Thursday, February 26, 2015

Shift of Time (Rue Darrow, book 1) by Audrey Claire

Release date: February 18, 2015
Subgenre: Urban fantasy

About Shift of Time:


Rue Darrow is a newly made vampire, and she's alone in New Orleans, no boyfriend, no son, and no friends. All she sees is an eternity spent working at menial jobs just to pay the bills, hunting where it's safe, and holding onto the her flagging human emotions.

Then Rue saves the life of a man in a dark alley. What she didn't realize was the man was Fae, and the attackers were demons. The grateful Fae wants to hire Rue to get back a treasure that was stolen from him, but he won't tell her what it is. Rue, who has never been in a fight in her life--before the alley scuffle--is thrust into a new, darker world where there are not only Fae but werewolves, demons, unidentified creatures, and even her old "buddy" Death.

Rue's not sure if she should take on the job, but well, it beats shift work.

Excerpt:

 

“Rue!”

I stirred from my thoughts and focused on the manager. His high color indicated he had called my name more than once, and I detected an elevated heartbeat. I didn’t center on it because the pulse from a human heart was like waving candy before a child. Best to focus on the manager’s expression of annoyance.

“Present.”

A few snickers rose from the crowd. Did I mention vampirism brings on sarcasm? Truly, it does. Scout’s honor.

The manager’s temperature crept higher. “I need to switch around your schedule for tomorrow through the rest of the week.”

I had no problem with this and was used to working the desk, acting as a bellman, and even washing dishes in the kitchen. I did it to get paid. The jobs were menial, and I had one requirement.

The manager flipped through the clipboard pages and scratched down some information. “Lloyd’s going on vacation, so you’ll fill in. He works from six a.m. until two p.m., so tomorrow—”

“No.”

Heads swiveled in my direction. I froze, realized I stood too still, and shifted my weight to the other foot. The manager threatened to pop a capillary. I hoped he wouldn’t.

“Excuse me?”

I tried not to stare at the bulging vein in his forehead.

“You’ll work where I place you. Everyone here understands hours change. Sometimes you work early, sometimes afternoon or overnight. We don’t play favorites, and everyone pays their dues.”

I could talk to him later and change his mind. For some reason, my glamouring worked perfectly when convincing people to forget I drank their blood. Other times, not so much. Either I flubbed what I intended to say, or I tried too hard, and I’ll just say, I could use a little glamouring on myself to forget those incidents. If you’ll recall I have never killed a human. Let’s enjoy that stainless record and move on.

Someone elbowed me, and I glanced over to find it was Carl. His eyes were round, and the smile was absent from his face. “Say okay, or he’ll fire you,” he whispered. “He’s in a terrible mood.”

I turned to the manager. The room lay in silence as everyone listened to the argument play out. “I will work any position,” I said, my voice more deadpan than I had meant it to be. “I don’t work days. I’m a night owl, and it shouldn’t be a problem since most people like the day shift.”

“It is a problem!”

I knew this wasn’t going to end well for me, mainly because we were in a room full of his subordinates, and men tended to have that darn thing called an ego that they were bound and determined to protect. He stabbed the pen he held in my direction.

“You’re going to take over Lloyd’s hours permanently, or you’re fired.”

Work the day shift in a sunlit lobby, not to mention frequently running out to the driveway to assist guests? He must be joking.

 

Amazon

 

About Audrey Claire:

 

Audrey Claire is the author of contemporary and urban fantasy mysteries. She is the mother of two grown sons and lives in the south of the United States. She enjoys traveling and reading. One day, she will be brave enough to live overseas and have lots of adventures. For now, everything is in her imagination, but that can be fun too!

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