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

by Sarah Noffke

  “Yeah, me either,” she replied. “I thought I lost something here and figured I’d pop in and find it. Guess I was wrong.”

  “You look…” Hiker gestured at the elegant dress Ainsley wore. “You look beautiful.”

  Ainsley glanced down at the dress that was of the finest quality and hid her blush. “Thank you. I had a meeting with a bunch of aristocrats. It was… Well, I survived.”

  “Sounds like you’re living the life.” Hiker held back, as always.

  “I’m living my life,” Ainsley stated. “Something I wasn’t granted for a long time.”

  The two fell silent for a moment. Both their gazes darted in opposite directions. Quiet worried he’d have to shut the office door and lock them in there for the rest of their days if they didn’t stop being so stubborn. He was willing to do it, even if they starved.

  That’s what you did when you loved others. Well, without the starving part…

  Finally, to Quiet’s relief, Hiker sighed, a sign he was about to start talking again.

  “I never stopped you from living your life,” Hiker stated. “I tried to preserve it. I’m sorry if you don’t see it that way. I didn’t know what to do.”

  Ainsley left the book on the shelf and took a step forward. “I know. I give you a hard time, but you did the only thing you could at that time. It wasn’t like you had many options, and the world changed so dramatically after that.”

  “It was a blur,” Hiker admitted. “One moment, we reigned over the world. Then there was a war, and we disappeared from the globe, unseen for centuries. And you, you couldn’t remember anything without it hurting you. And that hurt so much. So I stuffed it away. I just…” He motioned to the log that he’d kept every day for the last few centuries. “I did the only thing I could and remained the pillar that the Dragon Elite needed, knowing that I couldn’t help you. That you couldn’t leave here or remember or be with—”

  “With what?” Ainsley asked, her voice so elegant although the ache lay under it.

  “With me,” Hiker admitted.

  She laughed at this. “You never wanted me with you. It was always the Dragon Elite first and everything else second.”

  He nodded. “You’re correct. But things were different then. Things are different now.”

  “How?” she demanded at once.

  “Time changes a man,” Hiker began. “I thought that the only job I’d ever want was leading the dragonriders. I thought that was the only thing worthy of my attention. But in a few short months, I’ve seen things I never saw in all my years on this Earth before. People do things solely for love. They cross lava and sacrifice everything and think the world is over if they lose one person. I always thought my job was to steer men…dragonriders in the right direction, but the only reason we exist in the first place is because love exists. I had it all wrong, all along. My job is to preserve love in this world.”

  Ainsley gathered herself and looked toward the door like she might rush out at any moment. Surrendering that idea momentarily, she glanced at Hiker. “How do you do that?”

  “I tell you not to leave again.” He stepped around the desk, his figure in full view. He was as strong as ever, as handsome as he had been when she fell in love with him.

  “But I have—”

  “You have a life here, and you know it,” Hiker interrupted. “I let you go before, while also keeping you here. Do you know how hard it was to look at you every day and know that you couldn’t remember me? Us? I died a little having to get over our love. Then I had to let you go. I don’t know what’s harder—having you here and not being with you. Or have you gone and not seeing you. All I know is neither is right at this point.”

  “What do you want?” Ainsley kept her green eyes pointed at him.

  “You.”

  Her mouth twitched. “Me? Me to do what?”

  He swallowed. “Just you. With your memory intact. With your ability to leave here but with the hopes that you won’t. You with all you are and all that we’ve been through and learned, not wasting time anymore. Or us afraid, although I think there will always be something of that.”

  “Hiker Wallace, after all this time, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that if you aren’t in the Castle, then it doesn’t feel the same,” he stated.

  She laughed. “Because it’s not clean enough.”

  He didn’t think this was funny and shook his head, giving her eyes that spoke of his true intent.

  Ainsley nodded. “I get it. My life… Well, it doesn’t fit me. I was happy…I was happier here.”

  “Then come back,” he urged and stepped forward.

  She took a step back. “I don’t know. It’s too hard to go backward after all this time.”

  “But you’ll be a delegate, and you can come and go as you want. I’m sure Quiet will allow it.” He sighed and threw his hands through his hair. “Ains, what do you have to lose? Really? What does either of us have to lose? We’ve already lost so much. Why not go for love this time?”

  She tilted her head to the side, surprise written on her face. “What happened to you, Hiker Wallace? You seem to have a heart all of a sudden.”

  He pursed his lips and smiled. “I tried teaching dragonriders a thing or two, and they ended up teaching me a lot more.”

  Ainsley shot him a smile back. “We think we know everything when we’re young, but it’s the young that teach us everything.”

  He stepped toward her, and this time she didn’t retreat. Instead, the elf took a step toward him. They were closer than in centuries.

  “I always thought you’d come back to me.” She reached out and ran a finger over his sleeve, feeling it.

  He glanced down at the movement and grinned.

  “I never thought I’d come back to you,” she continued.

  Hiker reached out and wrapped his hand around her wrist, securing his grasp around her arm after centuries of missing her. It was by far better than any victory he’d ever experienced. “I’m glad you came back.” He pulled her in, hoping that she always came back. For him, for the Dragon Elite, but mostly for him.

  The Story Continues with Determine The Future

  Coming November 20, 2020

  Pre-order today and have it delivered to your Kindle Reader at Midnight on November 20, 2020

  Sarah’s Author Notes

  September 25, 2020

  Thank you to everyone out there who has supported the books and LBMPN. We can’t do this alone. And I really value you all readers, your input, your ideas, your encouragement and more! Thank you.

  I will be in Scotland, yet again, when this book releases. It’s sort of tradition at this point. The Scotsman can’t get into the US yet because of border closures, so I go there and it helps that it always fills me with inspiration for the books. But obviously I go because of the Scotsman.

  I know three things with certainty for release day of this book. The first is that I’ll be in Scotland. The second is that the Scotsman always buys the books and flips to the author notes straight away. And thirdly, that he’s got the best smile.

  Yes, a perk of writing books is that I get to use them to communicate with my boyfriend to get reactions out of him. The notes are great for sending messages. Like for instance, Scotsman, where is my mimosa sans the orange juice? It’s release day and your legs aren’t broken. Strut over to the kitchen (pretty please) and grab your demanding girlfriend a cocktail. It’s five o’clock somewhere…

  Speaking of pestering the really patient Scotsman, some of you may be wondering about the Miranda reference in this book and the last one. I think in the 8th, Lee goes off about an ex-girlfriend she had who did all these horrible things, and her name was Miranda. Then Evan said something about how he hoped his new wife didn’t look like a Miranda. Why did Miranda get this rep? First, please let me state that I don’t know any Mirandas. I apologize to all readers named that. You are lovely and smart and probably much better at baking and tennis than me.

/>   You, Miranda, were simply put in the book because I have an overactive imagination and draw on real life for my books. So the Scotsman isn’t secretive per se, he just doesn’t write books about his dating life or life in general for EVERYONE to read. Apparently some people aren’t open books, with their life on broadcast. The Laird was a tad bit shy on details, especially at first. So I made up the idea that he had a secret life on the side, or rather that I was the side life and that he had three wives and they were all named Miranda. That’s the easy way to avoid confusion, right?

  Anyway, I often reference the Mirandas, asking the Scotsman how they are doing, specifically are they staying on their diets and has the acne meds started to work. I know…I don’t know how he puts up with me. So now you know how the Miranda thing came about and also you realize how incredibly immature I am. And all Mirandas are lovely. Just like all the Karens of the world. Heart you all.

  While in Scotland the last time, Ramy and I joined up for a little walk. If you know anything about RE Vance and his shenanigans then you know he loves to photobomb people, but he does it with his own unique flare. So we did this duel posts on the KGU Facebook page where I was like, “I wished I could have caught up with Ramy while in Scotland,” and I posted these pics of the Scotsman and me, with RE lurking in the background. Then Ramy-Cans posted something that said, “It was nice hanging out with Sarah in Scotland,” and he posted pics of selfies of him with the Scotsman and I in the background, oblivious to him snapping our pics. It was funny. It was clever. It took planning.

  Do you know who showed zero acknowledgement of this creative effort on the part of two of his authors? If you guessed Manderle then you get a gold star. Ramy and I like to think of ourselves as siblings vying for “Dad’s” attention (Oh, yeah, I did that, MA 12). But then he ignores us and we have to act out even more!

  Like for instance, I recently, at Ramy’s request, dressed up as Mike. Ramy-Cans messages me and says, “Will you dress up as Michael? It’s because—”

  I cut him off and was like, “I don’t need a reason. Tell me when and where.”

  I then put on my LMBPN T-shirt, which I harassed Mike about getting for a year and now I’m sure he regrets letting me sport the company logo. “No, she’s not associated with us. We don’t know her…” To complete the Anderle look, I tucked my hair under a ballcap, left off my make-up and then put on my old glasses. That part gave me a headache because I’ve had LASIK and don’t wear my thick glasses anymore. But I did it for the company! And because Ramy-Cans and I think antics are funny.

  Now are you wondering who said anything about this acting out, which was obviously a plea for attention? Not Dad!

  On that note, I’m going to go do something really adult like talk to my accountant or look into investing in real estate to off set this childish behavior.

  Funny that Mike makes me feel old and young at the same time. He alluded to this in the last author notes. We were chatting about life and stuff, as we tend to do when we’re gearing up to discussing the actual books. Our conversations would be hard for most to follow. Anyway, I derail, as I tend to do, and mention going to Scotland every five minutes. He’s like, “Oh, to be young and in love…or in your case, to be in love.”

  I was like, “Mike! I have a complex.”

  MA really can’t bear to hurt anyone’s feelings because he didn’t graduate from asshole college like me. I have a graduate degree in how to offend with a minor in snark. Anyway, he’s like, “No, you act really young, don’t worry about it.” And then I had to fire back, “So you’re calling me immature now!”

  Poor guy was backpedaling from there, but it ended up in the author notes, so we are cool. Or at least his teasing is now your entertainment.

  In all seriousness, Manderle and I have really great discussions when we’re waxing about the books. I’ve worked with enough authors to really appreciate our dynamic. The convos start small and then snowballs until I’m exclaiming loudly and the ideas are speeding at me faster than I can write down. I have notes from our discussions that the greatest deciphers in the world couldn’t make sense of. But I absorb the gist of it usually.

  During one of our last convos, I had this profound moment where I realized one of the reasons that Liv and Sophia are so much easier for me to write than other protagonists. Yes, they are based on me, but those other ones in my other dozen series were too. The thing that’s changed in this stage of my life is how I view myself. If we’re critical of ourselves or naïve or angst ridden, then that will be how the protagonist is portrayed to readers. It just can’t be hidden.

  But at this point, I’m what I call, Unapologetically Sarah. Many evolutions I went through, writing the books and launching my business and renovating my life, have gotten me here. I think I, like many of us when younger, tried to hide who I was or make excuses. But now, I don’t do fake. I’m not doing things so people like me. Liv is very much that way.

  So I’m grateful to be here, Unapologetically Sarah, writing characters who come to me naturally and entertaining you all. Thank you!

  Much love and peace,

  Tiny Ninja

  Michael’s Author Notes

  September 25, 2020

  First, THANK YOU for supporting our crazy stories here at LMBPN.

  I need it, you see, because apparently, I’m acquiring more children. I hadn’t expected to have adult children adopt me or anything, and Ramy (being the guy he is) hasn’t mentioned any of this adoption stuff.

  Only Sarah.

  I have to admit, with a little reservation because it is embarrassing, I didn’t clue into ANYTHING she spoke about with her and Ramy’s antics.

  Not a thing.

  Perhaps Steve “Zen Master” Campbell can provide a bit of insight from the substantial amount of wisdom he has garnered over the years? Anything?

  —> Note from the Zen Master: Consider this a victory. Acquiring adult children gets you to grandchildren that much quicker. I’m in Texas as I write this, awaiting the birth of grandson number three. Seeing your kids raise their kids is truly a blessing. (Come on, Myles, we’re all waiting….)

  I’m going to assume Steve put something that essentially means “don’t look at me.”

  —> Nope, sorry. If you ask the Zen Master for wisdom, you’ll get something. Maybe not wisdom, but something.

  I know I would.

  If Steve actually does put something wise (like “ignore them, they eventually grow up”), I’m going to be a little chagrined.

  —> Consider yourself chagrined!

  Oh @#$, she has a Laird.

  Seriously? Not only does she call him her Scotsman (I hear a lady swoon every time that word is used. Kinda like take a drink when she says it. You should be pretty sauced by the end of her Author Notes.) She calls him her Laird as well.

  I seem to remember she bought him the title for a present. That’s such a Sarah thing to do.

  Young puppies in love (no matter their age) are so damned cute it’s annoying. It’s tiring me out.

  Only one of my wife and my boys has a girlfriend that we know about. He’s in college, so we don’t get to see too much of the cute side of it. Come to think about it, the two of them (seniors in College) seem to be more mature about the relationship than Sarah.

  Figures.

  RELEASE THE DRAGONS!

  Stay with us through this final set of books – I ALMOST guarantee you won’t figure out where Sophia goes…

  Ad Aeternitatem,

  Michael Anderle

  Acknowledgments

  Sarah Noffke

  I feel like I’m on the stage at the Oscars, accepting an award when I write my acknowledgments. I stand there, holding this award, my hands shaking and my words racing around in my mind. I’m not an actress for a reason. I’m a writer and talking to people in “real life” is hard. Not to mention a ton of people all at once.

  I picture looking out at the audience and being blinded by spotlights and forgetting every word of the
speech I memorized just in case I won. The speech would go like this and it’s meant for all of you, not the guild. For the fans. The supporters. The people who are the reason I would ever stand on any stage, ever.

  Okay, here we go. I clear my throat and smile, looking up at the camera, holding the little golden man. And then I begin:

  This was never supposed to happen. I was never meant to publish a book and then another one. And then another. I was supposed to write in private and live a life that Henry David Thoreau called a life of “quiet desperation.” I would always hope to share my books, but never bring myself to do it. And you would never read my words. But then, in a crazed moment of brashness, I did share my books and you all liked them. And because of that, I’ve never been the same. And here I am feeling grateful all just because…

  That’s why I’m here. Because of you. Thank you to my first readers. The ones who picked up those books that I didn’t even outline and you still liked them. You messaged me and maybe you thought it was no big deal, but when your ego is new to the publishing world, it’s a big deal.

  I can’t thank you readers enough. I’ve found that reading your reviews helps me to start a chapter when I’m stuck or lazy.

  I really need to thank someone who has made this all possible and that’s my father. I was going to quit. I can’t tell you how many times I quit. But when I wasn’t making it, he was the one who told me to not throw in the towel. “Give yourself a timeline,” he suggested. If I didn’t get to my goal by then, I’d quit. And apparently there was magic in that advice, because I’m still doing this. Dad, you’re the pragmatic one, but when you believed in me enough to tell me to not quit, I knew I had to follow your advice.

  And I thank all my friends who are constantly supporting me with thoughts of love and encouragement. Most don’t read my books. I’m sort of self-deprecating, although I’m working on it and will be the first to tell my friends, “My books probably aren’t for you.” However, every now and then a friend surprises me and says, “I was up all night reading your books.” It’s always a total shock. But my point is, that even if they didn’t read, I still have the best friends ever. Diane, you’re my rock. And I love you, even though you will probably not read this.