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About the Book
Title: A Mirror Among Shattered Glass
Author: Romarin Demetri
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Unable to contain the deadly nature of her family secret and powers, nineteen year old Romarin Demetri hails from California, U.S.A, to unearth her heritage as a descendant of serial-killer, Countess Bathory, the woman that lent Dracula his legend, and cursed Romarin with an appetite for blood.
Unenthusiastic about relocating to her birth city of London, a charming paranormal investigator with claim to the throne could change her mind, as he leads her to the only living and distant relative she has: a raven-haired recluse named Talia, who has taken refuge in an old castle in the heart of the city, and doesn’t seem to have a heart of her own.
After a rough introduction to the lethal, inappropriate, and enchantingly sarcastic people she calls her housemates, perhaps the other misfits will be her first true friends; However, as much as these people are like her, they still have hidden vendettas, a taste for revenge, and will struggle between what is just, and what will settle their psychological upheaval. There is only one way for Romarin to become part of the Supernatural London Underground: Can she be the one who challenges them to put down their ghosts and demons and make their world together?
Author Bio
Romarin Demetri is a story crafter who loves black coffee, traveling abroad, and when her characters come home in some sort of trouble she swears she didn’t invent. Pulling from her B.A. in English and Psychology, her debut series, The Supernatural London Underground, is a blend of fantasy ground in reality, and a world a reader can truly escape to. As an eccentric and reader, she still enjoys creating the alternate reality in her urban fantasy series (more than anything!), and her interactive world waits for you at RomarinDemetri.com.
Links
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Excerpt
Knock knock knock.
I rolled over in lazily my luxurious bed. I loved being a guest of the royal family. It was so much better here in my enormous guest room than being holed up in Shady Knoll asylum. My first friend was well-connected, handsome, and liked the paranormal. It made me nervously excited. No doubt he spent the whole day with me, trying to figure out if I knew who he was or not.
Knock knock knock.
What time was it?
Ten fifteen.
“Hello?” said an angry smothered voice, trapped behind the locked door.
I should have listened to Fred’s warning of vacating the room by ten, however I never expected to sleep as long as I had. The clock tried to warn me with its bold red “10:15,” but not having set an alarm, all it did was rub in remembrance of my peril. Talk about over-staying your welcome; not to mention the only escape route was through the third floor window.
The door was locked, and the internal lock I set, the one without a mechanism on the outside, would keep anyone from opening it. I had some time.
Blinking the room into sleepy-eyed sight, I rushed to slide the window open and survey the situation. I would need extra strength to survive the fall, able to get up running. I would need the nutrients only blood could give me, and was carrying around three lives in my pocket capable of doing just that. I figured I would run less of a risk of losing any memory with the small vial, because compared to having slurped up Richard’s blood , it was a tiny amount, and didn’t seem adequate enough to make me take on a whole new persona. I had only touched the vial to my lips enough for one drop, when I was forced to palm it discretely in my hand, and lick any stray plasma from my red lips.
The door burst open in one smooth kick. It was just who I was looking for.
“You?” Audin’s dark eyes narrowed with perplexity. He tried to shut the door. It swung out towards the hall, and back into the room again, finally falling to a lucky stop in the middle of the door frame as if that was where it naturally belonged, even though the latch was not functioning any longer.
I looked at my reflection in the window glass, a transparent and odd-looking face that was distinguishable even if you saw a thousand people in London that day; a heart-shaped face, big, wide-set eyes, and hair that seemed to cooperate without being brushed. In my baggy bohemian clothes I couldn’t have been a threat, which I could tell he was accessing. He was calculated and disciplined and I was invading his territory.
“This room was reserved for me, and everyone in this building knows it. It’s not that I’m so important or anything, it’s just that, well, you don’t have much reason to be here, do you?”
“Uhhh. I have friends in high places…” I told him, dragging out my last two words, whilst staring out the window. “Audin, was it?”
“Yeah,” He stroked his pointer finger against his bottom lip, fuller than the top, and settled with resting it on his chin. He couldn’t come up with any reason that I should know his name. “Humor me for a minute, were you sent to spy on me?”
“No. I don’t even know you!”
I knew he worked for Talia, and now that the clues to my childhood went bust, she was next on my list. I’d need her if I wanted anything else, and through her was my only way. I doubted he’d listen to my story if I tried to tell it.
“You got my name right. How do I know you don’t know more about me than you let on?”
“What I do know, I don’t like,” I said sharply. “I was just leaving, as of fifteen minutes ago…”
“You had better get going then,” he said wryly. It would be easier to get away than I thought.
I curtseyed in jest and shook my head at him, heading towards the open door behind him.
“Wait a minute,” Audin said, catching my arm and spinning me to face the opposite direction. “Did you drink that bottle?”
“Which bottle?” I asked dumbly, our faces far too close for comfort. He could have hurt me with his grip, fingertips paused and placed precisely on my arm, but I don’t think he wanted to. I closed the vial even tighter in my hand, fearing that it might splinter into my palm.
He pointed with his free hand. “That one. My bottle. And the other four like it. “
“That might have possibly been me,” I said in truth. I was thirsty. I found beer. I didn’t even know I liked beer until last night when I was on the last one. I knew he shouldn’t judge me, “Who drinks at 10:15 in the morning anyway?”
“I lost a bet.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Clearly, he was an alcoholic. He repeated himself:
“I really did lose a bet and had to go to my meeting drunk, but now, that’s not going to happen.”
“Honestly?”
I didn’t know what kind of business he was running and who would agree to such an idiotic idea or make a bet like that. I was also curious as to what bet he lost to find himself in such absurd trouble, but I wasn’t asking.
“Would I make up something that ridiculous?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were so close,” he said sadly, letting go of my arm, and then yelled, “Guards!” with a giant smirk spread across his face.
I squirmed past him and flew to the open window. It had to be done.
He could have been my route to Talia, but I’d have to find a different way. Furthermore, Fred could get in trouble for allowing me to stay, and if I was gone, there was no proof I was ever there. I felt the need to protect him from his parents, the monarchy, and general scrutiny. Fred was hopefully also a friend. If he was connected to Talia, then maybe people like me weren’t such a shock to him. Perhaps people like me were a daring sort of normal.
“Over here!” Audin repeated to the approaching security guards, flashing me an arrogantly amused look. He then caught sight of what I was about to do, and of my accomplice, the open window. “What the hell are you doing?”
I revealed the vial in my palm, pouring it down my throat like a shot of strong liquor.
“Bottoms up!” I threw the empty life holder at his feet, taking one last look at the puzzled expression he wore, unable to see what had been in the vial.
Then I jumped.
Romarin Demetri
Thank you so much for posting an excerpt from “A Mirror Among Shattered Glass”!
Tiffany Shand
You’re welcome!