Short Stories

Life and Death Holding Hands

He got away with it all. In the end, it was the damned cows that caught him.

Storm

I can see the life leave you.

You died for nothing.

A Little Something Dark

He was the assassin, the executioner, the bringer of death for the Blood King. After all, Terrance understood death better than most.

Weird

Court-appointed therapy doesn’t go quite the way Rapunzel thought it would.

Fingerprints

Rumors of her appear in the news, but who can credit tales of a pale little girl freezing things with a single, bloodied touch?

The Bread, The Harp, the Coil of Gold

“This is your test,” she says, and to my dismay, her voice carries the tinny echo of magic, a compelling power. Not the usual conversation one has upon entering a magical psychologist’s office.

Nero is Mad, of course

A mad Roman emperor. An ancient depressed vampire. A bizarre evening to remind the Blood King why life is worth living.

No Reparations Are Expected At This Time

Just the aftermath of a strange day, a strange letter, and some under-the-table un-wisdom. A continuation of HALF-SHELL PROPHECIES.

Expected

He’d always painted what he saw; these visions pushed him, bled out his eyes, and the only cure for augural blindness was to splatter it out in colors, shapes, forms. A continuation of HALF-SHELL PROPHECIES.

Seed

Ravena has her reasons for refusing Notte – and none of them involve survival.
Terrance, meanwhile, has no reason to doubt Notte… except for the new fear Notte might leave him. A continuation of HALF-SHELL PROPHECIES.

Tea

Ancient vampire Notte has tea with a friend right in the middle of some… family business. Awkward!

Regrets

I do not blame you for your fear. Humans are my prey – but my friend, I do not hunt small children.

The Twins

A deliciously creepy side story with vampires, a dying Earth, and a secret organization. Dark, mildly disturbing, and – if you’ve read THE SUNDERED – you might recognize a name.

The Big Palooka

Flappers. Vampires. A thug who stole a necklace and a speak-easy with Jazz to die for. A short, cute story set in New York City in the 1920s.

Someday

Someday, he’d just leave. Nobody would call him prince, or Highness, or expect him to do anything miraculous.

Succession

“Do you think your choices please me?” The king slows and weaves an accusing look into his walk, a tide that pauses on shore for dramatic effect. “Did you think we would not know?”

THIS ROUGH MAGIC I HERE ABJURE

The damned Throne takes my magic, stealing every last drop from birth to death. Rebellion is not rewarded, not even when you’re the heir.

LET YOUR INDULGENCE SET ME FREE

Before me stands the bedraggled crown prince of the Unseelie Fey. I pretend I do not see how desperately he hoped I’d invite him, and he pretends that he does not have bits of twig sticking out of his hair.

Ask Your Parents First

Just a story about magic, cereal boxes, long-lost Mesoamerica gods, and a convenience store manager with a taser.

Club Hedgie

A very confused hedgehog discovers found family. Written for “National Tella Fairy-tale Day.”

Dante’s Inferno

A frog discovers the power of a lady’s kiss and the problems of small windows.

Shadow Seed

Just the ruminations of a certain Prince of the People of Darkness as he finishes up one liaison and seriously considers another. A continuation of HALF-SHELL PROPHECIES.

Wolf

If asked, he’d say he was no one. A shadow cast without light, the invisible fist that clenches empty bellies. But if you asked again, he’d tell you the truth: he is the monster, and your flesh belongs to him.

Redacted

Eugene discovers he is Kin  – part-human, part something else – and then runs into monster-buster Lucy December. Hell of a day, Eugene. (This story is a crossover between my universe and the LUCY DECEMBER series by John Morey.)

They Come

I thought we’d have longer. I thought I’d grow up. They only come when the oldest natural dies. Then they come, and they take our hearts. I don’t want to die.

No Home

A sad little tale following a type of creature even the ancient vampire Notte knows nothing about: a creature of The Dream. Explanation is given at the end. Enjoy.

Ten Tips For Raising Your Baby Dragon

You didn’t know you needed advice from a brand-new adoptive mama and her baby dragon, did you? Well, you do. Trust me on this. I’m (not) a doctor. A continuation of THE CHRISTMAS DRAGON..

The Kindly Light of the Setting Sun

A single day. A single chance to make up for a lifetime of poor choices. A single member of the People of the Sun leaps in with both feet.

Smile

A pretty lady always knows how to smile. (Flash fiction.)

A Hell of a Letter

Punish me, will you? Two can play this game. (Flash fiction.)

Moths

The moths came when you left.  (Flash fiction.)

Ghosts Don’t

Ghosts don’t mean to scare you. (Free-form poetry.)

Theron the Thief and the (Nearly) Stolen Crown

A thief. A debt. A sentient throne with a message to send.

Favors

Aiden was precocious, said his teachers. He even had a quest: to make his uncle Jaden laugh.

THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW

A terrible pun, taking place some time after THE CHRISTMAS DRAGON. You’re welcome.

The Bet

She’d won. She’d won! He had got it wrong, but she’d won. No way was Dis going to pass up collecting. A continuation of HALF-SHELL PROPHECIES.

A Form of Love

The soul had been flayed, shredded into suffering ribbons, and Death had to think carefully about how to handle it right.

Good Dog

Now, he knew what this place held. Monsters, magic leaves, things all meant to stop him and eat him and stop him and hurt him, and he wouldn’t be fooled again.

Bee Mugs and Bacon

Death stared at the bee for a long time, his mismatched purple gaze fixated on the gold and black stripes, on the dot-and-line combo that gave the bee an incongruously human expression of contentment.