The Creative Strategist Read online

  “The unicorns are real,” she said in a rush.

  He nodded, his eyes darting between her and the unicorns, which she could see were moving minutely. That was because they were imprisoned, and were desperately trying to free themselves from the spell that had them captured.

  Liv released her hand from Stefan’s shirt, allowing everything he had said to sink in. “And if we capture Sid Encore, he won’t be willing to help us.”

  Stefan nodded triumphantly.

  “But if we bargain for his freedom in exchange for the unicorns, he will release them,” she continued.

  “And that’s when we actually take the good-for-nothing-scoundrel in, locking his magic for the rest of his life,” Stefan stated defiantly.

  Liv smiled, realizing what a genius plan it was. Whatever magic the magician had used to trap the unicorns was powerful, and chances were that the one who had trapped them was the one who needed to release them. Or at least, by the time the House figured out how the complicated spell worked, it might be too late for the unicorns. Also, locking the magician’s magic could cause all sorts of problems. Sometimes that backfired, harming anything they spelled, which would instantly kill the unicorns.

  “So we have to bargain with the revolting jerk,” Liv said, looking in the direction of the roller coaster.

  Stefan flashed her a confident smile. “And I know of no one better for the job than the girl who stands before me now.”

  Chapter Three

  As casually as if she were strolling to meet a friend, Liv walked up to the grumbling magician who was studying the damage to the structure of his roller coaster. He caught sight of her as she neared, lowering his hands to his hips and narrowing his eyes at her.

  “Are you the one who did this?” Sid Encore asked, his voice strangely high-pitched for a male.

  He wore a pencil mustache and goatee. On his head was a top hat that had a masquerade mask around it, and on his hands, he wore a pair of dirty white gloves.

  “Nope,” Liv said, ducking through the damaged roller coaster. “It was demons. Did you know you had a few living behind your concession stand?”

  “They aren’t a problem,” Sid stated, giving her a scolding look with his dark eyes.

  So he did know. “Except that they feed off mortals’ energy and also take over magicians and other magical creatures, turning them into soul-sucking beings.”

  “They don’t bother me.”

  “Because you offer up the mortals for them to feed upon,” Liv guessed.

  “Who are you?” Sid Encore asked.

  “I’m Liv Beaufont, a Warrior for the House of Fourteen,” she stated proudly. “And I’m here because I’ve been notified about the demon problem.”

  Sid straightened. Tensed. Took a breath and shrugged. “Yeah, well, what can you do about demons?”

  Liv inched in closer to the evil magician. “Well, like with all law-breakers, I kill them, avoiding protocol. Paperwork is a bitch. I’d rather just pretend they got hit by a train during a chase, and…” She copied his shrug. “What am I to do if those dummies hit a moving vehicle or my sword when the law was after them?”

  “So you came after my demons,” Sid said casually, looking at the gaping hole in his roller coaster’s foundation.

  “Yes, and now they are dead.”

  Sid spun, looking one way and then another. “Are you serious? What? Where? You did that? On your own?”

  Liv twirled her hair like a schoolgirl. “Well, there were three of them and one of me, so it didn’t take long.”

  “B-b-but…”

  She stepped forward, stabbing her finger into the puny magician’s chest. “And while ending those monsters, I noticed that you happen to have other illegal magic tech, too.”

  He held up his hands. “If you’re going to challenge me on this, I’ll—”

  Liv snapped her fingers. “I just took care of your portal magic. It’s been turned off,” she lied. “Try getting out of here.”

  He could have tried, but given the way he was trembling, he didn’t have the courage. Many thought the House of Fourteen had ways of disabling portals, certain spells, and even glamours. It was false, just well-placed rumors meant to keep the law-breakers from getting away with too much.

  “I really don’t care about the magic tech,” Liv stated matter-of-factly. “All I want is for you to release the unicorns from the carousel.”

  “The unicorns?” Sid Encore protested. “But they are my…”

  The punishing look on Liv’s face halted any more words from him.

  “I c-c-can’t,” he stuttered.

  “You can’t?” she questioned.

  “The unicorns were given to me by a friend, and if I… I can’t,” Sid repeated, not looking at her.

  “If you don’t release the unicorns, I’ll have no choice but to shut you down,” Liv stated, desperately hoping he believed her. Yes, she could shut him down, and he absolutely knew it. What he didn’t know was that she needed him to release the unicorns, or they’d be in danger. However, something in the way he kept glancing at the rafters above them in the roller coaster made her doubt that he was taking her seriously.

  “I understand,” he said, but strangely, he didn’t seem to mean it.

  Liv was about to try another approach when he sprang, landing in the roller coaster cart above them.

  The good thing was that he seemed to believe Liv had frozen his portal magic, but the bad thing was that he’d landed in what she now realized was a getaway-car on a roller coaster. It started forward immediately upon him landing in it, quickly heading down a steep slope and away.

  “Oh, hell, nah,” Liv stated, portaling and landing on the nearest docking station the roller coaster would come to. She stepped out of the portal just as the cart climbed the hill to where she was stationed.

  This was just a getaway technique. Liv knew it wouldn’t last long. Sid Encore was working on another way out. She just didn’t know what, and that was what worried her the most.

  When the first cart neared the top, Liv jumped into it and climbed to where Sid was sitting at the back. He caught sight of her, his eyes growing wide with nervousness.

  She lost her balance many times, knocked back and forth as the train churned forward. Liv held onto something with every step, and she wondered why Sid Encore appeared mostly relaxed as he regarded her from the last cart. Then the first part of the coaster dipped over the edge and they began racing over the tallest incline, speeding down, making her cheeks stream backward. Her hair rippled around her face as she held on for dear life.

  Liv couldn’t move. Just trying to stay anchored to the roller coaster was enough. At any moment, she was going to be thrown to her death. She just knew it. The track slung her to the side and she locked her foot under a seat, hoping that would keep her from flying halfway across the amusement park.

  The coaster slowed as it continued on a straightaway, giving Liv a chance to catch her breath.

  A quick glance at Sid Encore told her he wasn’t concerned at all. He was actually holding something up with a victorious grin on his pale face, and she narrowed her eyes, trying to make it out. Then, as the train she was riding sped up and his cart slowed, she realized what it was.

  Sid Encore was holding the pin that had locked his cart to the rest of the train.

  Wait, what? Liv’s eyes widened.

  He was stalled several yards behind her, not slinging around the track like the other carts.

  If that wasn’t enough to alarm her, Liv noticed the strange movement of his mouth. She recognized the incantation. It was one she’d used before. He was trying to freeze her in place. Liv looked over her shoulder and realized with horror that she was about to come full circle, in a way. The next incline ended at exactly the place the demon had crashed through. Liv was absolutely certain the track wouldn’t be able to support the train, causing a deadly crash.

  She tried to move but realized she was locked into the car. Sid’s spell had w
orked. She couldn’t portal away. She couldn’t even move her mouth to say a single incantation. This kind of magic was strong. It wouldn’t last long, but it didn’t need to. Soon the cart of the coaster would spill over the edge of the hill, sending her to her doom.

  Liv caught sight of Stefan on the ground. He was exactly in the place he’d said he’d be, standing squarely in the center of the roller coaster. His crazed look told her he knew something was wrong.

  Sid Encore jumped out of his cart, which had slowed almost to a stop. Quickly he climbed over the edge, using the wooden slats of the structure to get down to the ground from less than a story up.

  Liv’s eyes, the only part of her that could move, darted to Stefan. He’d pulled his bow, aimed, and within a second, shot. Liv heard a loud yelp of pain, followed by a thud. Stefan disappeared, running for the roller coaster.

  Liv couldn’t see anything else below since the figures were out of her line of sight. The cranking of the coaster told her she was nearing the top. It was only a matter of seconds before the cart she wasn’t strapped into spilled over the edge. Either she’d be slung off since she was unable to hold on, or the cart would crash when it hit the damaged track. Neither possibility left her with any hope of surviving.

  Chapter Four

  The air seemed to still around Liv, almost like the god of the wind knew she was about to plummet to her death. In the distance, she could see the Ferris wheel, still lit up and circling. It illuminated the carousel close by.

  Liv’s heart sank as she realized how badly she’d erred. A loud crack under her cart was followed by silence, and she felt her body tip to the side. It was the brief moment before the coaster tipped forward, barreling down a hill. Usually, park-goers would throw up their hands and yell with excitement, enjoying the rush. There would be none of that for Liv.

  She was about to close her eyes, shutting away the terror building in her mind, when she noticed the animals on the carousel moving. Not a little bit, like before. Rather, they were hopping off the machine. Frolicking, the way a pony does when freed after being confined for a long period of time.

  Her fingers twitched, and she jerked her head to the side. That might have been a bad idea. It was like looking down while hanging from a skyscraper. Below was the dangerous dip that led to the damaged track, and that was exactly where she was headed. But she was free. She was moving! Stefan had done it! He’d had Sid release her and free the unicorns!

  But it might be too late for her. The coaster tipped fully over the crest and started racing down the hill. Liv shot forward, nearly flying out of the cart. Her hand caught the bar just in time. Holding on tight wouldn’t save her from the fall she was about to take, though.

  With the wind blasting her in the face, she put all her focus into creating a portal. There was no time for anything else. She knew it. Stefan, watching from the ground, had to know it. He couldn’t save her. Like many times in her life, Liv had to save herself.

  The glow of the portal illuminated in front of her. It was like looking into a mirror, and that was for the best since she didn’t want to see where she was headed if she didn’t get off the cart. Liv didn’t know how she was going to step through the portal in front of her. That was usually how she did it, but with the wind barreling past her face, she could hardly breathe, let alone walk.

  With all her might, she was holding onto the seat in front of her. She considered picking up her foot and climbing, but she wasn’t sure how to manage it. And then the dilemma was settled for her; the cart hit the broken track, knocking her forward violently. Liv tumbled head-first, somersaulting through the portal and rolling onto the soft grass below.

  Jumping to her feet, Liv looked up in time to see the train she’d been riding on plummeting several stories and crashing to the ground. The carts exploded, sending debris everywhere and making Liv shield her eyes. A fiery burst followed, and Liv wrapped her hands over her head as she ducked away from it. She kept herself covered until the heat dissipated.

  “Someone wanted you dead,” Stefan said when she rose to her feet.

  She took in the rising flames eating at the boards of the roller coaster. “Yeah, someone must have had enough time to magic up some explosions.”

  “Well, he won’t be doing much of that for a while.” Stefan pointed to where Sid Encore was sitting in the grass, trying to reach the puncture wound in his back where the arrow had struck. He was jerking his head back and forth.

  “So you got him to release the unicorns?” Liv asked, glancing in the direction of the carousel.

  “Well, an arrow in the back and a sword held to the throat helps with negotiations,” Stefan said, pointing at Sid and making ropes tie around his hands at his back.

  “Thanks for saving me,” Liv said to Stefan, checking her limbs to ensure they were all there.

  Stefan shook his head. “I didn’t do much. You’re the one who created a portal on a racing roller coaster. I hope you get that that’s pretty insane.”

  Liv shrugged. She didn’t. What was the protocol on that? All she knew was what it took to survive, and she was grateful she had the right kind of people at her side to help her to do it.

  Sid continued to struggle in his bindings. “Oh, man, I’m just trying to fix what you did to me! There’s a hole in my back!”

  “It’s a flesh wound,” Stefan replied. “And we’ll have the best of the best at the House of the Fourteen prison look after your tiny cut.”

  Sid threw his head to one side and then the other. “This isn’t fair. I can’t lose my unicorns and my amusement park.”

  Liv, her attention still on the flames consuming the roller coaster, directed her focus to the evil magician instead. “You should have thought about that before you used illegal magic tech to enhance your park. And enslaved unicorns.”

  Sid fussed in his restraints. “If the House would just leave us alone, this would never have been an issue.”

  Liv laughed, both feeling the adrenaline of surviving another near-death experience and the victory that came when she won. “That’s the thing, Sid. The House will never leave you alone. We are more powerful than ever before, and we’re not allowing injustice to rule. Not as long as there are those who care about the world you want to abuse.”

  Stefan hauled Sid to his feet and opened a portal outside the House of Fourteen.

  “What you don’t get is the world outside of magicians isn’t worth protecting,” Sid stated. “It’s our oyster.”

  Liv shook her head. “Not on my watch, it isn’t.”

  She winked at Stefan, and that seemed to be all he needed to dutifully trot the criminal through the portal to a place where he’d be tried and held for his crimes.

  Chapter Five

  “Well, that was highly entertaining to watch,” Plato said, materializing beside Liv once she stepped through the portal beside the dusty highway. Liam’s barbeque restaurant was crowded, from the looks of the parking lot.

  “I almost died,” Liv grumbled, fanning dust away from her face.

  “I saw that,” Plato stated matter-of-factly.

  “But thankfully, I didn’t.”

  “Thankfully,” he said.

  “I mean, you might have stepped in to save me if need be,” she said, watching as locals trotted out of the restaurant, looking happy and full. Most of them were magical creatures since Liam’s place was popular with gnomes, fairies, and other types.

  “You never want to count on that,” Plato said almost in a whisper.

  Liv jerked her head down and stared at him. She’d been baiting him into this conversation, hoping to get him to reveal the secret he was holding onto and promising to reveal. “And why is that?”

  He shrugged. “You just don’t.”

  Liv sighed. The lynx was a vault. If he didn’t want to share, there was little she could do to get him to open up.

  “You know what I love about Texas?” Liv asked, putting her hands on her hips and leaning back, taking in the giant blue sky
.

  “That it’s legal to carry a weapon?” Plato guessed.

  Liv slid her cape back to reveal a tiny bit of Bellator. “That’s never a problem for me. I carry no matter what state I’m in.”

  “Is it that the weather is like a crazy person with multiple personalities? You never know what you’re going to get?” Plato asked.

  Liv shook her head. “No, that’s not it.”

  “Is it that the word ‘y’all’ can be broken up into three syllables, and is a staple in all conversations?”

  “Nope. It’s that in Texas, you can watch your dog run away for three days.” Liv sighed, looking out at the flat earth that went on for miles and miles.

  “You don’t have a dog,” Plato said dryly.

  “Oh, forget it,” Liv said, ambling toward the door.

  Rory and Bermuda had been able to use their magic to hide Sophia’s dragon egg from the Elite, but it wasn’t going to last for long. The best solution was to move the egg to a place where the dragon was content, which apparently wasn’t in her apartment. If Simon or Nick or whatever Sophia named the dragon was comfortable, it would stop registering for the Elite, the secret society of dragon riders.

  Liv knew that one day, Sophia and Tom would have to leave to join their own. But not yet. She needed just a little longer with her sister before she grew up too rapidly, fighting and doing things that made Liv’s job as a Warrior seem ordinary.

  That was why she’d come to Texas—to recruit a giant who could help with transport. The restaurant was close to the Magic Playland, so pairing up the adventures seemed like a no-brainer.

  Even though the egg was only three feet tall, it was growing fast and weighed an incredible amount. Rory might be able to pick it up on his own, but if he stumbled or something happened, he could drop it and the egg would be damaged, causing all sorts of problems.

  Giants were the ideal magical creatures for handling the dragon egg. Their magic subdued it, helping keep it off the Elite’s radar. Also, since giants couldn’t be riders, the dragon never felt pressured by them.