The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride Read Online Free Page A

a weekend bag filled with her most prized candy-making supplies, her journal of ideas and her copy of The Sweet Life , the candy-making cookbook that she’d inherited from her grandmother. That book had changed her life.
    If only her grandmother were still around. She’d have known what to do about this whole murder thing. Just like she’d known what to do when Delaney had essentially become parentless at fifteen.
    With a bittersweet sigh, Delaney looked at her phone. One more thing to do before she got back on the road. She flipped open the file on Annabelle Givens, found her phone number and dialed.
    Annabelle answered on the second ring. “Hello?” She sounded classy. Not at all like Delaney.
    Delaney crossed her fingers and hoped for the best. “Annabelle Givens?”
    “Speaking.”
    “This is Adelaide Poirot’s assistant.” Delaney poured on the professionalism, trying to channel her inner Adelaide minus the French accent. “I’m calling about the recent match Eternamate set up for you. Unfortunately, your match has decided he’s not quite ready to commit so we’re canceling that arrangement. I’m terribly sorry.” She was also a horrible liar, but it was good practice.
    “Oh.” Annabelle sounded miserable. “He sounded so nice.”
    “I promise we’ll be calling within the month with an even better match.” Delaney’s voice had reached a level of chipperness on par with a game show host.
    “You will?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Okay. Thank you for letting me know.”
    “You’re welcome. Have a great day.” Delaney hung up and deflated. Being “on” for her job as a server was one thing. Pretending to be someone else was exhausting.
    The next few weeks might kill her. If Rastinelli didn’t do it first.
    She cranked on the radio, pulled out of the rest stop and put her mind back on her driving. Captain Underpants shifted to take advantage of a two-inch sliver of sun and fell asleep.
    Three hours later, Delaney took the exit for Nocturne Falls. Nerves from being this close to her destination raised her heart rate and her temperature. She cracked the window to let in some fresh air as she passed a large pumpkin-shaped sign that read, Welcome to Nocturne Falls – where every day is Halloween .
    Really?
    The speed limit dropped to thirty-five, which was just as well because she couldn’t help but slow down when she hit the main drag.
    She’d never seen a town like this in her life.
    The general color scheme of everything—signs, buildings, benches and a tourist trolley with the word Summer Spooktacular emblazoned on the side—seemed to be black and orange, with purple and green coming in a strong second. Hot pink and midnight blue weren’t far behind in third.
    Metal brackets in the shapes of cobwebs angled off the street lamps. Some of the buildings were deliberately slanted to look rickety. A large fountain with a man-sized gargoyle front and center decorated the beautifully landscaped park that made up the large main square. Through the trees, the gargoyle actually seemed to be moving. Animatronics maybe?
    She shook her head in disbelief. This place was kitschy and crazy but in a very cool way.
    The voice on her navigation app urged her to make the next left, but she kept driving just to check the place out. The businesses had names like Misty’s Boo-tique, The Hair Scare (which didn’t exactly instill confidence in the final product), The Ice Scream Shop and Hats In The Belfry. There was a bar called DOA, which apparently stood for Drinks On Arrival, a beer and hot dog joint named Franks-n-Steins and a diner dubbed Mummy’s whose slogan was “Our food is to die for!”
    “Are you kidding me?” But tourists mobbed the streets. It was May, months away from Halloween, but even so a few of the adults and almost all of the little kids wore costumes. There was something cheesy but charming about it. “Cappy, this place is like Willy Wonka does Halloween.”
    Captain sighed in perpetual