The enclosure’s fiberglass doors were clouded. In these few square feet of wet and heat, Beth felt sealed away from the starkness of a sometimes too-real world; this was better, a wispy, ethereal softness enveloping her like a good dream. Smiling, Michael said, “I’ll get your back for you.” She t...
I have to tell Wrigley not only can I not be in a relationship with her, but we’re going to have to stop seeing each other entirely. Sure, we could stay friends, but I have a feeling she’s not going to be thrilled about that particular option. I might have been able to enjoy the morning more comp...
The two couples took a break from the video game. Len sighted along the barrel of the plastic gun-controller that went with the game. He aimed at a small Japanese vase decorated with a painting of birds—bluebirds—on a shelf of knickknacks, beside two framed studio portraits of a young man and a y...
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It crowned a rise overlooking a green incline of pasture, with the fields on one side and on the other a dark line of pines and water oaks that marked the course of a nearby creek. A lane flanked by cedars provided access from the main road. Behind the mansion stood the smokehouse, kitchen, carri...
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She was nine years old, several inches taller, content with her life in the tower. She wore tunic and trousers, new ones, fetched from somewhere by the Noris’s invisible servants. The patterns in black and white woven into the belt were strange to her; she’d used the mirror to search the tundra f...
Teegan teased. She’d noticed him as soon as she entered the diner and decided a little role play might be fun. “I do sometimes. How about you?” She shook her head. “It’s my first time, actually, but James comes here a lot. You mind if I join you, ha...
Nine year old Rashid looked at the pink and pudgy thing in his mother’s arms, disgusted and irritated. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to get back to his studies. His instructor was just telling him how to calculate an angle which was much more fascinating than whatever this…thing…was. “...
Jack trembled. He felt chilled to the bone. HUFFFF, HUFFFF, HUFFFFF.… The giant’s breathing grew louder and stronger. Jack squeezed his eyes shut as icy, wet wind rushed against his body. HUFFFF, HUFFFF, HUFFFFF.… Jack crouched lower and held on tightly to Annie. HUFFFF, HUFFFF, HUFFFFF.… The ...
She’d tried to help Addie with her chores, but Addie shooed her away. “Ye’ll need yer rest for the wedding festivities tonight and then for…” Addie didn’t complete the thought but Maighdlin knew what she had been about to say. And then for the marriage bed. She found herse...
xxii. “Mendoza. Mendoza!” Mendoza crawled through the dark. He was not aware of the cold. He felt no pain. Ahead of him burnt a warm, welcoming light. He crawled towards it eagerly. He was going home. “By His most tender mercy, may the Lord pardon you …” A familiar figure approached out of the ...
I'd caught the smell through an open window while scrubbing dishes. He was okay, and he was nearby. My heart fluttered at the thought of seeing his face again, this time as a woman. I smoothed my red curls and adjusted my halter top - a rose red that matched the color of my hair. My long lashes w...
I hoped it was something innocent like a rat that had crawled in and died, but my luck wasn’t likely to go that way. I stuck my hand out into the darkness and felt the wall, running my hand along it until I found a light switch. I flipped it and the room lit up. Thank God for emergency generators...
After he’d walked about half a mile, he came to the golf course and decided to cut through to shorten his journey. Delaius had told him that Banshees don’t go near populated places and, considering this was a public pathway, he couldn’t see the harm. And to be honest with himself, since Lily’s me...