The Shifter Romances The Writer (Nocturne Falls Book 6)

by Kristen Painter

  “Don’t leave her side today.”

  He wouldn’t actually be at Roxy’s side, but he wasn’t going to explain the details of the operation to her. “I won’t, Mom.”

  “Good.” She put the towel down and sighed. “I suppose I should get ready to go. The car is packed?”

  “Except for your toiletry case, your purse and you, yes.”

  She pushed off the counter and headed for the guest room. “I’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”

  “Mom.” He rolled his eyes. There was no winning this conversation.

  A knock at the door claimed his attention. Roxy waved from the other side of the sidelight.

  He let her in, barely waiting until she’d crossed the threshold to kiss her again.

  “What was that for?”

  “You said to kiss you hello from now on. So I am.”

  She grinned. “You’re a quick study. I like that.” She hefted a dark red tote bag with her name and logo—a sly smile with fangs—printed on the side. “I brought the goods in one of my signature book bags.”

  “My mother’s going to love that.”

  “What am I going to love?” Carmen walked out of the hall, fastening a bracelet around her wrist. “Roxy, hi! I didn’t think I’d see you before I left. Alex told me all about your troubles. I’m so sorry. But he’ll take care of it, you’ll see.”

  “I have no doubt he will.” She lifted the bag again. “I brought you a little gift since you can’t make the signing today.”

  Carmen clapped her hands. “What have you done?”

  “Just the first five books in the series, all signed to you, plus a bunch of swag for you and your book club.”

  More hand clapping ensued, this time accompanied by shrieks of happiness and a few exclamations in Spanish. Then Carmen hugged Roxy. “Thank you. You are a dear girl. I’m so glad someone so good and kind has come into my son’s life. It’s about time.”

  Roxy laughed. “Good thing I bought the house next to him, huh?”

  “It was fate,” Carmen said, nodding. “You two are meant to be.”

  Roxy glanced at him. “I guess time will tell.”

  “That’s what I told her.” Alex took the tote bag. “I’ll go put this in the car with the rest of your stuff. Roxy needs to get ready for her signing, so why don’t you say goodbye and we can let her get back to her day. Plus, you need to get on the road, Mom. It’s a long drive. I don’t want you driving after dark.”

  Carmen rolled her eyes. “My son, the worrier. Fine, I’m saying goodbye and getting the rest of my things. Thank you again, Roxy.” She hugged Roxy. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “You’re welcome.” Roxy hugged her back, grateful for the woman’s efforts to bring her and Alex back together. “Have a safe trip home.”

  “I will.”

  Carmen went off down the hall again, and Roxy took a few steps toward the door. “Alex, I’ll see you in a bit.”

  He nodded. “Thanks again. That was really sweet of you. I’ll be the favorite son for a long time now.”

  Roxy winked at him. “And if you don’t want to lose that status, you’d better keep me happy.”

  He laughed. “I’m aware.”

  She left, smiling, and a few minutes later, he had his mother in the car and on the road. It was good to have his house to himself again. He stretched. Today was going to be intense. Roxy might not think her stalker was going to show, but Alex did. He needed to be sharp and focused. The crowd at the bookstore and in town would only make things more difficult.

  With that in mind, he started to change into shorts and a T-shirt for a run to clear his head and use up some of the pre-game energy coursing through him. Then he stopped. What was he thinking? He couldn’t leave Roxy alone.

  He jogged to her house instead and knocked on the door.

  Roxy answered a few minutes later in a robe and with her hair wound up in a towel. She was bare-faced, and her skin was pink with heat. She looked beautiful. “Hey. Out for a run?”

  “Not really. I was going to, but then I realized I can’t leave you alone. In fact, you really shouldn’t be here by yourself right now.”

  “You’re too late.”

  His hackles rose. “For what?”

  She cocked her hip to the side. “To join me for my shower.”

  He grinned, the imagined threat gone. “Clearly, I suck at my job.”

  Her brows rose and her mouth bent in an amused line. “There is so much I could say to that, but I’m not going to because we might not make it to the bookstore.”

  He laughed. “Save that thought for the end of the day.”

  “Will do.” She opened the door a little wider. “Coming in?”

  “Yes, if you don’t mind.”

  “Nope.” She tightened the sash on her robe. “I’m sure it’s easier to protect me from here than your house.”

  He came in, shut the door and locked it. “Abundantly. Just pretend I’m not here. Do whatever you need to do. When you’re ready, we’ll go back to my place, eat some lunch, then head over. Good?”

  “Good. I’m going to finish getting myself together, then I need to pack up some stuff for the signing and if I have time, maybe write a little.”

  “How’s the book coming?”

  “Slowly. But it is what it is.”

  “Can I do anything for you?”

  “Not really, unless you can whip out the last twelve or so chapters of this book.”

  “That’s probably best left to the professional.”

  “In that case, I’d better get moving.” She put her hands on his chest, went up on her tiptoes and kissed him, giving him a whiff of her clean scent.

  It shot through his blood like a drug, ramping up his craving for her. “Yeah,” he mumbled.

  She patted his chest and trotted back to the rear of the house. “Make yourself at home.”

  “Uh-huh,” he answered. A brilliant response. He shook his head, grinned at his unbridled infatuation with her and went to do another perimeter check.

  He might not be able to write the chapters she needed, but he could damn well protect the woman who could.

  At a quarter after twelve, the size of the crowd already assembled in the bookstore was astonishing. Roxy peered out the one-way window in Agnes’s office. People were everywhere. Most were in line to buy one of her books, since Agnes had made it clear that supplies were limited and no one was getting anything signed unless they had a receipt for at least one book purchased at Bell, Book & Candle.

  Roxy let out a soft whistle. “That’s quite a crowd out there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in one place because of me.”

  Agnes nodded as she fastened the locket Roxy had just given her around her neck. “It’s going to be a good signing. Don’t worry about the crowd. Leo will get them organized. He’s got tickets to hand out with the times they’re to come back to get their books signed. That way we don’t have a mad rush of people. After they get their books, that is. The crowd will be spaced out pretty evenly over the event.”

  “Well done.” Roxy smiled. “This isn’t your first rodeo, is it?”

  “No, it isn’t.” Agnes looked proud and pleased. “But this might be the biggest one.” She lifted her chin and patted the locket. “How’s it look?”

  “Perfect.”

  “Thank you again. I love it.”

  Roxy was about to reply when Alex came in. “It’s a madhouse out there, but everything’s secure. Agnes, please make sure the alarm’s set on the back door.”

  “It is,” Agnes said.

  Alex frowned. “Don’t you need to check a panel or something?”

  “No.” Agnes pulled a thin silk cord from under her green and purple tunic top. At the end dangled a silver disc with some symbols marked on it. “The alarm is magical. Anyone comes through that door and this amulet vibrates to announce it.”

  “That is so cool,” Roxy said. The more she knew about this town and the people who lived here,
the more she fell in love with it.

  Alex’s mouth stayed pressed in a hard line. “That’s great for you, but I’m not going to know if someone comes through there. Do you have a physical alarm you can set?”

  “Yes, but I don’t usually set it during the day.”

  “Can you make an exception today? For me. And Roxy.”

  Agnes tucked the amulet away. “You got it.” She typed in a code on a small touch pad by the door. “There. All set. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get out there and make sure everything’s going according to plan. Leo’s good. But he’s not me.”

  “Understood,” Alex said.

  “Thank you,” Roxy added.

  Agnes left them and Roxy sighed as the door shut.

  Alex took her hand. “You feel cold. Are you okay?”

  “Nerves.” Which she knew were reflected in her smile. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Can I get you something? Coffee? A soda? A shot of whiskey? Anything. Just name it.”

  She laughed and shook her head, her smile growing more genuine at his eagerness to help. “Save the whiskey for later, but the caffeine will just make me jittery, and Agnes has water out there. I appreciate the offer, though. And I really will be fine. This is just my process.”

  “Nerves, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  “About the signing or your unknown stalker?”

  “The signing. The stalker is your business to worry about. Plus, with the backup you’ve got here, why should I worry? In fact, I hope he shows up so we can put an end to this.”

  “I’m glad you feel that way. I’m hoping he shows up too.” Alex glanced out the window. “Jenna and Tessa Blythe just arrived. Pandora and Kaley shouldn’t be too far behind them. Yeah, if this guy shows up, not only are we going to know about it the second he steps through the door, but he’s not going to know which way to turn.”

  Roxy’s phone buzzed. “Speaking of Pandora and Kaley, they’re here and Kaley wants to meet me.” She put her hand on the doorknob.

  Alex covered her hand with his. “You’re going out there?”

  She laughed. “Well, I have to at some point.”

  “You’ll be mobbed. Ask them to come back here.”

  She held her hands out. “Have you seen the size of this office?” Adding two more people would mean someone would have to stand on a chair. Or the desk. If they could find a spot that wasn’t covered in paperwork.

  He grinned. “Good point. I’ll go get them and send them back. I need to talk to Deputy Blythe anyway.” He opened the door, then paused and leaned in to kiss her. “You’re going to do great.”

  “Thanks.” Then she held on to his shirt to keep him from leaving and kissed him back. “See you out there.”

  “You need anything, you just look at me. I’ll be in your sight line the entire time.”

  “Got it.” She liked the idea of being able to see him anytime she wanted.

  He left, and a few minutes later, Pandora and Kaley showed up. They squeezed into the office, and Pandora let out a, “Wow. It is packed out there.”

  “I know. But that’s a good thing.”

  “That’s for sure. I’d love to have an open house with this kind of turnout.” Pandora gave Kaley her attention as she held a hand toward Roxy. “Kaley, this is Ms. St. James. She’s the author we’re going to help today.”

  Kaley was a cute thing with long brown hair and big eyes. She stuck her hand out and looked about as impressed as any teenager could. “I’ve never met a real live author before. Nice to meet you.”

  “You too, Kaley. And I’ve never met a real live aura reader before.” Roxy shook her hand.

  “Do you know JK Rowling?”

  Roxy bit back a laugh. “No, sadly, I do not.” She released the girl’s hand. “It’s such an honor to have someone with your abilities here to help me today. Pandora has done nothing but sing your praises about how skilled you are.”

  Kaley grinned. “Thanks. It’s the first time I’ve ever gotten to use my abilities in a professional way.”

  Roxy smiled, tickled that the girl was taking it so seriously. “So tell me, what do auras look like?”

  Kaley shrugged. “They’re all different. But there are similarities among them that tell me things like if people are telling the truth or not, what their mood is, how they’re feeling. All kinds of stuff like that. Like, you’re nervous, right?”

  Roxy’s mouth fell open. The kid was spot-on. “Yes. You can see that in my aura? What else can you see?”

  Kaley looked at Pandora. Pandora nodded. “Go ahead. She asked.” Pandora glanced at Roxy. “It’s not good aura-reading etiquette to just blurt out what you see around a person. Not everyone wants the world to know they’re not feeling so well or whatever.”

  Roxy nodded. “Sure. Makes sense.”

  Kaley squinted at Roxy. “You’re falling in love with someone.”

  Roxy sucked in a breath. “Whoa. You can tell that?”

  Pandora’s brows went skyward. “Well, now, that’s interesting. Might it be someone I know? A very hot someone who carries a badge?”

  Roxy shot her a look. “I don’t think I’m ready to call it love, but we definitely like each other. And with my divorce being final, why not?”

  “Exactly.” Pandora looked at Kaley. “Anything else you want to tell Miss Roxy about her aura?”

  Kaley shook her head, her mouth bending slightly in disappointment. “Not really because I can’t tell what kind of supernatural she is.”

  Roxy laughed. “That’s because I’m not one. I’m human.”

  The teen wound some hair around her finger. “Not totally you aren’t. There are too many swirly blues and greens.” She pointed at the air around Roxy. “And that purple is definitely not a human color. That’s totally witchy.”

  Roxy knees went a little wobbly. She reached behind her, found the one empty chair and sat. “That can’t be. Are you saying I’m a witch?”

  Pandora put a hand on Kaley’s shoulder. “She’s saying that you have some supernatural bloodlines, and one of them looks like witch, yes. Right, Kaley?”

  “Yeah,” Kaley said. “You’re a lot human. But not a hundred percent.”

  “This is such good news.” Pandora grinned like they’d just won the lottery.

  “It is?” Roxy asked. Her heart was pounding. And not because of the signing. “I don’t know how I feel about it. Maybe you should tell me more.”

  “Sure,” Pandora said. “You know the spell you asked me about?”

  Roxy nodded. She could manage that much.

  “I was about to tell you that it couldn’t happen. I researched it and found out the physical cost for a human is far too high. There are some witches who would do it, I’m sure, but I won’t, and neither will any of the witches I know. In fact, Alex called me to let me know you might ask about it and he wanted to make sure we both knew how dangerous it would be. But now that I know you’re not entirely human, this changes everything. Especially the witch genes. Those are big.”

  Roxy looked up. The fact that Alex had talked to Pandora about the spell was interesting, but not as interesting as Pandora’s obvious excitement about Roxy having witch in her system. “They are?”

  “To borrow a word from Kaley, totally.”

  “Okay, that’s a good thing, then.” She blew out a long breath, her head still swimming with the news. Witch genes. She was part witch. And some other stuff. It was boggling.

  Pandora looked concerned. “I thought you’d be more excited, but you seem upset. I’m so sorry. I had no idea—”

  “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.” Kaley moved closer to Pandora’s side.

  “Oh, no, Kaley, this isn’t your fault at all. You did exactly what I asked you to. You did great.” Roxy made herself smile. “It’s just that…” She looked at Pandora. “If I have all these supernatural bloodlines, it means my parents had them too. Where else would I have gotten them?”

  “Right. Did you ever
suspect your parents were…something else?”

  “That never even occurred to me. Definitely not my dad, but my mother…” Roxy took another breath before giving voice to the one thing that had haunted her all her life. “My mother was institutionalized when I was very young. She heard voices. Saw things. Knew things.” Roxy shook her head. “Do you think…”

  Pandora kneeled down beside the chair and put her hands on Roxy’s knees. “Oh, honey. Yes, I do think these bloodlines were the reason for all those things. I’m so sorry.”

  Roxy rubbed her hand over her mouth. “So my mother wasn’t really crazy.”

  “Probably not.” Pandora sighed. “But sometimes, having all these little bits of different kinds of supernatural inside you can make a person feel that way. It definitely happens.”

  “I’ve always feared I might have inherited my mother’s mental health issues.” Roxy sniffed. “But she might not have been schizophrenic at all.” The relief she felt for herself made her feel sadder for her mother. Maybe she hadn’t known she had witch blood, like Roxy hadn’t until now. Maybe she died in that institution thinking she really was crazy. Or maybe she did know, but no one believed her. No matter what had happened, knowing what Roxy knew now put an entirely different spin on her mother’s illness. She wondered if she’d ever find out the truth of what happened back then. Or even if her father had had some inkling. “I guess being part supernatural is why the water didn’t work on me either.”

  “The town water? No, that wouldn’t work on someone with this many strands of supernatural in them.”

  Roxy stared at her hands, imagining this strange new blood flowing through her veins. “Why can’t I do anything magical? Or turn into anything? Shouldn’t I have some kind of powers?”

  Pandora shrugged. “We don’t know that you don’t. It could be that you’ve just never tapped into what’s there. Or it could be that you don’t have enough of any one kind to be able to manifest it. This is new ground for me. But you know, I’ve read your books. I wouldn’t say you’re without gifts.”

  “That’s very kind of you, but I wish I could know more.”

  “I might be able to help. Run some test. Can you spare a few strands of hair?”