Tamsin took a deep breath, letting the pounding rhythm of the cheering crowd sink into her, stoking her energy higher. The Arena was packed today, which would mean a good cut for her if she could pull off this win. A win she needed, if only for the purse. She’d been in Duemr too long […]
Read MoreBedlam & Begonias
Sadie wrenched the door of the shop open far harder than was necessary, but she couldn’t find it in her to give a damn. The bell above the door chattered frantically, and she spared it a hard glare. She wasn’t in the mood. Not for the cute little shop with its lavender and black exterior, […]
Read MoreAbsence, Longing, and Memory
The night air was cold in her lungs, a sharp contrast to the day now gone. Almost, she thought, looking around in the half-light, the moon sporadically obscured by the scattered clouds. Almost, in the dark, with the clouds still low after the storm… But no. These were not the mountains of her home, much […]
Read MoreA Hoodie for the Holidays
Originally featured in the Gay Apparel holiday charity anthology. Riley stared out the window, watching her first snowfall in years. She’d forgotten the way it muffled everything, the odd not-quite silence that it wrapped the world in. The way the cold made everything sharper, clearer, even while it blanketed everything. There was nothing quite like […]
Read MoreA Drink With the Devil
Originally written for Jolene Haley’s Spooky Showcase 2019 blog tour. “No. No way in hell. No creepy-ass dolls. I draw the line.” Charlie scribbled Robert the Doll off the list so hard the pen wore through the paper. She went over it one more time for good measure, and shuddered. Quinn giggled, but rubbed Charlie’s […]
Read MoreBelow
I was drifting when she came to me. Four days alone in an empty sea, the wreckage of my ship the only break in a monotony of blue. At first I thought she wasn’t real. That sun, starvation, and dehydration had rendered me senseless and seeing things. Eyes in the debris. A face in the […]
Read MoreDream a Little Dream
The hands that ghost over me are intimately familiar. The warmth of her breath on my neck, her scent in my nostrils, the shape of her body against me. Her lips on my skin, and the voice that makes me shiver, though I can never make out her words. All of it so well known […]
Read MorePertinent Questions
“So…what is it?” Mom, also known as Her Royal Highness Queen Vienne glares at me a moment, her eyebrow lifting in that way she’s perfected. “It’s a ring, Xan.” She holds up her hand and wiggles the fingers, showing off the rings she wears. “You know, jewelry.” I roll my eyes and wiggle my fingers […]
Read MoreHold to Summer
There’s a chill in the air, these past few nights. It’s crisp and slightly bitter, and it smells like change, and tastes just a little like magic. It wakes me in the twilight darkness, and I turn instinctively to you, to where you lie, wide awake and basking in the pale light of a fat, […]
Read MoreSupernova Heart
It started with a cough. Neither of us thought it was anything. Just a cough, right? Everyone gets them. And like every other cough, it eventually went away. Mostly. Occasionally it would come back. This dry, raspy hack that lasted for a few seconds, a minute. Then it would be gone. Adara would rub her […]
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