Talk about the worst day ever!
Lara lets her friend Carrie talk her into a blind date, only it turns out the
handsome stranger waiting for Lara after work isn’t Carrie’s cousin after all. And,
when they’re chased through a portal to another world, Lara realizes Rhys
really is out of this world.
Lyra, her alternate in another dimension,
has left clues to the whereabouts of the Book of Secrets explaining the mystery
of time travel in Lara’s subconscious. Or so Rhys thinks. Power-hungry
telepaths who pursue them will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means
breaking Lara’s will. To complicate matters,
Lara gets tangled up in her feelings for Rhys while exploring her connection
with Lyra.
With Rhys as her guardian, a
bear of a man named Azle to guide her, and the spirit of Lyra haunting her
dreams, Lara must find the Book of Secrets before it falls into the hands of
those who want its power. Only then can she return to her world safely.
Excerpt:
A frantic sprint down the hall
from my office brought me skidding to a stop in front of the elevator doors
just as they whispered shut. The clock on the wall read half past five. Damn.
Too much time spent in the restroom trying to make myself presentable. All because Carrie had conned me into
another one of her blind dates. And with her cousin, no less. Why today of all days? I’d overslept and
come to work resembling the undead from a zombie apocalypse movie. Tension
knotted in my stomach. I punched the button beside the stainless steel doors and
paced, remembering my conversation with her over lunch.
“I know losing your dad has been
awful,” she’d said. “But, maybe it’s time you started moving on with your
life.” Carrie couldn’t possibly have understood the burden of guilt that seemed
to grow heavier every day. Dad and I had a terrible argument just before he
died, one we never had the chance to resolve, and it still ate at me. Carrie hadn’t
given up until I’d agreed to meet her cousin in the lobby after work, a
decision that plagued me for the rest of the afternoon.
What was the guy’s name again? I couldn’t even remember.
When the doors finally opened to
an empty elevator, I hurried inside, pulled out my cell, and stared at the
screen. Carrie hadn’t returned any of my calls. She probably didn’t want to
give me the chance to back out. My friend knew me only too well. Unlike her, I
was no good at small talk. What if her cousin wasn’t either? My stomach twisted
even tighter. If that’s all we have in common, it’s going to be a long
evening. By the time I got to the ground floor, I’d chewed my bottom lip
raw.
The lobby was empty, and my
heels echoed against the marble tiles. Her
cousin must have gotten tired of waiting and left. I squeezed my eyes
shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. Carrie’s going to kill me. She’d
never believe I hadn’t done this on purpose just so I wouldn’t have to go out
with her cousin.
Someone coughed. I jerked my
head around to see a man standing near the reception area, a canvas duffel bag
at his feet. That’s got to be him.
My heart thudded with relief.
“Sorry I’m late. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.” I motioned toward the
rain spattering against the windows. “This weather is awful, isn’t it?”
The man watched me with a self-assured
air that left me feeling like an awkward teenager.
So much for witty
conversation. At least Carrie hadn’t exaggerated when she said he was good
looking. His sensitive mouth held the only trace of softness in a finely
chiseled face. Broad shoulders and powerful hands. He would have been right at
home on the cover of a sports magazine. Was
I drooling? “Umm…” His intense stare made me squirm. “I should
introduce myself. I’m—”
“Lara. My name is Rhys.” We
shook hands briefly while his eyes flickered over me. My height intimidated
some men, but it didn’t seem to bother him. “I never imagined you’d be so—”
“Don’t bother with flattery. Surely
Carrie told you I’m immune.” The grin across my face was so he would know it
was a joke, but his stern expression remained unchanged.
Doesn’t this guy know how to
smile? “Umm…My car’s across the street. We really should go before it
starts pouring again.”
Without a word, he grabbed his
bag and followed me through the big glass doors. The wind had picked up, and
thunder rumbled in the distance. Streetlights flickered on, a halo of light
crowning each pole. We crossed the street and hurried toward my car parked
beneath one of the lights in the middle of the empty lot.
I stuck my umbrella under my arm
and dug in my purse for the keys. “Do you like Italian food?”
Rhys drew his eyebrows together
and frowned slightly.
Doesn’t he understand plain
English? Funny how Carrie never mentioned he was the silent, brooding type.
I’d get even with her for this.
“Okay, what about Chinese? There’s this great little place not too far from
here…”
He jerked his gaze away from
mine and stared into the darkness behind me.
A finger of cold traced its way along
my spine. “Did you hear something?” We were
alone in an empty city parking lot after dark. Not the safest place in the
world.
He grabbed my arm. “Quiet.”
I flinched in surprise and pulled
away. Rhys was beginning to give me the creeps. “What is it? Did you hear
something?”
He pointed toward the back of
the parking lot where lightning flashed, touched the ground and disappeared. Two
dark shapes burst from the shadows and advanced across the asphalt without a
sound.
Rhys dropped his bag and stepped
in front of me. Chills raced across my arms. I backed into my car with a thud and
gripped my umbrella so tight it made my hands hurt. No time to call for help.
We’d have to defend ourselves. But how?
One of the men threw a punch at
Rhys, who caught it with his open hand. He used the momentum to throw his
attacker off balance and slammed him against the car beside me. Before the guy
hit the ground, Rhys whirled to face ninja number two, who charged. With his
left forearm, Rhys blocked and returned his kick. The man sidestepped, and
Rhys’ foot missed the mark.
By this time the first guy had
stumbled to his feet. He staggered over to Rhys and grabbed him from behind,
pinning his arms to his sides. The other guy slammed his fists into Rhys’
stomach, making him double over and gasp for breath.
It was up to me to do something fast, or Rhys was going
down. With my heart pounding in my ears, I darted behind the guy holding him
and kicked him in the back of the knees. He buckled and released his grip on
Rhys. Before his attacker realized what had happened, Rhys had grabbed him by his
collar and head butted him with a sickening crunch. The man howled, blood
spurting from his nose.
Both men turned and fled back
into the darkness. My umbrella slipped from my shaking hands and clattered to
the pavement. Who were these men with strange tattoos covering their faces? Gang
members? Muggers?
This time it was me that grabbed Rhys’ arm. “Are you all right?”
“Don’t worry about me. Let’s go.”
After I fumbled with the keys
and unlocked the car, he yanked the passenger door open,
threw his bag in the back seat and jumped inside. The automatic locks clicked
while the engine coughed and sputtered to a start. With my hands in a death
grip on the steering wheel, I drove through the entrance and made a hard right,
my rear tire rolling over the curb.
A few blocks away I tried to
hand Rhys my cell phone, but he wouldn’t take it. “Didn’t you see those guys?” They
had eyes like sharks, their pupils almost completely dilated. “They must have
been on something. We need to call the police.”
He shook his head.
“What, then? Have you got a
better idea?”
“Drive to your place.”
He didn’t get any argument −something
totally out of character for me. Shock, maybe? Everything had happened so fast,
it almost didn’t seem real. Accelerating, I switched lanes to pass a slow driver
and watched my passenger from the corner of my eye. He should have been
breathing hard after being punched in the stomach, but he wasn’t even winded.
And he didn’t seem upset or surprised by anything that had happened. He only
stared through the car windows, focusing on the darkness around us.
Carrie, you’ve got one strange cousin.
* * * *
Born in west Texas and raised in south Texas, Susan A. Royal shared a 100-year-old farmhouse in a small east
Texas town with a singing ghost for years. Now she lives in the country.
Mother of three and grandmother of six, she comes from a family rich
with characters, both past and present. Susan’s grandmother shared stories of
living on a farm in Oklahoma Territory and working as a telephone operator in
the early 20th century. She learned all about growing up in the
depression from her father and experienced being a teenager during WWII through
her mother’s eyes.
Susan loves taking her readers through all kinds of adventures. So
far, she’s written two books in her It’s About Time series, Not Long Ago and From Now On, and is working on book three. They are time travel
adventures about two people who fall in love despite the fact they come from
very different worlds. In My Own Shadow is a Fantasy
adventure/romance. Xander’s Tangled Web is
a YA fantasy with romance. Look for her books at MuseItUp/Amazon/B&N.
Want to know more? Visit susanaroyal.wordpress.com for a
peek inside this writer’s mind and see what she’s up to. You never know what
new world she’s going to visit next.
Xander’s Tangled Web (fantasy, mystery)
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http://susanaroyal.com
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