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  The Dragon’s Spellbound Alien

  A Nocturne Falls Universe Story

  Fiona Roarke

  Dear Reader,

  Nocturne Falls has become a magical place for so many people, myself included. Over and over I’ve heard from you that it’s a town you’d love to visit and even live in! I can tell you that writing the books is just as much fun for me.

  With your enthusiasm for the series in mind—and your many requests for more books—the Nocturne Falls Universe was born. It’s a project near and dear to my heart, and one I am very excited about.

  I hope these new, guest-authored books will entertain and delight you. And best of all, I hope they allow you to discover some great new authors! (And if you like this book, be sure to check out the rest of the Nocturne Falls Universe offerings.)

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

  In the meantime, happy reading!

  Kristen Painter

  The Dragon’s Spellbound Alien

  A Nocturne Falls Universe Story

  Copyright © 2018 by Fiona Roarke

  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

  THE DRAGON’S SPELLBOUND ALIEN

  Welcome from Kristen Painter

  Copyright

  About the Book

  Dedication and Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  About Fiona Roarke

  More by Fiona Roarke

  The Dragon’s Spellbound Alien

  Bianca Forrester may be a mind-reading alien from Alpha-Prime, but she’s an Arkansas girl at heart who leaps at the chance to work as a psychic in Nocturne Falls. The Halloween-themed Georgia town is the perfect cover for werewolves, gargoyles and, lately, aliens looking to stay under the human radar. Not only will it be an adventure, it’s the perfect place to dodge her mother’s matrimony mania.

  Half-human, half-dragon shifter Warrick Hart has never forgotten the fear and loathing he faced as a child in Europe when superstitious humans and human-hating supernaturals chased his family from town to town—until they landed in the haven that is Nocturne Falls. The lingering trauma has made Warrick wary of most relationships, despite his mother’s pleas for grandchildren.

  Bianca doesn’t believe in love at first sight.

  Warrick would never trust a woman with his heart.

  But Nocturne Falls is a place where never becomes now and beliefs can change on a spell.

  <^><^><^>

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  And Twitter: https://twitter.com/fiona_roarke

  Dedication and Acknowledgments

  For Kristen: Last time I crashed a UFO in Nocturne Falls, this time I moved right into town. Thanks for letting me hang out here in your awesome universe.

  Also a special shout out to Writer’s Camp for always having the answers when I don’t.

  Prologue

  <^><^><^>

  Nocturne Falls

  “Good news. We officially have our first matchmaking contract,” Bubba Thorne said to his lovely new wife, Astrid Thorne, formerly Astrid Harper. “I just got the call from our first client and sent someone out to put the contract in motion.”

  “Excellent. Who’s the first victim… I mean prospective client?” Astrid asked.

  “Very funny. It’s a longtime resident of Nocturne Falls, her name is Vilma Hart. She owns the little mercantile shopping center in downtown Nocturne Falls and all the small stores inside with her two sons.”

  “Ah-ha, two sons. Let me guess: she’s looking for grandchildren and our first victim slash client is one of her boys.”

  He grinned. “Well, she didn’t say that. But I definitely get the impression that’s what she’s looking to accomplish.”

  Bubba marveled at the changes his rather staid, boring life had undergone in the last several months. He had moved to Earth from Alpha-Prime, married Astrid—a woman he fell more in love with each day—and lived in a newly Alpha-Prime-authorized town where he and Astrid had started their business venture.

  Bubba’s Psychic Readings on Main Street in Nocturne Falls was a resounding success after only a couple of weeks. He’d brought in five Alpha women with particularly exceptional human mind reading abilities and put a simple sign in the front window.

  Bubba’s Psychic Readings

  Walk-ins welcome

  Nocturne Falls’s human tourists had flocked through the door in droves.

  After the first day, he’d sent for an additional five Alphas from Alienn, Arkansas to join them post-haste to handle all the traffic. The shop could accommodate twenty psychics. If push came to shove, he could reconfigure and add maybe ten more if he got everyone to squeeze in a little and hold their breath to make the extra room.

  He also privately offered an alien matchmaking service for those paranormal guys and gals looking for a different kind of mate: Bubba’s Matchmaking Service. He wasn’t sure if there would be any takers, but the idea of embedding himself and Astrid into this town through happy marriages was the best idea he’d come up with. In theory. Only time would tell if that aspect of the business would take off. For now, he at least had success offering psychic readings using alien mind readers, although the humans were none the wiser to the “alien” part of the job description.

  He took his wife in his arms and rested his chin on top of her hair. “If we do a good job with our alien matchmaking contract for this client, I expect we will get repeat business. I mean, beyond her two boys, that is.”

  “We’ll need to do an excellent job, but I don’t have any doubts about that.” Concern shaped Astrid’s features for a moment. “Vilma understands that we’re providing alien mail-order brides, correct?”

  “Yes, she completely understands. I discussed all of her options. She was very excited at the prospect of an alien bride, especially for her eldest son.”

  “Well, that’s good then.” Astrid squeezed her husband one more time. “Are you going to select from the psychics on staff, the newest five arrivals or the prospective brides that have signed up for the service back in Alienn?”

  “I showed Vilma the profiles of the five women working for us right now and was prepared to show her the second batch, but we didn’t g
et to the newest arrivals. There was one woman she was particularly taken with and thought would be a perfect match for her eldest son.

  “In fact, Vilma asked to meet Bianca this morning. Since Vilma’s a witch, Bianca wouldn’t be able to read her mind, but I thought it would be a good test to see how our psychics react when no information comes into their heads from a walk-in client.”

  “How did Bianca do?” Astrid asked.

  “Very well, I guess. Vilma gave me two thumbs-up on her way out and discreetly asked me to set up their first meeting today.”

  “That does seem promising.”

  “When I asked Bianca about the visit later, she explained that when she couldn’t read Vilma’s thoughts, she asked what the client specifically wanted to know. Vilma took her hands, mumbled to herself a bit as if trying to think of the right words and said something about wanting the best for her children.”

  Astrid’s eyebrows went up. “What did Bianca say?”

  Bubba grinned. “Exactly what we trained her to do. She made eye contact and told Vilma general but uplifting words of wisdom as per the section in our psychic guidebook about how to handle it when one can’t get a read. Such as, family is important to you and always will be, more good vague news, and then blah-blah-blah, etcetera-etcetera-etcetera, and finish with an ambiguous request for more happiness. You know the drill.”

  She nodded. “Yes. That’s excellent.”

  “If Bianca ends up married to Warrick, our first matchmaking contract will be wildly successful and ensure more business in the future from Vilma and any friends she has.”

  “Let’s hope Vilma’s a very popular lady.”

  “Right. And if she is, we’re prepared. Luckily, we have a ready supply of potential Alpha brides and grooms from Alienn, Arkansas wanting to join us here in Nocturne Falls as psychics. And if our newly married matches don’t want to work at Bubba’s after tying the knot with a supernatural, that’s not a problem. We’ll just draw from the Alphas on the waiting list.”

  “That’ll be good for both businesses, then. I knew psychics would be a draw in a town like Nocturne Falls, but I never expected Bubba’s Psychic Readings to be so busy so fast.”

  “With ten psychics here now, we should change our sign and add, ‘Ten crystal balls, no waiting’ below ‘walk-ins welcome,’” Bubba said with satisfaction. He was very proud his simple sign had made such a big splash.

  Astrid laughed. “That’s funny. Honestly, I think there would still be a wait, but a wider selection of potential matrimonial mates on-site will benefit our secondary business.” She gave him a saucy look and added, “What we really want is to make others as happy as we are, right?”

  “Of course,” Bubba said with a laugh, leaning back so he could see her face. “But the humans coming in for the psychic reading part of the business is turning out to be very lucrative. I keep expecting the day-to-day business to slow down, but with some of the humans coming back for repeat readings and bringing friends and family with them, I am very optimistic about our future here.”

  She nodded. “Indeed. So, who’s the victim, I mean, prospective groom for this initial matchmaking venture of yours? Warren, you said?”

  Bubba gave her an exaggerated eye-roll for her teasing. “His name is Warrick Hart. He owns the furniture shop down the street.”

  Astrid nodded. “Ooh, I keep meaning to stop in. There are so many beautiful things on display in the windows. What sort of supernatural being is he?”

  “Half-human and half-dragon shifter.”

  “Ooh, dragon shifter. That’s awesome.” Astrid was very excited about the prospect of hanging around with all the paranormal folks in town on a permanent basis. When she’d found herself on the run and unexpectedly stranded in Nocturne Falls—not to mention a strange new planet—she’d been lucky enough to become very good friends with a witch named Holli. The two worked for Holli’s aunt at Enchanted Garden, a flower shop not far from Bubba’s Psychic Readings.

  “Warrick’s mother says he’s rather quiet in nature, likes to do woodworking in his custom shop, but doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to find a wife, much to her dismay.”

  Astrid frowned. “Wait a minute. I thought you said Vilma is a witch. So how can her son be half-human, half-dragon shifter?”

  “She adopted Warwick and his brother from an orphanage overseas when they were babies.”

  “Interesting. So is his brother a dragon shifter, as well?”

  “No, actually. He is a half-vampire, half-human.”

  “Wow. Eclectic family. But very cool for us if we can make them all happy.”

  “I agree, this will be very good for us and our business ventures if we can make both of these matches work.”

  “Did Vilma sign both of them up?”

  “That is her goal, however, she thinks Warrick will be our toughest challenge. If we can make a match happen for him, then I believe we are a shoo-in to get the matchmaking contract for her younger son.”

  “She doesn’t want us to reveal the setup, does she?”

  “No. This has to be a big secret. I didn’t even tell Bianca she would be meeting a potential match.”

  “Really? Why not?”

  “Part of Vilma’s instructions about how to handle their ‘accidental’ meeting.” He shrugged. “She probably knows her own son best, and I didn’t see the harm. She called with the details after leaving her reading with Bianca.”

  Astrid nodded, knowingly. “You did say you’d put the contract in motion. It’s a go?”

  “Yes.” Bubba looked at his watch. He looked back at his wife, and grinned. “In fact, their first fortuitous meeting should be happening right about now.”

  Chapter One

  <^><^><^>

  Warrick Hart observed the frame for the cheval mirror he had just finished working on, then looked over his shoulder to ensure he was alone. Of course he was all by himself in his own workshop, but the fear of discovery he’d lived with early in his life and the need to continually hide his nature remained deep inside him even after more than fifteen years of living free in Nocturne Falls. Some habits were impossible to break.

  He quickly shifted into his partial-dragon form, which meant he looked like a man-sized man-dragon instead of a very large full-sized dragon. He took a deep breath, made an O shape with his lips, concentrated his efforts on a medium heat and blew a small, steady breath, blazing fire all around the delicate frame of the future mirror. The method was a unique way to highlight the texture of the wood that ordinary torching couldn’t do. His fiery dragon’s breath added several diverse layers of heated depth to the grain, instead of burnt wood or not burnt wood. He called the process dragon kissed, and had taken the name for his business, Dragon Kissed Furniture, in the mercantile building he owned with his mother and brother.

  Flame from his breath made the texture of the woodgrain something truly special. If he’d gone into his full dragon form, one quick breath would have torched the whole wooden cheval mirror into a cinder along with half his workshop. That would have been after his head crushed the ceiling tiles to dust. The barest movement from his large dragon body would be very constricting in the workshop. It wouldn’t take much to reduce absolutely everything inside into tiny pebble-sized pieces. So he took care to only shift to his smaller form while in this workshop.

  When he was at his home or at his mother’s place, he could shift into full dragon form and walk from room to room without worrying he’d brain himself on the ceiling or destroy the contents of all the rooms.

  His mother’s place was constructed that way especially because of him. His mother loved him and his brother Viktor—just a few months his junior, so enough of an age that they always joked they were non-identical twins, him being half-dragon, Viktor half-vampire—with a fearsome power no one matched. She made the home where he’d spent his later childhood in Nocturne Falls dragon-ready, as she called it with a smile.

  Even though he was only half-dragon, his full form wa
s as large as purebred dragon shifters, but the brand on his left inner elbow told the truth about his status as a crossbred shifter. While no one in Nocturne Falls had disparaged him, the same couldn’t be said about what he’d experienced as a much younger creature, growing up abroad. There had been plenty of intolerance because he was less than a full dragon shifter, not only in his birthplace near the Romanian, border, a secret mystical metropolis called Arzadia that few mortals knew even existed, but in any of the places they’d lived overseas before moving to Georgia and this perfect town for supernaturals.

  Until Nocturne Falls, he’d been called crossbred regularly before he even understood the meaning of the word or that it was meant as a put-down.

  Warrick had been five the first time his mother heard the taunts the other children hurled at him. “Crossbred, crossbred, might as well be dead-dead” was a favorite, that and other less poetic versions.

  “Don’t listen to them, Warrick. They are just jealous because you are exceptional. I’ll turn them all into large toads later. For now, don’t ever let them make you feel lesser. You aren’t lesser because you are half-dragon. You are unique and perfect just the way you are.”