I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE WITCH AND THE DREAMWALKER by
Victoria Rogers Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: Victoria Rogers
Pub. Date: December 14, 2021
Publisher: Changeling Press LLC
Formats: eBook
Pages: 111
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N,
iBooks,
Kobo
Grab the companion book in this series, THE WITCH AND THE STAG now!
EXCERPT
Chapter One
“Congratulations on your
presentation. Your prototype is the talk of the convention.”
Vivian McKinley turned around to face
none other than Xavier Prince, owner, president, and CEO of the largest
paranormal security firm in the country, Prince Charms. He smiled at her
while offering her a flute of champagne. His eyes crinkled warmly. Her
fingers brushed his as she took the glass. She felt her face heat up as
the pianist on the far end of the ballroom began a soft, tinkling piece
that had couples taking to the parquet dance floor.
She had never spoken to Mr. Prince
before; she was merely a researcher in his firm, one of half a dozen. As
a storied ex-paramarine and playboy, he stood tall and broad-shouldered.
His immaculately tailored tuxedo showed off his athletic shape causing
him to stand out among the middle-aged men who populated the room. He had
a jaw as sharp as glass, and his brown eyes glittered in the candlelight.
“Thank you,” she said, pulling her
hand away abruptly, not wanting to be caught savoring the feeling of his
touch. The champagne splashed out of her glass and onto her cocktail
dress. “Oh!”
“Careful,” he warned.
Vivian’s face burned. The nervous
laugh that erupted from her was high-pitched and short. “Whoops!” She
plucked a napkin from a server’s tray and dabbed at the black sequins.
Her dress would be fine. It was only champagne. She tossed her red hair
over her shoulder and forced a smile.
“Thank you,” she repeated. “I’m glad
it went well.”
“Well?” Xavier’s face lit up in a
broad smile. “We have people lining up to buy your charm. We haven’t seen
pre-sales like this since the personal were ward.” She rose her brows and
pressed her lips together as her stomach did a few flips of excitement.
“Oh! That’s wonderful,” she said.
“It’s more than wonderful.” He
touched her arm and began leading her away from the crowd.
His fingers on her bare flesh caused
a ripple of warmth through her. She took in a sharp breath. Easy there.
He’s your BOSS, she reminded herself.
He continued, unaffected by the
situation. “I’ve been asking about you. Your work is exemplary. John says
you know charms like the back of your hand. You get along with your
colleagues and are described as intelligent, a hard worker, and you think
outside the box. Apparently, we’ve never seen talent like yours.”
Vivian took a sip of champagne and
squirmed in her heels.
“John’s retiring. Gave me his notice
today. Normally, for someone in his position, I’d ask for a few months
lead time from him, but I think we already have a candidate.”
She met Xavier’s gaze and stared at
him. Her mind whirled. Was he… Was he offering her the position of head
researcher? Her stomach did a few more somersaults. She opened her mouth
and then closed it, not quite sure if she should say something or let him
continue.
He laughed then, a deep masculine
laugh that caught her by surprise. “Yes, Vivian. I’m offering you the
position of R and D head. You’d report to director of R and D, Richard
Simeon.”
Richard Simeon. That was a name that
would make anyone flinch. He was a right old bastard, but he knew his
stuff. He was older than John, why didn’t he retire? Working with
him would be a sore point, but she would get to manage the Research and
Development Department. She would guide the direction of their research and
in turn, help guide the future of Prince Charms.
By the gods! This was a dream come
true. She had been the first woman in her family to attend university,
and now she was going to be the first to climb the corporate ladder. The
McKinley women would no longer be solitary witches of the woods. “You
haven’t said anything,” he said from over the rim of his own glass.
“I… Wow. This is incredible. I was
not expecting this.” She laughed and shook her head. “You caught me off
guard, is all.” She laughed again, her brain struggling to put sentences
together. She took in a deep breath, ignored Xavier’s amused look, and
paused for a quick moment to compose herself. “Yes. I would love to take on the
role. Wow. Thank you.”
“Wonderful! Congratulations, Vivian.
You’ve earned this.” He clinked his glass with hers and gave her a wink
as he took a sip. “Ah! Troy, just who I wanted to talk to.” Vivian
swallowed and looked to who Xavier was addressing. The man, Troy, looked
to be around the same age as Xavier -- mid thirties, she thought. He had
blond hair, cut short with a side part. He was shorter than Xavier,
though was just as wide. While his tuxedo was not tailored as well as the
CEO of Prince Charms, it was clear he spent a lot of time at the gym. He
strode over with a confident swagger that immediately set off alarm bells
in Vivian’s mind. She had met plenty of men like this one before.
“Troy, meet Vivian. Vivian, meet Troy.
We go way back. We were marines together.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Troy,”
she said with an outstretched hand. He gripped her hand and squeezed
harder than was necessary. She resisted the urge to squeeze back and
smiled sweetly instead.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Troy said
with a smile in return. The smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Xavier,” he
said, turning a shoulder to Vivian, “I’m glad I caught you before you
headed off for the night.” He looked her up and down a moment before
looking at Xavier expectantly.
Vivian gritted her teeth.
Xavier nearly spat into his drink.
“This is Vivian McKinley. She invented the psychic vampire ward we
showcased yesterday. She’s just been promoted to head of R and D. Vivian,
Troy is the president of ParaSecurity.”
“Oh,” Troy said, not bothering to
turn. “Congratulations, Miss McKinley.” “Ms.,” she corrected.
He blinked.
“It’s Ms., not Miss.”
“Of course.” He gave her a curt nod.
“Xavier, I wanted to hear more about this idea of yours.”
“I thought I had your attention!”
Xavier clapped his hand on Troy’s shoulder. “C’mon, let’s discuss details
over a cigar.” He smiled at Vivian as he reached for a silver case inside
his jacket pocket. “John will want to hear the news.”
Vivian knew a dismissal when she
heard one, even if it was accompanied by a smile that lit up her chest.
The two men disappeared through the
open glass doors into a forest of potted palms on the balcony, leaving
Vivian to herself. She glanced around the ballroom through the sea of
tuxedos and the occasional glittering wife. She judged that some were
mistresses, mainly because of the age differences and the way the women clung
to their balding partners. She immediately regretted her choice of dress.
No wonder Troy had been so dismissive, she was dressed like one of them.
She had chosen to wear a just-above-the-knee black-sequined cocktail
dress, sleeveless with a sweetheart neckline. She wore her grandmother’s
single strand of pearls and matching pearl earrings. Maybe she should
have put her hair up? She sighed, annoyed with having to navigate being a
professional in a man’s world right at the moment she should be
celebrating.
“I couldn’t help but notice you were
talking to our hunk-in-chief.” Vivian snorted and turned to face her
friend Jenny. She was the receptionist for the Research and Development
Department. The blonde wore an emerald green off-the shoulder dress with a
large bow on the right hip.
“Here, you look like you need one of
these.” Jenny thrust a shot glass into Vivian’s hand.
Vivian shook her head, “No. Thank
you. This is work.” She passed the glass back to Jenny.
Jenny made a face. “Vivian, dear,
this is a party. Work ended the moment you stepped foot into this
ballroom.”
“Not true. This is work. Everyone
here is networking. Besides, I was just talking business with Xavier.”
Jenny’s brows shot upward. “First
name basis, are we? Not Mr. Prince? At any rate,” she said, not giving
Vivian the chance to answer the question, “look around. People are here
to attend a party. The bar is already on its fourth bottle of whiskey.”
Vivian ignored her. “I’ve been
promoted, Jenny. I’m now head of R and D!” “What? Congratulations! That’s
so exciting! Wait! That means you’re my boss? Holy shit, Vivian! I’ve
never had a woman boss before. You get it, Viv. Make these men quake in
their shoes. You’ve got to do a tequila shot with me, then.” “Tequila?
You want me to be sick? No, thank you. I’m fine. I should talk to John.
Have you seen him?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s at the bar talking to
Drew from sales.”
“Thank you,” Vivian replied.
“I will get you to do a shot before
the night is out.”
“No. You won’t,” Vivian called over
her shoulder.
* * *
John was exactly where Jenny said he
was -- at the bar enjoying a glass of cognac with Drew from sales.
“Vivian!” John bellowed, waving her
over. “Saw you talking to Mr. Prince. Has he taken my advice?”
Vivian grinned. “If your advice was
to have me take up the mantle, then yes. Yes! By the gods, John. I don’t
know what to say. I haven’t had time to process this yet.” John beamed
and took her hand and patted it lightly. “I’m proud of you, Vivian.
You’re going to go far. You’d be
wasted in that shop, peddling basic charms.” “I wouldn’t call my grandmother’s
charms basic. She taught me all I know. She’d have a few choice words to
say to you if she heard that!”
“I stand corrected.” He chuckled,
belly bouncing with each percussive breath. “Drew, have you met Vivian?
She’s now the head of R and D.”
The salesman laughed at first, but
when John didn’t laugh in response he quickly sobered. “What? Where are
you going, John? Is Simeon finally retiring?” John shook his head. “No.
I’m retiring, Drew. It’s time I spent more time with the grandkids.”
“Oh, come on. You’ve got a few years
yet.”
“No, no. It’s time to go home. I
can’t compete with these kids anymore. Vivian’s ward is one hell of a
piece of work. I would never have been able to dream that up.” “The
psychic vamp ward? The one I’ve got people lining up to order? That was
you?” he asked while looking at her, mouth agape.
John snorted. “Of course, it was her,
she gave the presentation, didn’t she?” “I thought… I thought she gave
the presentation to…”
Vivian arched a brow. “To what,
exactly?”
“You know, to, to sell --”
“She’s goading you, Drew. And I’d
stop with that thought right now. Vivian here knows her stuff, and she’s
going to put Prince Charms on the global map.” Vivian could hear the
clack of Drew’s teeth as he snapped his mouth shut. “I think a drink is
in order, don’t you?” John turned toward the bartender. “Three bourbon,
neat.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s --”
“Nonsense. This is a party, and if
you’re going to hang with the old boys you have to play by their rules.
Here, have a cigar.”
Vivian stared at the offered stogie.
“Might as well join us in smoking
them. You’re going to be stuck in smoky rooms and end up smoking them
anyway. It’s better firsthand.”
Vivian wasn’t sure she followed
John’s logic on that one, but she reached out for the cigar anyway.
“That’s my girl. Now, here, you cut
them like this.” He snipped the end of the cigar with a gold-plated
cutter he pulled from his pocket. “And let me get that for you,” he said,
flicking open his matching lighter.
She didn’t cough. She knew enough
from her father that you didn’t actually inhale a cigar, unlike a
cigarette.
John grinned as she exhaled like a
professional. “Now.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Time
for bourbon.” He passed both her and Drew a glass and then held his
aloft. “To Vivian, who’s going to shake the paranormal world so hard it
won’t know what happened.”
Vivian expected everyone to sip their
drink, but no, down their gullets the amber liquid went. She tried not to
gag at the flavor. A whiskey lover she was not. “It’ll grow on you,” John
said with a thump on her back as if reading her mind. “Bartender! Another
round.”
Jenny was right, it seemed. It was a
party. Already the dance floor was full, the bartenders were busy at work
and there were servers everywhere. “First conference with us, Vivian?”
Drew asked after Vivian examined the room. “With the company? Yes. I’ve
been to ParaCon before. My family used to attend.”
“Family? What company?”
“Oh, we were small business, really.”
Drew’s interest waned at that. “I
see.”
“Vivian here is a witch! Long line of
witches.” John puffed on his cigar. “Successful women. They’ve been
running a shop downtown for over a century,” he said on the exhale. “She
studied at Serenity State in their Occult Sciences program, one of the
first to graduate out of that program, and, I might add, she was at the
top of her class. I was lucky to get her on board.”
Vivian smiled fondly at the
white-haired man. “Oh, you would have gotten me eventually. It was just a
matter of whether or not it was after a master’s degree or a doctorate.”
“This is corporate. With your
experience you don’t need a doctorate. Besides, you can still get one.
You’re young, yet.”
“For over a century? That’s
impressive. What shop?” Drew asked, zeroing on the only thing he cared
about: money.
“Ceridwen’s, on Hillcliff Lane.”
“That’s in old historic, isn’t it?
That section of downtown that’s all blocked off from traffic?”
Vivian nodded. “It is. Do you visit
our little neck of the woods often?” Drew looked up from his cigar,
startled. “What? No. Can’t take the Lamborghini there.”
“What do you plan on doing with the
shop now that you’re head?” John asked, handing out the glasses of
bourbon.
Vivian accepted a glass and tried her
best to not let her distaste show. “I can’t just up and sell it. I’d be
breaking tradition, and I have aunts and cousins who’d wring my neck if I
did. I could wait for one of them to offer to buy it, but there’s a stipulation
in the will that I’ve gotta hold on to it for at least five years. It’s
supposed to ensure it stays in the family. I can’t design charms and
wards there like grandmother did, not with working at Prince Charms. What
I design is owned by them. I’m not sure yet. I’m thinking of moving into
the apartment above, though.”
John took a much smaller sip of his
drink this time around. He nodded. “Nice location. Central to everything.
It’s a fairly large space, isn’t it?”
Vivian set her glass down on the bar
and smiled at one of the bartenders to get their attention. “It’s enough
for me. I mean, why not, I own it. Why pay rent when I’ve already got a
place? Besides, it’d make grandmother happy, and she deserves that.”
“Amen. To good ol’ Patricia McKinley,
matron of charms and wards. May she rest in peace,” John said, raising
his glass. He swallowed the last of the bourbon. “Now, enough serious
talk. We’re at a party! C’mon, Drew, let’s go find those wives of ours.”
Vivian shook her head as the pair
wandered off. “Soda and lime,” she ordered from the bartender as he
finally made his way over. She tossed a bill into the tip jar as she
waited.
At this rate she was going to need to
go to bed at ten. She stubbed the cigar out in the marble ashtray but
kept it as a prop, hoping it would dissuade anyone from offering her
another. With John halfway into his cups the news of her promotion would
spread like wildfire, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for that. She
squeezed the lime into her drink and left the lime slice on a napkin.
Bathroom. There would hardly be anyone in there since men outnumbered
anyone else in the ballroom. She could escape and process there.
The bathroom was old and gaudy and
coated in marble and fading gilt. It had a twelve-foot arched ceiling,
and a maroon carpet. There was a sumptuous sitting area adorned with
cream colored wing-back chairs and there were grand mirrors for women to,
presumably, powder their nose in. The toilets were farther on through a
gilded archway and a fan of potted plants.
The place was empty, thank goodness.
She sat down at the far end in a chair by a counter. She put the cigar in
an ashtray on the mirrored side table and leaned back. Head of Research
and Development. Twenty-seven years old and the head of R and D. She
clenched her fists and bit her bottom lip, kicking her feet in excitement. By
the gods! Her. Vivian Mary McKinley, Head of Research and Development at
Prince Charms. This shouldn’t be happening. It was supposed to take her
years and years and years to achieve this, not three years and a major
project later.
But then again, Xavier had founded
Prince Charms at the age of twenty-six. If he could take a small
paranormal security company and rocket to the largest in the country in
just nine years, well, she could achieve big things too.
Her stomach was busy flipping about
when the big wooden door with brass handles and ornate hinges swung open.
“Oh, honey, I thought I’d find you
here,” Jenny said as she flopped down in a chair opposite Vivian. “People
are asking about you out there.”
“Yes, well, they’re going to have to
wait,” Vivian said with a wave of her hand. “I need a moment to myself
first. Plus, John made me drink bourbon. I need a break.” She reached for
her glass of soda water and took a sip.
“You’re not going to be sick, are
you?”
“What? No. I’ll be fine. I just
wasn’t expecting this, you know? It’s a lot to take in.”
“You better not be doubting yourself
because you deserve every ounce of this promotion. You’re smart, and
you’ve got ideas, and you have every bit as much wherewithal as one of
those smug-ass bastards out there. No one has ever come up with a psychic
vampire ward! No one, not ever, until you figured it out. You got there before
anyone else in the world. Vivian, Vivian, look at me.” Jenny pursed her red
lacquered lips.
Vivian ripped her eyes away from the
ashtray and met Jenny’s pout with a laugh. “Yes! Yes! I hear you. On
paper it all fits, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to accept.”
“What? Why not? Any one of those
assholes would accept it without batting a lash. Even Peter, from
accounting.”
“OK! OK,” Vivian conceded. “Fine. I
deserve this promotion.”
“Yeah, you do, babe.” Jenny grinned.
“Now, how long are we going to hide in the bathroom?”
“Give me a few more minutes.”
“Whatever you need.” Jenny managed to
stay silent for thirty seconds before she spoke again. “So. What’s he
like?”
“Who?”
“Mr. Prince! I’ve never met him. He
never comes down to the labs. Mr. Simeon always goes upstairs to the
offices for meetings. I’ve only ever talked to Pam, the receptionist
upstairs.”
“I talked to him for all of three
minutes. He smiled a lot, but he was promoting me. I assume most people
smile at the person they’re promoting.”
Jenny giggled. “I wouldn’t know.”
Vivian looked up to the ceiling and
sighed. “He seemed nice.”
“He’s a god in mortal form is what he
is,” Jenny interjected. “Have you seen him on the tennis court?”
“Well, yes, at the club, but he’s our
boss.”
“Just because he’s the boss doesn’t
mean you can’t look.”
Vivian shook her head. “That’s not
what I’m here for, Jenny. I’m here to be a professional. To grow and
learn and well… be successful at it all.”
“You can do all that and still look,”
Jenny said with a shrug.
“All right. Let’s go back to the
party if it means I don’t get regaled with nonsense like this.” Vivian
stood and picked up her matching clutch from the chair next to her.
“Anything to help,” Jenny said, smirking.
Vivian flipped her head and ruffled
her hair to give it a bit more volume. When satisfied with the height of
her curls, she reapplied her lipstick and blotted her lips on a tissue.
When they ventured back out into the
ballroom, it was a lot quieter than it had been. The dance floor was
empty, and people seemed to have formed scattered conversational groups.
“Well, this isn’t the party I left a
few minutes ago,” Jenny murmured. Vivian sighed in relief. Thank goodness
people were settling down. The last thing she needed was more booze. No
one seemed to notice her triumphant return to the party which pleased her
to no end. Jenny, however, had her trademark pout. “Well, this is no fun.
Where’s the dancing? We’re supposed to find handsome dance partners and be
whisked away on the dance floor.”
“It’s nineteen eighty-two, not
nineteen fifty-three.”
“Well, if it means I get whisked off
my feet it should be. Hey,” Jenny said, her voice slow and low as she got
an idea. “What if there’s one of those psychic vampires in here ruining
the party? You said they could be anyone, some people don’t even know
they are one, right?”
“They’re a lot more common than you
think,” Vivian said, nodding. Jenny looked around to see if anyone was
watching them and then nodded her head toward the roped-off dais at the
front of the room. Vivian’s pride sat there for all to marvel at. The
psychic vampire ward. It was an amalgamation of solitary witch tradition
and cutting-edge science -- an energy conductor with an amethyst core.
One flick of the switch would cause a single light to glow and a whole
lot of nothing, unless you were a psychic vampire. If you were a psychic
vampire, you would be driven away. It was not an elegant solution, but
that was why it was a prototype. “Why don’t we turn it on and see?” Jenny
suggested.
“What? No! We can’t just walk up
there. There’s guards.”
“Why not? You invented the thing.
You’re the Head of the Research and Development Department. They won’t be
able to stop you.”
“We can’t!” Vivian said under her
breath.
“Why not? Isn’t this what the thing
was invented for?”
“It was designed to stop vampires
from manipulating others.”
“Well, I’m going to guess there’s a
lot of serious manipulating going on here. Look around, Vivian. This
isn’t the same group we were with moments ago.” Vivian cast a glance
around the room. Indeed, it seemed a lot more subdued than when John and
Drew trotted off to find their wives. She spied them in the far corner.
Drew was talking animatedly while John scowled at him. She could see Xavier
and Troy still on the balcony. Xavier leaned on the railing and looked
out over the Las Vegas strip, cigar stub between his fingers. Troy was
talking, his body turned away from her. She couldn’t make out what they
were discussing. A cluster of men stood to their right. Two appeared to
be disagreeing with each other, while a mistress in a red contoured gown
gave a bored sigh and tugged at her paramour’s jacket sleeve. “The signs
do point to something going on, I’ll admit.”
“I’m glad you agree,” Jenny said with
a grin. “Come on. Let’s get this party started again.”
Vivian followed Jenny as they skirted
along the edge of the room toward the raised dais. A big man in a suit
intercepted her, shaking his head.
“This area is off-limits, miss.”
“Even for the Head of Research and
Development?” Jenny asked sweetly, head tilted to the side.
Vivian took that moment to step
forward. “Hello. Vivian McKinley, I made that thing, and I would like to
show Miss Williams how it works.”
“Ms. McKinley, of course,” the man
said. “I didn’t see you there. Please, by all means,” he said as he
stepped aside.
Vivian led the way up to the dais.
“This is the energy conductor. Over five kilograms of amethyst is in its
core.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jenny whispered.
“I was there at the presentation. Turn it on!”
“I’m supposed to be explaining to you
how it works,” Vivian responded from the corner of her mouth. “Coupled
with oil of rosemary and yarrow, this is a psychic vampire repelling
machine.”
“By the way, that, was never a good
joke.”
Vivian huffed. “They laughed at the
presentation.”
“They were being nice. Where’s the on
button?”
“It’s the only button.”
“That’s easy, then!” Jenny said and
flicked the toggle switch upward. The toggle switch glowed red, but other
than that nothing happened. Just a soft whir as the mechanisms inside
heated the amethyst.
“Well, that’s just fascinating,”
Jenny said loud enough for the security guard to hear. “Aren’t you a clever
little thing?”
Vivian cleared her throat. “Not a
problem, Jenny.” She watched as the mistress in red tugged vehemently at
her partner and whispered something in his ear. He nodded at her before
shaking the other men’s hands and the pair left the party.
Jenny pulled her off the dais before
she could catch any more of that group’s interactions.
“That was Renee,” Jenny said. “I’m
not surprised she’s a psychic vampire.” “We don’t know that,” Vivian
replied. “She wanted to leave before we turned that thing on.”
Movement on the balcony caught her
attention as they walked by the security guard. He nodded as they passed.
Troy emerged from between two plants, a deep frown on his face as he
quickly crossed the room. Someone said something to him on the way out,
but he waved him off and left the ballroom.
A few more people left right after
him.
“That’s six, I’ve counted,” said
Jenny. “Six psychic vampires.”
“Or people who just had enough of the
party.”
Jenny narrowed her eyes. “Vampires.”
“Fine, if that makes you feel better,
they’re all psychic vampires.”
“Truth be told, I’m excited about
seeing the prototype in action. I’m looking forward to seeing how this
pans out.”
“You won’t have to wait long, look,”
Vivian said, pointing out the couple making their way to the dance floor.
Soon the dance floor was a flurry of movement and color. “Vivian!” said
Xavier from the balcony. “Just who I wanted to see. Time to make the
announcement, shall we?”
Vivian blinked. “Announcement?”
“John’s retirement and your
promotion. Have you seen John?”
“Last I saw him…” Vivian stood up on
her toes and strained her neck to get a better look at the crowd. “Yes,
there he is in the far corner, talking to Drew.” The two men were laughing
now.
“Miss Williams, would you fetch Mr.
Godfrey, please?”
“As you wish, Mr. Prince,” Jenny said
with a smile before she trotted off to find Vivian’s mentor.
“I can’t express how much I look
forward to working with you, Vivian,” Xavier said with a smile as he
guided her through the whirling couples and to the piano where a
microphone stood ready.
Vivian swallowed, her mouth drying
out. “Thank you for saying so, Mr. Prince.” “Call me Xavier, please.”
“Xavier, then.”
“This is the part where you tell me
you look forward to working with me,” he teased.
Vivian’s cheeks flushed. “I do! I
mean, I do look forward to working with you.” His laugh was a clear boom
from the chest. “I hope you have a speech prepared,” he said with a wink
as he approached the microphone.
Vivian’s heart sank.
“Attention, everyone! Attention! I
have an announcement to make.” The pianist trailed off and people turned
and moved to get a view of Xavier Prince at the head of the room.
“Thank you for indulging me in this
little conceit. You are all gentle people. But of course, you’ll pay
attention, because I’m footing the bill for this evening’s festivities.”
The room chuckled and murmured appreciatively. “I have news, friends, and it is
with fond thoughts, we say farewell to John Godfrey.” A collective gasp
went through the crowd. “I know! I am as shocked as you are, but John has
decided to retire from Prince Charms, and well, who am I to stop this man
from doing what he wants? Thank you, John,” he said, reaching out to the
man as he approached the stage, Jenny behind him. “Thank you for the
years you spent with us. We wouldn’t be the company we are without you.”
The two men shook hands before Xavier passed the microphone to John.
“I won’t bore you all, I know I’ve
done that enough in the last decade.” Polite laughter filled the room.
“Then stop talking!” someone yelled
from the crowd. Laughter erupted for real.
“Ha!” John guffawed. “Well, lucky for
you, I’m just going to pass this here baton to the next generation of
Prince Charms. I want everyone to extend a warm congratulations to Vivian
McKinley!”
Before she knew it, the microphone
was in her hands and John was nodding reassuringly at her. Xavier was
clapping and smiling with the rest of the room. “Wow!” she laughed into
the microphone. “I wasn’t expecting this tonight, so please forgive me if
I ramble. I’m Vivian. I’m a witch. I’m from a long line of witches that
spans centuries, many of which were spent in Serenity, where Prince Charms’
HQ is located. As solitary witches, it’s our job to ensure the safety of
our community from paranormal harm. We are to protect and care for our
community. Well, that tradition is what I bring to Prince Charms. A
longstanding tradition of safety, security, and well being. Couple that
tradition with cutting-edge science, well, we can be unstoppable. I look
forward to working with everyone and seeing what heights we can achieve.
Thank you.”
Vivian exhaled through her nose as
the room erupted into applause. Xavier shook her hand, and suddenly she
was in a whirlwind of activity. Here was the head of marketing, and there
was the CFO. A cigar was pressed into her hands, and whiskey burned her
throat.
She did it.
She was Head of Research and
Development.
About Victoria Rogers:
Victoria Rogers is an award-winning podcaster, game designer, and
storyteller known for their immersive worlds and strong female
characters.
Witches, warlocks, gods, and spirits fill their dreams and stories. Consent
and healthy communication are two major aspects of their work – after all,
you can’t have what you want unless you ask for it.
Victoria can be found in the garden and in the kitchen making fruit wines,
brewing beers, and infusing spirits. When not feeding friends, they attend
tabletop gaming conventions and sit on storytelling and world-building
panels, teach about online marketing, and produce live events.
Website | Twitter |
Facebook
| Instagram | Goodreads
|
Amazon
|
BookBub
Giveaway Details:
1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
|
1/10/2022 |
Excerpt |
|
|
1/10/2022 |
Guest Post |
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|
1/11/2022 |
Excerpt |
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|
1/11/2022 |
Excerpt |
|
|
1/12/2022 |
Excerpt |
|
|
1/12/2022 |
Excerpt |
|
|
1/13/2022 |
Guest Post |
|
|
1/13/2022 |
Excerpt |
|
|
1/14/2022 |
Review |
|
|
1/14/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
Week Two:
|
1/17/2021 |
Review |
|
|
1/17/2021 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
1/18/2021 |
Review |
|
|
1/18/2021 |
Review |
|
|
1/19/2021 |
Review |
|
|
1/19/2021 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
1/20/2021 |
Review |
|
|
1/20/2021 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
1/21/2021 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
1/21/2021 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
0 Comments
Please try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.