Rectify Injustice (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 6)

by Sarah Noffke

  To Sophia’s surprise, the others in line behind him echoed his words.

  Sophia smiled at her sister as she turned the doorknob to the shop. “After you, Inspector.”

  Chapter Ninety-Six

  Firelight filled the Midnight Lunar Eclipse candy shop when Liv and Sophia rushed into the shop, closing the door behind them.

  The place was full of bins of paper-wrapped candies. Chocolate bars sat in stacks on the shelves. Fairies buzzed around stocking things and left behind twinkling lights as they sped across the store. Sophia was certain the whole place was a blaze of colors in real life. However, they were invaders in the reset and couldn’t see anything but black and white.

  Glancing down, Sophia gulped. The black and white had reached their ankles. They didn’t have long.

  “Hey,” Liv said in a rush. “We need—”

  An elfish woman with short brown hair and discerning eyes narrowed them at the sisters. “Where’s everybody?”

  Liv glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. “No clue. Guessing there’s a thing and they’ve all decided to stay home. Maybe they are worried about werewolves.”

  Sophia tensed, ready to defend her sister with another excuse. The woman sat on her stool behind the counter and nodded. “Makes sense. That’s the risk I take opening on a full moon, but it still beats my old job.”

  “Cool,” Liv said, striding over. “We are looking for something very specific and don’t have long. We need—”

  “Accounting.” The woman cut her off. “I used to be an accountant. Then I got in trouble. Got a rap sheet, if you will. I’m from the future, so that may be terminology you aren’t that familiar with.”

  “You’d be surprised,” Liv said, dismissing the woman. “As I was saying—”

  “My name is Sica.” The woman interrupted again. “Haven’t seen anyone in quite some time, so excuse me if I crave a bit of small talk.”

  “Would love to,” Liv stated. “However, we’re pressed for time.” She glanced down.

  The only color was on their feet.

  The ex-accountant motioned over to a shelf. “Pick up the Mo-Time Meringues. They make each minute last up to two.”

  Liv shook her head. “That would work under normal circumstances, but it won’t right now.”

  Sica waved her off. “Time is always ticking for those who like to count. That’s why I don’t anymore. Back in the day, I was an accountant, but—”

  “Got it,” Liv cut in. “You used to balance books, now you make candy. We need chewing gum that makes the chewer happy no matter what.”

  “Oh,” Sica exclaimed. “Smile Despite Reality Chewing gum. Yeah, it’s in that bin right over there.” She pointed at a barrel full of all sorts of different varieties.

  There were jawbreakers, gummies, and chocolates wrapped in foil and many other things.

  “Where there?” Sophia asked, striding over to the barrel.

  Sica leaned back on the shelf behind her. “Beats me. I just throw everything into a barrel and let the masses find what they are looking for.”

  “Impeccable customer service,” Liv said dryly, irritation heavy on her face.

  “It sure is strange you’re the only customers,” Sica said, narrowing her eyes at the front door. “I only open up for one hour a day on a lunar eclipse for a reason.”

  “To be an official pain in the ass?” Liv asked as she rushed over and began to help Sophia search through the contents of the barrel. They were both throwing candy onto the floor after determining it wasn’t chewing gum. Sica didn’t seem to notice as she peered at the ceiling.

  “Intrigue,” the candy maker stated. “Everyone wants to visit a shop that’s open so rarely. It creates demand. Usually by this time, we’re almost sold out of everything.” She shrugged, not seeming put off by her current reality of disappointment. “Oh, well, at least nothing bad is approaching.”

  Liv peered at Sophia over the mound of candy as they continued to search. “Yep, no war or anything.”

  “Did you say you were from the future?” Sophia asked, furiously combing through the candy.

  “Well, sure,” Sica replied. “I’m a planner, so I live in the future. When we look ahead or back, we are in essence time-traveling.”

  Liv shook her head and gave her sister an irritated expression. “Damn hippies. They always say shit like that.”

  Sophia chanced a glance down. The only color remaining was in her toes. “Liv!”

  Her sister jerked her head down, seeing what Sophia saw. Her eyes widened. “Damn it! We’re almost out of time.”

  Sica laughed. “I’ve found that time stretches when I need more, and it shrinks when I need less. You just have to tell it what you want. It’s here to serve us.”

  “Would you shut it?” Liv snapped, frantically digging into the barrel of candy, knocking big piles onto the floor.

  “I’ve got it!” Sophia exclaimed, reaching into her cloak for where she’d stuck the pocket watch.

  Liv looked ready to knock it out of her hand when she saw it. “Don’t mess with the minute hand. We can’t reverse time.”

  “No, we can’t,” Sophia agreed. “But we might be able to stop it. If only for a second.” She held the pocket watch high above her head and gave her sister a tentative expression.

  Liv realized what she intended to do and nodded. “Yes, try it. It’s our last hope.”

  With deliberate force, Sophia threw the pocket watch on the wooden floor of the candy store where it busted at once. They had either sealed their fates here, or they had bought themselves a few minutes.

  Sophia checked her feet. The only color was in the tips of her toes. They didn’t have long. She turned over her shoulder, and the best bit of news she’d had all day stared back at her as Sica sat frozen on her stool, her mouth half-open as if she were in mid-sentence, but paused.

  “It worked!” she exclaimed.

  “Probably not for long,” Liv said, throwing candy everywhere. “We can’t trick the hands of time for more than a minute or two. I know from experience. When someone pauses time using a device, there are agents that stop them.”

  Sophia shot her sister a look. “You’re talking about you, aren’t you?”

  Liv nodded. “Yes, and in a reality I’ve yet to experience, I step in and stop us.”

  “Then don’t,” Sophia urged.

  Her sister shook her head. “It’s not that easy.”

  “It never is,” Sophia muttered, kicking the barrel over and making all the candy spill out.

  “If I show up to stop us as violators of time,” Liv said quickly, sorting through the candy spread across the floor. “I’ll see myself, and that will instantly have far-reaching effects on me.”

  “So we have to get the gum and get out of here before you catch us from the future.” Sophia couldn’t believe the strange scenario she’d found herself in. It made sense they stopped the magical pocket watch that sped up and apparently paused time. That’s why Liv didn’t have to destroy it in the future. “You would think your boss would have seen all this coming.”

  Liv laughed. “Oh, he most definitely did, but call this a job hazard. I signed a contract and have regretted it ever since.”

  Sophia heard shouting from the other side of the front door.

  “Get back!” a voice yelled. “Official Father Time business.”

  She jerked her head up, her eyes meeting Liv’s. They both recognized the voice of the person yelling.

  “That’s you!” Sophia said.

  “I’m angry,” Liv stated, now throwing candy around.

  Worse than meeting livid Liv was that if her sister did, Sophia knew she probably wouldn’t survive it. It was a part of the laws of time travel. She pulled the gold coin from her pocket. Nothing was worth losing her sister over. She’d just have to call this a failed mission and explain it to Lee. She’d find another way.

  She flipped the coin over to where it said, Reset Point and reached out for her sister’s shou
lder, knowing Liv would never consent to quitting even with her life hanging in the balance. She wasn’t going to ask for permission. Liv’s eyes widened as she realized what Sophia was about to do. She thought her sister would fight her, but instead, Liv dropped to the floor and picked up a round piece of candy tied on either side.

  Sophia flipped the coin to where it said, “Present” as she spied the writing on the wrapper: Smile Despite Reality Chewing gum.

  Chapter Ninety-Seven

  “Ask me how I am,” Liv demanded as they tumbled through the blackness and ended up back on Roya Lane outside a shop that appeared to be boarded up. The street was full of color and so were the sisters.

  Sophia pulled in a deep breath, finding herself laughing. “How are you?”

  “I’m flipping fantastic!” Liv rejoiced, throwing her fist in the air and hollering from elation.

  Continuing to laugh, Sophia doubled over in shock that they had pulled it off. “You have it?”

  Liv pulled out the jar of silly putty from her cloak. “Yeah, don’t fret. I didn’t lose my lucky putty. Although I think I broke a nail earlier, so I’m not sure if it’s working like it should.”

  Sophia shook her head but smiled still. She held out her hand. “The gum. You got it, right?”

  With a satisfied glint in her eyes, Liv slapped it into the palm of her hand. “You know I did.”

  When she pulled her hand away, Sophia was relieved to see the colorfully wrapped piece of gum. She’d never been so grateful to see color in all her life. She let out a relieved breath before remembering something.

  “Liv, I’m sorry. You wanted to get things from Midnight Lunar Eclipse too.”

  She shrugged. “I wanted to get silly stuff to pull pranks on Clark. It’s not a priority. You need to make good on your end of the deal with Lee. Keeping your promises is more important, especially in our line of work. You never want to owe anyone a favor for long. You have to keep your promises and friends because you’ll find you can’t do this job alone. We are always dependent on one another to get things done.”

  Sophia nodded, knowing how true those words were. Her mind skipped to Hiker, who had asked for her help. She pulled the gold coin up and looked at the device her fairy godmother said would help the Viking to reconcile with the past. As instructed, she’d used the reset point to get the gum. Now it needed to be turned over to Hiker Wallace. Who knew what would come of it after this? There was only one way to find out.

  “Thanks for all your help,” Sophia said, opening a portal that would put her outside the Gullington. “I have to get back now because—”

  “Because you’re a Beaufont,” Liv interrupted. “We always have a job to do because that’s why we were put on this Earth. You don’t have to explain. Just know that if you ever need my help dealing with an accountant gone weird or anything else, come and ask me. I’m always here for you, Soph.”

  The dragonrider nodded and smiled fondly at her sister. “Of course. Same to you. Familia est sempiternum.”

  Chapter Ninety-Eight

  “Never going to fall in love again,” Ainsley roared as she thundered down the stairs of the Castle past Sophia.

  Sophia paused and gave the housekeeper a cautious glare. “Are you okay, Ains?”

  The shapeshifter spun, the color of her face matching the shade of her hair. “Does it look like I’m okay?”

  Sophia’s eyes darted from side to side. “No, hence why I asked you if you’re all right.”

  “Well, I’m not,” Ainsley complained, pointing up the landing of the grand staircase. “That man always wants everything to be business as usual. He orders me about, treating me worse than a common servant. Centuries I’ve served him and the Dragon Elite, and do I get a single thank you? No! Of course I don’t. It used to peeve me, but now that I know…that he and I… It makes me angrier than hell.”

  Sophia nodded consolingly, trying to figure out how to de-escalate things. “I could understand why you’re upset. This is a lot for anyone to deal with and keeping your memories now, but not having all of them has to be difficult.”

  “It is,” Ainsley agreed, her tone leveling out. “Just find a cure for me, S. Beaufont. Find a way for me to get out of here because the longer I stay, knowing he’s imprisoned me here, stealing my memory and my life, the shorter the potential length of his life gets.”

  Sophia nodded. “I’m working on it, Ains. I really am. According to my sources, I have to help him to help you.”

  Ainsley laughed. “Of course you do. Meanwhile, I’ll just go and make the venison stew he’s ordered. Do you think he wants a side of chloroform with it tonight?”

  “What was that?” Sophia asked.

  The housekeeper hurried off down the stairs, shaking her head. “Nothing, S. You misheard me. I didn’t say what you thought.”

  “I’m certain you did,” Sophia stated. She turned for the top of the stairs and, taking a deep breath, started for Hiker Wallace’s office.

  “Sir,” Sophia said from the door to Hiker’s office, “is everything okay?”

  He glanced up from a mountain of papers on his desk and sighed. The sun had gone down long ago over the Pond. “No, the city of New York is breathing down my neck to deal with this giant beanstalk upsetting Cornelia Street. That’s not even the beginning of my problems.”

  “Yeah, Ainsley is pretty upset,” Sophia related.

  His face screwed up with confusion. “Ainsley? No…I mean, she’s forever a problem, but I was referring to mortal governments frustrated with the House of Fourteen over these magician’s disappearing. Where are you with that?”

  “I’m working on it,” she replied. “Trin Currante is tracking down Mika Lenna’s location. As soon as she has something, all forces of the Dragon Elite should be deployed.”

  He nodded, regret on his face. “All but me.”

  “No,” she answered. “I think all of us will be required. Mika Lenna and Saverus Corporation shouldn’t be underestimated. He’s gotten away several times, apparently.”

  “Well…” His gaze fell to the bank of windows that were dark since there was no moon.

  “Ainsley is very upset right now,” Sophia began, deciding it would be better to come back to the Mika Lenna thing later.

  “That’s because I asked her to make something for dinner tomorrow that’s actually edible,” he stated. “That is her job, and really, she should be able to do that little.”

  Sophia’s eyelids fluttered with annoyance. “You will remember she wasn’t always a housekeeper. She used to be a diplomat for the elfin council.”

  He opened his mouth like about to argue with her but shook his head instead.

  “She’s a housekeeper now only because there are few other options for her, sir,” Sophia reminded him.

  “I know,” he grumbled.

  “Do you, though?” she argued. “Do you remember who she used to be? More importantly, do you remember what you two were to each other?”

  “Don’t,” he warned, severity in his tone.

  “I will,” she dared to say. “Ainsley deserves to have her life back, and you’re the only one who can give it back to her.”

  “I don’t know how,” he said. There was an edge of weakness to his voice.

  “Lucky for you, I know people who do.” Sophia pulled the gold token from her pocket and put it on the desk in front of Hiker Wallace.

  “What’s that?” he growled.

  “It isn’t bus fare,” she teased.

  Not getting her joke, he stared at her, heat smoldering in his gaze.

  Sophia sighed. “It’s a way to see into the past.”

  “That’s not safe,” Hiker argued.

  “Usually it isn’t,” she agreed. “With this, it’s fine. It was sort of given to me by Papa Creola.”

  “Sort of?” he questioned.

  “Well, I’m the keeper,” she explained. “It’s the point in history right before the Great War started.”

  Hiker stood sudde
nly and took a step back like the token was full of poisonous snakes ready to lash out at him. “Why would I want to go back to that? Thad… Ainsley… The war…”

  “That’s exactly why you need to go back,” Sophia reasoned. “You’ve forgotten the past, and without knowing it, you’re not moving forward.”

  “Don’t.”

  “Look,” Sophia began, trying a different approach. “Take the token and think about using it. Tomorrow, I’ll go up the beanstalk with you if you want.”

  “That was the agreement,” he stated with conviction. “You planted that damn thing, and you’re going to help me get rid of it.”

  “I did what Mama Jamba told me to do,” she replied. “Don’t tell me you would have refused her.”

  He sighed. “That’s the thing. I can’t refuse her, and I get that you can’t either. She orders me to go up the beanstalk, so I have to. Who knows what she has planned for me? I can assume it won’t be to my liking.”

  “But,” Sophia countered. “She said it’s part of what you need to balance out your powers. I think we have to trust her.”

  He picked up the coin and looked at it intently. “I trust Mother Earth implicitly, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to like what I have to face.”

  Sophia realized Hiker was afraid of what most people were, which was change.

  He’d lived the last few centuries hiding from the past, hiding from the power he’d inherited. Now he had to face a future where he conquered his demons, or he allowed them to consume him.

  Chapter Ninety-Nine

  Tiny fractures along with giant cracks radiated from the beanstalk that had erupted through the concrete of Cornelia Street.

  Sophia didn’t recognize the place where she and Lunis had planted the seeds Mama Jamba had given her. Before the New York City road had been congested with traffic that ran alongside shops and buildings crammed in too close to one another. It was hard to even make out the blue sky on the narrow street. The patch of dirt where they’d planted the seeds had been about the only thing from nature before. Now…