow up whatever the source was.”
“And possible yourself, and a much-loved mountain,” John replied, handing over the device.
“Good thinking,” Liv said, feeling a tender fondness for the man before her. John had been there for her all these years. He wasn’t just the reason her magic was stronger, since he was a Mortal Seven. He was the reason she was strong.
Before she could stop herself, Liv threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. He seemed surprised by the gesture but recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around her. When she pulled away, he was smiling thoughtfully at her.
“You’ll be back, Liv,” John stated with enthusiasm.
“Of course I will,” Liv assured him. “And then I’m taking you to the House of Fourteen. There’s a spot on the council with your name on it. But first, you take that vacation you had to postpone.”
“Yes. It will be quite different once mortals are back in the fold,” Clark said, standing as well.
“It will be better,” Liv asserted with conviction.
“So you’re really going to do this, then?” Clark asked, fidgeting with the book.
Liv saw the worry in his features, but there was little she could say to relieve his fears. She was about to take the same path her parents had before they died. She’d almost died on the Matterhorn too. If it hadn’t been for Plato, she would have.
But she hadn’t. And she wasn’t planning on dying that day or anytime soon.
“I’ll be in touch with you as soon as I have an update,” Liv stated.
“On that silly pad of paper you gave me?” Clark asked.
“It’s an anywhere pad,” she corrected. “Alicia suspects that devices, even magical tech ones, won’t work on the Matterhorn due to the signal. If you need to tell me something, use that.”
“And what do you want me to tell Sophia when she wakes up?” Clark asked, indicating the sweet girl asleep on the couch.
“Tell her the truth,” Liv stated, striding over the sofa. “And tell her that I’ll be back as soon as I’m done.”
She leaned over and laid a soft kiss on Sophia’s forehead.
“And please stop making her drink those disgusting green shakes for breakfast,” Liv said to her brother. “She hates them, but is too polite to tell you.”
“They are good for her,” Clark argued, a small grin hiding in his eyes.
“So is laughing,” Liv argued. “Make her laugh instead.”
He shook his head but seemed compliant to her requests as he opened his arms to her.
“What are you doing?” Liv asked, giving him a skeptical expression.
“I’m going to give you a hug before you leave,” he stated.
She shook her head. “No, that’s not necessary.”
Clark appeared hurt. “But you hugged John.”
“That’s because he made some magic tech that will help our mission.”
“And you kissed Sophia,” Clark continued.
“Because she’s a sweet little angel,” Liv reasoned. “If I hug you, it’s going to seem like we’re afraid I’m not returning, and that’s not the message I want to put out to the universe.”
“But Liv, what if—”
“Oh, fine, then,” Liv said and closed the distance between them, folding Clark into her arms. He pressed her head into his chest, and she could feel his fear radiating off him.
If she gave herself the chance, she’d feel it too. But worries were better left behind for the journey she was taking. They would only make her weak.
Chapter Thirty-One
The weather wasn’t any better than the first time Liv had been on Matterhorn. It wasn’t any worse, either. It was different…
She couldn’t place why the air seemed strange. It was like the wind was blowing in the wrong direction.
“So you and the demon hunter,” Plato said once she’d stepped through the portal and oriented herself on the trail up the Matterhorn.
“Yeah,” she said proudly. “I like him. Sue me.”
“I don’t think people throw lawsuits at others anymore for their affections,” Plato said.
“But they used to?” Liv asked.
“Back in the fourteenth century, you could get sued for looking at someone the wrong way.”
Liv glanced back at the portal, wondering what was taking Stefan so long to come through.
“I might have stalled his arrival,” Plato said guiltily.
“Why would you do that?” Liv asked, then shook her head. “And how?”
“Portal magic is sort of my specialty.”
“Why did you stall him?” Liv asked.
“So I could tell you something,” Plato admitted.
Liv stared up at the summit ahead of her, preparing herself for what came next. “I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried,” he said. “But I do have a confession to make.”
Liv lowered her chin and scowled at the lynx. “You did eat the last of the cookie dough, didn’t you?”
“No,” Plato stated. “I threw it away. That stuff has MSG in it.”
“When did you become so health conscious?”
“Since I realized you don’t have nine lives,” Plato said with an uncharacteristic bit of force to his tone.
Liv reeled back, surprised by his strange behavior. “Is everything okay?”
“It will be,” he said, an air of mystery in his voice.
“Okay, this confession you have…”
“I have two actually,” he began. “The first I’ll tell you now. The other one, well, it will have to wait until later.”
“Then why even tell me there are two?” she asked.
“Because much like me, you’re driven by curiosity.”
“So you think that if I know there’s some secret you’re going to reveal to me, I’ll have extra motivation to live and return from this mission? Is that right?”
Plato nodded. “And also, I’m not ready to tell you the other one. I need more time.”
“To do what?” Liv asked.
“To figure things out,” he said simply.
/> “Okay, so what can you tell me?”
“Liv, do you remember when we met?”
“How could I not?” she said, studying the landscape. It was the ideal time to hike the Matterhorn. There wasn’t much snow, and the conditions were right, except for that strange wind she still didn’t understand.
“It was the day after your parents died and you left the House of Seven, abdicating your role as Warrior,” Plato stated.
“Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday.”
“I knew your parents before you and I met,” Plato confessed.
“You what?” Liv asked, not sure why this surprised her. It was just that her best friend had never told her, and it really seemed like something he should have mentioned.
“It’s true,” he said, nodding. “Your parents, well, they had done me a few favors over the years.”
“Favors?” Liv asked.
“Mostly got me out of some jams,” Plato explained.
“You’re acting like they got your parking tickets dismissed.”
“Magical parking tickets, if you will,” Plato said casually. “Anyway, in return, they asked me to watch out for one of their children if anything should ever happen to them.”
And just like that, everything Liv thought she knew in the world crashed down around her. If she’d been holding anything, she would have dropped it. If she’d been sitting, she would have fallen out of her chair. If her heart hadn’t already been fractured, it would have broken. Her knees softened, and she focused on staying upright. “You’re only here out of obligation.”
“No,” he said at once. “I originally showed up out of obligation. However, I’ve stayed because I’ve wanted to. My agreement with your parents was that I stay until you took on your role as Warrior, if that should ever happen.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Liv asked, feeling slightly less fragile. For years, she’d wondered why Plato had shown up when he did. She’d worried about questioning him on the subject, concerned she might push him away. Actually, she’d wondered if one day, he’d simply disappear and never show back up again. Now that felt like a potential reality.
“Because you deserve to know the truth,” Plato explained.
“Why now, though?”
“Because the timing is important,” Plato stated. “As powerful as I am, I can’t save you from everything. Once you set off, I can’t follow you.”
“But you saved me the last time,” Liv argued.
“You were only to that first ridge.” Plato indicated the place where Liv had found her mother’s sword. “The signal repels me. I nearly couldn’t get to you when you fell.”
Liv gulped. She knew Plato had weakened himself to save her when she fell from the ridge, but she’d had no idea of the degree of danger for him. “So you won’t be following me. Usually, when I don’t see you, I still know that you’re there. But you won’t be once I set off for the top, will you?”
He shook his head. “I can’t go up there. I’m sorry.”
“Just because my parents told you to watch out for me, it doesn’t mean you have to,” Liv said, surprised by the sudden bitterness in her voice.
“Liv, yes, I came to you because I was obligated, but I’ve stayed because I wanted to,” Plato repeated. “And your parents didn’t ask me to stay beside Ian, who was next in line to be Warrior. They asked me to watch over you. I think they knew you’d be one to change everything. They had to have known that one day it would all come down to you.”
“Again, why are you telling me this now?” Liv’s voice echoed, her emotion cutting her in two.
“Because I need you to know that if things fall apart, if you lose your magic, if you feel like you can’t go on,” Plato said, real conviction in his voice, “remember with every fiber of your being that I’ve seen everything in this world. I’ve been here since the beginning. I’m fueled by magic as old as this Earth. That which created Papa Creola also made me. And Liv, if anything happens to you, I hope that same power quickly takes me from this place.”
“Plato,” Liv said, her voicing cracking so painfully that it stole her breath.
“Liv Beaufont, watching over you has been the greatest honor of my very long life,” Plato continued. “Not being able to follow you into this battle is by far the worst thing that has happened to me, but I have to let you go. I just want you to know how much I sincerely care about you. And I’m not telling you this in case you don’t return. I’m telling you this so that you will.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Liv was so floored by Plato’s confession that she didn’t respond right away. By the time she’d found her voice, he’d disappeared, and Stefan stepped through the portal.
He stared around, disoriented. “Something was wrong with the portal.”
She nodded. “My best friend did it.”
Stefan gave her a questioning look. “Oh, is that person here?”
Liv looked around, a strange peace in her heart. “Yes, for now, he is. And he’s not a person. He’s the most incredible magical creature in the world.”
With a smile, Stefan shook his head. “You are such an enigma. Will I ever know all your secrets?”
“God, I hope not,” Liv said with a sigh. “How boring would that be!”
Stefan glanced up at the peak, his eyes shaded by his hand. “So that’s our destination. Should we sing on the way up?”
“You can, but I might kill you.”
He chuckled. “Okay, so no to singing. I’ve got a whole pile of knock-knock jokes. How about that?”
Liv reached out and grabbed Stefan’s shirt, an expression of mock anger on her face. “How about no?”
He clamped his hand over hers, a sideways grin on his face. “I like you when you pretend you’re mad. Well, really, I like you always.”
Liv pulled him closer, her mouth inches from his. He leaned in. When he was just about to kiss her, she pushed him to the side, striding past him. “We better get going,” she said, hiding the sly grin on her face.
“Oh, you tease,” he said, catching up with her easily.
“The hike should take us several hours from here,” Liv stated.
“It will take you several hours,” he bantered back at her. “I’d be up there already if I wasn’t waiting for you.”
She laughed. “Don’t make me change my mind about bringing you with me.”
“Oh, I won’t,” Stefan said. “I’m hoping you’ll think it’s the best decision you’ve made. Then you won’t want to get rid of me.”
“I do like working alone, though,” Liv said.
“Yes, but no one is an island.”
“And after this, I’ve got to go back to working for Father Time.”
“Who knows what the world will look like after this?” Stefan said.
Liv could hardly fathom that possibility. This was what the Beaufonts had been trying to do from the beginning—reunite mortals with magic. Her parents had made this same hike to disrupt the signal. It was surreal to realize she was following in their actual footsteps.
She glanced sideways at Stefan, grateful that she wasn’t alone on this mission. She did like working alone, or so she had thought, but in truth, Liv had never actually been alone. Plato had been there, and now Stefan was. In the future, she’d have others by her side. That was how the best things in this world were done, with the help of friends.
“You’re smiling,” Stefan said, studying her expression.
“No, I’m not,” she argued.
“Then what do you call that look on your face?” he asked.
“Indigestion,” she lied.
“You’re beautifully ridiculous.”
“And you’re—”
Stefan halted, throwing his arm in front of Liv protectively.
“What is it?” she asked in a whisper.
He sniffed. “Demons.”
“Here?” she questioned, pulling Bellator from its sheath. “Well, looks like I brought the right person with me.�
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Stefan didn’t laugh as she’d expected. His face was pale, a strange expression covering his features. “There’s something not right about these demons.”
“When is there anything right about a soul-sucking demon?” Liv asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on yet. I can’t figure out what I’m sensing, but be on guard.”
“Of course,” Liv said, allowing Stefan to take the spot in front of her. Never before had the potential of demons being present worried him. He was immune to their attacks. However, from his stance, he was deathly afraid of what lay ahead.
Liv kept scanning the ground under their feet, remembering when demons had hidden in the dirt so they could pull Stefan down in an attempt to suffocate him. She was so focused on studying the ground that she ran into Stefan when he stopped suddenly.
“Sorry,” she said, and quickly shut her mouth when she glanced up. Her chest constricted, and her breath blew between her lips. “It wasn’t demons that you were sensing.”
“No, something much worse,” he said, his arm protectively around her. “Tourists.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Adler had expected Olivia Beaufont to come after him. He had bet on it. She was too late, though. Not only was the signal killing mortals all over the world, but it also couldn’t be stopped. He’d seen to that. The magic tech powering the signal was too powerful.
Unfortunately, the signal hadn’t worked based on proximity, which meant that the mortals climbing the Matterhorn hadn’t been affected yet. Adler backed away from the orb that showed him Olivia Beaufont and Stefan Ludwig ascending the peak. He’d set up security to warn him if anyone with magic made the climb. He should have suspected that she’d recruit the demon hunter. Stefan might be good at hunting demons, but how would he do without magic?