Justice Unhatched (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 5)

by Sarah Noffke

  Chapter One Hundred Sixteen

  The low howling almost sounded melodic though it certainly carried an ominous tone to it. Sophia froze, rotating to find the source of the noise, although she was starting to embrace the whole ignorance is bliss thing.

  That had never been her style before—quite the opposite, but if she hadn’t lit up the stairs, then she wouldn’t know Franklin and Abraham were hanging out on the walls next to her in their giant webs. That was what she had named the spiders, going with a Founding Father-slash-presidential theme. They probably should have been Romeo and Casanova because they took up residency in Saint Valentine's home, which was where she realized she was heading.

  Sophia could not believe she had deluded herself into thinking her meeting with Saint Valentine would be in some classy room with crystal goblets and fine linens covering a dining table. She reasoned that since she had to have a magical dress made, she might have expected a fancy meeting environment. By the smell in the dusty stairwell, it seemed more like they would be meeting in a morgue.

  The light orb didn’t show her what the source of the ghostly howling was, but it was growing louder, even though she had not moved.

  Maybe it was Saint Valentine calling her to him, she mused. I’ll be there in a minute, she joked to herself. Just have to manage down this rickety staircase with a long dress on and two stalker spiders following me.

  Franklin and Abraham had abandoned their webs to scuttle over the wall next to her, like Frank, the monk in the Hindu temple. She always made so many friends on her journeys. She laughed, continuing to rotate the light orb but not finding anything new. Just dust, spider webs, seemingly endless stairs leading to the pits of hell, and Franklin and Abraham. Sophia reasoned it was better to have the spiders where she could see them. When they disappeared was when the worry would set in because that’s probably when they took up residence in the train of her dress.

  Deciding she had stalled long enough, she descended the stairs. She released the light orb and let it float next to her so she could pull up her dress.

  Wouldn’t want it to be all dusty by the time I see Saint Valentine, she thought with a giggle as debris sprinkled down onto her from above.

  The ghostly howl stopped as Sophia progressed. Franklin and Abraham hung back suddenly, their large red eyes moving like they spotted something of interest up ahead.

  “What is it, guys?” Sophia asked, turning back to the spiders who were easily the size of her hand and covered in as much hair as a Louisiana redneck.

  They apparently were not talking spiders because they didn’t answer, but Franklin shrunk back as a cold draft swept across Sophia’s bare back.

  She spun around and ducked right before something from her nightmares dove for her.

  Chapter One Hundred Seventeen

  The mummy, covered in crusty, bloody bandages and smelling like death, grabbed for Sophia. She dropped to the stairs and around the monster, racing down the stairs as it clambered back up, having fallen when its arms failed to wrap around her.

  Sophia chanced a glance over her shoulder to confirm her worst fears. The mummy with glowing yellow eyes and a gaping mouth was racing after her. Thankfully its bandages were slowing it down, tangling up its legs as it pursued her.

  The thing looked like it was straight out of an Egyptian tomb. Every inch of the monster was covered in dark tattered bandages. Its body under the covering was emaciated, and in places, she saw bones and bits of flesh poking out.

  The howling filled the stairwell, louder now and unmistakably coming from the mummy, which she had automatically named Simon. Her reasoning was that Simons didn’t scare her. They were usually kind and good-natured in her experience, and the mummy terrified Sophia. Naming it Simon was her attempt to make the beast less scary.

  Sophia had faced many a deadly creature, but there was something about being chased down a dark stairwell by a crazed mummy that topped all her recent adventures. She didn’t know what would happen if Simon caught her, but by the way he had his arms stretched out as he chased after her, she didn’t think he wanted to give her a hug.

  This would have been the perfect time to social distance, but Sophia didn’t think the plague-carrying mummy was going to heed her warning if she asked for some space. She continued to run as fast as her heels would carry her. The light orb stayed by her side as she jumped down stair after stair, leading farther down.

  When she checked over her shoulder, not only did she see Simon gaining on her, but racing behind him as if joining the party were Abraham and Franklin.

  They probably think he is going to make the kill for them, she thought morbidly. Then they can all sit down and enjoy a Sophia dinner.

  Simon reached out as he ran, desperation in his glowing yellow eyes. His sharp fingertips scraped her back like bits of broken glass. Sophia screamed and picked up her speed, using magic to fuel her. It didn’t matter because as she sped up, so did the mummy.

  Its hands reached out for her again and clawed at her arms. Sophia ripped herself away and pointed over her shoulder, attempting a spell in the closed space that would either save her life or end it rather fast.

  Desperate times called for desperate measures. She employed the explosive spell, knowing it might be the death of her if it backfired.

  Chapter One Hundred Eighteen

  The explosion was immediate. The blast was bright, like lightning striking. It sent her flying down the stairs, tumbling head over feet down until she hit a wall. She thought it was a wall, but in the chaos of the aftermath of her spell, she could not really tell.

  For a moment, Sophia felt like she was buried in an avalanche and didn’t know which was up or down. She felt something under her that must be the floor—a cold stone that seemed to hum with a strange beat like it was alive.

  The light orb had been extinguished during her fall, so all Sophia could see was blackness. All she could hear was the ragged breathing of an unknown thing.

  She pressed up to a sitting position, her back against the wall behind her. At least she thought it was a wall. In the total blackness, it was hard to know up from down.

  The breathing grew closer, and Sophia knew she was about to find out where Simon was. She was trapped at the bottom of the stairwell, at a dead end, and there was definitely something in the dark with her. She clenched her eyes shut, as she created another light orb, hoping the ragged breathing was Saint Valentine.

  Chapter One Hundred Nineteen

  It wasn’t Saint Valentine.

  Sophia’s heart nearly jumped into her throat at what came into view.

  The spell had worked to get the mummy off Sophia’s back because it had taken off its legs. Now crawling down the stairs and moving like a strange beached fish was Simon.

  He was dragging himself on his hands, his legs severed by the blast. His mouth was open, but there was no sound emanating from the black opening framed by his penetrating yellow eyes. The only sound was his ragged breathing, which sounded a lot like Sophia’s fearful sips of air.

  Flanking Simon were Abraham and Franklin, scuttling down on the wall, unhurt by the explosive spell.

  Sophia rose to her feet, trembling as she pressed back into the wall. She turned and pounded on the stone dead end, wondering how it had all come to this.

  “Hello! Help!” she screamed, beating on the wall, desperate for rescue.

  In a sad bit of irony, Saint Valentine appeared to have stood her up.

  She whipped around, trying to decide what spell to use on the mummy and man-eating spiders. Her reserves were low from the use of magic to get to this point. She didn’t have anything to restore her energy, and as she combed her hair out of her face with a shaking hand, she realized exactly why her magic was so severely depleted.

  There was a large gash in her head.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty

  Sophia loathed when people said stuff like, “Well, things can’t get any worse.”

  Things could always get worse,
she had found, and this was proof of it.

  She was facing a crazed monster advancing in her direction. It wasn’t hurried like before. Simon must have realized there was nowhere for her to go. Even if she had a good bit of magic to take the monster out, there would still be Franklin and Abraham remaining. The icing on the rotten cake was she had split her head open on the fall down the stairs. Blood trickled down her face on both sides, seeping onto her shoulders and staining her dress.

  At least it’s red, Sophia thought morbidly.

  The mummy wiggled down each step, one hand at a time clawing its way on the stairs. Behind him was a trail of bandages dragging and leaving behind black blood. As he progressed, the bandages tore, revealing more of the disgusting creature. It was like he had wrapped himself in toilet paper, which in a time of shortage would have made him a real jerk for hoarding the precious tissue.

  Sophia wondered if Lunis was witnessing what she saw through her eyes right then. Her connection to him was severed due to her injury. Usually, she was a very positive person, but right then, she wasn’t sugar-coating it for herself. Her head wound was bad. As her vision started to go black and dizziness took over, she realized she was close to fainting.

  Maybe that was for the best, so she wasn’t conscious when the mummy ripped out her heart and ate it. Sophia swayed as Simon neared, only five feet away. Franklin and Abraham were hot on his tail, their red eyes intent on the mummy rather than Sophia.

  She found this strange, but everything was relative when being pursued by a blood-hungry mummy and huge spiders.

  A yelp actually escaped Sophia’s mouth when Simon was less than two feet away. She pressed herself as close to the cold wall as she could, but it was no use. There was nowhere to go. She was stuck. Her fate was that she had to die at the hands of a possessed mummy.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One

  The two spiders rose up on their back legs as the mummy reached for her with unmistakable hunger in his eyes. Just when Sophia assumed they were going to attack her, Abraham and Franklin fired silk from their spinnerets. The streams of thick webbing shot straight at the mummy and wrapped around him.

  It happened so quickly, it was like a movie in fast forward. Sophia watched the threads of silk wind tightly around the mummy. It continued to stream from the spiders, who seemed to be working together.

  To Sophia’s amazement, they were saving her. They had saved her, she realized as Simon attempted to reach for her one last time before freezing up and dropping to the floor at her feet. He was completely wrapped up by the cobwebs. She didn’t know how they had done it or why, but in a strange turn of events, Abraham and Franklin had come to her rescue.

  She sucked in a breath, finding her chest on fire and her lungs straining to pull in oxygen. “Thank you,” she said to the spiders, still worried they might have stopped the mummy so they could have her all to themselves.

  As her vision dimmed and her head lolled back, she realized it didn’t really matter. She was too injured to get back up the stairs, back the way she had come. She was stuck at the dead end.

  Sophia’s eyes fluttered as she realized she was losing her grasp on consciousness. She swayed, sure she was about to faint as a bright light shone at her back and a cool draft hit her.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Two

  The wall at her back wasn’t a wall at all, Sophia realized, only partly conscious.

  It was a door.

  Someone had opened it.

  Just as her legs gave out and she tumbled to the floor, warm hands reached out and caught her and cradled her close. The person carried her into the light of a place very different from where she had been.

  The space was warm and full of sunshine and felt like hope.

  Sophia smiled, wishing she could enjoy her new location or thank the savior whose arms continued to hold her, but the waking world wasn’t open to her anymore.

  She closed her eyes, losing her hold on consciousness.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three

  The smell of chocolate and roses was strong in the air when Sophia regained consciousness. She opened her eyes, hearing soft harp music but only saw blurry images.

  “Oh, good, you’re awake,” a deep voice said that was instantly alluring.

  She blinked to try to clear her vision, but it did little good. “Where am I?” she asked, finding her voice strangely alert, although her head throbbed with a blinding force. Sophia would give anything for a painkiller right then.

  “You’re safe,” the man’s voice said, moving closer to her.

  “My head,” Sophia groaned, pressing her hand to her temple, expecting to feel the searing wound. There wasn’t anything there. Her fingers continued to explore, and she could not find the blood she expected or the severe gash.

  “Yes, you took quite the fall, didn’t you? Not really, but it was real enough for you, I’m sure,” the man said.

  Sophia blinked, trying to make sense of what the voice said. “I didn’t really fall? I’m not really hurt?”

  A warm chuckle filled the air. “The mind does strange things to those who keep their appointments with me. You were a victim of your mind’s fears.”

  Just like that, Sophia’s vision cleared, and everything around her came into crisp view. She was lying on a beautiful settee, her red dress perfectly arranged around her and her hands gently clasped over her midsection.

  Pushing up, she took in the man perched in an armchair beside her, regarding her with a thoughtful stare. He appeared ready to rush forward and catch her if she might faint again.

  Saint Valentine was handsome enough that he might give Cupid a run for his money. He had salt and pepper hair and was clean-shaven. His turquoise eyes lit up as he sat back and relaxed, no longer fearing she would topple over.

  He wore a silver suit and a red tie and had a very Sean Connery elegance about him.

  “Saint Valentine?” Sophia asked, thinking she smelled his cologne from that distance, although she also picked up the unmistakable aroma of chocolate and roses in the air. She knew immediately why as her gaze slid to a table where a large bouquet of flowers sat, a box of chocolates beside it. They were in a room that was much more handsome than the creepy hallways she had come from.

  It was covered in rich fabrics and beautiful paintings and statues. The light was provided by candles, which were literally everywhere, reminding Sophia of the most romantic scene from any movie she had ever seen.

  “The one and only,” Saint Valentine said, holding out his hand to her. When she took it, he kissed the back, much the same way Cupid had. However, she instantly trusted the man in front of her. He was love incarnate. He was like a religion, powerful, alluring, and supportive in the time of stress. He was faith and poetry. Saint Valentine was the stuff of legends.

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four

  Sophia’s head didn’t hurt anymore, but she continued to rub it, expecting to find the missing wound. “I fell. I hurt myself.”

  Saint Valentine offered a sympathetic smile. “You dreamed you fell. You dreamed quite a bit, didn’t you?”

  “That was all a dream?” she asked, continuing to study the room. On the far side was a doorway that looked much like the one in the pub. The one she had to find the right key to.

  “Indeed it was,” Saint Valentine answered. “Most fall asleep on their way through the door.” He pointed to the one she regarded curiously. “It’s like space travel or going through the channel or breaking through the atmosphere at light speed. Your consciousness simply can’t handle it and retreats.”

  “So, the mummy and spiders were not real?” Sophia asked.

  He nodded. “They were real enough to you, but they were a product of your mind. You have many reservations about visiting me, it seems.” Saint Valentine indicated her chest. “Your heart is conflicted.”

  She glanced down at her chest, remembering she was wearing the beautiful dress made by Hyacinth. “It was a dream…” Sophia didn’t like tha
t. It felt like she had been cheated. It was a cheap way to give her an adrenaline rush. She never liked it when dreams were used as plot devices, especially in her own life.

  Saint Valentine reached out and grabbed the box of chocolates, offering her one. “It was real enough that your reserves were depleted. Try eating something.”

  She took one and smiled in gratitude.

  “You see, the dream is how you got to me,” Saint Valentine said. “It might not seem real to you now, but at the time, you were desperate to survive. You did whatever it took to battle your demons…or mummy in this case. That tells me quite a lot. Many have nightmares when they come to see me, and they force themselves to wake up so they don’t have to face their fears. But you, well, you didn’t just face your fears, you blew them up and enlisted the help of would-be villains to come to your aid.” Saint Valentine chuckled, the gesture lighting up his eyes. “I do believe that dress makes you appear like a princess, but it’s deceiving because you, Sophia Beaufont, are a true and tested warrior.”

  She took a bite of the chocolate, enjoying the richness that coated her mouth. Now having a dream to get here didn’t feel so bad. It appeared it was the only way to Saint Valentine. Of course, she would have liked a bit of a heads up. She guessed Gregory had explained the procedures and what she should expect when she made the appointment to see the man before her.

  “Now, you came to me for two reasons,” Saint Valentine began cordially. “Shall we start with the first one?”

  “My friend has been shot by Cupid’s arrow,” she explained, wishing she had something to wash the chocolate down. At the conclusion of her thought, a flute of champagne appeared. She grinned at Saint Valentine. “Thank you.”