Auntie Mina, if she had been alive to hear the story, would have said that I was brave to do what I did. Brave—like my mother, though I never knew [...]
Fantasy
Green
Edie blinked stinging sweat out of her eyes. It didn’t help much—it was just too damn hot in Virginia. Her fingers were slippery, but she tried not to think too [...]
The Court of the Litterfey
Tristan shuddered. A breeze should never whisper his name like that.
His sister skipped ahead of him, nearly across the overbridge. A story below, cars whooshed underneath, their bonnets shining in [...]
Enchantment
There were no sentinels. Aikir looked for traps and found none. He didn’t spot any winged demons, either.
They reached the end of the staircase and an antechamber. Inside, moth-ravaged tapestries [...]
What Would Luminael Do
Vampires like lofts. It’s a bat thing.
Roland de Courtenay lives on the third floor of the Wilcott Building, a crumbling faux-Tudor edifice shouldered on both sides by twin semi-detacheds. Vines [...]
Riders of the Dust-Gray Steppe
I saw the witch first.
I sat on the constabulary porch, eating my musk-ox sandwich.
Heavy clouds bellied down over Rime. Mist swirled. I made out only a gray shape loping in [...]
Pixies Don’t Get Names
I was buying a six foot one inch stuffed shark from FAO Schwartz. A hammerhead. It was quite charming.
“I need it,” I explained to the cashier as he struggled to [...]
The Werewolf of Narashtovik
The memory of the day he’d killed Larrimore came to Dante, as it always did, with a dizzy jolt – jarred, this time, by the dead guard sprawled in the [...]
The Sock Drawer
The Silent Sultan strained against his chains. If he could just get one hand free – but no. The manacles were too tight, and the nest of grimy sports socks [...]
Trickster Blues
When Mockingbird Jackson was young, there were steam engines that used to screech by every Sunday evening after supper. Grandaddy would boost the boy up onto his shoulders and together [...]
Lullaby of the Ages
The time has come to move. The beasts swim through the deep together. They are always together, glutting themselves on the spray of food swirling throughout the eddied waters. [...]
Who Shapes the Shaper
The dark man rang like iron when I threw him from my house. Picking himself up from the mud, he glared past my head at the lintel and twisted back [...]
Sky Burial
The storm blew in over the ridge with no warning. One minute there had been a blue sky and a sun so bright it hurt even with deep-tinted goggles. Then [...]
The Tale Teller
With a howl, the wind shook the tavern and rattled the shutters, persistent as a terrier with a cornered rat. Caught in the storm’s teeth, patrons of the Briar and [...]
Blue Cherry Sky
Aki followed her sister onto the stage. In contrast to the sense of dread Aki felt, Harumi looked happy. Harumi was only nine years old, but she seemed unfazed by [...]