Chapter Eighteen

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Warrick didn’t know what to expect when Bianca took out her phone to make a call. Her expression was fiercely focused. He had to smile inside. She was on a mission and he pitied anyone who got in her way.

“Hey, Boss. Sorry to bother you, but could you do me a favor?”

She gave him a quick outline of the situation, and what they needed. After a few more single worded phrases, she disconnected the call with a satisfied air. Smiling at the Harts, she said, “There. I don’t think it will take long. Maybe we should have dinner while we wait?”

“Uh, Bianca,” Viktor said. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but what can your boss do to help? I mean, it’s not like he really has a crystal ball that he can use to track down this Ruby girl, does he?”

Bianca looked at the three of them. “I’m guessing you don’t know what my boss did before he retired to get married and open up his twin businesses here in Nocturne Falls.” Warrick glanced at his mother and brother, who looked just as clueless as he felt.

“I’m afraid not,” he said.

“On Alpha-Prime, Guardsman Bubba Thorne was known as the best tracker in three galaxies, even better than The Calderian.”

“The Calderian? Who’s that?”

“The head of the prestigious Royal Magistrate Guard—” Bianca cut herself off and shook her head. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is we’ve got a man who can find anyone, anywhere looking for Ruby. And since he had to leave his dinner table and his lovely wife behind to do us this favor, I imagine he’ll be quick about it. Shall we eat?”

Warrick felt swept up in her confidence, though he was struggling to digest the fact that not only was Viktor, the brother of his heart, his half-brother in truth, but they might share a half-sister they’d never even known existed. He caught Viktor watching him, and knew his mind must be churning just as much as Warrick’s was.

“Yes, we certainly shall,” Vilma said. His mother, always a bubbly and self-assured woman no matter the situation, looked like a weight he’d never noticed had been lifted from her shoulders. She got to her feet, hauled Viktor up and took his arm, and gestured for Warrick to escort Bianca into the dining room. “Rochester,” she sang out as they left the drawing room. “We are ready for dinner to be served. We should also expect more guests, though I’m not certain how many or when they may arrive.”

“Yes, madam. All will be ready to receive your guests.”

“Rochester, I can always count on you.”

Warrick looked down at Bianca. Her hand rested comfortably in the crook of his arm, and he settled his other hand on the slender fingers that so competently caressed the handle of a battle axe or the grip of a curved sword. With her silky, ice-blond hair and beautiful features, she could pass for one of the fae races. He marveled that this psychic alien beauty loved him, no spells required. Marveled more that the woman he loved as a mother was a true blood relative, and so was the man he’d grown up with, them against the world.

Bianca caught him looking at her and smiled. “What?”

“I love you.”

“And I love you.”

He didn’t taste the food put in front of him, or remember what they talked about as Rochester brought out the courses. He must have managed to say a few clever things, enough to make Bianca laugh. They held hands beneath the table through the entire dinner.

They’d left the dining room and he’d taken her to see the coat of arms on the wall in the library when the doorbell chimed. He stared toward the front of the house.

Bianca used her fingertips to bring his face around to hers. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “It will be all right, Warrick. You’re a fearsome, mighty dragon shifter, remember? And I’m right here with you.”

“Then everything will be all right.”

“Exactly.”

Holding hands, they hurried from the library to the front door in time to see Rochester swing it wide. Viktor and Vilma, his arm comfortingly around their mother’s shoulders, stood beside him.

Bubba Thorne walked in, followed by a girl who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties, and…

“Hank,” Warrick said. “We weren’t expecting to see you.”

The sheriff gave him a humorless smile. “If I had a dollar every time someone said that to me, I’d be a rich man. Certainly one who isn’t on call to just anyone twenty-four seven.”

Bubba snorted. “But I’m not just anyone, am I? I’m a special alien.”

The sheriff shook his head, but appeared more resigned than annoyed. “Bubba, the special snowflake alien, came across some information and called me along for the ride out here.”

Warrick frowned. What did Hart family business have to do with the sheriff? He looked at the girl who stood beside Bubba, seemingly unintimidated by all the large men around her. He tried to see Viktor in her features, or anything that said she might share some familial characteristics with Ruby or himself.

Bianca stepped forward, hand held out. “Hello, Ruby. I’m glad to see you again.”

The girl took her hand and gave her a small smile. “Hello, Bianca,” she said. “It looks like your prediction was right.”

Warrick looked at his mother. Vilma’s eyes glistened with tears.

The girl turned her attention from Bianca to the older woman. “Hi, Aunt Vilma.”

“Oh, my dear.” Vilma left Viktor’s side to take both of Ruby’s hands in hers. “You look just like your father. I’d recognize you anywhere. But how do you know me?”

“My mother’s family didn’t tell you I survived. They also didn’t tell my father I survived. From what I understand, he died of a broken heart before I even turned a year old.” She looked down. “Meanwhile, I grew up hated because they never wanted my father to marry my mother in the first place. They blamed him for her untimely death. Then, when he was gone, they shifted that blame to me. I was, after all, the true reason my mother died.”

She lifted her chin and Warrick had to admire the spark of determination he saw in her eyes. Even though she had to be older than he and Viktor, she looked very young. “I recently discovered I might have siblings in the wake of my father’s anguish after my mother’s death, so I came to Nocturne Falls to find you all after tracking your former residences overseas. I’m a paranormal investigator. Even so, it’s taken me quite a while to track you all down.”

“How interesting,” Bianca said. “I’m so glad you found your long-lost family.”

The sheriff cleared his throat. “I believe I should tell you why Bubba felt the need to invite me to this party. The two hooligans that broke into your home were sent to take a picture of your coat of arms. I just learned that this young lady paid them to do it. If you don’t wish to press charges—”

“Oh no,” Vilma said. “I won’t press any charges, Sheriff. Thank you for bringing her here. I’m terribly sorry for all your trouble. Could I offer you some dinner? Rochester?”

Rochester straightened and looked at the sheriff, brows lifted, ready to re-set the table for three more guests.

“No trouble. And thanks for the dinner offer, but I should get on home.” The sheriff mostly looked relieved he didn’t have to put anyone in jail. “Hope you all have a great night.”

To Ruby he said, “No more hiring out for breaking-and-entering, right?”

“Right,” Ruby said. “Thank you.”

“If that’s all, I’ll take my leave, too,” Bubba said.

Vilma said, “I’d be happy to have Rochester feed you as well, Mr. Thorne.”

Bubba shook his head. “I’ve got dinner waiting at home, but thanks anyway.”

“Thanks so much for your help tonight, Boss,” Bianca said. “I appreciate that you dropped everything to go out and find Ruby.”

“My pleasure, Bianca.” Bubba looked genuinely happy to have gone out of his way.

Warrick stepped forward to shake the big Alpha’s hand. “You have my thanks, too. Don’t hesitate to let me know if I can return the favor.”

Bubba gave him a serious stare. “You just take care of Bianca here, and that’s all the thanks I need.”

Warrick put his arm around Bianca. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

Bubba nodded and followed the sheriff out the door. Rochester closed it behind them and disappeared in his silent, efficient way while Vilma and Viktor swept Ruby along with them into the drawing room.

Warrick looked down at Bianca and turned her in his arms. He gave her a slow smile. “There was no spell.”

“There was no spell,” she agreed.

“That means you loved me at first sight.”

“I guess it does.”

“And I loved you at first sight.”

“Yes.”

“Will you marry me, Bianca?”

Vilma must have heard him with the acute senses that came with being a mother, because he heard her squeal in delight in the drawing room. “Do you need a ring?” she called out to them. “I have one picked out from my personal collection, if you do.”

“No, Mother. Thanks anyway.”

Warrick let Bianca go and pulled from his pocket the small ring box he’d picked up this morning after commissioning it a week ago. Willa, the fae owner of Nocturne Falls’s premier jewelry shop, Illusions, had made him the perfect ring for his spellbound alien bride. He flipped the box open to reveal the custom setting with a round stone the reddish color of her home planet with two triangular black stones on either side to represent his dragon wings, explaining the significance of the stones in a quiet whisper for her ears only.

Bianca gasped, her eyes sparkling with love as she said, “It’s beautiful. Of course, I will marry you.”

He slipped the ring on her finger and then they kissed and kissed and kissed.

Warrick knew he’d never need a love spell. Bianca, his beautiful psychic alien, had him helplessly spellbound for life.

The End