Ultimate Resolve (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 12)

by Sarah Noffke

  “Plenty.” Cooper stepped forward and offered her his hand.

  She took it and felt the warmth. The security—and the pleasant sensation of someone embracing her although she was in werewolf form. He hadn’t hesitated.

  With a spark in his eyes, Copper gave her a wide grin. “Ready to freeze some bombs?”

  “I feel like I was born ready for this.” Alina closed her eyes and mustered the energy to send these bombs away for a very long time.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Five

  Lunis went after Versalee and her dragon so fast that Sophia had to hold on to stay in place. She could feel his hunger to close the distance. To end this. To stop the injustice that these two had started. However, that would come at a very risky price.

  They soared through the volcano tunnels, Sophia low on Lunis and the dragon flapping his wings a minimal amount to keep from hitting the cave walls. Up ahead, they could see Versalee and her dragon Ash. They moved fast and stealthily, but they didn’t move as one—that was the one thing that being around the lava hadn’t given them.

  The thing about a dragon and a rider was that if they weren’t connected through body, mind, and spirit, then if one thought something and the other did something, it would contradict. They had to be aligned, or the consequences could be deadly.

  Too quickly, Sophia saw Versalee and Ash exit the tunnel and worried about where they were off to.

  It’s the main room, Lunis answered her anxious thoughts. I saw that there were multiple ways in and out of there.

  Okay, at least we know that area, Sophia thought to him.

  They know it better than us, he argued.

  True, but we know each other better than they know each other, she countered.

  Sophia and Lunis spilled out of the tunnel and into the big bright room full of multiple lava falls and a magma lake, which would have been pretty if one didn’t know that it would melt their flesh if not magically protected. Even with the protective spell from the elves or Versalee’s magic from Ash, they weren’t completely protected.

  For instance, Hiker’s and Bell’s power was the sun, which worked best on sunny days. Still, put them on the sun, and they’d melt. Put Sophia and Lunis on the moon, and they’d suffocate. There were always limitations to these things. Too much of a good thing was exactly that—too much, and it killed.

  Versalee laughed as she and Ash circled the space as if they were doing a victory march already.

  Sophia went to pull out Bellator, but Lunis told her not to.

  This isn’t a battle of weapons, he urged. It’s one of wills.

  I don’t think I understand, she stated.

  Go for her, he argued.

  Sophia did, and the orange dragon shot fire at Lunis and Sophia as they raced away.

  The blue dragon was great at deflecting the fire, but even if he wasn’t, Wilder was overhead sending down arrows that stopped the fire with walls of ice, which instantly sent Versalee and her lava dragon into a panic. They couldn’t seem to figure out where the ice originated.

  That allowed Sophia and Lunis to dive at them at an opportune moment, hoping it would back them into a corner, both literally and figuratively. What happened next wasn’t planned.

  Wilder had fired several shots at once, creating a wall of ice behind Versalee and her dragon. Not too much of an obstacle for a trained dragon and rider—but that’s not what they were. Beside them was one of the many lava falls.

  Sophia and Lunis could only imagine that Versalee had urged her dragon to break through the ice when he thought that charging through the lava fall was the only option. The result was deadly.

  The dragon and rider not communicating together proved to be their downfall. They melted instantly upon hitting the lava, becoming one with the lake below as they sank to the bottom and disappeared—forever.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Six

  Sophia was still shaken by the image of Versalee going down with her dragon in the lava fall. It wasn’t something she ever wanted to relive. It wasn’t a fate that most should suffer. However, she’d given the demon dragonrider a chance, and Versalee hadn’t taken it.

  As Sophia and Lunis landed in front of the Rogue Riders, she summoned the courage for what she had to do next. Only Hiker Wallace and Sophia knew what they had planned because she knew that otherwise, it would be too difficult to do. When she and Hiker had come up with the idea, it had closed up her throat, but once they talked it through, she knew it was right. It was the only option.

  Then she’d phoned King Rudolf Sweetwater, and he’d come through with a place, and it all had worked out. The only problem was that Sophia’s heart was resisting each step of the way.

  You can do it, Soph, Lunis encouraged after they landed in front of row upon row of dragons and riders, all standing at attention waiting for her address.

  What if it’s the wrong decision? she asked her dragon.

  It’s not, he stated. You were meant for this, and you know it. Sometimes you have to give up something good to get something great.

  What I had was great, she argued.

  What you had was what you knew, he countered. What you’ll create will be greatness. What we create. We’re the ones meant for this, and you’ve known it all along.

  Sophia tried to answer, but her throat ached with tears, so she simply slid off her dragon and tried to appear strong when she didn’t feel it. All that day, she’d told herself that when the moment came, she’d rise to the challenge. Now here they were, and she wanted to crumble, but that wasn’t an option.

  Behind her, she sensed Mahkah, Evan, and Wilder and their dragons. They had done brilliantly getting to this point, and getting the newbie dragonriders through their first battle.

  Sophia felt remorse that this would come as a shock to them, but it was the way of change. It was the way things had to go. They would understand. Wilder would…

  “Thank you for joining me here,” Sophia began in a voice like what Hiker used earlier that day when he addressed the Dragon Elite. “I’m Sophia Beaufont, the first female dragonrider, but that’s not why you should take note of me. Nor should you pay Lunis and me extra respect because we magnetized to each other when he was still in the shell.”

  After this admission, the Dragon Elite members behind her chuckled, saying things like, “I love it when she discloses that.”

  The Rogue Riders in front of her gasped.

  “The reason you should take note of me,” Sophia continued, “is that I’ve had the unfortunate job of ending your leader Versalee.”

  There was no remorse from the crowd of Rogue Riders in front of Sophia. They looked around as if wondering how they should respond.

  “By doing that,” Sophia continued, mustering the strength. “It makes me the new leader of the Rogue Riders.”

  The real response came after that, both from the crowd in front of Sophia and the men behind her. Both were a mixture of excitement and protests.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven

  “What!” Wilder exclaimed and strode forward, nervous fury on his face.

  Sophia held up a hand, pausing him.

  “The Rogue Riders have never prospered,” Sophia continued, talking to Wilder and also the demon dragonriders before her, “because you all never had the right leader. Now, I may not be that, but I might be your best chance. You see, the Rogue Riders are meant to govern the criminal world. At first, I thought we needed to stamp out criminals, but that’s a lofty goal. It’s unrealistic. What if they were governed instead, so that crime wasn’t such a bad word? It simply meant a different kind of business. In the past, demon dragonriders did that, and although exceptional, let’s admit, you all have no moral compass.”

  The men in front of Sophia laughed, agreeing. Wilder at her side did not.

  “My point,” Sophia continued, “is that I’ve taken this role, and I believe I’ll be good at it. As the peace offering I promised, I offer you a place to call home that doesn’t have any lav
a or snow.”

  Sophia ignored Wilder’s questioning look and created a portal, welcoming all the demon dragonriders and everyone else to step through to the place that King Rudolf Sweetwater had helped her secure.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Eight

  “Is that a pool?” Evan called when they had all stepped through the portal. “I want to live here.”

  Before the Rogue Riders, Dragon Elite, and Sophia was a mansion in Beverly Hills—a gift from King Rudolf Sweetwater. There were at least forty bedrooms and bathrooms, a pool room, game hall, three kitchens, and grounds for dragons and many other magical creatures. It was the new home to the Rogue Riders if they wanted it.

  “I’m not going to force you all to stay here,” Sophia began in a clear voice. “However, this is your new home if you want it.”

  “Want it?” Evan asked. “I’m taking the biggest bedroom.”

  She laughed. “You belong at the Gullington with the Dragon Elite.”

  “So do you,” Wilder muttered behind her.

  She shook this off. “This will be the headquarters for the Rogue Riders. We will police mortal criminal activity, not stopping it, but making sure it minds certain guidelines. We’ll take a percentage of profits, but not so much that it’s unfair. The idea is that we can’t stamp it out, so if we know what drug dealers are doing, we can ensure they’re selling good products to the right people. We can ensure that black market items aren’t harmful. We can stop the really bad criminals because we’ll have the inside scoop. I’m not running a group of criminals. I’m running a bunch of dragonriders who keep the world safe by policing those who would disobey the rules unless we make them operate within ours.”

  “Hear! Hear!” many of the dragonriders yelled, excited and approving.

  “Instead of fighting the Dragon Elite,” Sophia turned to face Wilder, who she knew was devastated and blindsided, “we’ll work with them. They’re our partners.”

  In time, Wilder would understand. She’d talk to him. He’d realize that she couldn’t stay at the Gullington when she was intended to be a leader of so much more. She and Hiker had discussed this over and over, and it always came down to this.

  “Yay!” the Rogue Riders exclaimed. “Three cheers for Sophia Beaufont, the leader of the Rogue Riders!”

  The loudest three votes Sophia needed to feel at home in her birthplace of Los Angeles followed that.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Nine

  “Explain it to me one more time,” Wilder encouraged as he combed his fingers through his hair, pulling it down on his forehead.

  Sophia was in her new bedroom inside the mansion in Beverly Hills. It didn’t feel old or new, and there was no Quiet, but in time, it would be what she made it. Not the House of Fourteen or the Castle, but rather the Rogue Riders’ Mansion. Something new.

  “We decided that I was cut out for something more,” Sophia stated.

  “You and Hiker,” Wilder clarified.

  “I’m still with the Dragon Elite,” she explained. “I’m always one of y’all. I’m still the leader in the field for the angel riders. Think of me as the Hiker for the Rogue Riders. In time, I’ll find my second in command here to lead in the field.”

  “But you aren’t with us at the Gullington,” he argued.

  She shook her head. “I’m here because I need to be. I’ll be called in on missions and work alongside you and the others. It’s just that Hiker needed a leader for the Rogue Riders, and it made the most sense that it was an angel dragonrider.”

  Wilder nodded. “It made the most sense that it was you.”

  Sophia let out a breath. “I’m only a portal away. I’m always so close. It’s just that I’ll be here a lot. When I’m not, I’ll visit. I’m still second in command. It’s simply a different structure than before.”

  “Everything is changing.” He sounded crestfallen.

  Sophia wanted to hug him and tell him he was wrong, but he wasn’t. That’s how life went. She didn’t want to leave the Gullington, but she also wasn’t in a way. She was here, and she was there. Sophia wasn’t supposed to be confined, she realized. She was a true dragonrider and was meant for all places. More than that, Sophia felt like this was her calling—being the Rogue Riders’ leader. It’s what Oscar Beaufont’s prophecy had been about.

  She believed in the demon dragonriders. Believed they could do good if led by the right person. Sophia wanted to be that person. The world needed the Rogue Riders. It always had. Hopefully, with both the Dragon Elite and the Rogue Riders strong again, things would shift for the best. First, she needed the man in front of her to accept that, and currently, he didn’t look happy about the decision.

  “I’ve always known since I set eyes on you,” Wilder began, “that you could never be like me and confined to the Gullington. You tried escaping straight away, asking for missions. The rest of us were content with being locked up for decades.” He laughed. “I should have known that you would spread your wings and find something bigger. I know you being here isn’t ideal for us. It makes it harder to see each other. But Sophia Beaufont, how can I take you away from the world that I know you’re meant to save? I can’t, is the answer. So I ask that you let me visit when you have a day off—if you ever have a day off.”

  Sophia was grateful that the man before her was so understanding. So thoughtful. She hoped that one day, they found their way to each other—for good.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him with a passion that she didn’t think would ever die, no matter what the greatest evil threw at them. Some things in this world could beat all odds.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty

  Sophia pressed the note to her chest that she’d received in her new office. She looked around, not believing that she had her own office, in her mansion… In Beverly Hills. One day, maybe it would set in. Maybe.

  Sophia pulled the note away from her chest and reread it, the tears spilling down her cheeks again.

  Dear Sophia Beaufont, Leader of the Rogue Riders,

  I’m most grateful that you were able to defeat the evil Versalee. She was so awful and created so many problems for mortals.

  The Brownie Union reviewed the evidence that I submitted. After a careful evaluation, they reached the verdict that my assisting the Dragon Elite and magicians helped you all be successful. So not only have I been pardoned and placed back in my old position, but going forward, helping magicians like you will be acceptable.

  I’m so grateful that we could change the world. Make it better. I’m so thankful you believed in me and trusted me when things got difficult. More than anything, I’m grateful that you want to continue helping the world be a better place. Since you’ve taken over, leading the Rogue Riders, criminal activity has improved. It’s there, as you said it would be, but it’s managed. Those who do things deemed illegal do it within acceptable parameters. The horrible crimes like murder are down because of you and your Rogue Riders.

  I’m grateful every day that the Beaufont sisters work with me, and I work with them. Forever and ever, I hope.

  Best wishes,

  Mortimer

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One

  As soon as Sophia got Liv’s call, she made her way to the electronics repair shop. Thankfully the commute wasn’t far, but with portal magic, it never was. The thing was that a portal would only get magicians so far, so being in the same city was ideal. It made sense with her sister having a baby and the world shifting that Sophia should be in LA. It’s where she belonged.

  Sophia had learned something over her time with the Dragon Elite. Home wasn’t a place. It wasn’t the Gullington or Scotland or the House of Fourteen. It was Liv and Clark, and her friends and Wilder, and those people were always wherever she was. Sophia was always wherever the adventure was. So she’d find her home no matter what.

  “You called?” Sophia nearly burst through the front door, worried something was wrong. Liv never called.

  Her sister smiled, Alicia b
eside her with a handheld device.

  “Alicia has the device ready that will tell me whether I’m having an angel or demon dragon,” Liv joked.

  The magitech scientist shook her head. “No, it will tell her about temperament, most likely. Pull up a chair.”

  Sophia hurried over, excited to be able to be present for such an occasion, another perk of being the leader of the Rogue Riders.

  Alicia started the device and was about to scan Liv’s midsection when the front door chimed again as someone entered. All three magicians turned to see the visitor, annoyed that a customer would want help right then. However, it wasn’t a customer.

  Sophia recognized the person who strode through the door as a fairy godmother. She wore the baby blue silk robe tied with the pink ribbon at the neck and the hood partially obscuring her head.

  All three magicians tensed as the figure strode forward before pausing and lowering her hood to reveal grayish-blue hair. The woman looked old and young, and she was Asian. Even stranger was that she had braces and glasses, really confusing her age. Was she thirteen or thirty or three hundred? It was hard to tell.

  “Who are you?” Liv asked.

  “I’m Yosole,” the woman replied in a deep voice.

  Liv nodded. “Of course. I should have guessed that my soul was a young, old Asian girl with braces and glasses.”

  The woman shook her head. “No, my name is Yosole.”

  “Well, that’s confusing,” Liv replied. “Why are you here, Yosole?”

  “Because you don’t need that device.” She indicated the magitech in Alicia’s hands. “I’m here to tell you everything you need to know about your child.”

  “Why?” Liv questioned.

  “Because that way you won’t question it,” Yosole stated.