The Shifter Romances The Writer (Nocturne Falls Book 6)

by Kristen Painter

  Carmen lifted her glass to no one in particular, almost sloshing the sangria out of it. “I like her very much.”

  Alex grinned into the darkness of the evening. His back porch was lit only by a single candle, something else his mother had brought along with the food and sweets and wine. She loved to add decorative touches to his house. This one was at least tolerable. And the solitary flame was more than enough for their feline eyes to see by. “Of course you do. You’re addicted to her books.”

  Carmen swallowed another sip of sangria. It was the last glass from a very large pitcher and she’d done more than her share to empty it. “That has nothing to do with it.”

  He gave her the side eye. “Nothing?”

  She laughed. “Well, it’s not the main thing. It’s a definite bonus, that’s for sure.” His mother’s expression turned serious. “Oh, her books, Alex, they are so good. All that angst and romance and the terrible things that her characters overcome for love.” She sighed and clutched a hand to her heart.

  He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. “Yeah, I read the first one. It was pretty good. Really good, actually. I like my books with a little less kissing, but I can see the appeal.” The kissing he liked was with the author, not on the pages.

  Carmen stared at him, her eyes wide and glimmering gold, more from the alcohol she’d consumed than anything else. “You read one?”

  “Don’t act so shocked. I read. Not sure about Diego, but—”

  “Oh, let your brother be.”

  “You know he’s living with a girl he just met. A much younger girl. I’m surprised that doesn’t concern you more.”

  She sighed. It was a long, practiced sound that he’d heard many times before. “Will you take him back in when she kicks him out?”

  Alex stared at the porch ceiling. “I don’t want to. I want my own life.” With Roxy. “I’m a grown man who needs his space and his privacy.”

  She nodded. “Especially with your new chica.” Another soft exhale came out of her. “I don’t know where we went wrong with him. I thought after the Marines…” She tapped her painted nails on the wine glass, sending a crystalline ringing into the air. “I wish that boy would get his act together.”

  He glanced at her. The expression on her face was more appalled than disappointed. “Maybe someday.”

  “I’m going to see him tomorrow. Talk some sense into him.”

  Alex grunted softly. “Good luck.”

  “Pfft. What he needs is a swift kick in the culo. And you.” She pointed at Alex. “Don’t let him move back in here.”

  Alex’s brows lifted and he repressed a smile. It wasn’t like his mother to use saucy language. But then, that was probably the sangria talking. “I won’t, but you realize that you’ll be his next stop.”

  “No, he knows better. Your father won’t have it.”

  “All right, then. We’ll see what happens. But he’ll have to go somewhere.” Alex’s thoughts turned to his father. “What do you think Dad would think of Roxy?”

  “He’d like her very much. You know he respects anyone who makes their own way in the world.”

  Which was why he wasn’t about to let Diego move back in. “I do know that, but what would he think about her being human?”

  Carmen shrugged. “It happens. Your great-aunt Alita was human.”

  He sat up. “No, she wasn’t. I saw her shift when I was a kid.”

  Carmen’s eyes widened, and she rubbed her nose, a sign that she was holding something back. It was her tell, and everyone in the family knew it. “Oh, no, that’s right. Never mind.”

  He stared at his mother. “You rubbed your nose. You’re hiding something. Spill it.”

  She frowned. “You’re a bad boy.”

  “Yeah, yeah, out with it.”

  She grimaced. “Aunt Alita was human, but she loved your uncle Santino so much that she went through an old ritual for him that would allow her to live as one of us, but it’s an awful thing. And it’s why she died so young. It takes a terrible toll on the human body. Don’t even think about it, Alexito. Let Roxy be.”

  He nodded and slouched back down in his chair. “Just curious, is all. What happens? How does it work?”

  “Alex. Leave it.”

  “I wouldn’t put her through that. I just want to know. Aunt Alita did it, so why not tell me?”

  Carmen sat quietly for a moment. “It takes a willing human and a powerful witch. It’s old, old magic. And it doesn’t really turn the human into a shifter, it just puts a spell on them that allows them to shift. It’s not the same thing as being born one. But the weight of that spell, that’s what does the damage. Humans aren’t meant to carry that much magic for too long. After a while, it wears them out.”

  Aunt Alita had been forty-three when she died. But she’d looked like a woman in her seventies. That much he remembered. He shook his head. “I would never want less time with Roxy. Only more.”

  Carmen nodded. “That’s right. Remember that. And don’t let her know that such a thing is even possible. Uncle Santino spent the rest of his life regretting what she’d done and wishing she was still at his side. It’s not worth it. For either of you.”

  “I agree.” He glanced toward Roxy’s house. The thought of her as a shifter, running wild beside him was a very intoxicating one. But not at such a cost.

  It added to his worries about her. Now that she knew Nocturne Falls was a supernatural haven, she’d probably go into research mode to find out everything she could about the town and the people who lived here and how the real supernatural world compared to her fictional one. What if she stumbled onto information about what his mother had just told him?

  He promised himself that he would find time to talk to one of the most powerful witches in town about this as soon as possible. Pandora Williams. She knew Roxy and she’d understand Alex’s concerns. She could spread the word that no one was to give in if Roxy were to request such a thing.

  A soft snore broke through Alex’s thoughts. His mother had fallen asleep. He smiled and took the wine glass out of her hand, then scooped her into his arms and carried her into the guest room.

  After he laid her on the bed, he pulled a blanket over her and shut the door.

  He ought to go to bed himself, but he wasn’t sleepy. In fact, he was restless. What he needed was a run. Normally, he’d drive up to the land the Ellinghams reserved for such use, but he didn’t want to take that much time. And the two women he cared about most were right here. Leaving them for that long wasn’t something he cared to do either.

  For tonight, the neighborhood would have to do. He’d stay in the shadows and make sure he wasn’t seen.

  With that settled, he slipped out the front door, locked it behind him, then leaped off the front porch and shifted mid-air.

  It felt good to be in his panther form. Not as good as when Roxy had run her nails through his fur and stared at him with amazement in her eyes, but close.

  He took off in a long, loping run, working out his muscles and disappearing into the dark, a blur of sleek black, a shadow of a creature so large that no one would have believed what they were seeing anyway.

  By the time he got home, he was ready for bed. Worn out in a good way. His head was empty of almost all the days’ worries and concerns. Except for the thought of Roxy at his side. It was just a dream, though. Maybe even dream was too strong a word. A lingering idea. Nothing that was going to influence his decisions.

  He could happily live the rest of his life with a human woman. He knew that much. Roxy was enough. More than enough.

  But could she spend the rest of her life with a shifter and be content? He’d seen the longing in her eyes as she’d looked at him. Would she come to resent his abilities? Would that imbalance grow into something that would eventually tear them apart? And what if it meant they couldn’t have kids? Would that be a deal breaker for her?

  That all remained to be seen. And solidified his determination to talk to Pandora. Prot
ecting Roxy had to come before all else.

  Roxy was up early after the first decent night’s sleep she’d had in four days. She stretched lazily in bed, a smile on her face as thoughts of the night before took over. Alex. That man was reason enough to smile.

  She slipped out of bed and into some workout clothes. There were a thousand and one things to do, but a little yoga was first. Her body protested after her spell of inactivity, but it was good to move and stretch.

  Coffee was next, followed by a quick text to Delaney so Roxy could plan the rest of her day. Morning! Where do you want to meet?

  While she waited for Delaney’s answer, Roxy tried to figure out what in the world she was going to eat for breakfast. Her grocery supplies were in sad shape. Almost depleted actually. That meant she needed to add a Shop-n-Save run to her growing list of to-do’s.

  She finally settled on one last slice of cold pizza. Not what she wanted but better than going hungry. As she ate, she thought about heading over to Alex’s, pretty sure Carmen was making him a full spread. She seemed like that kind of mom. But heading over there would undoubtedly mean giving up an hour or so that could be spent working, something Roxy desperately needed to do.

  Ignored emails didn’t go away, they multiplied like spring bunnies, and she hadn’t touched her inbox in three days. No doubt it was overflowing.

  Roxy’s phone chimed with Delaney’s reply. I’m sure you’re swamped. Why don’t I pick up lunch and bring it over? If that’s cool.

  That would be great! I could use the extra time to work.

  Perfect. What are you in the mood for?

  Something healthy. A big salad with chicken. Or something like that. You decide. I’ll be happy with whatev.

  Okay, sounds good. See you noon-ish.

  Noon-ish. Bye. Roxy put her phone on the counter. Having Delaney come here was an excellent solution. It meant instead of spending time getting ready to go out and then driving into town, Roxy could work this morning. It was sweet of Delaney to suggest. Of course, Delaney may have really just wanted to talk in private, and considering what they were going to discuss, Roxy could understand.

  And then, after that discussion, she’d go get groceries. Enough that she didn’t have to leave her house for a solid week. Except to see Alex. Because other than that, she needed to chain herself to her keyboard.

  With the goal of pages in mind, she fixed a second cup of coffee and headed back to her office. “Morning, fish.” She wiggled her fingers at them as she sat at her desk and opened her laptop. New words were about to happen, and it was high time. Poor Wolfgang and Marabella, stranded on the pages of their unfinished story.

  “You two will be together soon enough,” she told them. “But first…email.”

  She fired up her inbox and let out a groan as the screen came up. Twelve hundred and thirty-one emails. She scanned through them looking for anything that might pop out as urgent, but her eyes started to blur. There were too many.

  Instead, she started by deleting mass quantities of advertisements from places she didn’t need to be shopping at anyway, and writers’ loop digests filled with info that was pretty much guaranteed to be something she already knew or not that important.

  Then she filed away the various statements and newsletters that had come from the retailer vendors that sold her books. She told herself she was filing them to be read later, but she also knew that was very unlikely. At best, she’d be forwarding the important ones to her accountant come tax time.

  Responding to fan mail came after that. Not all of it. That would be an hour. Maybe two. Instead, she answered the oldest ones, buying herself a little time. But reader notes had to be answered. Readers were everything. If they’d taken the time to write to her, then she could certainly take the time to write back.

  Almost done, she looked through what was left, picking out the easiest to answer. Some got forwarded to her assistant to deal with. Em was good at that. Maybe her responses weren’t as elaborate as Marissa had been, but Em’s concise style did the trick.

  Roxy kept going. Some emails took a simple yes or no to be handled. Some were invoices to be paid, promotions to approve, and interview requests that got politely turned down, an unfortunate necessity when she was this far behind on a book.

  Only a few more emails remained, all from senders she didn’t recognize. Then one subject line caught her eye and made her suck in a breath.

  Signing this Saturday

  Those words made the identity of the sender, AMiller@BBCShop.com, as clear as crystal. Agnes. And the signing at the Bell, Book & Candle. Roxy had completely forgotten. With a groan, she clicked on it.

  She read the short note twice to make sure she understood what she was reading. Agnes had pre-sold two hundred and fifty books and had another two hundred on hand for the signing. Which she expected to sell out of.

  Holy bookseller of the year.

  Roxy started typing an enthusiastic reply to make sure Agnes knew how much she appreciated the hard work, as well as an apology for not responding sooner. Roxy also promised to bring lots of swag. She finished with more thanks and a happy emoji.

  As she hit send, she realized she wanted to bring Agnes a little gift on Saturday. Something special to really show her how blown away Roxy was by her efforts.

  Roxy smiled and her thoughts turned to the book locket. That would be perfect. Except she couldn’t give Agnes that one. Not only would that be weird, but that locket had an R engraved on it. And it was going back to Thomas.

  She rolled her eyes, realizing that meant a trip to the post office. More wasted time thanks to that man.

  Shaking that off, she went online, did some searching and found the same locket. Overnight delivery was pricey, but worth it.

  Finally, she opened her Word doc and got to work. She read through the last chapter she’d written, pleased to see it wasn’t entirely dreck. She did a quick edit on it to bring it up to par, then finally began new words. Her fingers flew over the keyboard with speed and intent, and she was happy to be making progress at last.

  Wolfgang and Marabella were on the verge of seeing each other for the first time in eight months when her phone rang.

  “Ugh, not now.” But she picked up the phone anyway to see who was calling. Delaney. Roxy answered. “Hey.”

  “Hey. I was going to ring the bell, but—”

  “Are you here already? What time is it?”

  “It’s twelve fifteen. Too soon?”

  “No, I was just in the writing zone.” She checked her progress. Almost twelve pages. Perfect. “I lost track of time is all. Why didn’t you ring the bell?”

  “Yeah, I think maybe you should come to your front door.”

  Roxy hit save, then got up. “Okay, on my way. You sound weird. Is something wrong?”

  “Sweet crispy crackers, yes, something is wrong. Something is very wrong.”

  Roxy raced down the hall as she hung up the phone. She opened the door, her focus on Delaney first.

  Then Roxy saw what Delaney was talking about.

  One of Roxy’s books was spread open and stuck to her door with a knife. The blade went straight through the book’s spine and on the exposed pages of type, the word traitor was written in red marker.

  Delaney’s brows were knit together in clear concern. “Does stuff like this happen to you a lot?”

  Roxy shivered. “No. That is really creepy.”

  “Majorly creepy. I thought Thomas had been dealt with.”

  “He was. In fact, I finally got the divorce papers. He’s officially out of my life.”

  “You sure he knows that?”

  “I need to call Alex.”

  “Agreed. This is too much.” Delaney slipped into the house, keeping a wide distance from the knife. “But I’m so glad to see you. You look like you’re doing pretty good. I wasn’t sure if you’d ever talk to me again.”

  Roxy smiled. “You can thank Alex’s mother.”

  Delaney squinted. “Not sure I fo
llow.”

  “I’ll explain later.” She lifted her phone. “Let me call him first.”

  “Yes, absolutely.” Delaney lifted the takeout bag in her hand. “I’ll go put lunch in the fridge.”

  While Delaney did that, Roxy dialed Alex’s number.

  He answered on the first ring. “Hello, beautiful.”

  She smiled. That was an especially nice way to be greeted, given the circumstances. “Hi. I need you.”

  “Straight into the dirty talk, I like that.”

  She laughed. “That’s not what I meant.” Her smile faded. “I have an issue. Like a knife stuck in my door issue.”

  “What? Are you home?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  “No, I’m at the station. Don’t touch anything. I’ll be right there. I’m bringing Sheriff Merrow with me. Enough is enough.”

  She thought about the strange handwriting and the unusual gift of jewelry. “Alex, I don’t think this was Thomas. In fact, I’m not sure it was ever him.”

  Alex arrived at Roxy’s with Sheriff Hank Merrow in tow as promised. They parked their cars and walked toward her front porch. Roxy and Delaney came out to meet them.

  Roxy raised her brows and tipped her head toward the front door, where the vandalism was in plain view. “Nice, huh?”

  Alex shook his head. “We’re going to figure this out.” He jerked his thumb toward Hank. “This is my boss, Sheriff Merrow. Hank Merrow, this is my neighbor, Roxy St. James.”

  He nodded at her and Delaney. “Nice to meet you, Ms. St. James.”

  “You too, Sheriff. Thank you for coming.”

  “Uh-huh.” He looked at Delaney. “I take it you two are friends?”

  Delaney answered. “We are. And I’d consider it a personal favor if this matter could get some priority attention.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Roxy said.

  “No,” Hank responded. “It is. And we will. The safety of our citizens is something we take very seriously.”