Unstoppable Liv Beaufont Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  Raina nodded. “It’s true that it’s more complicated and undeniably dangerous. And although some of us might have voiced our doubts about you being assigned this case, the Council has voted that you should be assigned to it.”

  “And we act as one,” Adler reminded her.

  Raina nodded. “Of course. And I’m sure you will find resources to assist you.” Liv could have sworn she’d winked at her.

  “Ms. Beaufont, the Council does not have all day to wait for you to make your decision on this case,” Adler said.

  Liv looked around at the chamber floor, which was empty save for her and the white tiger. She stopped herself from pointing out to him that there were no other Warriors in need of the Council’s attention.

  “I’m going to do it,” Liv stated confidently. “Of course, I’ll do it. I simply think that giving a newbie Warrior such a dangerous case might speak of certain prejudices.”

  “Ms. Beaufont, would you like to speak more plainly about what you’re implying?” Adler fired.

  Liv thought for a moment. “Absolutely. Right after I return from killing those demons.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Akio didn’t interrupt Liv as she explained what had happened with the Council the night before. He simply ran his eyes over Bellator, which was resting in her hands, the gears turning in his mind.

  “When I was a boy, I had a falcon,” Akio began, his tone thoughtful.

  “Who didn’t?” Liv joked.

  His eyes lit up, apparently appreciating the joke. “The bird of prey kept rodents and other smaller birds away from my family’s estate. One day he flew off and didn’t return, and within the week, the mice and other animals had invaded our yard.”

  “I’m not sure I’m following you here,” Liv said, sheathing Bellator and deciding to stretch before they started sparring. “How does that relate to the Council’s assignment?”

  “I actually don’t know why the Council is assigning you such difficult cases,” Akio explained. “However, if Haro voted for you to take the case, that tells me there is a real problem with demons. Could they have assigned the case to a more experienced warrior? Yes, I think so, but there’s little reason to worry about that now since the case is yours and there’s no going back on it.”

  “It’s just difficult when half the Council seems to want me dead,” Liv stated.

  “As I said before, I believe that if Haro voted for you, he must believe you’re capable of the task.”

  “And Lorenzo?” Liv inquired.

  Akio shook his head. “I’ve known the Rosario family for a long time, and I can’t say. Maria keeps to herself, and her brother is unreadable.”

  “And Bianca and Adler?”

  A half-smile crossed Akio’s face. “I think we both know those two have a distaste for you.”

  Liv laughed at the stoic Warrior’s bluntness. “At least I know I’m not reading anything into it.”

  “My point about the falcon is that the mice invaded our property because the hunter had disappeared and wasn’t patrolling anymore,” Akio said. “My concern is about the demon problem. There is no reason that there should be an influx unless…”

  “The falcon has gone missing,” Liv said, finishing his sentence. He was referring to Stefan. However, she had seen him hunting demons with her own eyes. Well, mostly interrogating, but he did kill it. Still, Akio was right. There was definitely something suspicious here.

  “Are you ready to spar?” Akio asked, taking his position in the middle of the training studio. They had grown accustomed to the routine of training, having practiced several times each week together. Liv liked him as a teacher. He was kind, but strict. Thoughtful, yet stern.

  “Yes, more than ever,” Liv stated. “I’m going to pretend you’re a demon and my job is to slay you.”

  “Remember your training,” he urged. “And more than anything, remember your teachers. That’s what will guide you in battle.”

  Liv nodded, recalling what Akio had said about holding her earliest teachers, her mother and her father, in her heart while fighting. She unsheathed Bellator and stood at the ready, reminding herself that the sword was an extension of her.

  As before, Akio came at her strong and fast, his sword slamming into hers and nearly knocking it out of her hands. She spun to the side, trying to get her balance before his next attack. It came like a rush of wind, fast and nearly tangling her in knots as she tried to block all of his attacks. She felt close to asking for a timeout, needing a break from his relentless pursuit. However, in the back of her mind, she heard a voice, one she hadn’t heard in a long, long time.

  “Fight with love, not vengeance,” she heard her mother say. It was a line she’d said to Ian many times while they trained, Liv sprawled out reading a fantasy book on a training mat nearby. How had she forgotten this memory? She’d always been present for Ian’s training since they were both odd-number children who could become Warriors one day.

  Fight with love, Liv thought, avoiding another of Akio’s attacks. That’s not at all what she was doing. She was reacting out of fear. Self-preservation. But what had Akio said?

  “We rarely can persevere for self-preservation alone. However, when we remember the ones who made us who we are? Well, we become unstoppable .”

  Liv pictured Akio as a demon. Her hand tightened around Bellator and she spun, ducking attack after attack. When she’d gotten a good distance from Akio, she felt her heart expand and her arms lengthen as if she’d suddenly grown. In one rapid movement, she brought Bellator across Akio’s sword, knocking it to the mat and leaving him weaponless.

  He bowed slightly, a look of appreciation in his eyes. “It appears that you’ve learned an important lesson.”

  “That if I need a haircut, I should come to you?” she joked.

  He shook his head. “The desire to survive is miniscule compared to the need to protect. Just now you fought me not to win, but rather with an urgency to defend. Take that into battle against any demon, and you will slay them.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The moment Liv stepped onto Rory’s property, her feet were swept into the air, suspended by something invisible, and her head was upside down, her fingertips inches from the ground.

  “What the hell?” Liv growled, trying to pull herself up to see what had her feet trapped. She tried several times to do a crunch, but was unable to right herself.

  “Looks like you need to do more crunches,” Plato stated matter-of-factly, watching her attempts with mild interest. He stood next to her, unaffected by whatever had her upside-down.

  “Seriously, now isn’t the time to remind me I need to work out more,” she complained, grunting as the blood rushed to her head.

  “Okay, later, then.”

  “Why don’t you help me and tell me what’s got me trapped?” Liv urged.

  “Magic,” Plato answered plainly.

  Liv tried to gain momentum by swinging. “Wow, you’re so much help.”

  Plato’s eyes followed Liv as she swung back and forth, trying to catch her feet. “It appears you’ve triggered some sort of trespassing spell.”

  “Bloody hell!” Liv complained. “Rory could have told me about this when he invited me over.”

  “Hey, Liv,” Rory’s voice called casually from behind her as he strode from the house. “I put protective wards on the property, and if you trigger them, you’ll be trapped.”

  “Got it! Thanks!” Liv yelled, trying to twist around to see the giant. “Can you let me down?”

  “I can,” he said simply.

  “Will you?” she asked, her irritation building.

  “Sure.”

  Nothing happened.

  “I think you were remiss in not specifying when you’d like to be released,” Plato imparted.

  “Seriously, do you want me to kill you both?” Liv grimaced, looking at the lynx’s upside-down face. “Rory, will you let me down now?”

  “Yes, once you say the magic word
,” he replied.

  “Giant stew!” she yelled.

  Rory came around so that she could see him, shaking his head and suppressing a grin. “That’s two words, and I hear we taste awful. Very gristly.”

  “Oh, look who finally has some jokes,” Liv countered. “Will you please let me down, grandma? And thanks for the etiquette lesson. Whatever would I do without you?”

  “You’d remain stuck like this for a long, long time,” Rory stated, swiping his hand in a circle.

  The grip around Liv’s feet released and she crashed to the soft earth head-first. Rolling over, she brushed off her arms and looked up at the giant with a scowl. “You enjoyed that way too much.”

  He extended a hand to her. “I admit that I did. You look even funnier when you talk upside-down.”

  Liv took his offered hand and allowed him to help her up. He nearly threw her across the yard when he pulled her to a standing position.

  “So what’s up with the new security measures?” Liv asked, rolling out her shoulder, her arm having nearly been pulled out of the socket.

  “The elf has been trying again to get onto my property,” Rory explained.

  “And you got tired of continuously putting out fires?” Liv asked, noticing the many scorch marks on the lawn.

  He nodded. “That was only supposed to be a short-term solution until I had time to up security. I know now that this thief must be using a spell that tracks the sword.”

  “How do you know that for sure?” Liv asked. “Maybe he just knows that you and I are connected, and has therefore concluded that you have the sword? I mean, you are a giant and all.”

  “Yeah, that’s a reasonable explanation, but remember when I told you where my house was?”

  Liv thought back. That felt like eons ago, rather than a few weeks. “You gave me a piece of paper. The address only appeared when I set off for your house, and Plato said that no one but me could read it.”

  “That’s right,” Rory affirmed. “And the address would have disappeared afterward. You see, only those I invite can even see my house. Otherwise, this lot looks like a disorganized junkyard.”

  “What about Plato?” Liv pointed to the feline. “He can see your house, and he wasn’t invited. He just followed me here.”

  Rory lowered his chin and regarded Plato with a considering stare. “Yes, just like he can follow you into the House of Seven. The same principles of magic don’t apply to lynxes. For instance, he didn’t set off the alarms, and therefore wasn’t trapped the same way as you.”

  “Yeah, and why is that?” Liv asked, glancing at Plato.

  The lynx casually shrugged. “Let’s say it’s because I’m soft-footed.”

  “You can see how lynxes are considered untrustworthy creatures, can’t you?” Rory asked Liv, acting as though Plato wasn’t present. “There’s no way to guard against them trespassing.”

  “I’m glad you’re my friend rather than my enemy,” Liv told the cat with a wink.

  “Lynxes have no friends,” Rory growled, striding in the direction of the house.

  Liv gave Plato a sideways look. “I don’t believe that’s true.”

  “What you believe is all that matters,” Plato replied.

  “With you and our friendship?” she asked.

  “With everything,” he answered.

  Liv followed Rory into the house, and when she crossed the threshold, she was unsurprised to find that Plato had disappeared. The kittens were playing in a box in the middle of the living room floor.

  “Say, you wouldn’t be keeping these kittens around because you know Plato doesn’t like them and therefore won’t come around while they are here, would you?” Liv asked, picking up Samson and cuddling the orange kitten in her arms.

  Rory avoided eye contact, pacing in front of the fireplace, where Turbinger hung above the mantel. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I think he does,” Liv said to the kitten, who had his eyes closed and was enjoying the belly rub and not listening.

  “The wards I have protecting the sword won’t hold much longer,” Rory said, thinking. “I need something stronger.”

  “What can I do to help?” Liv asked. She figured he’d say nothing because she couldn’t remember a time that he’d ever asked for help.

  To her surprise, Rory turned around, a questioning expression on his face. “Will you keep watch over the sword tonight? I need to go and do something and don’t think I should leave it to chance. This elf is tricky, and keeps getting around my security measures.”

  “Of course I will,” Liv answered. “Where are you going?”

  Rory shook his head, taking the kittens out of the box one by one and setting them to the side. “Nowhere.”

  “For some reason, I don’t believe him,” Liv said to the purring kitten.

  When the box was empty, he pointed, and it filled with what Liv thought were medical supplies. He folded the lid over the top before she could get a better look.

  “You’re going to be gone all night?” Liv questioned.

  Rory nodded.

  “Are you going to your girlfriend’s house?” Liv teased.

  “Yes,” Rory answered at once, binding the box closed with tape.

  “Is she a giant too?”

  He ignored her.

  “Do you two Netflix and chill?” she continued.

  “There’s food in the refrigerator,” Rory said, pointing to the kitchen. “Don’t go into the backyard.”

  “What’s in the backyard?” she asked.

  “Giant stuff,” he replied.

  “Like tractors and bulldozers?”

  He rolled his eyes.

  Liv slapped her leg, laughing at her own joke.

  “So that’s why you asked me to come over?” she asked. “We’re not going to train?”

  “Have you read Mysterious Creatures all the way through three times yet?” Rory questioned.

  “Not even once. I’ve been busy, but I browse through it when I have time.”

  Rory was looking around as if trying to determine if he’d remembered everything. He directed his gaze to Liv. “You don’t have a case you need to work tonight, do you?”

  “I do, but it can wait,” she answered. “I’ll study up on demons tonight, so I’m prepared for the carnage tomorrow.”

  Rory, who was still absentmindedly looking around, did a double-take at her words. “Demons? You’ve been assigned to hunt down demons?”

  “Yes and I’m sure that like the fae, you think I have to do it,” Liv said with a yawn.

  Rory shook his head of curls. “Absolutely not. I had faith that you’d figure out how to deal with Queen Visa, but she can be reasoned with. Demons are the vilest creatures on Earth. You can’t go after them.”

  “But I have to,” Liv argued. “I don’t have a choice.”

  “You always have a choice. You just don’t like the consequences if you don’t do it,” Rory stated.

  “Yes, because my family gets kicked out of the House of Seven,” Liv stated.

  “They are just going to keep bullying you.” Rory gave her a cold look, his resentment showing. “Have you ever considered that it’s not worth being a part of the House of Seven? It’s a bureaucracy that will never see the other magical races as equals.”

  Liv set Samson down. “Have you considered that if I give up, there’s little chance for change? Yes, I have to face deadly stuff and ridiculous challenges, but if I survive, I can find out what the House is hiding. I can find out what really happened to my parents and my siblings. If I give up? Well, then I’ll just be some girl in LA with no powers and no chance of uncovering the truth.”

  Rory considered this and nodded. “That was the right answer, although I wish you didn’t have to face demons. That doesn’t make me comfortable at all.”

  “Well, any words of advice?” Liv asked.

  He shook his head. “Find someone to go along who runs slower than you.”

  “Ha-ha,”
Liv said, watching as Rory lifted the large box like it was a tiny carton of Chinese takeout. “Is there a bedroom at the back where I can sleep? Some cozy pjs I can wear, since you didn’t give me a heads-up on this sleepover with the kittens?”

  He looked her up and down. “No. The couch is comfortable, although it might have fleas.”

  As he set off for the door, Liv called, “Thanks. You’re an incredible host. Please consider opening a bed and breakfast.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Liv’s eyes were closing of their own accord before the sun had even set all the way. She blinked and tried to clear her head, the heat from the fireplace making her feel like she was in a coma. After hours of reading, she’d learned that the most effective ways to kill a demon were to burn it alive or to cut off its head. Neither seemed very easy to do, since also according to the book, demons were incredibly strong and agile and also resistant to fire. They could literally walk through flames without being harmed, so they had to actually be trapped in the fire for it to end them. And then there was the incantation, which was listed in Mysterious Creatures:

  Metuendas Dcemonis violentias, dimittere unam animam de amicae tuae involasti, permittens eos tandem requiem. Ad infernum, a quo factum est tibi in sempiternum in ipse comburetis.

  Which meant:

  Demon, release the soul of the one you stole, allowing them to finally rest. Return to hell, from which you came, where forever you shall burn.

  That was the only way to fully sever the demon from the soul it had latched onto. Liv had also learned how demons came to be, spreading a deadly virus that took over magical creatures. They had been around since the beginning of time, but Bermuda said their numbers had always remained static—which begged the question why all of sudden there was an incursion.

  Liv’s stomach growled, reminding her that she was still human. She pulled the sleeping kitten from her lap, laying him on the sofa, and trudged for the kitchen. It wasn’t that she wasn’t curious what was in the backyard that Rory didn’t want her to see as much as she was pretty sure he’d have wards that would throw poison darts at her if she dared to sneak a peek.