The Shifter Romances The Writer (Nocturne Falls Book 6) (33 page)

Alex was crouched over a dark figure. His eyes still glowed gold in the soft light, but now his canines were long and deadly, and sharp claws jutted from his fingers. He was in his half-form, the same one she’d seen the night she’d found out the truth about this town.

The same night he’d also had a man pinned to the ground.

“Stay down,” he snarled. Then he looked at her. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, not quite up to words.

“You sure you’re not hurt?”

“I’m sure, Alex. I’m fine.” She stared at the man on the ground. A black hoodie obscured his face and in the darkness of the evening, it was hard to make out much more. Black jeans. Black sneakers. All nondescript.

“Good. Do you feel up to getting my handcuffs and my phone?”

“Yes.” She could do anything if it meant putting an end to this.

“They’re on the dresser in my bedroom.”

The stalker squirmed. “Get off me, man.”

Alex leaned down. “Move and I’ll break you in half.”

The man went still as she got to her feet and climbed the stairs to the deck. She picked up a towel to wrap around herself. She stared at the guy on the ground. “He was going to kidnap me.”

Alex nodded. “I wouldn’t have let that happen.”

“You kept saying he’d show up sooner or later. You were right.” She shivered and pulled the towel around her, but she wasn’t cold. Just shaken by the enormity of what might have happened. This man, whoever he was—she tried again to make out his features in the shadows—had tried to abduct her. But he hadn’t. Because of Alex. “Is that who rang the doorbell?”

“Yes. I knew as soon as I opened it and there was no one there.”

“I can’t believe you took him down so fast.”

“I wasn’t going to give him an opportunity to hurt you.”

“Thank you.” She swallowed as a thousand scenarios of what could have happened spun through her head. “Be right back.” She ran into the house to get the things he’d asked for, still trembling with adrenaline.

When she returned, Alex’s half form had given way to his human one. He took the cuffs from her, then secured the guy and hauled him to a sitting position. Alex yanked the man’s hood back. “Do you recognize this guy?”

She racked her brain for some memory of seeing the man before. He was young, his hair black and stringy and hanging over his face. But nothing about him seemed familiar. “No.”

The guy muttered something that sounded like a curse. “Don’t say you don’t know me.”

Roxy stepped back. “I don’t.” She looked at Alex. “I have no clue who he is.”

“That’s okay.” Alex held his hand out. “Phone.”

She gave it to him as a sudden surge of weird giddiness welled up in her. It was finally over. She was safe. Thanks to Alex. Her shifter. Her protector.

He tapped a few buttons. “It’s Cruz. Roxy’s stalker just showed up. Yep. Yep. Thanks.” He handed the phone back to her. “Deputy Lafitte is on his way with a car.”

“Lafitte? Are there pirates in this town too?”

Alex smirked. “No. He’s a Cajun. Remy’s his first name. New hire a few months back. Good man. But he’s strictly a night-shift guy.”

Her mind was happy to contemplate a new subject. What did Alex mean by that? Was the new guy a vampire? Because that was the only supernatural thing she could think of that would make someone strictly night shift. Not that the Ellinghams had to deal with that, thanks to some old family magic that Delaney had mentioned was a big secret. “Is there anything else I can help with?”

Alex shook his head. “Just let Deputy Lafitte in when he gets here and then he and I will take care of the rest.” He re-adjusted his grip on the stalker, but his gaze stayed on Roxy. “You sure you’re okay?”

She nodded. “Yes. A little weirded out by him touching me, but really glad this is over.”

“Me too. You positive you don’t recognize this guy?”

She studied the man in Alex’s control. He was young, scruffy and pale. But no one she knew. “No.”

Alex leaned toward him. “What’s your name?”

The man stared at Roxy, creeping her out even more. “You’re ruining everything for us.”

She grimaced. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do,” he said.

She glanced at Alex. “I swear I don’t.”

“I know.” Alex pulled the guy to his feet. “Your prints are probably on file since you were so careful to keep them off everything you left. Or maybe you were stupid enough to carry ID. Or leave it in your car. Or wherever you’re staying. You might as well help yourself. It’s not going to stay a secret for much longer.”

The guy’s eyes narrowed. “Jacob Cranberry.” He glared at Roxy. “Don’t pretend you don’t know me. That insults everything we have.”

“Everything we have? You are so delusional, I don’t know where to start.” Then Roxy thought back as she stared at him. “Wait. Are you related to Marissa Cranberry?”

“See?” the guy said. “You do remember me.”

Alex lifted his head to look at her. “Who’s Marissa Cranberry?”

“Marissa was my first assistant. She was great. Very thorough, totally on top of stuff. But then she up and quit with no real explanation after just a couple of months. The only thing she’d tell me was that her life had gotten complicated and she was pulling back. I let it go. What else could I do?”

She stared at Jacob. “You’re her brother.”

“You and I could have been happy together,” Jacob said. “I know everything about you. I told Marissa not to quit. She didn’t listen to me either.”

“Looks like you’re not as persuasive to women as you think you are.” Alex tipped his head like he was listening. “Lafitte’s here.”

“I’ll go let him in.” She hadn’t heard anything, but then, she hadn’t heard Jacob creeping up on her. So much for her supernatural bloodlines.

“Thanks.”

She left them and went to the front door. A patrol car was pulling into the driveway. She stood there until the deputy got out and walked up to the porch.

He nodded. “Ma’am. You must be Roxy St. James.” His voice carried the soft lilt of Louisiana.

“I am. And you must be Remy Lafitte.”

“One and the same and at your service. Where’s the perpetrator?”

Deputy Lafitte had two things in abundance: Southern charm and good looks. “Alex has him cuffed in the backyard. I’ll show you.”

“Much obliged.” He came up the porch steps.

She didn’t move entirely out of his way.

“Ma’am?”

“Alex said you were strictly a night-shift guy. Is that in all aspects of your life?”

He studied her a moment as if trying to guess what she was after. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Does that make you what I think it does?”

He smiled, showing off fangs. “I’m guessing it does.”

“How about that? I’m getting pretty good at this.” She gave herself points for guessing vampire. “Follow me.”

After it was all said and done and Jacob Cranberry was being loaded into Deputy Lafitte’s patrol car to be hauled off to one of the holding cells at the sheriff’s department (with the help of Sheriff Merrow, who had also shown up), a wave of exhaustion hit Roxy. She slumped against Alex as they stood together on his front porch, happy to have him at her side.

He kissed the top of her head. “I have to go back to the station with Lafitte and take care of this.”

“I know.”

“I called Pandora to come over and stay with you.”

She glanced up at him. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, I figured I ought to let Delaney sleep, seeing as how she’s pregnant and all.”

“Speaking of Delaney, Remy just told me he’s a vampire too. And you weren’t kidding. He sounds one hundred percent Cajun.”

“Yep. He’s on furlough from New Orleans.”

She looked up. “What does that mean?”

“It’s hard for vampires sometimes. At a certain point, people notice they don’t age, so every so often, they have to move on for a while. He’ll be here until he can go home again.”

“You mean until everyone who knew him is gone? That’s sad.”

“It is, but it’s a part of a vampire’s life. Unless they live in a place like this where magic blurs the edges and makes moving unnecessary.”

She thought for a moment. “So if he’s that old and he’s from New Orleans…could he be a descendant of the famous Jean Lafitte?”

Alex grinned. “You nailed it. He’s actually the legendary pirate’s grandson.”

She frowned. “Wow, so when you say he’s old, you’re talking, like, two hundred years old?”

Alex raised his brows. “Who says writers can’t do math?”

“You hush.” She tapped his arm playfully. “That’s amazing.” Then an unhappy thought occurred to her. “Will Delaney and Hugh have to move on too?”

“No. That’s the whole point of this town.”

“Good.” That was great news. “But back to Pandora, you didn’t really need to call anyone to stay with me. It’s safe now. And I’m fine.”

He squinted at her. “You’re not a little shaken up by what happened tonight?”

“Yes, but I’ll be okay. I’ll sleep easy, I know that much.”

“Humor me.” He slipped his arm around her waist. “Pandora’s going to set a ward of protection around your house, that’s it.”

“Oh. That’s cool.” She needed to catch up with Pandora anyway. See how things were going. Pandora had been very secretive about the work on the spell, but maybe Roxy could leverage the evening’s events into some sympathy. “Hey, why didn’t she do that sooner?”

“We thought it might have been a little tricky explaining why she was burning sage in your house and chanting in front of your windows and doors.”

Roxy laughed. “Yeah, I can see that.”

A late-model Mercedes turned down the street. Alex pointed. “There she is.”

Roxy turned to him. “Go ahead to the station. I’ll lock up here and then head to my house.”

“I appreciate that.” He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a soft kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning, babe.”

She grinned. That never got old. “See you in the morning. I—” She realized the word love had been about to slip out of her mouth. She swallowed it down. But soon enough she was going to say it. “I can’t thank you enough for taking care of me.”

He smiled. “Happy to do it. Happy to keep doing it.”

He headed off, and she went back inside to lock the sliders, then the front door before making her way to her house.

Pandora was just getting out of her car. She greeted Roxy with a gentle smile. “You okay? Alex filled me in when he called.”

“Yes, I’m fine. Alex might be overreacting a little. I mean, sure it was scary, but he acted so quickly it was over in a flash. I’m sorry you had to come out here at this hour.”

“It’s no bother. I live five minutes away.”

“But it’s late and this isn’t really necessary. Like I said, he might be overreacting a little. The threat is gone.”

“It’s not that late.” Her smile widened. “And he’s a shifter. Their instincts to protect those they love are not something I’m going to argue against. They can be fierce about it. Especially when things get elevated.”

“Elevated?”

“You know. When you’re mated or married or whatever shifters consider bonded these days.”

“Is that so?”

“That is so.” She grabbed a tote bag, then shut her car door. Her eyes twinkled. “Besides, I have something for you.”

Roxy clasped her hands in front of her. “It’s done?”

“It’s done. Let’s go inside and you can change out of your swimsuit while I put this ward on your house and then we can get to the fun stuff.”

Thirty minutes later, Pandora was seated across the table from Roxy, who was now wearing yoga pants and a tank top. The house smelled faintly of smoke from the sage and two glasses of wine sat between them. Roxy rubbed her hands together. “Let’s see it.”

Pandora pulled a small box from her purse and set it on the table, but didn’t open it. “Based on what I discovered from those strands of hair you gave me, I can confirm you positively have a little witch in you. You also have two different types of nymph and one kind of dryad, which, if you want to get technical, is really a third kind of nymph.”

Roxy took that in for a second. “What does all that mean?”

“It means you probably have a love of trees and a real affinity for water.”

Roxy nodded. “I’d say that’s true. And I certainly do love my fish. What about the witch part?”

Pandora smiled. “The witch part means you’ll be able to handle this.” She opened the box she’d brought and pulled out a length of delicate silver chain with a curved, hollow claw hanging on it. “This was a joint effort between Willa and me. We designed it together. She did the metal work, and I built the main spell, and then we both put our different magics into it. Willa added in your parents’ wedding rings as your sacrifice, and I used those strands of hair you let me snip as part of my spell. This won’t work for anyone but you. Granted, we’ve never done anything like this before, so I hope this does what we planned it to do.”