Scent of Salvation
Chronicles of Eorthe Book 1
Annie Nicholas
Genre: Paranormal
Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date of
Publication: July 30th, 2013
ISBN:
978-1-61921-748-5
Word Count: 98,000
Cover Artist: Kanax
Book Description:
Love blooms across
species, culture, and time.
Chronicles of
Eorthe, Book 1
Stranded in another
dimension, on a primitive version of Earth, Dr. Susan Barlow needs to find a
way to survive. There’s no electricity, no cities, and to her shock, no humans.
Instead, she faces a population of werewolves, vampires and incubi. The people
are vicious but she must find her place among them. And live.
An illness is
killing Sorin’s pack. As alpha it’s his responsibility to save them, but it’s a
battle this warrior doesn’t know how to fight. Then a blue light in the sky
brings a creature he’s never seen. She calls herself human, but to him she
smells like hope.
Sorin offers Susan
a safe haven in return for a cure, but she’s not that kind of a doctor. She’s a
doctor of physics, not a physician. Yet as they search for a cure to save a
dying people, they find something special—each other.
But even with
Sorin’s protection, Susan can’t help but wonder how long she can survive in a
world without humans…
Excerpt:
Before Susan could explain anything about
dimensions and gateways, the door to Kele’s chamber crashed open, and Susan
jumped to the balls of her feet, prepared—to what, fight? Was she nuts?
A female blocked the entrance, her muscular
physique hinting at enough strength to twist Susan into a pretzel without
breaking a sweat. The newcomer flung her black hair over her shoulder.
Rising with grace, Kele straightened her dress
before addressing the intruder. “Mother.”
“Daughter, I heard you’ve brought home a stray
along with the Apisi alpha.” The female’s stare drilled into Susan, her sneer
far from welcoming.
Susan’s breath caught in her throat. Black,
soulless eyes ate her gaze. Her fingers clutched the lapels of her jacket as
she pulled it closed. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and offered her
hand. “I’m Dr. Susan Barlow.”
The female shifter narrowed her eyes, nostrils
flaring.
Susan withdrew her untouched hand, then hid it
behind her back and glanced at Kele. Maybe she should have sniffed her mother
instead? She wished someone would give her the Dummies Guide to Shifter Society
and a little time to study it.
Kele’s mother crossed the room in two great
strides and swung her arm.
Susan did her best impression of a statue. She
didn’t budge as the impact of the slap swerved her head to the side and dragged
her gaze from mother to daughter. Both of them were flushed with emotion yet at
opposite poles of the color spectrum—one dark as an oncoming storm and the
other pale as the moonlight.
The back of Susan’s heel caught the edge of the
cushion and she landed hard on her back.
The bitter flavor of blood swept over her taste
buds. “What the hell?” She rubbed her jaw and glared daggers at the crazy woman
looming over her. Just as quickly, she schooled her expression to something
less threatening before she insulted the bigger shifter further. With the tip
of her tongue, Susan explored her mouth. She didn’t encounter any big gaps, so
no lost tooth. A small blessing.
Kele’s crazy mother hovered over Susan’s face and
bared her teeth. In beast form, her expression would have appeared fierce, but
in human form it seemed terrifying. With an easy grace, she flipped Susan onto
her stomach. A bony knee pressed between her shoulder blades, making her kiss
the floor. Pain shot across Susan’s upper back and neck.
“How dare you come into my den and not submit to
me.”
“She’s not a shifter!” Kele shouted. “You can’t
expect her to know how to be polite.”
Something ran over Susan’s hair, and the sound of
sniffing followed. She tried to take a deep breath but the weight on her back
made it difficult.
The nutjob exhaled in disgust. “What is she?”
“A human.” Kele peered at Susan’s throbbing face
as she stroked her hair. “Please, I wanted to teach her how to behave before
meeting you and father.”
“Your father.” The bitch snorted. “It’s bad enough
he’s entertaining a vampire and dealing with trespassing alphas. We don’t need
any more vermin within the den.”
Susan was jerked from the ground by her hair and
dragged across the floor. Pain shot into her scalp while she scrambled to
support her weight with her legs.
“Let go. Let go.” The shifter world was more
brutal than anything she’d ever experienced. Susan slapped at the crazy woman’s
hands tangled in her hair.
“My daughter took too many liberties in offering
you shelter. You’ll need to find another den to take you in.”
At a loss, Susan yanked and squirmed but only made
the pain worse. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kele leap.
The petite blonde used her wiry strength to jump
across the room and land on her mother’s back. The collision knocked them both
to the ground in a knot of arms and legs.
Untangling her limbs from the struggling shifters,
Susan could finally elbow the bitch in the face. The impact made a satisfying
crunch. She pulled back her arm for a second shot, but Kele grabbed her and
half carried, half dragged her out of the chamber.
“Hurry, we need to reach my father before she
beats you into cinders.”
Not needing any further incentive, Susan ran after
her new friend. “Your people are crazy.”
About the Author:
Annie Nicholas
writes paranormal romance with a twist. She has courted vampires, hunted with
shifters, and slain a dragon’s ego all with the might of her pen. Riding the
wind of her imagination, she travels beyond the restraints of reality and
shares them with anyone wanting to read her stories. Mother, daughter, and wife
are some of the other hats she wears while hiking through the hills and dales
of her adopted state of Vermont.
Annie writes for
Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, and Lyrical Press.
