Sheri spends her days fighting zombies and her nights chained to a wall, earning her every breath by telling stories to her captor Aleksy-stories that make them both forget the ruined world. Sheri could put up with the conditions-at least she knows her sister is safe in the community Aleksy leads-until she realizes she's falling for him...even though he wants her dead.When Aleksy allowed Sheri and her sister into his compound, he didn't know about the zombie bite on her back. It's ...

"A complex and chilling tale of friends, family and the often murderous secrets that hide in the dark" from the award-winning author of Bone White (Robert McCammon, New York Times–bestselling author).The Piper has come to take the children away…In the fall of 1993, fifteen-year-old Angelo Mazzone sees his first dead body. The murder is linked to the Piper, the possible abductor of three other children—who haven't been found—over t...

A brand new e-only standalone story from New York Times bestselling author Lilith Saintcrow.When the world falls apart, Lydia knows all you need is a gun and a dog. Unfortunately, she's going to find out that's not quite enough. . .

ER Nurse Victoria Storm anticipates a joyous Winter Nights ceremony with her wolf-shifter pack, but a determined hunter upsets all her plans. Daniel Barrett wants her help because he suspects a ghost is behind his friend’s disappearance. As a pagan priestess and spirit-speaker, she can discover things he can’t. He’s as sexy as he is persistent–she finds him impossible to refuse. Throw in a trip to a remote Arizona town, a haunted hotel, and a lost gold mine, and their evening is about to g...

I thought I survived the worst of the invasion…and then he showed up.Aeko, a hulking alien male, with horns, bright red skin, and a stubborn insistence on calling me his mate.I’m not his mate. No way. You can’t tackle a girl in an abandoned parking lot and expect her to marry you.Except Aeko doesn’t seem to understand that. And instead of talking about it, he throws me over his shoulder and hauls me out into the wilderness, away from the tenuous safety of m...

Being the most successful serial killer in New England is not as easy as it sounds. Really. It takes a lot of lying, cheating, and stealing. It also requires way more honesty than you'd imagine.I'm not going to tell you my secrets, because my publisher would probably get sued for publishing a how-to on murder. He doesn't deserve it. Me on the other hand, I'm a whole different kettle of fish.

A mountaintop mystery leads two conservationists to dangerous obsessions and violent passions.Natural resources student June Brandt climbs Longworth Mountain for some alone time. But when Conservation Officer Alex Weaver arrives to look into the death of a grizzly bear, June is caught up in the investigation—and fascinated by Alex.Alex is attracted by June's competence and coolness under fire—as well as her lithe body and honey-blonde hair. Althoug...

Mae, a blackjack dealer in a Las Vegas casino, spends her free time wandering the desert with a rifle, or sitting in her trailer obsessively watching replays of an old lover escaping the wreckage of 9/11. What she sees in those images is different from what the rest of us would see. She revels in the pure anarchy, thrills at the destruction. These images recall memories of a childhood marked by unthinkable abuse, of her drift into a cult that committed the most shocking crime of the '60s, ...

Ollie Dormier's tattoos are deadly. She is a Scrivener-an employee for Death-and her skull tattoos mark her clients for their demise. She does her job, and she stays out of trouble. But when her hands start to burn hot and fierce, and her control goes leaping out the window, all hell breaks loose. Ollie is showing the early signs of being a Master...demonstrating power that is forbidden.That power is exactly what Reaper Brent Hume is counting on. A hot, scruffy rebel, who does marv...

The aliens left. Their monsters didn’t.Life after the invasion is perilous for these young men. The world ended while they were still learning to drive. Now, they’re all that stands between humanity and extinction.But here’s the kicker: Earth’s alien invaders didn’t take everything when they departed.They left monsters behind.This collection contains five explosive sci-fi survival stories from bestselling author M.G. Herron. Each one follows...

Strange and unusual high-quality fantasy and horror stories and poems that will make your heart skip a beat.Gathered Augury by S. Brackett RobertsonInfectious by Lilah WildBlodeuwedd by Virginia M. MohlereFor the Dead Travel Fast by Ramón PasoThe Storm Rises by Dan CampbellLocket by Kristi DeMeesterDestination by Ken PoynerThe Whipping Tree by Pete Aldinbefore by Lynn HardakerLetting Go of the Children and Moving On by ...

This is a short story.Saved by the hunger of a child, Ian is changing ... transforming into something not human. Something Old and undead.He struggles between two lives -- the side that still breathes, and the side that must feed on the living to exist.The real horror is being a man.