Adapt Or Be Crushed (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 9)

by Sarah Noffke

  As soon as Sophia was out of the water, Liv crawled out too and began working to expel the water from her sister’s lungs. She had to have swallowed quite a bit when submerged. Liv could have used a spell to speed along the process, but she was already depleted from the effort of shielding them from the heat.

  That’s why Liv was grateful that she could rely on her good old mortal knowledge, thanks to John Carraway insisting that she not entirely rely on magic. The owner of the electronics repair shop had been adamant that Liv have backup options. That was one of the reasons he taught her a series of first aid techniques, just in case.

  Liv went to work compressing Sophia’s chest while alternating between puffing oxygen into her lungs. It was a frustratingly arduous process that didn’t yield results right away.

  After a few attempts, Liv worried that it was too late. That Sophia had been in the hot water too long. That she’d expended too much energy with the spell.

  They were out in a hidden place where no one could find them.

  No one could help them.

  All for what? Liv thought erratically.

  “All for a librarian!” she yelled and continued to pump Sophia’s chest. Liv was ready to march up to Paul’s place and kick him over the side of the volcano into a lava pit. If her sister died because of this… Well, she’d have Paul’s and Plato’s asses, and neither would know peace while Liv was alive.

  Her anger seemed to press through Liv and into her sister. On the next pump, Sophia sat bolt upright while coughing and spitting up water. It shot out of her mouth like she was a human fountain, and she doubled over until Liv laid her on her side while patting her back and encouraging her with words.

  “There you go,” Liv crooned. “Take it one breath at a time. You’re back with us. And damn it, you’re not going anywhere…ever. Not on my watch.”

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Two

  Sophia was tired of drowning lately. Twice in close succession was quite enough.

  Her lungs burned, and her head was hot from expelling nearly boiling water from her lungs. However, it was nice to have Liv’s comforting hand rubbing her back and encouraging words seeking to bring her back from the groggy places the enduring spell had sent her.

  Sophia’s face pressed against the lake’s muddy bank as she tried to breathe without choking. She didn’t care about Herbert’s whereabouts. Sophia guessed that if Liv was there with her, the lava monster was gone or not a problem.

  She didn’t remember anything after passing out next to the lake, except that she asked Lunis to keep the ice spell going after she lost consciousness. It appeared he’d cooperated, although she’d felt his resistance in her mind.

  That little stunt nearly cost us, Lunis said in a punishing voice in her head.

  Sophia smiled, feeling dirt in her mouth from being so close to the earth with her face. But it didn’t, and we’re probably successful because of it. Think about it. If I’d quit when I passed out, then Liv might not have been able to do whatever she did to Herbert.

  Or she would have, and you would have died, Lunis argued.

  I did what I thought was right. And thanks for helping.

  One day you might not be right, and it will cost us greatly. He didn’t sound at all like his usual light self. We’ll pay for it with our lives.

  But not today. Sophia turned over and saw a huge look of relief on her sister’s face, lying next to her.

  “Hey there.” Liv smiled. “Welcome back. Hope you enjoyed your time in Comatose-Ville.”

  Sophia managed a grin as she pushed up to a sitting position. Her chest still ached from the second near-drowning. “It was okay. The service is awful and the amenities not very memorable, but it’s a trip that makes me grateful to get back to the real world, so for that I’m glad.”

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Three

  “I say we replenish our strength,” Liv dared to say as the ground rumbled under where they laid by the lake and steam issued from newly formed cracks.

  “I’m not sure if we have time for that.” Sophia pushed up to a sitting position.

  “Cool,” Liv chirped. “You go ahead and amble off to complete this mission. Pick me up on your way out.”

  Sophia went to push up and found that she had zero energy. She allowed herself to settle back on her elbows and look at her sister, who held something in a wrapper.

  “What’s that?” Sophia asked Liv.

  “A candy bar,” Liv said matter-of-factly. “You wouldn’t want any of this, would you?”

  “Remembered to put a ‘keep dry’ spell on your food, did you?” Sophia extended a hand to her sister.

  “I’m guessing you didn’t.” Liv handed over the candy bar and retrieved another from her cloak. “Amateur mistake.”

  Sophia nodded. “Ironically enough, I had a ‘keep dry’ spell on the Hidden Places book, but forgot to protect my food.”

  Liv held up a single finger. “Always, always protect your food. Those are your reserves when you inevitably deplete yourself. It doesn’t matter how much you carb load for a mission. The simplest snack will always replenish it.”

  Sophia found the strength to sit up after a few bites of the dark chocolate candy bar. “Like when you think you’re going on a simple mission to recruit a librarian, and you meet the worst Herbert in the world.”

  Liv nodded. “I apologize for the name. A Herbert seems so unassuming, and that guy was anything but that.” She waved her hand toward the still-steaming lake. “I think he was a Fredrick or a Chad.”

  Sophia laughed. “Yeah, but I’m glad Herbert is no longer with us. What did you do to him?”

  “He and Bellator met,” Liv answered. “And now Herbert is no longer with us.”

  “Although his lava still is.” Sophia waved her hand through the air, trying to fan away the smoke and steam making her eyes burn.

  “Yeah, but it’s cooling thanks to your ice spell,” Liv stated. “Good work there.”

  “Thanks.” Sophia chowed down on the chocolate bar and finished it in two bites. “That was pretty exhausting. I have no idea how we’re going to stop the entire volcano if stopping the lava-spitting monster was that hard.”

  Liv nodded. “I agree. Thankfully, we have some time to think about it because we can’t stop this mountain from exploding just yet.”

  “But what if the top blows off in the next few moments?” Sophia asked erratically, feeling the fear from before pool in her chest again. “We’ll be out of options. No way to get off this mountain. It will destroy us.”

  Unflustered, Liv nodded. “No doubt. But remember who started the volcano.”

  Sophia thought for a moment. The recent events took a moment to come back to her after all the drama. “Oh, right. Plato.”

  “His mission is for us to recruit Paul,” Liv stated. “So I think we’ll have time to do that since the volcano was created to encourage him to abandon his home for a new one. That’s why we can’t stop the volcano until then. However, I don’t know that Plato would have considered that we’d try and plug this bad boy from exploding, so we might be on our own when we level up and attempt that mission.”

  Sophia nodded. “Okay, so we’re mostly safe until we recruit the Great Librarian, right?”

  Liv nodded. “Then all hell will surely break loose. And before then, I assume we’ll probably get a few bumps and bruises.”

  Sophia looked over her cloak. It was burned and torn in many places. She also felt the many wounds on her body. “Well, I think it’s too late for that.”

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Four

  Once Sophia and Liv had recovered enough and the mountain felt like it was fed up with their break, they pushed up and continued on the path toward Paul’s house at the top.

  It was night now, and the smoke and steam from the brewing volcano blotted out any stars or moon that might lead their way. Sophia used a light orb to light their path, not wanting to get off the trail this time.

  The line of trees they
passed before the battle with Herbert were extra strange now, halfway between being charred and eaten up with frostbite.

  Sophia didn’t feel completely normal, but she could move forward and create a spell if necessary. However, when she glanced up to the top of Mount Castiglione, she started to doubt her reserves for the rest of the mission. The hike in front of them seemed monumental after the battle they’d already had. With all the potential dangers that lurked around them, it was very overwhelming.

  Every few steps, the ground quaked under Sophia’s boots and steam shot up from somewhere on the mountain. It seemed that anyone on this hill would know that it was on fire and about to explode.

  “How does this guy not know he’s about to be launched into outer space?” Sophia asked after they’d hiked in silence for a long time.

  “Maybe Paul is engrossed in a Netflix series,” Liv reasoned. “I mean, I can’t be bothered to get up for the typical earthquake in Los Angeles when I’m marathoning something good on streaming.”

  “Maybe.” Sophia shrugged. “Just seems strange that he hasn’t figured out that lava is shooting out of his backyard.”

  “What I don’t get,” Liv began, “Is why he lives on the top of a mountain. I mean, talk about having a commute to get nachos. It’s unlikely that Uber Eats delivers out here.”

  “Maybe that’s one of the many reasons he was chosen to be the Great Librarian,” Sophia reasoned. “I mean, if he doesn’t mind living remotely, then being locked up in the Great Library will be perfect for him.”

  “I think that’s an accurate assumption,” Liv agreed as they reached one of the last ridges. Both sisters took the opportunity to catch their breath.

  Usually, a hike like this would hardly wind them, but after battling a lava monster and compromised air quality, it wasn’t a surprise to either that minimal effort taxed them. However, it did make Sophia worry about how they’d fare with future battles on Mount Castiglione.

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Five

  “You knock,” Liv encouraged when they finally came to Paul’s door. “I’ll hold the gift basket.”

  Sophia glared at her sister. “You don’t have a gift basket.”

  Liv looked around as if she’d dropped something. “I don’t! Oh, shoot! I must have left it back there by the lava lake. Stupid Herbert probably ate all the apples.”

  “Or charred them to a crisp,” Sophia stated.

  “Mmmm…apple crisps.” Liv licked her lips.

  “We should focus,” Sophia encouraged while looking over the modest house.

  It might have been small, but it was definitely eccentric with multiple curvy chimneys and different shutters on all the windows. The entire house was like that of a storybook witch—totally mismatched, with varying sizes of windows, roofs, chimneys, and doors. However, that was part of the charm.

  The many colors that Sophia could discern in the dark also added to the allure. Lots of flowers and strange herbs sprouted from window boxes or the beds along the house’s perimeter.

  There was a glow in the window closest to the door, which Sophia assumed belonged to the kitchen. Its lacy curtains swayed in the breeze and told her that the window was open.

  Sophia lifted her hand to knock as a strange bird call echoed through the open window and made both sisters tense.

  Sophia glanced at Liv with a tentative glare. “That was either a bird or…”

  “A velociraptor.” Liv winked. “Only one way to find out.”

  Sophia swallowed her apprehension, knocked on the door, and waited for the person known as Paul to answer.

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Six

  There was a ton of shuffling behind the door as if the resident kept a pile of odds and ends beside the front entrance.

  Sophia gave Liv a sideways glance and considered backing away.

  “Hold on,” a voice called from the other side. “I’ll be there in…well, give me a moment or two.”

  The guy had responded to the knock quite quickly for not having heard all the commotion related to the volcano. Or maybe it was because he felt trapped by the volcano that he was on guard. There was no portaling from Mount Castiglione. Sophia reasoned that Paul could have seen the signs and boarded himself up.

  “We’ll wait.” Liv looked over her shoulder at a bush fire that ignited a fair way down the mountain but was still disconcerting. “No hurry. Just lava and whatnot.”

  Sophia didn’t think Paul could hear her response over all the ruckus on the other side of the door. She reasoned that he had barricaded himself inside, trying to protect himself from the volcano, although that wasn’t the smartest approach.

  Finally, the many latches on the door slid back, one after another.

  When the fifth had clicked, Sophia thought the door would pull back. However, Paul continued to slide more out of place.

  Sophia widened her eyes at her sister and mouthed, “What is happening?”

  Liv seemed to be chill with this. “Remember, Plato recruited this guy.”

  “So he’s going to be brilliant and totally right for the job?” Sophia questioned.

  Liv nodded. “And totally nuts. All the best are.”

  Sophia drew in a breath as the next, hopefully next, Great Librarian pulled back the door to reveal one eye as he peeked through the opening.

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Seven

  “I’m not interested in buying any magazine subscriptions,” the guy that Sophia hoped was Paul said through the crack in the door. She reasoned that there couldn’t be two people living in secluded homes on the top of Mount Castiglione, but stranger things had happened. How bad would it be if they showed up to the wrong house to recruit the wrong guy? She nearly laughed at how unfunny that would be.

  “Do you get a lot of solicitors trying to sell you magazine subscriptions?” Liv asked quite seriously.

  “Usually just Girl Scouts.” The guy pulled the door a little wider after noticing that the two sisters didn’t have any wares to sell him.

  “Oh, Girl Scouts are the worst,” Liv agreed. “You tell them a polite no and they smile, but you know those judgmental little kids are thinking that I’m being stingy by not buying their cookies.”

  “You are, aren’t you?” Sophia elbowed her sister in the side.

  “Do you know what happens if I bring Thin Mints into the house?” Liv argued. “Clark and I fight over them until he has scratch marks all over his arms.”

  “Sorry to bother you,” Paul said in a polite voice. “I do apologize for interrupting you ladies, but you did knock on my door.”

  Liv straightened and came back to herself. “Right. You’re totally right. Please excuse our appearances, but you might have noticed that there’s a volcano happening on your mountain.” She held out her arm to show the molten lava trickling out of various places on the hills below.

  Paul poked his head out the door, peered down the slope of his yard, and shook his head. “I hadn’t noticed. And you both look very nice.”

  “Thanks.” Sophia blushed.

  “Again, the volcano…” Liv continuing to gesture at the steam rising from the lake below where Herbert met his end.

  “Thank you, but I have volcano insurance.” Paul tried to close the door on them.

  Liv stuck her boot in the doorway to stop him from closing it all the way. “We’re not here to sell you insurance, although creating a volcano and trying to sell you insurance would be…well, the dumbest business ever. No, we’re here for something else.”

  “And if you have insurance,” Sophia began, “that’s not going to keep you alive when the peak of Mount Castiglione blows.”

  “Oh, well, then I want my money back on this property.” Paul appeared frustrated. “I wouldn’t have bought this place otherwise.”

  “Well, then do we have a deal for you.” Liv inched her way into the open door. “We’ve got a new place for you that’s rent-free, devoid of volcanos, and probably your ideal job, according to my cat.”

 
To Sophia’s surprise, Paul opened the door wide and nearly made Liv tumble into the place since her weight had been pressing forward, trying to enter the residence. “Well, then, please do come in. I’ll put on the kettle and we’ll discuss.”

  Chapter One Hundred Forty-Eight

  “Thanks.” Liv righted herself and stepped into the cozy house, which was a nice relief from the lava and monsters. “But you did hear the part about how the top is about to blow off this mountain, right?”

  Paul, who wore a long white robe and a dark beard, held up a finger to pause the question. “I never make decisions without a cup of tea. Am I hearing you right that you want me to make a decision about something?”

  “Mostly about whether to live or die.” Liv touched a figurine and nearly knocked it off a shelf, but caught it before it fell to the floor and shattered.

  Paul didn’t appear flustered by the handsy houseguest he’d allowed into his place. “Now, will you two be taking milk? I gave the stuff up years ago, but keep it on hand for guests.”

  Liv lifted the curtains in the window and looked out. “For all the guests you get up here in the middle of no-freaking-where?”

  Paul chuckled. “It’s true, the milk probably isn’t any good any more, but I wanted to offer it just in case. I could pop over to my neighbors and see if they have any.”

  “Your neighbors have evacuated, no doubt,” Liv imparted.

  Sophia decided to try a more diplomatic approach. “Paul, have you noticed the rumbling or that there appears to be a disturbance outside?”