Unsuspecting Trouble (The Inscrutable Paris Beaufont Book 3)

by Sarah Noffke

  “It was you!” the ghost screamed, not giving her much space.

  Paris tried to scuttle back on her backside and elbows, but that invisible force pushed her down to the ground, and it was getting increasingly difficult to fight it. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding and we need to go,” Paris managed to say, angling her eyes down at Faraday in her arms.

  He nodded and mouthed, “Use magic.”

  She knew a few combat spells that could work, but her limited mobility required her to say the enchantments. Paris opened her mouth to start the magic, and the ghost backed up a few inches, giving her some much-needed space. For a moment, Paris thought the spirit would let her go, but then the Lady of the Lake extended her hand in her direction.

  “It’s time you pay,” the ghost said. “It’s time that you die.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Paris tried to speak, but suddenly she couldn’t breathe. She was suffocating from the invisible force as if it was sitting on her chest, crushing her.

  Her hands shot for her throat as she writhed in pain. Paris was unaware of what was happening around her. She caught sight of Faraday momentarily going for the ghost as though he was trying to attack her. That made the Lady of the Lake retreat a few steps, which took some of the crushing pressure off Paris’ chest. She was able to suck in a small sip of air and partially sit up.

  Apparently, the presence of a squirrel running at the ghost had stolen her attention briefly, but she instantly dismissed him and turned her focus back on Paris. Knowing that every second counted, Paris held up her hand, ready to send a combat spell at the spirit when someone suddenly burst onto the scene in a blur.

  Paris, not knowing what other dangers were about to assault her, backed up several yards on her hands and feet before rising to a standing position. She was shocked when she caught sight of Hemingway standing between her and the ghost, his hands extended in both directions between the two.

  “Don’t hurt her!” he yelled, and to Paris’ shock, he was looking straight at her.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Paris was still shaking all over but managed to point at herself while looking between Hemingway, the ghost, and Faraday on the ground beside her. “M-M-Me?” she stuttered. “She’s the one who was trying to kill me.”

  “Don’t hurt her,” Hemingway repeated, his chest rising and falling fast, his hands still extended between the ghost and Paris. The Lady of the Lake still regarded Paris with a murderous expression, but she didn’t move, only hovered on the other side of Hemingway.

  Paris glanced down at the squirrel next to her, wondering if he could offer anything on this.

  He gave her a thoughtful look. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, glad to see that he seemed okay too after the tumble and more. Paris sucked in a breath, her lungs aching from being suffocated by the invisible force and the freezing temperature.

  “She’s the one,” the ghost said in a shrill voice. “I have to kill her.”

  Paris reflexively threw up her hand, ready to defend herself again. Hemingway shook his extended hand at her. “Please don’t hurt her. She doesn’t know what’s going on.”

  “Well, she apparently knows she wants to kill me.” Paris didn’t lower her hand, ready to defend herself and Faraday.

  Hemingway whipped around, putting his back to Paris. “Go!” he yelled at the ghost with authority. “She’s not the one you want. Get out of here! Leave her alone!”

  The ghost glanced over his shoulder at Paris, that murderous expression making her look more like a demon than a ghost.

  “Get out of here!” Hemingway screamed, throwing up his hands and stomping his feet.

  The ghost redirected her attention to him, and to Paris’ surprise, she softened, tilting her head. “I’m sorry,” the Lady of the Lake mouthed, then spun and soared through the Bewilder Forest in a blur of white, taking the cold with her as she retreated.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “You have some explaining to do,” Paris challenged, her hands on her hips as she faced Hemingway.

  He looked her over, then Faraday. “Are you two okay?”

  “Well, an angry ghost nearly suffocated me, so I’m going to go with not really,” Paris huffed, trying to catch her breath after the adrenaline and cold.

  Hemingway sighed with relief. “I told you not to come in here at night.”

  “I heeded the warning, but that one didn’t.” Paris pointed at Faraday, who held up his paw, his eyes large and an adorable expression on his face.

  “I’m sorry,” he said in his squeaky voice. “I was curious.”

  “Yeah, your curiosity is going to be the death of me,” Paris muttered.

  Hemingway nodded and pushed his hands through his hair on either side of his head. “Although the Serenity Garden is much better now that we’ve gotten rid of the flawed magitech AIs. That was overdue.”

  Paris pointed in the direction that the Lady of the Lake had retreated. “So what’s going to be the benefit of us meeting the angry ghost?”

  Hemingway dropped his hands, looking heavy. “Probably there isn’t one.”

  “Well, maybe we can start with who she is,” Faraday speculated, climbing up the side of a tree and perching on a nearby branch so he was more on their level.

  Hemingway sighed, averting his gaze. “She’s a ghost. There isn’t much more to it.”

  “You’re lying,” Paris stated with confidence. She was an expert at picking up when people were lying after spending enough time watching bullies try to con their way in or out of things.

  Hemingway turned, putting his back to them. Paris strode around him and propped her hands on her hips. “Why is it that when you challenged the mean ghost, she listened? Who did she think I was? Why did Mae Ling think me coming in here would provide useful information?”

  Surprise covered Hemingway’s face. “That’s what she said to you earlier?”

  “You were watching me?” Paris was somewhat offended. “Why?”

  “Because I saw Faraday come into the Bewilder Forest and couldn’t stop him in time. But I knew she wouldn’t harm him. The Lady of the Lake doesn’t care about animals. Only other women.”

  “Why?” Paris asked. “Who is she?”

  “No one,” Hemingway lied again, his right eye twitching.

  “Well, she wasn’t a fairy,” Faraday mused from the branch. “She didn’t have any wings, and I hypothesize that in ghost form, they’d show since she wouldn’t glamour them.”

  “Good point.” Paris was grateful to have the logical squirrel’s help on this.

  Hemingway rounded on the rodent. “Why do you say things like hypothesize? What kind of spell made it so you can talk? It would have to be incredibly powerful, and still, you’d speak like a squirrel. The last time I checked, they didn’t sound like an educated scientist.”

  “It was a powerful spell,” Faraday answered at once, not at all flustered.

  “I don’t believe the talking squirrel is the one I’m questioning right now, Hemingway.” Paris strode between the two and gave him a challenging look.

  “It’s just that I think he’s hiding something.” Hemingway didn’t take his eyes off the squirrel who remained causal.

  “You’re hiding something,” Paris stated. “Mae Ling isn’t concerned about Faraday, but she told me to come in here tonight. Then you showed up. So tell me what you know about this angry ghost who wants to kill me.”

  Hemingway pulled his gaze from Faraday and looked at Paris, regret heavy on his face. “The ghost didn’t want to kill you. She wants to kill the woman who stole her husband.”

  “Oh, well, I guess I’d want to kill that woman too,” Paris stated. “So she thinks that every woman is the one who stole her husband?”

  He nodded.

  “Why did she listen to you when you told her to leave?” Faraday asked speculatively.

  “Because…” Hemingway sounded hesitant. “The ghost is my mother.”

  Chap
ter Thirty-Three

  Of all of the answers Paris expected, that wasn’t one of them.

  “That was your mother?” She pointed in the direction the ghost fled. “But…”

  “I’m not a fairy,” Hemingway admitted, filling in what Paris was about to say. “I’m a magician, but the headmistress put a powerful spell on me so that I have the energy of a fairy. That was one reason I sensed you were a magician from the beginning. You don’t think or act like a fairy.”

  Paris nodded. That wasn’t hard to digest. Hemingway was very logical, which was one of the many reasons she related to him of all those at the college.

  “It’s one reason I sympathized with you,” Hemingway continued. “I know how hard it is not to be like everyone at Happily Ever After. I know how it is to be different.”

  “Why does the headmistress have to spell you to appear like a fairy?” Faraday’s question earned a scolding look from Hemingway.

  “It’s complicated,” Hemingway muttered, not looking as though he wanted to answer that.

  “Why don’t we start with why your mother is haunting the Bewilder Forest at night,” Paris stated. “Also, I’m sorry for her death. I’m sure that’s difficult.”

  Hemingway shook his head. “It’s not, really. I didn’t know her when she was alive.” He sucked in a breath, stress edging his eyes. “You see, my mother was a Cinderella that a fairy godmother was charged to match with my father, a supposed Prince Charming. Apparently, everything went fine, and they were married. However, my father never loved my mother. The fairy godmother made a mistake. She matched the wrong man to my mother according to what I’ve discovered. But the fairy godmothers weren’t adaptable then, just as they aren’t very much now, although I hope that’s changing. Anyway, my mother, believing in her fairy godmother, forced the marriage and became pregnant with me.”

  Paris gulped, sensing the sad ending that was coming.

  “When very pregnant,” Hemingway continued, “my mother discovered my father was having an affair with another woman.”

  “The one she thought was me and wanted to kill,” Paris guessed.

  He nodded. “My mother being pregnant and heartbroken earned the sympathy of the fairy godmother who had matched her with the wrong man. She brought her here, where she quickly gave birth to me. However, my mother was emotionally destroyed and went out one night, paddled to the middle of Mirror Lake, tied herself to an anchor, and threw it and herself into the water.”

  Paris gasped. “She drowned herself…”

  “Yeah.” He shook his head. “She couldn’t get over my father or that he didn’t want her. As the famous Hemingway said, ‘the most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.’”

  A chill, as if the ghost was still there, ran down Paris’ back. “She’s haunted the Bewilder Forest at night ever since?”

  Regret filled Hemingway’s eyes. “Headmistress Starr could free her. She’s offered. Mae Ling has as well. But, I don’t know how to let her go.”

  An ache erupted in Paris’ throat. She could relate to Hemingway acutely. How could he want to let go of his mother when he never got to know her alive? Of course, he’d hold onto her ghost, even if she was vengeful and angry. It was all he had of her. Having lost her parents in another dimension, Paris knew that she’d hold onto anything of them that would connect her to them, even if that was their ghosts.

  “So after your mother died, the fairy godmothers raised you,” Paris guessed.

  “Yes,” Hemingway affirmed. “My father, who wasn’t a good man and didn’t love my mother, didn’t want anything to do with me. The idea was to raise me until I was of age. Then I could enter the real world. However, when that time came, I asked to stay. Headmistress Starr had kept me a secret from Saint Valentine and the FGM Agency, knowing they wouldn’t accept a magician living at the college. They’ve always thought that I was a fairy. When I came of age and didn’t want to leave, she offered to continue to disguise me so I could teach here. So I could stay.”

  “If anyone ever learned that you were a magician…” Faraday’s tone conveyed his question.

  Hemingway’s eyes widened. “I’d be done. Headmistress Starr would have to get rid of me. A half-fairy at the college has been met with enough push back by the board and FGM Agency and donors. If anyone found out that a magician was on the faculty, well, there’d be no chance I could stay.”

  “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us,” Faraday reassured him.

  Hemingway offered a small expression of gratitude.

  “So, you’ve never left here. Other than our trip to LA. You’ve always been here,” Paris stated rather than asked, remembering that he’d admitted as much when they first met. “Why?”

  His gaze drifted to the side, shame in his eyes. “The world outside Happily Ever After College broke my mother.” He held his arm out in the direction of the Enchanted Grounds in the distance. “This place is all I’ve ever known. I can’t imagine leaving here. I don’t know who I am outside this bubble. The fairy godmothers are loving, for the most part, and my father was horrible. What possible good could come from being a part of a world where people break each other’s hearts? I’d much rather be part of the world that mends them.”

  “But you’re hiding,” Paris said and instantly felt awful for the judgment. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through—”

  “No, you’re right,” Hemingway interrupted. “I’m a coward. The longer I stay here, the harder it is to leave. I’ve left for special events, but only for a few hours. I can’t bring myself to try to live outside of Happily Ever After.”

  Paris nodded. “I understand. I spent almost all of my life on Roya Lane.”

  “Because you were spelled and being protected from the Deathly Shadow,” he argued.

  She nodded. “We all have reasons for staying in the same place. It sounds like you’ve never been able to be who you truly are. To be a magician, you’ll be exposed and have to give up your place here. That can’t be easy.”

  A tender expression crossed Hemingway’s face. “It’s not easy, but hiding who I am also isn’t. I’d like to be a magician, but ironically, then I can’t be who I’ve been.”

  Something suddenly occurred to Paris and her eyes darted to the bite on Hemingway’s arm. “Moira. The mermaid. She didn’t bite you because you were feeding her or got too close. It’s because you’re a magician.”

  He sucked in a breath and nodded. “Yeah, and I had her put in the lake to discourage anyone from ever drowning themselves in Mirror Lake again.”

  “Getting eaten alive by a mermaid does seem like a bad death option,” Faraday cut in.

  Paris lifted her hand without realizing it and rested it on Hemingway’s arm. “Thanks for explaining this to me. I’m sorry about your mother. If you need help with any of this, I’m here.”

  He offered a pained smile. “Thanks. I think at some point, I might take you up on that. I don’t know when, but I realize that I have to figure out how to let her go.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  News Source: The Times

  Article Headline: Two Tech Companies Crash and Burn At Once

  McGregor Technologies and Rose Industries had recently been neck-and-neck dominating a small sector of the tech business. However, in a strange and ironic turn of events, both companies have taken a sudden downturn as their stocks plummet.

  It was recently leaked to the press that products sold by McGregor Technologies were responsible for numerous fires due to faulty wiring. One of these fires burned down a three-story office building. Others have caused thousands of dollars in damages and risked the lives of many.

  McGregor Technologies’ CEO, Mr. Grayson McGregor, wasn’t available to comment on the claims regarding the faulty wiring of the company’s products that allegedly caused the fires. However, silence in this incidence isn’t golden and has caused many shareholders to sell off thei
r stocks. Meanwhile, customers are erring on the side of caution and voicing hesitancy regarding buying the company’s products.

  Ironically, McGregor Technology’s competition isn’t benefiting from their decline. Recent discoveries show that Rose Industries is under citation for numerous dangerous working conditions in their facilities. The tech industry doesn’t take these human resources issues lightly, and multiple lawsuits immediately slammed the company.

  Rose Industries’ CEO, Ms. Amelia Rose, was also unavailable for a comment on the matter, but consumers have an opinion. The current consensus is that shoppers would rather go without than support a company that mistreats employees.

  Will these two tech companies weather this storm? Or will they find themselves a casualty, like so many tech niches that didn’t do their due diligence before setting up shop? That remains to be seen.

  Paris laid down the newspaper that had “magically” made its way to the top of her dresser that morning. She didn’t feel good about having Wilfred plant the articles that started the wheels in motion to take down McGregor Technologies and Rose Industries. However, she stood by the plan. The way to get those two together was to ensure they worked together, and the way to do that was to destroy their current companies. Then they’d fall in love and start something better together…that was the hope anyway. Paris hoped it worked.

  It was a very risky plan. The headmistress was relying on Paris. She was wagering a lot on a different way of doing things. If this didn’t work, not only would the love meter suffer, but Willow would be under fire, and Paris could potentially be tossed out of Happily Ever After College. She was being scrutinized enough for being half-magician. If her plan failed, it would give donors the ammunition they needed to get her kicked out of the school. Paris knew a little about how Hemingway felt. Unlike him, she knew a life outside of Happily Ever After College. Similar to him, she wanted to stay no matter what. This felt like her home, and she didn’t want to fail. Which meant she had to hope that the risks she’d taken paid off.