Miss Frost Cracks A Caper: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 4)

by Kristen Painter

  Namely, on the enormous pink, heart-shaped diamond around her neck.

  Even though I’d seen it before, it was still impossibly beautiful, and in the spotlight it gleamed like a lighthouse beacon. Elenora wore an icy blue structured brocade gown that gave off hints of pink iridescence as she moved. Her mask was of the same fabric. The whole look was the perfect complement to the dazzling jewel at her throat.

  At the first landing, she stopped and accepted a glass of champagne from the server waiting there. She lifted it. “Thank you all for joining me this evening. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you into my home for this event. Happy Halloween!”

  Cries of “Happy Halloween” echoed back to her, and we all drank. Then the music swelled and she joined the crowd.

  I spent the remainder of the time before the dinner chimes sounded introducing my mom and aunt to everyone who came up to say hi. Every so often, I’d glance up at the DJ booth. When Lance wasn’t at Lark’s side, he was watching the crowd. And once, when Elenora was talking to my mom and aunt, his eyes were on us.

  Well, them, really. At least until Lark called him back for something. I felt for him a little. It seemed like Lark had him on a short leash, and from the way he was focused on the crowd, it was pretty clear he’d rather be enjoying the party up close and personal.

  But hey, I wasn’t about to get broken up over it. He’d made his choices. And I had my family around me and a very sexy, charming man at my side.

  I had plenty to keep me busy.

  Dinner was delicious, not that Elenora would serve anything that wasn’t. Rumor was, the chefs were flown in from Paris, but then, I also heard someone else say that the chefs were fae and the food was laced with magic. I wasn’t quite sure about that one, but with Elenora, who knew?

  Whoever prepared the food, I was happy the portions were small. That might sound odd coming from me, but my gown wasn’t exactly a pair of yoga pants. And I knew dessert was yet to come. Hugh Ellingham had given a toast at dinner and announced that the last and sweetest course, provided by his wife’s shop, Delaney’s Delectables, would be served later during the dancing.

  I was ready for it. Because, you know, sugar. And I loved Delaney’s creations so much they’d become a slight addiction. So with the promise of sweets to come, I decided I could manage a little dancing despite my outrageous gown.

  Especially when Sinclair held out his hand and said, “Dance with me, sweetness.”

  How did you say no to that? You didn’t.

  We danced two songs, then he took a turn with both my mom and aunt, who’d already danced with a few other gentlemen. After a break for the dessert course (so much deliciousness I nearly wept), I danced once with Pete, too, mostly because Juniper made him. And while he was a nice guy (and perfect for Juniper), I was happy to get back to Sinclair.

  He was a great dancer, and as the night wore down, I was pleased that Lark’s selections got a little slower, allowing for some up close and personal time with Sinclair. I had to give her props—she knew how to keep a room going and how to shift the tone in a way that seemed just right.

  I held on to him and let him lead me around the floor. He was so light on his feet that we seemed to float by the other couples. The glasses of champagne I’d had probably contributed to that, but hey, it was a party.

  “Having fun?” he asked.

  “So much. You?”

  He smirked slightly. “More than I thought I would.”

  I raised my brows. “You didn’t think coming to the ball with me would be fun?”

  Laughing, he shook his head. “I didn’t have any doubts about you. But when you told me your mother and aunt were coming, I thought things might get a bit tense. I don’t always go over so well with parents, as you can imagine.”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “Jayne, you know what I am.” Some of the joy left his gaze. “I’m not exactly who most parents dream of as a partner for their daughter.”

  I got that. I didn’t know what to say exactly, but I didn’t want him to be unhappy either. He was a really good guy. And except for most vampires, none of the supernaturals I knew had chosen to be what they were.

  Like me, they were born into their kind.

  “Sin, listen, who cares about what other people think? You’re great. Kind and sweet and a real gentleman. And if anyone can’t see that or they judge you just because of your particular brand of gifts, then frost them. They don’t deserve your time anyway.”

  His smile came back. “You think I’m great?”

  I laughed. Such a guy. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Does that mean you’d still like to go out with me even after your boyfriends come back to town?”

  I smiled and sucked my bottom lip into my mouth while I gave that a nanosecond of thought. “Yes, I would. If you can handle that.”

  He shrugged as he spun me around. “Beats not seeing you. And those boys don’t intimidate me.”

  “Boys?” I snickered. “They’re grown-ups, I promise. Cooper’s my age, and Greyson is a vampire, so he’s—”

  “They’re still boys.” He dipped me, his mouth inches from mine. “You deserve more.”

  He brought me upright again, but held me against him. I was a little breathless. The warmth of his body seemed to penetrate through all the layers of fabric between us as he looked into my eyes, his gaze sparking with mischief. “You deserve me.”

  “Oh?” That was the best I could do while staring into the master of death’s captivating scrutiny and wondering if he was about to kiss me.

  He nodded, his mouth so close to mine I could feel his breath on my cheek. “You should be treated like the incredible woman you are. Appreciated. Adored. Swept off your feet.” He brushed his lips across my jaw on the way to my ear. “You’ll see,” he whispered.

  The promise, combined with his breath on my ear and the tone of his voice, raised goose bumps on my skin. I shivered, glad we were deep in the crowd and out of sight of my mom and aunt. Not that I was in any way ashamed of Sin. I just wanted this moment to myself.

  I regained enough of my senses to answer. “You talk a big game.”

  “I never make promises I can’t keep. I know better than most how short life can be.” His eyes gleamed anew with what seemed best described as unbridled happiness. “Like I said…you’ll see.”

  He moved me around him, taking his arm over his head and bringing me to his other side. He was smooth, I’d give him that. “Is this part of being swept off my feet? The dancing?”

  “Just scratching the surface.” He lifted my arm this time and went under, and I was back where I’d started. “I did bring you a present, though.”

  “The doughnuts, right?”

  He snorted. “Doughnuts aren’t so much a present as they are just a truly outstanding perk of dating me.”

  Okay, I had to admit, Sinclair got better pretty much every time he opened his mouth. “So…what’s the present?”

  “Follow me.”

  He swept me off the dance floor and outside to the enormous balcony that overlooked Elenora’s elaborate gardens. There were other couples out there, and a few walking in the gardens, all of whom were either hand in hand or arm in arm. I could see why. With the moon shining down and the subtle landscape lighting, the gardens were a very romantic place. Almost magically so. Dark and dim and quiet.

  We stopped at the railing. Sinclair dug into his jacket pocket and pulled something out. “For you.”

  He opened his palm. On it lay a delicate bracelet of dark faceted beads mixed with a few smaller silver ones. Even in the weak light, I could tell that the black beads were giving off a colorful gleam.

  “It’s gorgeous. I’ve never seen anything like it. What are those stones?”

  “They’re rainbow obsidian. Necromancers believe obsidian of any kind is a powerful protector.”

  I looked up at him. “You wear a strand of these around your neck.” I’d caught a glimpse of them a few times before.
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  “I do.”

  “They’re gorgeous.” I held out my wrist. “I love it. Thank you. I want to put it on right now.”

  He hesitated. “It doesn’t really go with your outfit. Or the rest of your jewelry. Especially that diamond bracelet you’re already wearing.”

  “It goes perfectly. Will you put it on me? Right next to the diamonds.” It was a beautiful bracelet, but I was more impressed with the kindness and sincerity of the gesture. We hadn’t known each other very long, and I certainly hadn’t expected anything from him, but the idea that he’d want me protected was very sweet.

  He clasped the bracelet around my wrist, and I turned it, watching the stones shimmer with color. “It really is pretty. Thank you. And to think, I didn’t get you a thing.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  I looked up at him. “I did?”

  He slipped his hands around my waist and drew me in, smiling. “You got me this amazing evening. I wouldn’t have come tonight if you hadn’t needed a date. In fact, I’ve gotten out of the house and away from work more in the last week and a half with you than I have since I moved here. Thank you for that.”

  How curious. “Do you not like going out?”

  His smile turned oddly sad. “I do, but…I haven’t made that many friends here. I work a lot, for one thing, but the truth is, I’m not always everyone’s first choice for company.”

  “Is this a necromancer thing again?”

  “Yes. And I don’t want to sound like I’m fishing for pity. I’m not. I love my life, love my work, which might sound like a funny thing to say about making doughnuts, but they make people happy and I like that. I also wouldn’t trade my gifts for any others.” His forehead creased with deep thoughtfulness. “It’s just that sometimes, I feel so isolated because of who I am.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  He shrugged. “Life isn’t fair. But frankly, being lonely sucks.”

  “You don’t have to be lonely anymore.” There were plenty of people in this town with odd gifts. I couldn’t understand why anyone would shun him because his specialty was death. He hadn’t chosen to be a necromancer. It made me sad for him. It made me want to show him that he had a friend in me.

  Maybe more than a friend. I took his handsome, serious face in my hands, the beads in my new bracelet catching the light and sparkling right along with the diamonds next to them. He was warmer than Greyson, but cooler than Cooper. He was just right. I leaned up and kissed him.

  He kissed me back, tenderly at first, almost teasingly, but then the intensity increased and his grip tightened on my waist. He tugged me closer, and my hands slipped to his shoulders.

  Pleasure spread over me like frost covering a window. I was powerless to stop it. Didn’t want to, either. It was too beautiful a feeling.

  My head spun with the same kind of happy feeling sugar gave me. I was floating and blissful and, when he finally broke the kiss, panting slightly.

  I blinked to clear some of the fog from my head. Sin was still holding on to me. He was breathing openmouthed, his eyes dark and wild. He let go and stepped back, breaking into a big smile. “I should give you a bracelet every day.”

  I laughed. “I was just trying to make you feel less lonely.”

  “Job done. And done well.” He crooked his arm toward me. “We should go back in. The evening will be winding down soon.”

  I sighed as I looped my arm through his. “I guess all good things must come to an end.”

  “Not always.” He looked sideways at me. “We could all go out for breakfast.”

  “Ooo, pancakes.”

  He laughed. “You have the most impressive appetite of any woman I’ve ever known.”

  “Um, two words. Birdie Caruthers.”

  He held the door for me. “All right, you have the second-most-impressive appetite.”

  We walked back in, and he slipped his hand in mine. “Is that a yes to breakfast, then?”

  I stopped searching the crowd for my mom and aunt to answer. “I’m in, but my mom and aunt Martha probably won’t stay. They’ve already had the sleigh out long enough to make my uncle antsy.”

  He shook his head. “I still can’t believe your uncle is Santa Claus.” Then he nodded toward the crowd. “Your aunt is waving at us. We should go join them.”

  “Let’s go.”

  As we headed toward them, the lights changed and new, smaller snowflakes were projected over the crowd. Then real snowflakes began to fall from the ceiling, and the music softened. The evening was almost over. I felt a kinship with Cinderella at that moment, hearing the first strike of the clock at midnight and knowing that everything was coming to an end.

  I’d get to see Sinclair again, but he was only one part of this magical night. Having my mom and aunt here had been the best. I hugged them both as we joined them.

  “What was that for?” my mom asked.

  “I just love you guys. And I’m really glad you came.” The snow was coming down harder now. Elenora must have told Lark to ramp it up to get people out.

  My aunt smiled. “Tonight was so much fun, wasn’t it?”

  “It was.” I glanced up at Lark. She was staring straight ahead, eyes narrowed in concentration. Some elves had to work harder to produce the shimmer than others. Shimmer was a term winter elves used to refer to this particular kind of snow magic. It was the same thing we did in the stores on Snowy Saturdays. The snow was real, but magical, so once it fell, it disappeared, leaving no puddles or trace behind.

  “Oh my, that’s a lot of snow,” Aunt Martha said.

  I looked down at my feet. This magical snow that was supposed to be disappearing wasn’t. It was piling up. Everywhere. There had to be a good four inches on the ballroom floor. “What in the name of Christmas is Lark doing?”

  “I can’t imagine,” my mother said.

  “No way Elenora asked for this.” My breath spilled out of my mouth like smoke, instantly turning to vapor in the air. I hadn’t noticed the drop in temperature, because winter elves didn’t feel the cold like other supernaturals.

  Sinclair must have, though. I checked to see if he was shivering. He wasn’t. He wasn’t moving at all. I put my hand on his arm.

  He was frozen. And the snow was falling so thickly that visibility was limited to a few feet.

  “Son of a nutcracker.” I tried to turn around to see the rest of the crowd. My feet wouldn’t budge. “Mom, Aunt Martha, do something.”

  They didn’t answer me. They were frozen too.

  Ice climbed up my body, solidifying each limb until I was a giant elfy Popsicle. Then the frost covered my eyes and filled my ears, cocooning me in snow. I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t move, couldn’t get a sound out that wasn’t muffled by the snow. I was a prisoner.

  Of my very own brand of magic.

  As I struggled to free myself, I was vaguely aware of movement and the cracking of ice. I felt some pressure on my throat and wrists but it was gone as soon as I’d felt it. Then, a few seconds later, the ice and snow were gone without a trace, and I was frozen no more. I shook myself, not really sure what had just happened. Freezing a winter elf had to take some strong magic. Outside of my father, I didn’t know of any other winter elf who could pull off that kind of stunt without a massive amount of effort. Me, maybe, but I wasn’t sure. I’d never tried to freeze another elf.

  I looked around. My aunt and mom looked fine, but it seemed like most of the crowd was having a harder time shaking off the cold. A lot of people were shivering and rubbing their arms. Some were stamping their feet and blowing on their hands. The vampires looked more dead than usual. Almost blue from the cold.

  But not a drop of water or a single melting flake was anywhere. All traces of our three-second ice age were gone. That’s how the shimmer was supposed to work.

  “What the devil was that?” Sinclair growled. He was rubbing the back of his neck.

  “Bad shimmer,” my aunt answered. “That’s what that was.”
r />   I nodded. “For sure.”

  I was about to check on Lark to see if she had a clue how badly she’d screwed up when my mother gasped. “Oh, Jayne. Where is your tiara? And your necklace?”

  My hand went to my throat. The snowflake necklace with its rare pale blue diamond was gone.

  I shook my head. “I have no idea.” I stared at her. “Your jewelry is gone too. Aunt Martha, yours too.” My stomach coiled into a miserable knot. The pressure I’d felt and the crackling ice I’d heard when frozen made perfect sense now. Both were side effects of my jewelry being stolen.

  “Oh no.” Aunt Martha looked like she might cry.

  “What?” My mother felt the top of her head for her tiara. “Your father is going to—”

  An ear-piercing shriek cut her off. “Security! Shut the doors now. No one gets out.”

  The voice belonged to Elenora. We all looked in her direction. As a horde of security people streamed through the crowd, she strode up to the stair landing and faced the gathering. She was as pale as the snow that had entombed us. The ballroom doors slammed closed.

  A new chill, one of my own making, settled over me when I saw the Heart of Dawn was no longer around her neck.

  Elenora’s fangs were visible and her eyes were glowing. She seemed to be vibrating with anger. I’d never seen her like that. I’m not sure anyone had. “Whoever thinks they can steal from me and get away with it is a fool. With a death wish.”

  Her grandsons and their partners joined her on the landing, flanking her like the world’s scariest group of backup singers. Five vampires and one valkyrie. And they all looked ready to kill. Elenora was right. Whoever had stolen that diamond wasn’t going to get the chance to finish their bucket list.

  I cleared my throat, then called out to her. “Elenora.”

  She looked at me, relaxing a tiny bit. “What is it, Princess?”

  “All of our jewelry has been taken as well. Mine, my mother’s, and my aunt’s.”