Imperfect Soulmate (Elixir Bachelor Billionaires #3)

Prologue The cost of a magical love

VIOLET

Do you believe love is chosen or inevitable?

SilenceInMidnight: It finds you, but the choice to stay is yours.

Nori: I’m almost there.

I set my phone down on the porch railing and turn to face my three best friends, my only family left in the world.

“Promise me you’ll keep an open mind about this.”

We’re all curled up on the wraparound porch of the whimsical cottage I inherited from my grandfather, my Pop. The beams still hum with his stories. The porch swing still creaks like it remembers all the nights he rocked me to sleep with fairy tales whispered in his gravelly voice.

Willow arches a brow. “Vi, when have we ever not kept an open mind about the wild things you’ve dragged us into?”

“You haven’t,” I admit with a grin. “But don’t pretend my ideas haven’t worked out, or have you forgotten the bad-boy purging ritual we did for you, Daze?”

Daisy laughs, one hand drifting down to her swollen belly. “As I’ve said a thousand times—thank you. The ritual might’ve worked a little too well.”

Okay, even I must agree with her on that one. When, under the moonlight, I asked Mother Nature to help Daisy let go of her deadbeat ex, I didn’t know her boss was secretly planning a marriage of convenience that would eventually become one of Cherrywood’s most legendary love stories.

But that’s what makes life so special. We don’t have to know what’s coming; we just have to believe what’s meant for us will find its way.

This porch is where my Pop taught me to listen for signs in the wind. He swore the universe was always waiting to give us the exact thing we needed… as long as we asked with our whole heart and had a little faith in life’s miracles.

I hear the crunch of gravel under tires as Nori pulls up at the empty spot between my Vespa scooter and my Fiat 500, which was a gift from Pop on my eighteenth birthday.

It wasn’t only Nori’s perfect tarot readings that drew me to her. It was her energy. She totally matched my brand of chaos.

“Hi!” I throw my arms around our guest, squeezing her so tightly that she laughs against my shoulder. “Meet my friends, and thanks again for coming on such short notice.”

“You got lucky. My client canceled last minute. Apparently, her husband didn’t think a tarot booth was ‘appropriate’ for a work dinner party.

” She rolls her eyes before her gaze shifts toward the porch.

“Do you mind if we set up out here? I love doing readings outside. Closer to nature, the energy feels cleaner.”

We clear the table and Nori drapes the surface with a lush green silk cloth that catches the moonlight. Her crystals shimmer in soft pastels and deep purples—amethyst, rose quartz, citrine—all laid out in careful order.

In one graceful sweep, she fans out her deck and sinks cross-legged onto the cushion. “Alright, ladies. Who’s brave enough to go first?”

None of my friends jump to get in front of her, not that I expected them to. It always takes them a while to warm up to this kind of stuff.

I point directly at Daisy.

“You first. We can go in alphabetical order and finally find out if the baby’s a boy or girl! The surprise is driving me insane. I already want to raid all the children’s stores for my first niece or nephew.”

Nori shakes her head. “Nice try, but that’s not how it works. You don’t get to ask questions until it’s your turn.”

So that’s how I watch from the porch swing as, one by one, my friends get in front of Nori.

Daisy’s reading is soft and teary.

Nori tells Daisy that her dad, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, will live a long life, making new memories with her and his grandkids, even when the old ones might slowly fade away.

Willow’s reading is… well, predictable.

Nori hints at this new thing brewing between Willow and her business archenemy, aka, Raymond. Of course, Willow simply rolls her eyes and scoffs.

But Elodie’s reading surprises us all. As per Nori, her card promises fame and wealth.

A music career so successful that it sounds like something straight out of a starlet’s daydream.

We all just blink at one another. El is the most introverted person.

Only fate would try to turn our sweet, low-key Elodie into a headliner.

Then finally… finally, it’s my turn.

“Thank God.” I practically launch myself into the spot Willow just vacated. “I thought I’d be waiting until next year.”

“You could’ve gone first, you know,” Daisy calls out.

“No way. This is the grand finale. Take all the time you need, Nori. I want the full breakdown, the complete future-of-Violet report.”

“I’m digging the enthusiasm.” Nori chuckles as I draw a card and almost reverently lay it out on the table.

“I want to know everything,” I repeat with all seriousness. “How many kids I’m having, when I’m finally getting married.” I pause. “And of course, who he is and what he’s like. I haven’t seriously dated anyone in forever. Now I’m just waiting for the universe to work its magic.”

My gaze flicks to the colorful card laid out, then back to her face. But when Nori doesn’t immediately jump to her reading like she did with my friends, I sit straight.

“Oh God. It’s bad, isn’t it? I’m going to die a spinster. I should just get a dozen cats already.”

“No, it’s not that,” Nori says quickly, stopping my spiral. “I see love. A big, epic, once-in-a-lifetime love. But you have to be careful, Violet. Before you get there, you’ll go through a deep change. It’ll be like forgetting everything you are and becoming a new you.”

“Really?” I pause. “Well… that kind of sucks. I’m really fond of myself as is.

” I wrinkle my nose. “But you did say love of a lifetime, right? Can you tell me a little more about him? Like what he’s going to be like?

” Before my heartbeat can find its happy place, which usually hinges somewhere between excitement of the unknown and apprehension of the known, a new thought finds its way in. “Wait! He’s not a puppy, right?”

Thankfully, Nori laughs, canceling my erratic thoughts.

“No. He’s definitely not a puppy, and he’ll love you in a way you’ve always deserved, Violet. It’s going to be… magical. But…” She hesitates once more. “You’ll have to lose yourself to find that love.”

Something in me stills.

Am I scared? Of course I am. Loss is something I’m way too familiar with. I’ve watched it peel away parts of people I love and have felt the deep ache of being the one left behind.

But I’ve also always believed in nature’s magic, and I know nothing truly amazing in life comes without a price.

As my Pop would say, “Higher the price, greater the reward, my riot-causing Violet.” And then he’d laugh that big, hearty laugh he reserved for every time he called me that ridiculous nickname.

Maybe becoming someone new is a small price to pay for the kind of love that rewrites everything.

I lean across the table and pull Nori into a quick hug. “I can’t wait to meet him.”