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Welcome to The Wormhole and my stop on the blitz.
It is my pleasure to feature Marina Myles and her newest book, Sleeping Beauty and the Demon.
Sleeping Beauty and the Demon
The Cursed Princes
Book 4
Marina Myles
Genre: Historical/paranormal romance
Publisher: eKensington
Date of Publication: August 7, 2014
ISBN: 9781601832818
ASIN:B00IUPCLWW
Word Count: 75,000
Book Description:
Sleight Of Hand
Dragomir Starkov poses as an illusionist, a showman performing tricks, his Romanian accent and dark good looks all just a part of the drama. That’s how Rose Carlisle first sees him. She’s a respectable girl—she wouldn’t accept witchy birthday gifts from a demon.
But the hustle and bustle of 1912 New York City offers plenty of ways to slip around the strict old rules of propriety. A good thing, too, because once Rose meets Drago, she no longer cares about being respectable.
But the only illusion in Drago’s act is that his magic is smoke and mirrors. Every word of power he speaks is as real as Rose before him, in thrall to his lust and adoration. Drago knows about Rose’s curse, that she will die on her next birthday.
But the shadowy threat that stalks her hasn’t won her yet. If she can trust him, perhaps he can save her too…
Available at Amazon BN Kobo iTunes Google Play Books
About the Author:
Marina Myles’s love of books began as soon as she read her first fairy tale. During her college days, she received degrees in English Literature and Communications—and enjoyed the unique experience of being a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.
Now that she lives under the sunny skies of Arizona, she hasn’t left her glamorous life behind completely. After all, she gets to divide her time between her loving family, her loyal Maltese, and worlds filled with fiery—but not easily attained—love affairs.
Visit her at www.marinamyles.com,
www.facebook.com/marinamylesauthor,
www.twitter.com/#!/marinaauthor
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CHAPTER ONE
New York City
1912
A torrential downpour bounced off the sloping
roof of the Sunshine Theater. Inside the auditorium, an eager audience sat
riveted by Dragomir Starkov’s onstage presence.
Dressed in black, he moved with confidence. With
his hair slicked back from a widow’s peak and his eyes drawing the crowd into
his mirage, he spoke in a heavy, Romanian accent. “Ladies and gentlemen, I will
now attempt something few magicians dare. I will bring a creature back to
life.”
Turning to the rear of the stage, he hid his
hands from view. When he faced the audience again, he presented the body of
what appeared to be a dead kitten. The small animal hung limply across his open
palm. Murmuring a low chant, he waved it from one side of the stage to the
other. Then, with a flick of his
white-gloved fingers, he urged the kitten back to life.
The small cat sat up erect and blinked in
astonishment. As it let out a satisfied “meow,” it sprang to the floor.
The audience clapped wildly. In turn, Drago
stepped forward. That’s when he spotted the woman he had willed to come to
tonight’s show.
With an abundance of flaxen hair that swayed
from a ponytail like wheat in a summer breeze, and a flawless complexion that
glowed against the stage’s low-lying gaslights, the young woman’s beauty
imprisoned Drago like a padlock. In the sparkle of her violet eyes he saw
something amazing—a unique essence of goodness that compelled him as he often
compelled
others.
She’s
even more beautiful than she was in my vision.
The girl flashed him a smile—and when it
illuminated his world of darkness like a bright spotlight, the need to protect
and possess her rose within him. But it didn’t matter how he felt. He was here
to banish a cruel curse cast upon her when she was a baby. And if he wanted to
weave his unique spell around her, he needed to hypnotize her now.
A hush fell over the theater. Clasping his hands
behind his back, Drago paced the stage like a caged animal. “For my next trick,
I need a female volunteer from the audience.”
Numerous hands went up. He ignored them. Once he
unlaced his dark cape, he threw it into the wings. “I need a very special participant for this mystifying
trick.”
Pressing his forefinger to his temple, he
pretended to use his powers of telepathy. Just then, the beautiful blond girl
left her seat, accompanied by her dark-haired friend. They scurried to the
theater’s center aisle, apparently adverse to the thought of being called on to
volunteer.
“You there!” Drago thundered.
The duo
froze in their tracks and wheeled around.
Pulling on her thick, blond ponytail, Rose—her
name popped into Drago’s head suddenly—blushed.
“You, my dear.” He galloped halfway down the
staircase at the side of the stage and extended his hand.
“Go on, Rose!” her friend encouraged. Drago was
right about her name.
Rose smoothed her gingham dress. She joined him
on the shadowed staircase, then took his hand. As Drago grasped it, an alarming
chill raced up his spine. And when her pink lips spread into another shy smile,
he found himself completely enchanted.
Leading her to center stage he said, “Please
tell the audience your name, Miss.”
“It’s Rose Carlisle.”
“Have we ever met before, Rose?”
“No.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to tell the
spectators how old you are.”
“I don’t know how you could guess that, but very
well,” she replied in a sweet, clear voice.
He cleared his throat. “Today is your birthday,
and you are twenty years old.” The number surfaced in his mind as surely as he
knew his own birthday.
Rose’s
jaw dropped open. She nodded vigorously. “How did you know?” Her friend, who
had returned to her seat in the front row, mirrored her stunned expression.
Drago felt his affinity for the doe-eyed beauty
grow. Yet he urged himself to be careful—and to make her feel as comfortable
with him as possible.
“It doesn’t take a magician to see that you’ve
attended this show without your parents’ permission,” he said. “Is that right,
Miss Carlisle?”
The crowd chuckled lightly at the joke. Rose
looked stunned. “I haven’t seen my parents since I was a baby. But my adoptive
parents don’t know I’m here.”
“I see,” Drago remarked lightheartedly. But when
he saw Rose clutching her hands together nervously, he sensed her pain ran
deep.
“Have you ever been a magician’s assistant?”
“No,” Rose replied. “In fact, this is my first
magic show.”
“We’ll have to make it one you’ll never forget.”
When he reached for her small, velvet hand, it
trembled inside his at the suggestion.
“Promise me you won’t be anxious,” he said. “I
would never allow harm to come to you.”
She slid a glance his way—and they locked eyes
for what felt like an eternity.
“I’ll try
not to be nervous,” she finally promised. “What do I have to do?”
“Absolutely nothing. Just close your lovely
eyes and remain in one spot.”
Rose did
as she was told. Drago took the opportunity to study her high cheekbones,
dainty mouth, and hourglass figure. Though she was tall, her demeanor lent her
a fragile air. She seemed to him a delicate, porcelain doll which could be
broken easily if handled improperly.
Frowning,
he tried to concentrate on performing his illusion. While Rose kept her eyes
closed, he massaged the air in front of him with his fingertips. As he murmured
something inaudible, he willed Rose’s feet to rise slowly off the ground.
It appeared as if someone was pulling her legs
out from under her. Eventually, her torso, limbs, and head reached a plane
parallel to the stage and she was levitating in space.
The crowd gasped as Drago reached for a large
silver hoop. He proceeded to pass the circle back and forth over Rose’s stiff
body. When he twisted and turned it in every direction, the audience gasped.
The trick, which had been performed only one time before, proved it had the
power to intrigue.
“Are you doing all right, Rose?” Drago asked in
a gentle voice.
She nodded. Her ponytail swung toward the wooden
floor.
“Excellent.” Drago passed the silver hoop to his
brunette assistant, Katherine. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to
make. The second half of this trick is new even to me. However, it’s something
I feel bold enough to try with Miss Carlisle’s help.”
Drago’s assistant cast him an angry look. He
continued on anyway. “Katherine, would
you
hand me that red silk drape?” he asked.
Clearly irritated, Katherine moved to the tiny
prop table in the corner. Once she passed a large cloth to Drago, he unfolded
it and draped it over the length of Rose’s levitating body.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said in a low tone.
“Making a woman levitate in midair is one thing. But what if I made her
…disappear?”
He whipped off the red drape and exposed nothing
but air. Men in pinstriped suits leapt to their feet and women touched their
hats in astonishment.
When the audience’s enthusiastic clapping
subsided, Drago removed his gloves. “Now
I’ll
make our lovely Rose reappear. Just…
like… that.”
Snapping
his fingers loudly, he moved to a cabinet in the middle of the stage. He opened
the cabinet’s door with an exaggerated gesture and there stood a pale-faced
Rose. Grinning, Drago took her hand and helped her out. Together they walked to
the front of the stage and were greeted with thunderous applause.
As he took one step away from Rose, Drago bowed
to her as well. Her cheeks regained their color—and she looked at him as if he
were the most wonderful man in the world.
Although leaving her was the last thing he
desired to do, he had no choice. Drago
came closer to her and pressed something into her hand. Then he mouthed the
haunting words, “Wear this and come back to me.”
Rose’s hand closed around the item
the handsome magician had placed in her palm. The curtain closed with a
dramatic whoosh—and as she stumbled
up the aisle, she unfurled her hand and stared at the object. It was a
beautiful amulet that bore a silver chain and mysterious Egyptian engravings.
A native of Natchez, Miss., Smith is a graduate of San Francisco State University, and the Summer Program for Minority Journalists at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He began his journalism career as a reporter for the Long Beach, Calif. Independent Press-Telegram.
