Creative Matchmaker (The Inscrutable Paris Beaufont Book 6)

by Sarah Noffke

  The rock wall had stopped the demon dead in its tracks—serving as a roadblock. The monster spun to face Stefan, snarling to intimidate him. However, the Warrior wasn’t in the mood for it, and his next movements proved that.

  With a spinning movement, the demon hunter released the sword in his right hand, throwing it in rotation forward. The whites of the demon’s eyes were a stark contrast to its red skin as it realized that it had no time to avoid what was coming.

  The blade spiraled through the air several times before lopping off the creature’s head, spraying black blood over the Bewilder Forest. The demon's body stayed upright for a moment like a chicken still alive after someone chopped its head off. Then, as if finally realizing it was dead, the body fell hard to the forest floor like a domino.

  Chapter Seventy

  Paris’ feet slowed as she took in the sight before her. Because of the many mirrored surfaces, it took her a minute to figure out which version of her father was the right one. She felt as though she was in a funhouse and surrounded by fake images.

  However, the images all around Stefan dulled, returning to their normal appearance of tree trunks and things in the Bewilder Forest until only one demon hunter remained in front of her.

  They had done it, Paris realized as her feet brought her closer to her father, who had his back to her and was appraising the dead demon in front of him—probably ensuring it was dead.

  To Paris’ relief, there wasn’t another draw from a demon somewhere in the Bewilder Forest. There must have only been one.

  Stefan turned as Paris approached, the giant-made knife still in her hand. She was relieved she hadn’t lost it and couldn’t wait to rub that in Subner’s grumpy face.

  Offering her father a smile, she kept her eyes off the bloody headless demon behind him. She was about to congratulate him when she realized that she was out of breath from running and sucked in a giant inhale. That’s when she noticed that he seemed breathless suddenly too.

  Or in shock. Or alarmed. Or both.

  A look of confusion crossed his face as he looked at her…no, past her. Paris wondered if the mirrored images Faraday had created using the refraction lens were still playing tricks behind her.

  Paris blinked, trying to decipher her father’s expression until a chilling voice echoed behind her, only feet away.

  “You might have gotten rid of the demons,” a man said, his tone threatening. “But you’re who I really wanted in the first place.”

  Chapter Seventy-One

  As soon as Paris spun to face Agent Ruby, she knew the mistake she’d made. But it was too late. The unexpected had made her not think. Now her dad was gone. She was alone in the Bewilder Forest, facing a madman who had sicced demons on the fairy godmothers.

  Still, Paris had to check, so she glanced over her shoulder briefly. Sure enough, her father had disappeared from where he’d been seconds prior. She’d made it happen too. After everything, she’d accidentally taken her eyes off him, and now she had to face someone who might be worse than a demon.

  At least demons were soulless and out for their own gain. Agent Ruby, as far as Paris could tell, was seriously misguided, thinking he was serving the greater purpose and rationalizing his wretched behavior in the name of love. Paris somehow thought that was worse than being driven by evil. You knew what to expect with demons, but Agent Ruby would lie, cheat and take down his matchmaking brethren because of what he believed and wanted.

  Turning to face the man in the all-black suit, Paris relied on instinct as she had when facing the demon at the FGA headquarters. She looked at the fairy in the black bowler hat, wearing a malevolent grin, as her hand snapped up and forward. The giant-made knife soared through the air, straight at Agent Ruby’s chest. Paris thought for a moment that it would make contact, ending the man who had created so many problems for the fairy godmothers.

  However, to her shock and disappointment, Agent Ruby reacted rather fast, jumping to the side and opening a small window portal where the giant-made knife soared through before closing. The knife was gone, Paris’ only weapon. Subner was right. She’d lost both knives. Worse, she faced off against a madman who looked at her with an exceptionally evil glare.

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  Paris was on her own. Her father wouldn’t be returning to the college to rescue her. Faraday would be deep somewhere in the Bewilder Forest, her and Stefan having sprinted a great distance away from his location. The fairy godmothers would be recovering from the demon leeching them and not back to full strength for quite some time. Paris had sent Hemingway away, the only person who understood or knew the Bewilder Forest, and who she would have hoped for as her last option.

  Agent Ruby stood a few feet away, looking as devilish as she remembered when she saw his image in the mirror on the night of the planetary alignment. He was smirking at her as if he was enjoying this whole thing. Knowing the demented and deranged man, this was like Christmas morning to him. He finally got to face off with the girl who had caused him so many headaches, ruined his reputation, and made him flee his job as an agent.

  “You brought this all on yourself.” Paris cut him off before he could insult her, as she knew he longed to do.

  “I was trying to save love. Then you showed up and ruined everything,” he spat bitterly.

  “Save love?” she questioned. “By using social media and phone addictions and demons to ruin it?”

  “I was accelerating what will happen under the current Saint Valentine to show everyone where we're heading,” he replied smugly.

  Paris shook her head, silently trying to figure out her options. All she could rely on was magic, but Agent Ruby appeared quite proficient in that regard, instantly opening a window portal for the giant-made knife to soar through. Battling him would be more of a challenge than she’d ever faced.

  “You are so delusional,” Paris criticized. “And you’re sick, putting demons here and at FGA, attacking your race and people.”

  “My people wouldn’t listen to me!” Agent Ruby yelled, his face flushing red.

  “You’re the one who won’t listen and evolve,” Paris countered. An idea started to blossom in her head, although she wasn’t sure it would work. It was the bright shade of red that had transformed Agent Ruby’s face that gave her the idea.

  “The demons are gone,” Paris continued, putting her hands on her hips discreetly. “You’ve lost. You might as well give up and turn yourself in. Maybe then your sentence won’t be as bad.”

  “There won’t be a sentence because I’m getting away with it all.” Agent Ruby laughed coldly. “Who cares if the demons are gone? It will ruin the fairy godmothers regardless.”

  He withdrew a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his black suit jacket and unrolled it. “I found something interesting when doing my research on you. I’m sure that you’re aware that there was a prophecy that included you. Well, we didn’t know it was you until it came to light that you defeated the Deathly Shadow.”

  Paris narrowed her eyes at the man before her, trying to understand where this was going.

  He read the confusion on her face, and it made him grin wickedly. “You see, the House of Fourteen made an announcement recently about their Warriors Liv Beaufont and Stefan Ludwig returning to the House of Fourteen. They were also proud to announce that their daughter, Paris Beaufont defeated the evil Deathly Shadow, and she was the one in the prophecy who was supposed to face him. Still having my access to the Great Library as an agent, I snuck in there and retrieved the entire prophecy.” He shook the paper in the air. “I have a copy of it right here.”

  Faking a yawn, Agent Ruby glanced over the piece of parchment. “It’s pretty boring, stating that your power would have brought the Deathly Shadow back to life. That part is over and done with, but the prophecy recently received a new entry.”

  “Recently?” Paris’ heart suddenly beat fast. “How recently?”

  He blinked at her impassively, obviously enjoying this scrap of p
ower. “Recently,” Agent Ruby repeated. “I didn’t want to believe it, but then I realized that despite you being a total annoyance and sabotaging my efforts, you have some power as a disgusting halfling with demon blood.”

  “What does the new entry say?” Paris asked in a rush, squinting to read the paper, but the Bewilder Forest was too dark around them.

  “It says all I needed to know to realize that I didn’t have to take down Saint Valentine, FGA, or Happily Ever After College for revenge,” he answered. “All I had to do was to invite some demons here and wait until you showed up. I had already been planning on having the demons leech the fairies, a slow death, but not until I read the prophecy did I realize how perfect my plan would be. You always have to be the hero, intervening in things that are above your pay grade.

  “After hearing about your demon-hunter father when the House of Fourteen made the announcement, I knew my plan was more than perfect. That I would finally get my reward—even if only with vindication. I might not become Saint Valentine, but fairy godmothers will wither away and cease to exist, and it will all be because of what I do to you.”

  “What does the prophecy say?” Paris repeated through gritted teeth.

  Casually Agent Ruby rolled back up the paper and put it in his pocket, exchanging it for the silver ballpoint pen in its place and brandishing a cruel smile. “It’s pretty hard to believe. Even I didn’t want to, but like the Deathly Shadow, the fairy godmothers need you to survive and grow powerful. You might be a curse, but you’re powerful, regardless.”

  “What does the prophecy say?”

  He sighed, not liking that she wasn’t the best audience for his monologue. Pointing the end of his ballpoint pen at her, he pursed his lips. “It says that the halfling is the key to the survival of the fairy godmothers and their institution. If something happens to her, they will cease to exist. So if I take you out, I’ll take them out. Simple. Say goodbye, Paris Beaufont.”

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  Everything happened so fast that Paris hardly had a chance to react. All she had time to do was save her butt.

  As Agent Ruby shot a magical assault from the end of his ballpoint pen, Paris could only think of saving herself, not combating it. She dove to the side, thinking of how Agent Ruby deflected her attack when she threw the giant-made knife at him.

  The attack flew by her to the side, making the dirt and plants around her explode into the air. That would have been her if she hadn’t moved. Agent Ruby might be a conservative stick-in-the-mud fairy stuck in the old ways, but he proved to be very powerful. Plus, he believed that by killing Paris, he could take down all the fairy godmothers. She didn’t know about all that, but right then wasn’t the time for her to think it over.

  She had to fight this man, but she’d lost her only weapon. Rolling over on her side before he could ready another attack, something pinched her in the thigh, and her idea from earlier jumped to the forefront of her mind. Paris didn’t know if it would work, but something told her it was worth a shot.

  Sometimes the best weapon is a good defense. Disarm your enemy with their power. She reached into her pocket as Agent Ruby threw another attack at her.

  Paris couldn’t get her hand out of her pocket in time so she leapt behind the closest tree, which was thankfully wide enough to shield her from the assault. Unfortunately for the tree, it severed it in two, and it teetered back and forth before falling to the side. Paris ran in the opposite direction.

  In her peripheral vision, she saw Agent Ruby trailing her with his silver ballpoint pen, looking for the right opportunity to shoot another attack. He was about to get her. He was out for blood—hers.

  She pulled the object from her and leapt over a fallen log, stationing herself between two thick trees in case her plan didn’t work and she needed to shield herself again. Then she’d really be out of options.

  With a triumphant smile, Agent Ruby glared at her. He thought he had her cornered. That she was going to fight him. Negotiate with him. He was wrong on both accounts. Paris was tired of fighting. That would never get her anywhere when it came to this. What she had to do was take this evil down with his power.

  He flicked his silver ballpoint pen at her, sending another deadly attack her way. With a steady hand, Paris held the red heart-shaped ruby in front of her face, right in front of the oncoming magic.

  She didn’t flinch. She didn’t do anything. She simply relied on her faith in magic and her knowledge of how such things worked. Then she prayed, because why not.

  A look of confusion covered Agent Ruby’s face as he tried to decipher in the dark and distance what she was holding. Then it computed, and sheer panic covered his face as he screamed, his voice echoing in the empty forest.

  “Nooooo!” His exclamation was one of pure fear. He knew that she’d done the one thing that would disarm him. He knew she’d beaten him at his own game.

  Chapter Seventy-Four

  The attack Agent Ruby launched at Paris hit the red heart-shaped ruby as though magnetized to it, then immediately bounced off and radiated back at its creator.

  Agent Ruby didn’t have a chance to react. It wouldn’t have mattered if he had—origination magic was almost impossible to avoid.

  Paris had recently learned when studying for her exams that parts of magical instruments bind to that magic. That was true even if the object was severed, as Agent Ruby’s gem had been when it broke off his silver ballpoint pen. So when the red heart-shaped ruby intercepted his magic, it would bounce back and follow the spell’s creator until it made contact.

  The spell hit Agent Ruby straight on, launched him off his feet, and made him fly through the air. It knocked him back several yards into a thick tree in the distance. A grunt of pain spilled from his mouth, and his head jerked oddly to the side. It was almost too much for Paris to watch, but she knew better than to take her eyes off her enemy when in battle.

  When his back connected with the tree trunk, it cracked loudly from the assault. In an instant, Agent Ruby slid down the bark and crumpled in a heap on the forest floor, his death much quicker than maybe he deserved. Definitely faster than the ones he’d murdered. However, Paris didn’t want to punish. That was never her job. She didn’t care if her enemies suffered. She wanted them gone from this world if they wouldn’t be rehabilitated and adhere to the ways of love and justice.

  Standing over the dead man’s body, Paris let out a heavy breath. She hoped not to have to end any more evil, but if it meant protecting the fairy godmothers, she would. If her fate and their survival were intertwined, she’d do everything she could to keep them thriving.

  Paris didn’t look into the wide, cold eyes of the man she’d killed. She knew he was dead. Leaning over, Paris pulled the piece of paper from the dead man’s jacket, not liking having to touch the broken and evil man in any way. However, she needed to see the prophecy for herself. She needed to understand it. In time, she hoped to. For now, she needed to ensure her friends were safe and recovering.

  Paris turned toward the Enchanted Grounds and headed for the fairy godmother mansion of Happily Ever After College.

  Chapter Seventy-Five

  Headmistress Starr didn’t look like her usual self, but she was sitting up behind her desk with a sturdy expression as she read the paper Paris had delivered upon returning to the college.

  Mae Ling sipped a cup of tea, holding up her hand when Willow extended the paper for her to read it. She shook her head and smiled politely. “I’m aware that a seer thinks Paris is a piece of our survival.”

  “You are?” Willow questioned, then nodded. “Of course you are.”

  “What does that mean?” Paris looked between the two fairy godmothers then at the paper. So much had happened in the last few hours. None of it felt real, and yet, she knew it all was and had relayed the events to Willow and Mae Ling upon returning. “What does the prophecy mean? It can’t really mean me? I can’t be part of your survival.”

  “Prophecies are tricky pi
eces of information,” Willow explained. “That’s why seers are often not trusted. What they tell can be of great significance, or it can be a whole society’s undoing.

  “I think the key that we’ve discovered over time is to ignore them. If you put too much stock in them, people try to make them happen or undo them. Usually, something awful happens as a result. Look at the Deathly Shadow. It came after you because of the prophecy.”

  “And Agent Ruby too,” Paris related, knowing the dead man’s body was in the Bewilder Forest where she’d left it.

  Mae Ling nodded and sipped her tea. With the demons gone, the fairies at the college and FGA would get their strength and happiness back. Already the color was returning to Mae Ling’s face as she sipped more tea and thought about what to say next. “It’s best to ignore the prophecy. Or if you can’t do that, try and track down the seer who foretold it and get more information. It might be in the Great Library.”

  “It’s odd that Agent Ruby was trying to destroy me, thinking that would be the fairy godmothers’ demise,” Paris mused. Exhaustion started to tunnel in her mind after the long day. She’d texted her father as she ran up to the mansion, letting him know that she was okay after they separated. He was relieved, and she said that she’d see him soon once she figured out things at Happily Ever After College.

  “Is it really that odd?” Mae Ling countered. “You saved us from the demons today. We owe you a major debt of gratitude. Without you, we had no chance of surviving the long-term effects of their leeching.”

  “My father saved you,” Paris corrected.

  “I believe he had your help,” Mae Ling stated as if she was there during all the battles.