Stories

My dearest Sir or Madam – Good society is not exempt from the ubiquitous underbelly of forks and cakes, though I confess I never expected to be so entirely undone by it. Nor by Oliver Fitzgibbon. Fair Oliver! Two years my senior and newly come to town – handsome, observant and possessed, I think, of the same gentle temper as myself. Yet in a world that demands discretion, I fear my admiration may prove a dangerous indulgence. With best wishes, I remain, &c., &c. – Timothy.

The year is 1891, and the Wild West is dying. Alvarez is a smartly dressed, smooth-talking bandito riding north with a stolen fortune, a lethal six-shooter, and one very spoiled cat. He travels alone, until he finds a half-frozen boy bleeding in the cold mud. Devon is an exile, violently banished from his Mennonite community and hunted by the very boys who broke him. As they ride together, Devon's cold logic clashes with Alvarez's flashy chaos. Slowly, the pinstriped killer and the battered runaway must learn to trust each other before the past catches up to them both.

Two enemies wake in the ashes of Jerusalem—one a deserter drowning in guilt, the other an amnesiac who remembers only how to kill. Hunted across the desert by a vengeful lord, they must disguise themselves as a Crusader knight and his squire to survive. But in the war-torn port of Jaffa, masks slip. Secrets surface. And a feral German street rat with a talent for trouble forces them to confront an impossible question: in a holy war that devours everything, can two broken boys build a family from the ruins?

Colt's temper got him expelled. Now he's starting over in a small town where he meets Noah, a quiet, bookish boy next door hiding a terrible secret. As their friendship deepens into first love, Colt discovers that Noah's stepfather has been abusing him for years. Desperate to protect the boy he loves, Colt agrees to a dangerous plan. But the guilt of his choices and the friends he's made over the summer may be the only things that can save them both.

A washed-up captain steals an alien saucer, crashes it into a pre-spaceflight civilization, and accidentally abducts a terrified teenage local. Now he's stranded with a hostile hostage, a sarcastic AI, and a teleporter that turns livestock inside out. To make things worse, his estranged husband is tracking him across the galaxy—and the real owners of the ship want everyone dead. A chaotic sci-fi romp about bad decisions, found family, and learning that running from your problems just creates bigger ones.

The siege is over. The city is theirs. But for Darien Haskal and his feral Vanguard, the real war has just begun. Raymond of Toulouse has seized the Holy Lance and declared himself God's chosen commander. Baldwin of Edessa plots from the north, hungry for revenge. And somewhere in the Sultan's tent, a prince's back is being carved open to pay for Antioch's fall. The Vanguard marches south alone—extorting coastal cities, hunting spies in the hills, and building a sanctuary for outcasts. Jerusalem waits. But the road is paved with fanatics, betrayal, and the corpses of kings.

In a universe where constructs are bought, sold, and wiped clean, a repurposed intimacy model named Lukas discovers he's been many people—soldier, pop star, lab rat, cop. Now he's on a stolen ship, a hacker, a thief, and a clock counting down to neurological collapse.

Some ghosts won't stay buried. Some truths won't stay hidden. And some love stories begin with a gun to the chest.

Imprisoned in the Orinovo, Ainreth is experimented on in an attempt to figure out lightweaver creation. Things seem hopeless, until unlikely allies join his side to help him.

Meanwhile in Lys-Akkaria, Mhalyn works with the rebels to come up with a rescue plan to get Fennrin out of Daryan's clutches and ensure he permanently loses his power over the country.

A blind boy hailed as a saint. A sorcerer-prince branded a monster. Bound by magic, divided by war, and caught in the crushing grip of the First Crusade.

As thirty thousand starving crusaders batter the walls of Antioch, Wylan—a stable boy turned reluctant holy icon—discovers his soul is tethered to Ishan, the Seljuk prince sworn to destroy his army. Together, they share visions, stolen warmth, and a truth that could burn them both.

The city bleeds. The earth shakes. And when the sky turns red, their swapped bodies become the least of their sins.