Merry & Bright: A Christmas Anthology (Nocturne Falls Universe) Read online

  Merry & Bright

  A Nocturne Falls Universe Christmas Anthology

  With stories by

  Fiona Roarke

  Jax Cassidy

  Kira Nyte

  Wynter Daniels

  Candace Colt

  Cate Dean

  Larissa Emerald

  Sela Carsen

  Alethea Kontis

  Dear Reader,

  Is there a more enchanted time of year than the holidays? Wonder seems to be everywhere and the spirit of mankind is renewed by the sharing of the season’s joy. Families come together, friends reunite, and for a magical window in time, we remember the excitement we felt as kids.

  That doesn’t change in Nocturne Falls. In fact, Nocturne Falls at Christmastime is a truly charming place to be. You never know what amazing things will happen, who might cross your path, or what adventure you’ll find.

  And in the case of these stories, where love and romance will bloom.

  I hope these Christmas-themed, guest-authored books will bring you lots of holiday entertainment and warm you up for the season. But best of all, I hope they allow you to discover some great new authors! (And if you like this collection, be sure to check out the rest of the Nocturne Falls Universe offerings at https://kristenpainter.com/nocturne-falls-universe/.)

  For more information about the Nocturne Falls Universe, visit http://kristenpainter.com/sugar-skull-books/

  In the meantime, happy reading and happier holidays!

  Kristen Painter

  Merry & Bright – A Christmas Anthology

  A Nocturne Falls Universe Collection

  Compilation Copyright © 2017 by Kristen Painter

  Have Yourself a Merry Little Alien © 2017 Fiona Roarke

  The Wizard’s Mistletoe Magic © 2017 Jax Cassidy

  A Dragon’s Christmas Mayhem © 2017 Kira Nyte

  The Mistletoe Misstep © 2017 Wynter Daniels

  The Psychics Say I Do © 2017 Candace Colt

  The Meddlesome Misadventures of Merri and Bright © 2017 Alethea Kontis

  The Sorcerer’s Christmas Miracle © 2017 Cate Dean

  The Witch’s Snow Globe Wish © 2017 Larissa Emerald

  Magic’s Frost © 2017 Sela Carsen

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction and was made possible by a special agreement with Sugar Skull Books, but hasn’t been reviewed or edited by Kristen Painter. All characters, events, scenes, plots and associated elements appearing in the original Nocturne Falls series remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Kristen Painter, Sugar Skull Books and their affiliates or licensors.

  Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author or Sugar Skull Books.

  Published in the United States of America.

  Table of Contents

  MERRY & BRIGHT

  Dear Reader

  Copyright

  In This Collection…

  HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE ALIEN

  THE WIZARD’S MISTLETOE MAGIC

  A DRAGON’S CHRISTMAS MAYHEM

  THE MISTLETOE MISSHAP

  THE PSYCHICS SAY I DO

  THE MEDDLESOME MISADVENTURES OF MERRI AND BRIGHT

  THE SORCERER’S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

  THE WITCH’S SNOW GLOBE WISH

  MAGIC’S FROST

  About the Authors

  In This Collection:

  Have Yourself a Merry Little Alien

  by Fiona Roarke

  Draeken and Stella Phoenix are celebrating Christmas in Nocturne Falls with a festive holiday party in their new vacation home. Each has a big surprise for the other, but all’s fair in love and secret Christmas presents. Right?

  The Wizard’s Mistletoe Magic

  by Jax Cassidy

  Sent on a holiday gift giving mission, Kearney Maclachlan, wizard and royal bodyguard, reluctantly returns to Nocturne Falls where a fateful encounter with intuitive street artist Kaia Wyntir takes them on a journey to reclaim past memories and truths that may finally melt a warrior’s frozen heart. Unexpected miracles lead to everlasting love, all thanks to a kiss under the mistletoe.

  A Dragon’s Christmas Mayhem

  by Kira Nyte

  Firestorm dragon Zareh is a Christmas virgin, but that doesn’t stop him from doing his best to conjure up the perfect holiday celebration for his beloved lifemate, Kaylae. The fact she’s keeping something from him is tearing him apart. Their ancient enemies could strike at any time, bringing with them menace and mayhem. But that’s a tangible enemy. Can their love overcome some unexpected Christmas mayhem of the personal kind?

  The Mistletoe Misstep

  by Wynter Daniels

  Psychic hairdresser Amethyst Powers wants to keep the peace in her quarrelsome family, even if that means dating the wealthy vampire who could help her father’s fledgling business. She’ll get over the great guy she really likes. Superhuman mechanic, Dustin can’t believe his luck. When the purple-haired siren who broke up with him gets stuck, he helps her out. They share an intimate dinner, and one amazing kiss. But is she willing to buck her family’s wishes in the name of love? Sometimes all it takes is one part mistletoe and one part luck.

  The Psychics Say I Do

  by Candace Colt

  Cousins Brianna Putnam and Jess Callahan are headed to the altar to wed the handsome falcon-shifter Ford brothers. But when the brides’ plans run amok, even their psychic powers can’t undo the chaos. The entire town pitches in to help, but will it be enough to pull off their Christmas dream weddings?

  The Meddlesome Misadventures of Merri and Bright

  by Alethea Kontis

  Fairy Merri Larousse never intended to become one half of a famous prankster/matchmaking duo with winter elf Polaris Brighton. Little did they know, the best match they would make would be their own!

  The Sorcerer’s Christmas Miracle

  by Cate Dean

  Tami Bennett came to Nocturne Falls to help her best friend, Lidia. It was supposed to be temporary—until she laid eyes on Jack Cross, sorcerer. As much as she wants to deny it, she’s falling for him. When Lidia’s werewolf fiancé is in trouble, Tami asks for Jack’s help. She knows that if he succeeds, she could lose her only excuse to stay—and lose the one man who has come close to stealing her heart.

  The Witch’s Snow Globe Wish

  by Larissa Emerald

  When a letter is delivered by mistake to clairvoyant witch Telia Kraft, she must return it to its rightful recipient, a handsome vampire neighbor, the very guy she had dated over the summer until he dropped her without a word. Jake Newburg is shocked to learn of his brother’s upcoming Christmas wedding in Nocturne Falls and rashly asks Telia to accompany him to the event. For once, he needs to stop second-guessing himself.

  Magic’s Frost

  by Sela Carsen

  Lonely werewolf Dima Samarin looks forward to watching his favorite winter elf every morning at the Hallowed Bean. He rescues her unfinished novel from the perils of spilled cocoa, and becomes her hero. Elin Bergstrom’s day job is at Santa’s Workshop, but she secretly writes sci-fi novels on the side. She accepts Dima’s invitation to the Christmas
Ball, but when their date gets derailed by a drug deal gone bad, this elf isn’t about to stay on her shelf. Sometimes a werewolf can use a little helpful frost magic to win the day, and save their date.

  Have Yourself a Merry Little Alien

  by Fiona Roarke

  Chapter One

  Nocturne Falls – a few days before Christmas

  “I love the white, cold, flaky things that fall from the sky,” Draeken said, tilting his head back to catch a snowflake on his tongue as they strolled down Main Street.

  “Snowflakes, not white, cold, flaky things.” Stella spent a lot of time teaching Draeken about Earth. Back home in Alienn, Arkansas they had a cozy little house and her charming former bad-boy of a husband had fit right into the landscape she loved.

  Instead of taking up bauxite mining as he’d planned, Draeken had become an as-needed communications officer for the galactic way station tucked below The Big Bang Truck Stop in Alienn. The facility’s communications chief, Axel Grey, had snapped Draeken up as soon as he found out Stella’s husband not only had a particularly good mind-nudge ability in general—a crucial skill when it came to keeping humankind in the dark about the extraterrestrials who lived and worked among them—but could also put the nudge on the supernatural inhabitants of Nocturne Falls, which had a relatively new alliance of sorts with Alienn. Fortunately for the town’s vampires, werewolves and gargoyles (oh my!), Draeken mostly used his talents on earthlings in Alienn these days. He’d thwarted a pickpocket and a shoplifter at The Big Bang Truck Stop since starting work there.

  At first, Draeken had been disappointed not to get the chance to carry a pickaxe into the mines every day, but he seemed to enjoy his work with Axel sending communications to and from Alpha-Prime. Axel told her he did a very good job and was always upbeat.

  When he wasn’t working with Axel, Draeken drove a delivery truck part-time and put in a few hours every other weekend at the car wash, just because he liked it so much. He had a keen interest in Earth-style vehicles.

  He kept very busy for a man whose family once considered him a loveable scoundrel with a penchant for trouble. Stella was proud to be his wife.

  “Right. Snowflakes. Got it.” Draeken, gloved fingers tangled with Stella’s, dragged her along with him as he moved his whole upper body to nab a particularly large snowflake between his lips.

  Stella yanked him straight again. “Come on, Mr. Snowflake Catcher. We still have to pick up a Christmas tree. I hope there will be a decent selection, even though it’s so late in the season.”

  Draeken stopped in the street beneath a lamppost. “So, let me get this straight. Not only do you put huge yellow ribbons around trees when a loved one comes home from a gulag, but you Earthers also chop them down, haul them inside and decorate them during the holidays?”

  Stella grinned, remembering her daunting efforts to get that stupid, uncooperative, fat yellow ribbon around an oak tree to celebrate his return from XkR-9, the worst gulag in three galaxies.

  “Not to mention the decorated tree-trimming pieces twisted into circles for the front door,” he continued.

  “Wreathes, you mean. Yes. That’s right. We Earthers are obsessed with trees in all forms, limbs and everything.”

  “I mean, I get it. There are some pretty amazing trees here on Earth. There are so many tall ones. Honestly, I’m obsessed with them, too.”

  Stella and Draeken resumed walking sedately along Main Street. They had a little time to sightsee and look at all the cool decorations, so different from Nocturne Falls’s usual Halloween black, purple and orange. There were dozens of tasks still to be done before hosting their inaugural holiday party two days from now. It was also an open house to welcome friends to see their new home, but mostly about the holiday and themed for Christmas. Stella had done quite a few things toward that goal, but had lots more to cross off her to-do list. Dragging Draeken along was sort of helpful, but mostly he was just entertaining.

  Thanks to the magic of the light snowfall, everywhere she looked, it seemed as though an icy wet shine coated the trees, the streets and everyone and everything in it. It was beautiful, but Stella was glad she didn’t have to drive in it.

  They’d come to Nocturne Falls on their honeymoon several months ago after obtaining special permission to travel outside Alpha-Prime’s colony in Arkansas. It had been lovely. They’d loved it so much, they decided to return to Georgia and their other favorite town on Earth—because it was the place that brought them together again as a couple—for their first holidays together, as well.

  They hadn’t even needed special permission this time.

  Recently, the council of elders in Alienn—after consulting with the higher ups on Alpha-Prime—revised the restrictions for folks wanting to visit other communities on Earth.

  Nocturne Falls was now officially listed as a secondary “safe” zone on the planet. The leadership in each town had agreed to protect the other’s secrets, thus giving a wider range of living space for Alphas who wanted to see more of the planet beyond Alienn and for supernaturals wanting a safe place to visit in Arkansas. Stella suspected that last wasn’t such a big deal for Nocturne Falls’s residents, since she figured they went where they wanted whenever they wanted. Still, it was a great boon for Alienn residents who wanted to spread their wings, so to speak, and live in a different place on Earth.

  She’d contacted Pandora Williams, real estate agent extraordinaire, before the ink was even dry on the new addendum allowing unrestricted travel and access to Nocturne Falls, Georgia, seeking a small two-bedroom place in town that she and Draeken could use as a vacation place whenever they wanted to get away.

  The other benefit to their vacation place was it could be loaned out to friends and relatives in Alienn who were eager to enjoy it for the same purpose. Everyone she knew in Alienn, Arkansas wanted to visit the Halloween-themed town of Nocturne Falls and meet supernatural folks.

  She glanced at Draeken, who’d gone back to looking at the sky, lining up his next snowflake catch. He seemed to be happy wherever he was.

  Her fingers tightened on his. “Are you sorry you moved to Earth with me?” As much as Draeken so clearly took enjoyment in all things Earth, Stella worried he’d eventually come to hate it here or miss Alpha-Prime so much he’d want to go back to their homeworld.

  His head dropped mid-catch and the snowflake landed on top of his head. His brows furrowed with concern. “Never. I love Earth. I love you. I promise to haul as many trees as you want inside and outside and together we can sparkle them all up until no green shows, if it will make you and your Earther-self happy.”

  Stella exhaled. “You make me happy, with or without trees in our house. And keep in mind that you’re an Earther now, too.”

  He brightened, as if that thought hadn’t occurred to him. “That’s right. I am.” A devious quirk formed on his sensuous lips. “You know what Earthers do a whole lot of, according to Bubba Thorne, that I want to do to you right now?”

  Stella grinned as he referred to the burly guardsman who was one of his older brother’s best friends. “Let me think. Oh, I know—a public display of affection?”

  “That’s right. Pucker up, sweetheart. We need to kiss. My PDA capacity is running low.”

  They shared a lingering kiss as snowflakes fell gently around them, rubbing cold noses together as a finish.

  “Break it up you two,” a familiar gruff voice said from behind them. “This is a public street.”

  Back in Alienn, Bubba Thorne typically broke them up whenever they kissed anywhere other than in their home, calling it a deplorable public display of affection. Bubba was one to talk, since now that he was married to Astrid, she’d caught them in their own PDAs a time or two.

  This time, the familiar voice wasn’t Bubba’s.

  “Hello, Sheriff Merrow,” she said. “Good to see you.”

  “You can call me Hank.” He nodded pleasantly and asked, “So, are you back for a second honeymoon already?”

&nb
sp; Stella shook her head. “We bought a little fixer-upper house so we could spend the holidays and vacations here in our second favorite town. We couldn’t resist, now that we’re allowed to visit and even live here without special permission from…well, you know where.” She gave him a wink and a meaningful nod, not wanting to say “Alpha-Prime” out loud.

  “That’s right. Alienn lifted the ban on living only in Arkansas, didn’t they?”

  “Naturally, we wanted to have a place to live in each town,” Draeken said. “Nocturne Falls is special to us.”

  Hank narrowed his eyes. “No Defenders allowed, though, right?” he asked, referring to the Alphas’ device of choice in keeping humans from learning about aliens living in plain sight in Arkansas. It didn’t hurt the humans, unless one counted a few brief moments of induced amnesia as harm. Stella didn’t.