Miss Frost Saves The Sandman: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 3)

by Kristen Painter

  But standing there, not reacting, was tough.

  PJ looked like she’d cannonballed into the Dolly Parton end of the gene pool. Twice. She had a mass of blond curls, an hourglass figure that was testing the limits of the blue dress she’d been poured into and a giggly, bouncy personality I could sense from here. Her hands were wrapped around Cooper’s arm like someone had told her hanging onto him would make all her dreams come true. And she appeared to be cooing at him.

  Cooing.

  I’d never wanted to punch a stranger quite so much.

  I turned away and took a breath, wishing I had that drink. Princesses don’t punch people in public. Princesses don’t punch people in public. Princesses don’t—

  “You okay?” Bridget asked. “You look a little green.”

  Hank grunted before I could answer. “How’d you feel if a woman like that was draped all over Sam?”

  “I’d raise hell. Sam and I are exclusive. Jayne and Cooper aren’t. But I see your point.” Then Bridget elbowed me. “You could always go over there and do something about it.”

  I gave her a look. “Instigator. But now I know whose team you’re on.”

  She grinned. “What did you expect? Coop’s a fireman.”

  Titus sighed. “I’ll go rescue him.”

  “No, I’ve got this.” Penny Jo might be a werewolf, but I was the Winter Princess. I lifted my chin, called up my social graces and walked over. “Help you with the drinks, Coop?”

  “Thanks.” He handed me mine and one of the beers. “This is Penny Jo Lamont. She’s the Merrows’ cousin.”

  She teetered next to him on her sky-high heels, barely coming up to the notch on his lapel.

  I smiled at her. You have no idea how hard that was. So. Hard. “How nice to meet you, Penny Jo.”

  Cooper tried to lift his arm free, but PJ seemed more anaconda than werewolf. “Penny Jo, this is Princess Jayne Frost.”

  That got Penny Jo’s attention. She looked at me, her big brown eyes wide. “Princess?” Her gaze went to my tiara. “For real?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  Then she put her hand to her chest, which only covered one tiny part of it. “I’m a princess too.”

  I frowned. “You are?”

  “Mmm-hmm. Miss Southern Georgia Peach two years in a row and Sparkle Queen last year. That’s an independent pageant.” She snorted. “How about that, I’m actually a queen.” She wiggled her fingers at me. “I outrank you.”

  The edges of my vision were starting to go dim.

  “Uh, Penny Jo?” Cooper looked at her. “Jayne is a real princess. As in actual royalty. She’s the Winter Princess. Next in line for the Winter Throne. Currently occupied by her father, Jack Frost.” He leaned down a little. “She’s also my date.”

  Had I kissed Cooper yet? Because I was going to. Hard and long.

  Date must have been the magic word because Penny Jo let go of him and put her hands on her hips. “Oh. You mean like in the North Pole?”

  I nodded.

  She shrugged. “Y’all can have that cold weather. I hate it.” Then she flounced off.

  I stared at Cooper, not quite sure whether I had the words for what had just happened. I took a long drink of my wine.

  He laughed. “She’s a fun one, huh?”

  “Let’s deliver these drinks and go for a little walk.”

  “You sure you want to leave Sanders by himself?”

  “He’s a big boy, he’ll be fine for a few minutes. Besides, Olive’s keeping an eye on him. Trust me.”

  “You got it.” He took the beer back from me and went to hand them off, then rejoined me. “Where to, Your Highness?”

  “I don’t know. But away from the crowd for a bit.”

  “I know a spot.” He offered me his arm.

  I took it, and he walked me around the room and outside onto a large patio area. The moon cast the garden in a silvery light that almost looked like snow. “Oh, this is so pretty.”

  “I thought you’d like it.”

  I leaned on the railing, closed my eyes and inhaled. The autumn air was crisp with the promise of colder nights to come. My kind of weather. I looked at him. “I like it very much.”

  He stepped in behind me, putting his hands next to mine on the railing. He leaned in to kiss the soft spot behind my ear. I shivered for a reason that had nothing to do with the temperature. “I’d offer to warm you up, but I know you like the cold.”

  I laughed and twisted to face him, slipping my arms around his neck. “Thank you for defending my royal honor earlier.”

  He smiled, sly and sweet. “I thought Penny Jo ought to know who she was dealing with.”

  “I owe you. And I’d like to pay now.” I pressed my mouth to his and kissed him just as long and hard as I’d wanted to a few minutes ago.

  His hands left the railing to settle on my lower back. He pulled me closer and his warmth spread though me in delicious waves.

  A moment more, and I broke the kiss to lean back and gaze up at him. The music inside changed to a soft, pretty waltz.

  Cooper paced back, his hands out. “Shall we?”

  I stepped into his embrace and we started to dance, slowly twirling around in the evening air. It was perfect.

  “The clock is about to strike midnight for me,” he whispered.

  “I know,” I answered, aware that even now Greyson was probably inside looking for me. “Are you going to stay?”

  “And watch the vampire dance with you? I’ll pass.”

  I sighed. “Good. I was afraid you’d stick around and dance with Penny Jo.”

  He snorted. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”

  I lifted my head off his shoulder to shoot him a look. “Go ahead. She is kind of your type. The cheerleader to your quarterback.”

  He spun me out, twirled me, then brought me back in, chuckling. “Is that what you think? I’m wounded.”

  I loved this bantering we did. It made being with Cooper so easy.

  One of the doors behind us opened and a throat cleared. “Sorry to interrupt the party, but you might want to get in here, Jayne.”

  We both turned to see Greyson standing there.

  I kept hold of Cooper. “What’s going on?”

  Greyson smirked. “I think you could say the party just got its first crasher.”

  Cooper and I headed inside.

  A small crowd had gathered near the far end of the ballroom with Sanders in its midst. Olive was at his side, naturally, but Elenora was there too. They were all watching a dark figure approaching.

  A woman. Beautiful, but so thin that ‘skeletal’ was the only word I could think of. Jet hair, obsidian eyes, and a long black dress that seemed to be made of smoke and fog as much as fabric. Raven feathers and small bones decorated her hair, and around her waist, on an onyx silk cord, hung two interesting items. The first was an hourglass very much like the one Sanders wore. Except this one was black. Even the glittering sand inside looked like tiny ebony diamonds. The second was a wicked-looking curved blade with a short hilt. I didn’t want to think about what she used that for.

  The deeper into the room she traveled, the more heads turned. The dancers kept moving but their routes slowed to maintain their vantage points.

  The three of us joined the group around Sanders, but we stayed at the edge. Closest to the woman.

  Beside me, Greyson touched one of the necklaces he wore and whispered a few words I couldn’t make out. They sounded very much like a spell of protection.

  The woman stopped at the perimeter of the crowd and smiled. “Hello, Tempus.” Her voice held a quietness I hadn’t expected.

  He hesitated, then made a small, discontented noise. “Luna.”

  She jerked her head. The movement seemed birdlike somehow. “You don’t look happy to see me. I thought we were beyond that.”

  His eyes held suspicion. “Why are you here?”

  She stepped back, clearly surprised. “I heard about your book. I wanted to w
ish you well. Show my support.”

  His expression softened. “That’s very kind of you.”

  I glanced at Olive. She was bristled up like a wet hen. Who was this woman?

  Luna nodded. “I thought I might come to the signing tomorrow. Get a copy for myself.” She gestured with one hand, her fingers thin as twigs. “If that’s all right with you.”

  Sanders nodded. “Yes, of course.”

  Elenora waved at the musicians and the music picked up, a livelier tune than the dirge it had devolved into.

  Luna tipped her head again, listening and smiling. Then her expression turned coy and she extended her hand toward Sanders. “A dance for old times’ sake?”

  Sanders opened his mouth as if to answer, then closed it, took a deep breath, and accepted Luna’s hand. As the odd pair made their way onto the dance floor, the party seemed to normalize. More couples joined them and the conversation levels returned to a soft, indecipherable hum.

  “Who is that woman? Luna who?” I whispered to Coop and Greyson.

  “No clue,” Cooper said.

  “Me either,” Greyson added.

  Olive stepped up beside us. “That’s Luna Nyx.” Her lip practically curled with distaste. “Mistress of Nightmares. And Tempus’ ex-wife.”

  Neither Cooper, Greyson or I said a word for a long minute. I think we were just absorbing it. First of all, that Sanders had been married. Secondly, that he’d been married to the woman he was now dancing with. And thirdly, that she was in charge of nightmares. Actually, that part wasn’t so hard to believe.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if her presence in town was what had caused my and Cooper’s nightmares. Was that something she could control? Or did they just follow her like a dark cloud, raining on anyone unlucky enough to be underneath?

  Greyson finally spoke. “I take it the split was amicable?”

  Olive made a grumbly noise. “Not that he led me to believe. But she came out of the marriage with more than she went in with. The power of nightmares. Between us, Sanders was happy to let them go. Nightmares have never been his thing.”

  I glanced at her. “So you thought they weren’t friends? They sure look chummy enough now.”

  And they did, waltzing around on the dance floor, talking, smiling. If they didn’t get on, they were doing a stellar job of hiding it.

  “I don’t trust her,” Olive groused. “I don’t know what her game is, but I don’t like that she’s here. Or that she’s coming to the signing tomorrow.”

  I wanted to pat Olive on the shoulder, to comfort her, but she didn’t look like she was in any mood to be touched. “I promise, we’ll keep an eye out tomorrow. If she does stop by to get a book, I’ll personally do whatever I can to see that’s all she does.”

  Olive took a deep breath, then nodded. “Thank you. But if Lunatic Luna Nyx wants to cause trouble, no one’s going to stop her.”

  Cooper shot me a side glance as if to say no one was going to stop Olive from thinking that way, either.

  I gave him a subtle nod in return.

  Then he turned toward Olive and held out his hand. “How about a turn around the floor, Miss Pine?”

  Olive’s mouth came open in surprise, but her hand reached out for Cooper’s. He whisked her off before she could say a word.

  Greyson moved closer to me. “Gotta give elfboy his due. Way to take one for the team.”

  “Oh, behave. Olive’s not so bad.”

  “No.” He smiled at me. “But she’s no Jayne Frost.” He took my hand. “Shall we?”

  “Might as well. I wouldn’t mind getting a close-up look at Luna either, so dance me in that direction.”

  “Feeling brave, eh?”

  “Just curious.”

  He did as I asked and I tried to be as shrewd as possible as we moved closer to Sanders’ ex, but there was quite a bit of distance between them and the rest of the dancers. Like they had an invisible force field around them.

  And when I got close enough, I could see why. Tiny spiders and shiny black beetles crawled through Luna’s hair. The seams of her dress appeared to occasionally open and close like tiny, hungry mouths. And her skin was so pale that the veins beneath were a blue, pulsating map.

  I couldn’t imagine a more perfect person to be the Mistress of Nightmares.

  I might have also gasped.

  Greyson, probably sensing my discomfort, danced us in the other direction. I stared at his chest, trying to put a new image in my head. He wasn’t in a tuxedo, but in one of his many velvet frock coats (this one midnight blue), which he’d matched up with a pair of leather pants and a lacy black shirt.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  I nodded and smiled weakly. “I just wasn’t prepared for that.”

  “No one ever is. Prepared for a nightmare, that is.” He rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand.

  “True.” But Luna was still a curiosity to me. She had to be an elemental. The fact that I’d never met her before meant nothing. There were certainly plenty of elementals I’d never met. And my guess was, Luna didn’t exactly get invited to a lot of parties. “I’m surprised Elenora let her in.”

  “Elenora probably had no idea she was coming.” Greyson checked the crowd around us, perhaps for the vampire herself, before he spoke. “In fact, Luna doesn’t register.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Vampire senses are extremely acute. With minimal effort, I can hear your heart beating even over the noise of this party. With a little more effort, I can pick out the heartbeat of just about anyone else in this room. Anyone who has a heartbeat, that is.” He glanced at Sanders. “Luna does not. In fact, it’s like she doesn’t even exist. If I try to focus on only her, there’s nothing but a black hole there.”

  “Wow.”

  He nodded. “Whatever her powers are, I’d say they’re more than anyone knows. I think Olive is right. You should be wary of her. Maybe she has just come to buy a book and show her support. But if she hasn’t…” He shrugged.

  Snowballs.

  As much as I hated to cut this night short, I needed to talk to my dad. Now. This event with Sanders could not go sideways. Not after the great day we’d had today. I sighed.

  Greyson smiled a little sadly. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

  Since Cooper hadn’t left yet, I told him my suspicions and that I was going home to talk to my dad about them. I didn’t want him to think I was ditching early on account of Greyson arriving. But Cooper unexpectedly volunteered to stay and keep an eye on Luna and Sanders. I kissed him for that, right in front of Greyson and everything.

  The vampire didn’t seem too bothered by it, which was nice. I had enough to deal with. In fact, we were almost to my place (his ’69 Camaro can move) when I realized I’d barely said anything to him. I’d been staring out at the night, wrapped up in what-ifs. I looked at him. “Sorry for being so quiet. I really appreciate you taking me home.”

  “Happy to help.”

  “I know it meant cutting our time at the party short.” Sweet fancy Christmas, he was pretty. How was I ever going to decide between him and Cooper? “I’ll make it up to you when this whole thing is over.”

  He grinned as he pulled onto my street. “I’ll take that. Not that there’s really anything for you to make up. Life happens, lass.”

  “Very kind of you.”

  He parked outside the warehouse door and turned the car off. “Besides, who says the night has to end? Call your dad, fill him in, and then let’s see what happens next. We can always get some Salvatore’s and hang out.”

  “True. I never did get anything to eat at the party.” I reached for the door handle.

  He held up a finger. “Just a sec.”

  Almost quicker than my elven eyes could follow, he was out of the car, around to my side, and opening the door. His vampire speed really was something. “There you go.”

  I took the hand he offered and let him help me out. “Thank you.”

  He didn’t releas
e my hand. Instead he shut the door and pulled me closer. “I don’t think I’ve told you yet this evening how absolutely stunning you look.”

  I smiled. “We were a little distracted by Sanders’ ex.”

  “I hate that another woman kept me from telling you how beautiful you look. Or from doing this.” He leaned in, his eyes glowing with that very distinct vampire light, and kissed me. His spicy cinnamon scent surrounded me as his hands went to my hips, putting us in more intimate contact.

  I swear I felt the tiniest scrape of his fangs on my bottom lip.

  Just when my knees went weak, he stepped away. The kiss couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over. But work awaited. With a sigh, I pulled my keys out and got us into the building. A minute later, we walked into my apartment.

  Well, I walked in. Greyson hung back by the door. “How about I run down to Salvatore’s and pick something up? Give you a chance to talk to your dad alone.”

  That wasn’t entirely necessary, but it would be easier. “Thanks, that would be great. You know what I like.”

  He grinned and wiggled his brows. “Yes, I do.”

  I laughed as he left, happy for the moment of levity before I had to get serious. I sat on the couch, picked up the snow globe from the side table, and gave it a shake. I set it on the coffee table, watching the snow whirl and wondering what my dad was doing.

  Spider wandered in, yawning, and flopped down at my feet. I bent to scratch his tummy. “How’s it going, Spidercat?”

  “Sleepy. Hungry.” He stretched to expose more of his belly to my fingers. “Mama scratch Spider more.”

  “That’s pretty much the story of your life, isn’t it? I’ll feed you in a few minutes, okay?”

  “Kay.” He closed his eyes and started purring as he curled around my left foot.

  My dad’s face appeared in the snow. “Hi, sweetheart. Don’t you look beautiful? Your mom is going to be mad she missed you, but she and your aunt Martha are going over the Christmas lunch menu with the caterers.”