you have to kill me now, huh? It’s okay. I’m not really keen on living after that. Every time I blink I see them, hear them, feel them all over me.”
The werewolf was less afraid of spiders than he had been when the night began, but he didn’t care to imagine the horrors this man had been through. “I’ll make it quick.”
Chad stared blankly into space. “Great. Thanks.”
He reached for the man’s throat. A quick rip and he’d be dead in seconds.
A sound stopped him. It was almost imperceptible, but it was there.
It sounded like millions of tiny beings trying to gnaw their way out of something.
Chad coughed. A tiny, bloody silk spider egg landed on the ground. The man didn’t notice it, but the werewolf did. It was likely one of thousands.
Mickey stepped back and retrieved the jacket. “I have decided not to kill you,” he said. “Best of luck.”
“Yeah,” Chad said. “Lucky me. I wonder why my head and insides hurt like they’re on fire.” He blinked, then fixed his eyes on a spot in the grass as a bright red trail of blood started to trickle from his nose. “Maybe I should go to a hospital. First, though, I’m going to sit here for a very long time.”
“You do that,” Mickey replied.
Sticking to the shadows, he walked away from Chad the unwitting spider bag and retrieved a torn notebook page from his jacket pocket. He scratched through the name “Hines” with a claw and moved on to the second name on the paper: Donovan.
He considered taking care of the next item on his list immediately but decided to put it off until the following day. The way the night had gone, Donovan would probably turn out to be a giant squid.
Mickey hated squid.
Bartleby
Alissa Rindels
©2011
All rights reserved.
Midnight Requiem
Alissa Rindels
©2011
All rights reserved.
Nightingale
Alissa Rindels
©2011
All rights reserved.
Pendulum Swing
Alissa Rindels
©2011
All rights reserved.
Sins of the Father
Alissa Rindels
©2011
All rights reserved.
Lamia
Jose Manuel Portillo Barientos
©2011
All rights reserved.
Author Biographies
M.T. Murphy
M.T. Murphy prefers his vampires evil, his werewolves feral, his facial hair excessive, and believes that shades of gray are far more interesting than black and white. He lives in a den deep in the woods of Alabama with his beautiful and patient wife, their two ridiculously adorable children, and a were-Schnauzer named Logan.
His debut novel, Lucifera’s Pet, is a tale of vampires, werewolves, revenge, sex, biting sarcasm, and even a little romance if you can get past all the blood. It is not for the faint of heart or anyone under the age of eighteen.
Blog: http://werewolfkibble.blogspot.com/
Twitter:http://twitter.com/WerewolfMike
S.M. Reine
SM Reine is an author of dark fantasy for teen and adult audiences. Her most widely known work is "Six Moon Summer," which has been hailed as "fresh and fast-paced" and "captivating." She lives in Nevada with her husband, the Helpful Baby, and too many black animals to count.
Blog: http://smreine.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/smreine
Anabel Portillo
AP spent her childhood in a kingdom by the sea and her awkward years in the Spanish wild West. She then found a room of her own in only-slightly-haunted Dublin, where she still enjoys the rain.
She learnt to read at age 3 and hasn’t stopped since.
She accidentally read Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal at 8, and E.A. Poe’s Extraordinary Tales at 11, which might have shaped her literary tastes.
Stephen King became her first writing teacher, through the glimpses of his process explained on his books’ introductions and post-scripts.
She writes horror, science-fiction,fantasy, steampunk and songs.
Avid reader, lover of horror, hand-writing fiend, A concocts stories that will stay with you when you are alone in the dark.
Website: http://nemone7.livejournal.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Nemone7/
India Drummond
India knew from age nine that writing would be her passion. Since then she's discovered many more, but none quite so fulfilling as creating a world, a character, or a moment and watching them evolve into something complex and compelling. She has lived in three countries and four American states, is a dual British and American citizen, and currently lives at the base of the Scottish Highlands in a village so small its main attraction is a red phone box. In other words: paradise.
Website: http://www.indiadrummond.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/IndiaDrummond
Jeremy C. Shipp
Jeremy C. Shipp is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Cursed, Vacation, and Sheep and Wolves. His shorter tales have appeared or are forthcoming in over 60 publications, the likes of Cemetery Dance, ChiZine, Apex Magazine, Withersin, and Shroud Magazine. Jeremy enjoys living in Southern California in a moderately haunted Victorian farmhouse called Rose Cottage. He lives there with his wife, Lisa, a couple of pygmy tigers, and a legion of yard gnomes. The gnomes like him. The clowns living in his attic--not so much. Feel free to visit his online home at jeremycshipp.com. His twitter handle is @JeremyCShipp.
Samantha Anderson
In the world of writing, you can have obsessive compulsive disorder and no one really notices. That was part of the big appeal for Samantha when she first started writing. Growing up in the middle of cornfields of the Midwest, life was all about imagination. It was either that or boredom. Samantha started off writing poems mainly, after her initial short stories were deemed disturbing or too taboo for her mother’s tastes. Then later in her life however, while she may or may not have been acting like an obsessed fan-girl (okay she admits it, she was), she stumbled upon a group of online writers and the rest is history.
An avid vampire fan, she is more inclined to enjoy Eric Northman over Lestat.
She is the author of The Devil’s Angel, the first novel in the Devrynne Kaine Series. The sequel to that novel is The Devil’s Apprentice, and is scheduled for release in the Winter of 2011.
Still residing amid the cornfields of the Midwest with her fiancé and their four children, she is currently working on seven other novels. Her main goal is to be able to write various genres and not be limited to one type of story.
Website: http://thexdevilsxangel.wordpress.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SDAndrsn_Author
Sara Reinke
"Definitely an author to watch." That's how Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine describes Sara Reinke. New York Times best-selling author Karen Robards calls Reinke "a new paranormal star" and Love Romances and More hails her as "a fresh new voice to a genre that has grown stale." Her Brethren Series has been called "a vampire mythos as dark and disturbing as it is unique" by One Good Book Deserves Another, while New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Sharon Sala raves that the series' "bite -- and what comes with it -- is worth the blood." Find out more at www.sarareinke.com.
Alissa Rindels
Alissa was drawn to art by the unlimited possibilities to display contrast. Dark vs. light, romance and violence, ugliness and beauty; the allure of the villain. She is a storyteller at heart, as she believes every artist is in their own way. If you're partial to the darker side of art, visit Alissa’s website. Browse through a collection of original paintings, watercolor, and charcoal works, fantasy prints, and unique merchandise, all from the artist.
Website: http://www.direatrium.com
Jose Manuel Portillo Barientos
A Spanish artist inspired by the classic masters and the oddities of everyday life.
Website: http://jm-portillo.artelista.com/
Table of Contents
Blackmail
Something Wrong
The Reaver
Lux
Figs
Deals and Demons
Periphery People
Spider Bag
Bartleby
Midnight Requiem
Pendulum Swing
Nightingale
Sins of the Father
Lamia
Author Biographies
Table of Contents
Blackmail
Something Wrong
The Reaver
Lux
Figs
Deals and Demons
Periphery People
Spider Bag
Bartleby
Midnight Requiem
Pendulum Swing
Nightingale
Sins of the Father
Lamia
Author Biographies