When a twist of fate lands Liz Ortecho and her friends stranded in a small town in the Superstition Mountains, they find themselves dependent on the kindness of strangers. But in Serpiente de las Estrellas, things are not all as they seem. As Liz, Maria, and Alex get to know the mysterious denizens of this small town, dark secrets years in the making threaten to entrap and endanger them.

Michael and Maria are a grifter team, out to expose a military contractor hiding horrific human rights abuses. Little did they know another con artist also has his sights set on exposing Benjamin Lockhart.

Rosa Ortecho had always been able to see spirits. The lonely ones, the angry ones. The ones that had never been human. Armed with a real estate license and a team of loveable misfits, she was determined to help people - both corporeal and non-corporeal - and make a little money while doing so.

Isobel Evans was the best real estate agent in five counties, but when her job at Bracken-Ramirez Realty went up in flames, she needed a fresh start and to find her footing again.

Anatsa Mufaro just wanted to meet her deadlines and get rid of a house that was too big, too old, and too crowded.

It begins, and ends, with a Christmas tree.

Max Evans doesn't mind his life. He likes helping his brother out at the tree lot. He likes selling books. He loves his family. He's (trying to) write his first novel.

Most days, he doesn't even think about Liz Ortecho or Kyle Valenti, or what they might be doing out in San Diego.

But now, for the first time in years, they're back.

For years, Maria DeLuca had been losing her mother, bit by bit, to a mysterious illness. In an act of desperation, Maria decides her only option is to reach out to an enigmatic man known as the Mechanic, whose mysterious powers of necromancy may hold the key to saving her mother. Alex Manes would always stand by his best friend, even if he worries that the price for the Mechanic's services will be far more than they are willing to pay.

But as Alex and Maria are drawn deeper into the Mechanic's world, they find they are far more connected to him than they ever expected...

Maria Deluca and Alex Manes had been partners, both in the X-Files department and in marriage, for years. They each had their own reasons to search for the truth, and it just made sense to do it together.

Michael Guerin was just a con trying to keep his head down, serve his time, and not attract the wrong type of attention.

He definitely had not bargained on being loaned out to a couple of alien hunters.

The woman who would eventually be known as Louise started her life as a binary star. One of two children.

Twins were vanishingly rare in Oasian families, and as such were believed to be powerful agents of healing and change. As such, their birth was hailed as nothing short of a miracle.

And for a time, it was.

The Lockhart House was once a home, although it was never a happy one. Steeped in tragedy, it still stands today, in the heart of Old Town Roswell, attracting ghost hunters and those seeking to catch a peak of something from beyond the veil.

Contrary to popular myth, it wasn’t currently haunted (except by one paranormally talented docent). It was Michael’s favorite job and the best part of his summer home from UNM. Or at least was until Alex Manes was hired to man the gift shop, complicating an otherwise fun and easy job.

It was pouring when Michael pulled up to the airstream. The wheels of his truck skidded on the mud, a combination of the speed at which he was traveling and the water that hadn’t fully soaked into the parched earth. It was hard to see through the deluge, but this was his home. He didn’t need to be able to see carry his bundle into the airstream, wrapped up within the folds of his coat.

Just a bit of power and the door swung open, allowing Michael access.

“I don’t think he followed us,” Michael said to the small, shivering form that was curled up in his jacket, locking the door firmly behind him and peeking out. “Can barely see anything in that rain.”

Isobel Evans and Rosa Ortecho's wedding is going to be an affair to remember. That is, if Alex Manes doesn't ruin it first.

This wasn't his idea. Honestly, he'd rather spend the wedding getting drunk, bribing the DJ to play songs that would drive the brides crazy, and keeping well away from his first, unrequited love. But when one of your best friends asks you to be their worst man, you take that job seriously.

Even if that means ending up a hell of a lot closer to Michael Guerin than he bargained for.

Michael and Alex were so handsome together, so soft and effortlessly intimate. Maria couldn't help but imagine how nice it would be settled between them, warm and safe...

It's time to go, Maria thinks. Alex disagrees.

A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, And a cover from the tempest, As rivers of water in a dry place. As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2)

Once upon a time, in a cold grey castle lived a princess.

She wasn’t a particularly good princess. She abhorred courtly dances and constantly mixed up the dozens of courtiers and cousins, ambassadors and knights she was supposed to know. For sure, she was beautiful, kind and charming, and the court could do nothing but sing her praises out loud. But privately they whispered that she was too headstrong and sharp tongued. What could be expected from the daughter of a witch? Best to marry her off quickly to an obscure fourth or fifth son and forget she ever existed.

Thankfully, Maria never much cared for what fat, old courtiers thought of her. She was the daughter of the most powerful seer in five generations. And she had a destiny. One that wasn’t going to be fulfilled sitting prim and proper by the side of a dull prince whose wits were as soft as his hands.

Once upon a time, a princess disappeared from the kingdom of Valkaria. Rumor had it that she was kidnapped by a dragon, who held her captive in a tower at the heart of the Enchanted Forest. Only her knightly betrothed, fourth prince of Bexamer, could save her by seeking out dread beast that kept her from him and slay it so they could live happily ever after.

Or something.

Truth be told, Alex wasn’t particularly interested in slaying any dragons or winning any fair maid’s hand.

For her part, the Lady Maria had decided she'd had quite enough of being royalty. She much preferred her cozy tower home in the forest and the company of the dragon she'd given her heart to. She was not in the mood to deal with any knights, betrothed or not.

This might be the first time Michael got kicked off a posting for flirting with a captain.

Michael had tons of secrets. Sex secrets, murder secrets, alien secrets… they defined him. Most of them, he hated keeping.

There was one secret, however, that he was determined to take to the grave. Or Michael learns to bake.

Or cakes are a metaphor for Michael's love

While Michael attempts to hide his new baking habit, life in Roswell continues and the people around him have some things to say about all the cakes that are popping up.

Maria and Alex had always known that they were soulmates.

This was by degrees a comforting and unsettling realization for them. On the one hand, they were each other’s closest friends in the whole world.

On the other hand, Alex was very, very gay.

Michael has a problem. One Alex Manes, freshly moved back to Roswell, keeps showing up everywhere Michael works.

Trouble is, Michael works, well... pretty much everywhere.

Other than her mother, there weren’t many people in Maria's life who had tried to meet her on her level. That never really bothered her. She would just quietly keep taking care of her people in every way she knew how. Right now, that included Michael Guerin.

She never expected him to flip the script.