“It is, but it’s a part of a vampire’s life. Unless they live in a place like this where magic blurs the edges and makes moving unnecessary.”

She thought for a moment. “So if he’s that old and he’s from New Orleans…could he be a descendant of the famous Jean Lafitte?”

Alex grinned. “You nailed it. He’s actually the legendary pirate’s grandson.”

She frowned. “Wow, so when you say he’s old, you’re talking, like, two hundred years old?”

Alex raised his brows. “Who says writers can’t do math?”

“You hush.” She tapped his arm playfully. “That’s amazing.” Then an unhappy thought occurred to her. “Will Delaney and Hugh have to move on too?”

“No. That’s the whole point of this town.”

“Good.” That was great news. “But back to Pandora, you didn’t really need to call anyone to stay with me. It’s safe now. And I’m fine.”

He squinted at her. “You’re not a little shaken up by what happened tonight?”

“Yes, but I’ll be okay. I’ll sleep easy, I know that much.”

“Humor me.” He slipped his arm around her waist. “Pandora’s going to set a ward of protection around your house, that’s it.”

“Oh. That’s cool.” She needed to catch up with Pandora anyway. See how things were going. Pandora had been very secretive about the work on the spell, but maybe Roxy could leverage the evening’s events into some sympathy. “Hey, why didn’t she do that sooner?”

“We thought it might have been a little tricky explaining why she was burning sage in your house and chanting in front of your windows and doors.”

Roxy laughed. “Yeah, I can see that.”

A late-model Mercedes turned down the street. Alex pointed. “There she is.”

Roxy turned to him. “Go ahead to the station. I’ll lock up here and then head to my house.”

“I appreciate that.” He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a soft kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning, babe.”

She grinned. That never got old. “See you in the morning. I—” She realized the word love had been about to slip out of her mouth. She swallowed it down. But soon enough she was going to say it. “I can’t thank you enough for taking care of me.”

He smiled. “Happy to do it. Happy to keep doing it.”

He headed off, and she went back inside to lock the sliders, then the front door before making her way to her house.

Pandora was just getting out of her car. She greeted Roxy with a gentle smile. “You okay? Alex filled me in when he called.”

“Yes, I’m fine. Alex might be overreacting a little. I mean, sure it was scary, but he acted so quickly it was over in a flash. I’m sorry you had to come out here at this hour.”

“It’s no bother. I live five minutes away.”

“But it’s late and this isn’t really necessary. Like I said, he might be overreacting a little. The threat is gone.”

“It’s not that late.” Her smile widened. “And he’s a shifter. Their instincts to protect those they love are not something I’m going to argue against. They can be fierce about it. Especially when things get elevated.”

“Elevated?”

“You know. When you’re mated or married or whatever shifters consider bonded these days.”

“Is that so?”

“That is so.” She grabbed a tote bag, then shut her car door. Her eyes twinkled. “Besides, I have something for you.”

Roxy clasped her hands in front of her. “It’s done?”

“It’s done. Let’s go inside and you can change out of your swimsuit while I put this ward on your house and then we can get to the fun stuff.”

Thirty minutes later, Pandora was seated across the table from Roxy, who was now wearing yoga pants and a tank top. The house smelled faintly of smoke from the sage and two glasses of wine sat between them. Roxy rubbed her hands together. “Let’s see it.”

Pandora pulled a small box from her purse and set it on the table, but didn’t open it. “Based on what I discovered from those strands of hair you gave me, I can confirm you positively have a little witch in you. You also have two different types of nymph and one kind of dryad, which, if you want to get technical, is really a third kind of nymph.”

Roxy took that in for a second. “What does all that mean?”

“It means you probably have a love of trees and a real affinity for water.”

Roxy nodded. “I’d say that’s true. And I certainly do love my fish. What about the witch part?”

Pandora smiled. “The witch part means you’ll be able to handle this.” She opened the box she’d brought and pulled out a length of delicate silver chain with a curved, hollow claw hanging on it. “This was a joint effort between Willa and me. We designed it together. She did the metal work, and I built the main spell, and then we both put our different magics into it. Willa added in your parents’ wedding rings as your sacrifice, and I used those strands of hair you let me snip as part of my spell. This won’t work for anyone but you. Granted, we’ve never done anything like this before, so I hope this does what we planned it to do.”

“Is there a downside if it doesn’t?”

Pandora handed the silver piece over. “We’re out some time and money and you’re still basically human, but there’s no chance of you accidentally turning into a toad or spontaneously combusting or anything like that.”