by Sarah Noffke
“Well, still, he’s the reason the demons are gone,” Paris related.
“It’s because of you that Saint Valentine learned the truth about Agent Ruby and fled before he was attacked by one of his own,” Willow stated. “You’ve been instrumental in revolutionizing this college. It’s not hard for me to believe that you’ll be part of our survival. Maybe it’s in a literal sense or a figurative one, but Agent Ruby wasn’t successful, and you’re alive. Hopefully, that means we’ll prosper. I think we’re much better off with Paris Beaufont than without her.”
“I agree,” Mae Ling stated with pride in her brown eyes.
“Thank you.” Paris’ gaze drifted out the window where the Enchanted Grounds of Happily Ever After College were dark. “So Agent Ruby…”
“I’ll have someone from FLEA come out and take care of things,” Willow stated at once, referring to the dead body and the demon that Stefan had slain. “Thank you for your bravery, both with hunting down the demons and being threatened by Agent Ruby. When you offered to help, I had no idea that you’d be required to be there while Stefan Ludwig exterminated the demons, but it sounds as though you were instrumental in helping.”
Paris had explained the requirements that Tiffer had given her when she told about getting rid of the demons. Then she had the unfortunate responsibility of telling how she made a mistake when Agent Ruby surprised her and took her eyes off her father, leaving her alone with the murderer.
“It must not have been easy to face off with that man,” Willow added a moment later. “I can’t even imagine how incredibly scary that was when you were alone in the Bewilder Forest with him.”
“Good thinking on using the ruby from his magical instrument,” Mae Ling commended.
“Thank you.” Paris blushed. “I’m glad it worked and that I thought to take it when I was in Saint Valentine’s office. It was something my instinct told me to do.”
“You’re excellent at following your instinct,” Mae Ling said proudly. “Never lose that.”
“I’ll try.” Paris felt a great weight on her shoulders, but also the hope that it would lift now that the demons were gone and Agent Ruby had been stopped…unfortunately through death. “I’m glad my father was able to get rid of the demons, and fairies will be okay once more.”
Willow nodded. “Yes, I’ll be in touch with FGA headquarters and hopefully Saint Valentine. I don’t think he’ll return right away, he’s still too spooked and doesn’t want to take chances, but hopefully, things will return to normal soon as fairies feel better. The love meter should recover once the agents and fairy godmothers at FGA can return to cases.”
“I hope so.” Paris stretched to a standing position and looked forward to getting some much-needed rest. She needed to message Uncle John and Hemingway and her mother, but hopefully, that wouldn’t take long. It was nice to have so many people who cared about her, but it was also a lot more than she was used to.
“Oh, and Paris,” Willow said when she headed for the office door.
She paused, turning back to the headmistress with a questioning look.
“You passed all your exams with good scores,” the fairy godmother stated with a smile. “I invite you to continue your education here at Happily Ever After College. I think it’s only a matter of time before we can proudly call you an actual fairy godmother and not one in training.”
Paris smiled, her chest swelling with pride. “Thank you. I’m more than relieved to hear that. It’s all I wanted but never knew until I got here.”
“Sometimes we don’t know we want something until we have it and almost lose it,” Mae Ling offered. “That’s how we feel about you, Paris.”
Chapter Seventy-Six
Hemingway would return to Happily Ever After College now that he knew it was safe. Paris longed to see him. She also missed Uncle John. He’d been working on cleaning up his electronics repair shop and putting his life back together, according to Paris’ mother.
Uncle John hadn’t left the repair shop since returning to the mortal world and leaving Roya Lane. Liv’s message had said he was “processing.” Paris made a mental note that she needed to see her uncle as soon as possible. Putting his life back in order after fifteen years of having it on hold couldn’t be easy. Still, if anyone was strong enough to make things work, it was Uncle John.
Paris knew things were complicated with Alicia and Uncle John. They still hadn’t seen each other in fifteen years. Paris sensed that Uncle John was nervous too after all this time. He’d get there though, and she’d help.
There were a lot of things to unravel and hopefully ravel back together from all the various lives that had changed in the last fifteen years. The House of Fourteen was returning to normal with Stefan and Liv back there as Warriors. Alicia had returned to her magitech shop in Venice, Italy. Fane had gone back full-time to his responsibilities as the Lupei werewolf pack leader.
Everyone needed time to figure out what the new normal would look like and Paris hoped she could help with that. After all, things had all been turned upside-down because of her.
As soon as Paris returned safely to Happily Ever After College, Paris called her father. Her parents were overjoyed to know that she was safe once more and that Agent Ruby was dead. She mentioned the prophecy to them over the phone, and they had offered to look into things. The seer who had foretold it was the Warrior from the House of Fourteen—Trudy DeVries. If there was more to know, she could hopefully shine a light on the subject.
Other related prophecies were in the Great Library, so it could involve some detective work as well. Or maybe, as Mae Ling and Willow had said, it was best not to focus on the prophecy. Paris could see how it would make a person crazy, trying to figure out if, when, and how it was all going to happen.
Exhausted and knowing she needed to make a full report to Headmistress Starr and Mae Ling, Paris kept the conversation with her dad brief. But what he said when she was ready to say goodbye, promising to talk again the next day, made her heart swell with pride and love.
“I’m proud of you, Pare,” Stefan Ludwig said over the phone, his voice deep. “You showed a lot of bravery tonight and a lot of skill.”
“Thanks, Dad. That means a lot,” she had replied. “Fighting alongside you felt natural.”
“That’s because we’re family and we work well together,” he said, a smile in his voice.
Paris smiled too. “I’d like to think so.”
“I love you. Familia Est Sempiternum,” he stated over the phone, but feeling so close.
“I love you,” Paris replied. “Familia Est Sempiternum.”
Knowing that she’d passed her exams at Happily Ever After College made Paris feel accomplished. Knowing that she and her father had helped make the college, FGA headquarters, and Matters of the Heart safe once more filled her with more satisfaction than she’d ever known. Realizing her friends were all safe and soon to return to normal life at Happily Ever After College made Paris truly happy.
“According to Wilfred, my science lab will be ready soon.” Faraday scratched around in his sock drawer as Paris pulled back the covers on her bed, about to fall over onto the mattress. Exhaustion was close to getting the best of her.
“That’s wonderful,” she mumbled through a wide yawn. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“Me either.” His head popped up. The squirrel had made his way back to the college after getting separated from Paris and was grateful to hear that she was safe and successful in multiple ways. Beside him on top of the dresser’s surface was his refraction lens, which rested beside the medal that Saint Valentine had awarded him when he and the dragonriders blocked the signal making phones addictive and disrupting love.
“You were remarkable with that thing-ama-jig Papa Creola gave you.” Paris slid between the sheets and pulled the blankets up to her chin.
“You know that it’s called a refraction lens,” he corrected with a cough.
“At this point, I know nothing,” Paris m
uttered and turned off the light beside her bed with a flick of her finger, using magic.
“Well, I’m grateful that I could help.”
“Help?” she questioned. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to keep an eye on my father. He wouldn’t have been able to find the demon in the ceiling. And the mirrored thing was pretty amazing.”
“We make an excellent team,” Faraday gushed. The squirrel sounded like he’d found his resting spot after trying to get comfortable for a moment.
“I agree.” Paris’ eyes closed.
“I want to help more,” Faraday added, also sounding exhausted.
“I know,” she murmured.
“I think my lab will help,” he stated. “I want to look into the technology that created those drones around the cellphone satellite protecting it. Something wasn’t right about those.”
“As in they were too good, and the dragonriders couldn’t overpower them?” Paris questioned.
“Exactly,” Faraday stated. “Whoever Agent Ruby hired to do that cell phone business was also very clever.”
“As in too clever, using their power for evil?”
“Exactly,” he repeated. “We have power, and some use it for good. Others for evil. Some for nothing at all. The worst is that latter, but evil is pretty awful. However, that’s why people like you and me are here, so we can put a stop to evildoers.”
“People…” Paris laughed.
“Well, it gives you and your sidekick something to do, and I want to find out who was behind that strange technology,” Faraday explained. “I want to do so much. Anything I can to help you and the fairy godmothers and whoever else wants my expertise.”
Paris smiled, enjoying the passion in the little squirrel’s voice. “You will, Fare. I’m glad you’re my sidekick. I look forward to kicking butt with you more tomorrow.”
“And the next day and the day after that,” he said, sounding ready to drift off to sleep the same as her.
“First we’ll rest, then we’ll save the world and ensure there’s enough love to keep it going around.”
“That sounds like a deal,” Faraday sang as a gentle breeze drifted in through the open window.
“Good night, friend. I look forward to more adventures with you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Pare. I look forward to a lifetime of them with you.”
The Story Continues
The Story Continues with book seven, The Thoughtful Rebel.
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Sarah’s Author Notes
July 16, 2021
Thank you for buying the books, reading them, reviewing them and supporting LMBPN. Thanks for supporting me as an author. And thanks for putting up with my author notes.
Here we go…
Let’s go ahead and start with the murder mystery in the magical train scene which was totally one of my favorites. I got the idea because I was in Scotland, as I tend to be, and the Scotsman and I were hiking around Rosalyn Glen, the setting for the end of the DaVinci Code. Apparently it’s also the site of a chapel from the 1400’s but whatever. Things be old in Scotland.
We are hiking in the rain, which apparently doesn’t make me melt, although in Southern California, nobody believes that. We come upon this old abandoned train station under this bridge. And then this buzzard swoops down and soars along the path ahead of us, coasting just a few feet off the ground and retreating the opposite direction. It was so cool and our mouths popped open and we were like, “Did you just see that?”
Anyway, immediately I had the idea for a magical train that shows up randomly and is cued by the presence of a bird of prey. And that’s how inspiration happens. More on that in a moment.
So I decide I’m going to write a murder mystery scene on a train in the book. The Scotsman asks about how long the scene will be and I say, “Oh, like two-thousand words.” He just looks at me. Apparently he knew that a murder mystery couldn’t be done right for any less than ten thousand words and we was right.
One of the reasons that I wanted to write the murder mystery is that we often do those when we’re together in Scotland since we can’t go out. It’s fun and the Scotsman does his best Savannah accent as the detective and I put on what he calls my “reporter” voice because I don’t do accents…well, I don’t do them well.
So I get back from Scotland, ready to craft this murder mystery scene. Mind you, I’ve never read Agatha Christie. But my daughter loves to watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which apparently did an homage to Murder on the Orient Express, one time. So Lydia tells me, “You have to have a countess in the story.” I’m like, you got it. Then I go about crafting the story and later retell it to the Scotsman who every time I say something he goes, “That was in Murder on the Orient Express.”
Oh well…It was another homage. And mine is different enough. Did you figure out who done?
My travels often give me fun ideas like magical trains signaled by birds of prey. I’m gearing up to take a trip to Sedona, Arizona with my family. The last time we were together, I nearly got impaled when the long horns on the safari ride charged our jeep. Remember that? And it inspired the magical safari scene in one of the other Paris books.
So who knows what adventures will come out of this and therefore stories. We’re going to visit vortexes since there are apparently a lot in Sedona. I thought that’s where weird stuff happened like brooms stood up on their end or something. Apparently in Sedona, there’s a cosmic energy at these sights. Ohhhh you dirty hippies. If you try to sell me on your cosmic energy bullshit, we might have a problem in the desert.
We are also going on a hot air balloon ride, which I will admit, scares me to no end. But it’s science, right? I can rely on that, right? But wind is also a factor and I’m not sure about relying on that.
My parents booked a horseback riding excursion through a canyon to which I said, “Hellllll NO!”
I live in a ranching community here in LA. We had a horse growing up. I think they are pretty. And I’m also certain they are aliens. I have zero interests in sitting on a horse and bumping around in the desert. For me, I’d rather ride on a hot air balloon than a horse. So I convinced my sister to go to Bearizona with me where we stay in the comfort of my car and drive through a park with wolves and bears. My parents were like, you’d rather be circled in your vehicles by predators than ride a horse? Yes! Bears are predictable. They want to eat your lunch. Horses, well they get spooked and you don’t know what will happen.
Look for Paris having hot air balloon adventures and fighting bears in the next book.
So, Mike, tell our lovely readers, would you rather ride a horse or a hot air balloon? Again, I’d rather be in the basket of the balloon with a wolf than on the top of a horse. Call me crazy.
Not you, Michael! You can’t call me that!
Much love and Peace,
Tiny Ninja
Michael’s Author Notes
July 30, 2021
<< This is so good, I’m stealing the beginning for these author notes!>>
Thank you for buying the books, reading them, reviewing them, and supporting LMBPN. Thanks for supporting me as an author. And thanks for putting up with my author notes.
Here we go…
I think our intrepid adventurer left me an out I’m going to take. You see, I’m fifty-something something years old and I’ve been on the top of a horse. Yet, I’ve never been in a hot-air balloon, and (for me) here is the difference.
I get up on a horse on one side, seconds later I slide off the horse on the other and me and the horse come to an understanding.
(Editor’s note: I’m surprised the horse doesn’t kick you. You get off on the same side you get on from, dude! You’re from Texas! Get with the program!)
It fakes being annoyed with life and I don’t wish it to become Fido’s food.
A hot air balloon, on the other hand, really doesn’t know WHERE the hell it is going, when it will get there (I’m sure there are magical wind calc
ulators that have a suggestion) and finally the roar of the flames could hurt my sensitive ears.
Just kidding. I love heavy metal so my hearing is f@#@#%ed beyond compare. My ears ring like it’s noon all the time so a little flame blowing up into the air isn’t going to make it worse.
What it will do is cause the wolf to attack Sarah and gnaw her leg off.
So, I’m going to suggest that I got two points for these authors notes. One point for sliding out of her horrible options and a second to explain the hole in her logic how going up with a wolf is going to get her leg eaten.
No going back to Scotland for a while after that.
Back to you, Sarah, for the next book’s Author Notes!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Acknowledgments
Sarah Noffke
I have so many people to thank who make this all possible. Firstly, thanks to Mike, who really pushes me to be a better writer, coming up with the best ideas, not just the really good ones. We work together pretty well, I’d say. I wonder what he’d say… Anyway, MA gave me the opportunity to write with LBMPN a few years ago and it’s been life changing. He’s very supportive and really cares. Thanks Bird Killer.
A huge thank you to the LBMPN team who work tirelessly so that I have less stress. Thanks to Steve and Kelly for making my life easier and being on top of everything. Thanks to Tracey and Lynne for fixing all my editing mistakes. A big thank you to the JIT team whose feedback at the 11th hour before publishing is invaluable. Thank you to my alpha readers Juergen and Martin. Thank you to everyone who makes getting the books to the reader possible. I really can’t do this without you. And you make it so much more fun.