Justice Unhatched (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 5)

by Sarah Noffke

  “If I don’t have my memories, how do I know how I broke my heart?” Ainsley demanded.

  Saint Valentine pressed his lips together, unwilling to answer the question.

  “Someone has to tell me what happened.” Ainsley looked between the man before her and Mama Jamba, desperate for answers. “Please, I just want to know so I can get my life back. I just want to—”

  “It was me,” Hiker Wallace said, interrupting her.

  All eyes spun to face him.

  He cleared his throat, unwilling to look directly at Ainsley. “I broke your heart. You were a delegate advisor to the Dragon Elite from the Elfin Council. We fell in love, but I told you we didn’t have a future because I was married to my job as the leader of the Dragon Elite. Then the war came, and Thad attacked, and you sacrificed yourself for me. I’m sorry. That’s what happened, and it’s history, and there isn’t anything I can do to change things. Even if there was, I don’t see it playing out any differently. Love isn’t a luxury that we, the Dragon Elite, are allowed. We fight wars and resolve disagreements so others can know and have what we cannot.”

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One

  The timing of the LiDAR being ready was either going to be a saving grace or make things tenser. Hiker and Ainsley locked up in the Castle together was probably not for the best. The leader of the Dragon Elite didn’t think it was a good idea he go on missions until he learned how to fully control his new inherited power.

  Sophia figured Ainsley would stay as far from him as possible…maybe for a century or two. It could not have been easy for the housekeeper to learn she had once loved Hiker, and he had loved her. She knew the truth now and she wasn’t going to be forgetting it.

  To further complicate things, Sophia and Wilder on a mission together wasn’t ideal. It was time to recover the dragon eggs. They had what they needed to dig them up, but it would require all of the dragonriders.

  Sophia worked to secure the LiDAR equipment onto Lunis with Mahkah’s help. He was the right one to be around her right then because he didn’t talk unnecessarily and had a calming effect.

  I like this new bling look, Lunis said as they secured the last bit of equipment.

  She shook her head. “You’re not a rapper wearing gold chains. This is very expensive equipment and we need to be very careful.”

  The other dragons landed close by, all of them giving Lunis strange looks as he got loaded up.

  Why don’t you take a picture, he spat at them. It will last longer.

  Bell, like Hiker, would stay behind but it was because she had to babysit the bad dragons. The old dragon was in no way pleased about this.

  Sophia stood back, checking Lunis over. “Okay, I think this works. It’s a bit bulky, but it should work.”

  “He will be much slower than normal,” Mahkah offered.

  That still makes me faster than slowpoke Coral, Lunis said, sticking out his tongue at the purple dragon.

  Very mature, she replied, throwing her snout in the air.

  I know you are , but what am I? Lunis replied.

  Sophia shook her head. “I knew there would be drawbacks to having the LiDAR equipment on him. I suspect he will lose other powers as well.”

  Mahkah nodded. “He probably will not be able to use fire and have decreased power.”

  “As a plus,” Sophia countered, “the LiDAR should be powerful and work faster, which is good because then we can whip in and out of there.”

  Yeah, after our ditch diggers get the eggs, Lunis stated, laughing at the dragons.

  They had been chosen to dig up the eggs since that would require them to wear less equipment. Their sharp claws would work like shovels, hopefully making fast work of it. The regal dragons were not excited about being turned into magic shovels, but none of them wanted the technology job, so it meant they had to settle for the more manual one.

  Evan slapped his hands together as he strode out to the Expanse, which was still littered with colorful dragon eggs. Thankfully no more had hatched. Sophia was hoping they wouldn’t until she had a chance to focus on what came out of the eggs. If they had any more evil dragons at the Gullington, things were going to heat up pretty fast.

  “All right,” Evan said, excitedly. “Who is ready to go on an egg hunt?”

  “You are , it seems.” Sophia didn’t look directly at Wilder as he approached behind Evan. Things were awkward between them after the whole Saint Valentine thing, but time would hopefully ease tension.

  She pulled three small screens from the equipment and powered them up, handing one to each of the men. “Once we take the first few readings using the LiDAR, the mapping will show up on these devices. That’s how we will locate the dragon eggs.”

  “Question,” Evan asked, studying his device. “How do we know that what registers on these are dragon eggs and not rocks? I don’t want to excavate a bunch of junk.”

  “Alicia tweaked the tech to specifically work on dragon eggs,” Sophia explained. “And dragon eggs are naturally hot so they will show up as bright red, indicating a heat source.”

  “Okay,” Evan said, taking off for his dragon. “Let’s do this! The last one there’s a rotten egg!”

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two

  Much of this LiDAR was based on a hunch, but she had learned that to trust her gut was almost better than relying on solid data.

  As the four dragonriders rode through the portal and over the Colorado terrain, worry started to build in her. If she was wrong…

  She had spent twenty million dollars on this project. Well, King Rudolf had, but still. Alicia had worked nonstop on getting the LiDAR equipment ready fast, not to mention the guys were all at her back and would witness her failure. The worst part would be the dragon eggs would still be out there, lost.

  Believe in yourself, Lunis encouraged. At the end of the day, the battles we win are because we believe in our abilities. We always have a choice between believing we can or we cannot. That becomes our reality. At this eleventh hour, if you doubt yourself, that’s going to influence how things go.

  She smiled, grateful for his sage wisdom. It was ironic to her that her dragon could make silly jokes and then spout great wisdom.

  Sophia reminded herself of a Zelda Fitzgerald quote. Since attending the Great Gatsby, roaring twenties party at Cupid’s mansion, she had been obsessed with the Fitzgeralds, brushing up on their work in her spare time which there had not been much of, but one always made time for great literature.

  The quote was perfect for this momentous occasion, reminding Sophia to believe in herself. Zelda Fitzgerald had said, “She quietly expected great things to happen to her, and no doubt that’s one of the reasons why they did.”

  The words instantly made her feel better as she repeated them in her mind and powered up the LiDAR equipment. It was strange to ride on the back of her dragon while typing on several different workstations, all with monitors and advanced technology, but it was also awesome. She had leaned into this magitech, taking dragon-riding to a whole new twentieth-century level.

  The LiDAR went to work, scanning the terrain below. The landscape was all mountains and prairies—the Colorado spring bringing colors as new life sprouted from the dirt.

  Beside them, a flock of birds soared in the opposite direction as a herd of buffalo streaked by on the ground below. This, like Scotland, felt like untouched territory, rustic and untamed. There was something innately perfect about Mama Jamba’s planet.

  Sophia waited for the first readings to come through as Coral sped by Lunis, doing spirals. From the purple dragon’s back, Evan hollered, “Who’s the slow dragon now?”

  The equipment had slowed Lunis down a lot. That worried Sophia if they were attacked. He didn’t have any offensive or defensive measures right now. But like Plato had warned, using technology always came with a tradeoff. Sophia just hoped the benefit of having it on Lunis was worth it.

  As the report delayed in loading, the doubt started to build in her mi
nd.

  Remember where your faith needs to reside, Lunis told her.

  Sophia nodded. “She quietly expected great things to happen to her, and no doubt that’s one of the reasons why they did,” she repeated to herself.

  The screen refreshed. The LiDAR was working. Better yet, it appeared it had picked up thirteen hot objects in the ground below.

  Thirteen dragon eggs!

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Three

  Sophia and Lunis stayed in the air as the other three dragonriders landed, following the maps on their handheld devices.

  Now that Sophia knew where to look, she could see the markings in the soil that indicated it had recently been upturned when the dragon eggs were buried. It still burned her Trin Currante had gone to such lengths—tricking her into giving her The Complete History of Dragonriders, reading all their secrets, poisoning Quiet and then stealing the dragon eggs. Even so, she had a hesitation in her loathing for the cyborg.

  There was something she didn’t know. Something important. She had to figure it out once the dragon eggs were back at the Gullington, safe once more. Even if they were evil dragons that hatched from the shells, they were still hers.

  Lunis continued to circle overhead, the LiDAR continuing to operate so as to give the guys more accurate readings on the ground. It wouldn’t take long for the dragons to dig up the eggs, but the more specific the location, the faster their jobs would be.

  Sophia looked out at the Colorado frontier, taking a moment to enjoy the view. It was never lost on her that she rode on the back of a dragon and got to see everything from the skies, but sometimes the stress of the missions made her miss the beauty of the world.

  Sorry to interrupt your respite, Lunis chimed in her head.

  She smiled into the wind. “What is it?”

  It appears there are alarms on the ground below, he told her.

  Sophia pulled her gaze down immediately to see what he meant. That’s when she saw it.

  On the ground, multiple portals were being opened and steampunk cyborg pirates were stepping through, looking fierce and ready to fight.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four

  Landing wasn’t an option for Sophia and Lunis. She needed to monitor the LiDAR equipment, and he needed to stay flying. That left them helpless to watch as the guys were ambushed as dozens of cyborgs ran through the portals, ready to fight.

  Sophia had to hand it to Trin Currante. She was alert and ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Lunis was right, there had to be some sort of alarm that clued her in when they had landed on this territory where the dragon eggs were.

  Having to watch the three dragonriders from the air wasn’t what Sophia wanted. She always wanted to be a part of the action. She wanted to fight alongside her friends and to have their backs, but that wasn’t her role in this battle. She and Lunis needed to stick to the sky.

  They can handle this, Lunis assured her.

  She nodded, grateful for his encouragement as she watched three men with face masks and goggles race in Wilder’s direction.

  From atop his dragon, he pulled out his sword and charged at the men who had guns and flamethrowers. She felt he was ill-prepared to fight such types of warriors.

  Have faith, Lunis reminded her. Guns are fast and easy, but they’re not better.

  She was happy to have his wisdom when she needed it most.

  As the first of the pirates powered up his flamethrower, Wilder shot in his direction, twirling his sword. The man must have miscalculated either how long it would take for the flamethrower to work or how fast the dragon could run because Simi was on him in seconds. Wilder struck his sword across the man’s midsection, sending him to the ground as the dragon’s tail whipped around and took out a second man. He fell like a twig being stomped on.

  The third man held up a rifle, which was his arm, and pointed it at Wilder. The dragonrider ducked when the first blast was fired. Then as the guy reloaded, the master of weapons held up his hand and closed his fingers. The gun on the man’s arm mimicked this movement, closing up on itself, being crushed immediately. The man screamed, turning and running the other way.

  See, Lunis insisted. You don’t have to worry. He is a big boy and can take care of himself.

  Sophia knew he was right, but then her gaze drifted to Mahkah and Evan on the ground, and she had similar worries for them.

  Mahkah was surrounded.

  Evan was off Coral; something had pulled him to the ground and separated him from his dragon.

  If things were not exciting enough, another portal opened, but this one was right in front of Lunis and Sophia and the steampunk zeppelin that had attacked the Gullington flew through, Trin Currante easily visible at the front.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five

  Remember that positive thinking? Lunis asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, fear running rampant in her head.

  Time to abandon that, he urged. We’re totally screwed.

  She didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. They were slow, and he could not use his fire. She had magic, but against the huge zeppelin, she doubted it would do much good.

  “I’m going to portal us home,” Sophia stated.

  No, Lunis said with conviction. We will lose the mapping, and then they will move the dragon eggs. We stay. We fight.

  Sophia playfully argued with Lunis all the time, but when he was adamant about something, like this, she listened. “Okay, we fight.”

  She held up her hand, trying to decide what spell would be the best against the zeppelin. She decided to rely on the element that came to magicians best, the one they presided over—wind.

  Forcing all of her strength into the spell, she shot it at the zeppelin, deciding it was best to put all her effort into one spell rather than divide it up into several attacks.

  The wind spell hit the side of the zeppelin and sent it sideways toward the mountain. It began losing height fast and she almost rejoiced, thinking she had been successful at taking down the huge aircraft. Then it zoomed around and regained height, its panels flapping in the wind like an undeterred bird.

  Sophia braced herself on Lunis. She was surrounded by millions of dollars of equipment, but the most important, most valuable thing was under her. Her dragon was irreplaceable.

  She was just about to refuse him and open a portal when the first attack came. That stole her attention from creating a portal as Lunis had to move to avoid it, but he was much slower than normal and the missile whizzed dangerously close, brushing his underbelly.

  Sophia held her breath as she felt his pain from the attack.

  The zeppelin launched three more attacks in succession. Sophia watched them come toward her in slow motion. There was no way they could dodge all those.

  They were going down.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six

  Sophia braced herself for the hits. Lunis naturally wore armor, and she could partially shield him. She might be able to deflect one of the attacks, but three missiles were more than they could safely withstand.

  She was just about to knock down the first missile when it dropped from the air and landed on the ground, exploding on top of a band of pirates below.

  Stunned, Sophia looked around just in time to see Wilder and Simi cutting across and coming to their rescue. He flashed her a smile as he pushed off the other two attacks, deflecting them at the ground where Mahkah and Evan were making up lost territory, pushing the steampunk pirates back toward the hills.

  With the two missiles racing after the cyborgs, they began opening portals to escape as they realized they were overrun.

  Evan was back on Coral and scorching a few men who were slow to react. Coral opened her mouth, sending fire on the men. “Haha!” Evan yelled. “How is that for a flamethrower, you metal pirates!”

  Wilder gave Sophia one last reassuring glance over his shoulder as he and Simi raced in the direction of the zeppelin, sending attack after attack at the helium balloon that kept it afloat.
The guy looked charged and ready. Sophia almost felt sorry for the zeppelin. It was coming down, she suspected.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven

  From high atop Lunis, Sophia watched as the men battled the cyborgs on the ground and Wilder scared the zeppelin away. It opened a portal, escaping before he could bring it down properly, which she was certain he could do. He appeared very motivated, with a heat in his actions she had never seen.

  It was then she recognized he was defending her. Not just her and Lunis while they were mostly defenseless but mostly her. Even after everything, he was protective of her. She wanted to think it was because they were friends and fellow dragonriders, but she knew there was another connection that made him charge after the huge and stocked zeppelin and send it flying for the hills in the distance.

  When the last of the pirates had been scared away, the dragons went to work excavating the eggs. It was quick work but still took precision. Digging haphazardly into the ground and crushing an egg would be no good. The LiDAR and its constant reporting were crucial. Lunis and Sophia continued to circle, staying vigilant for the return of any of Trin Currante’s crew.

  The cyborgs must have known they had won. The Dragon Elite were taking back their dragon eggs. That should have made Sophia proud and happy. She should be celebrating, but for some reason, something felt off about the whole thing. She wanted her dragon eggs back, but she also wanted to know why someone would go to such great lengths to get them.

  Trin Currante wasn’t someone to underestimate. She was a woman who had somehow overthrown an organization, taken out the librarian of the Great Library, impersonated him, read a book Sophia had yet to even crack, and figured out how to get into the Gullington and steal dragon eggs. Trin Currante was a devilishly smart woman, and strangely Sophia didn’t want to fight her.