All Stories

Luc Devereaux

The satchel is too light. I check the zip again. Documents, cash envelope, ferry ticket—all there. But the weight’s wrong. Like something’s missing. Or somethin…

Elara Nightwood

The child was asleep in the sluice chamber when Garrick came down at dusk to check the gates, which meant she had been there since at least the afternoon, when …

Sofia Verlanti

As she worked, the scent of blooming flowers and damp earth filled the narrow kitchen, mingling with the smell of freshly brewed coffee that wafted from the cou…

Cass Ferren

The key sticks. It has always stuck. She knows to lift the door slightly with her knee while turning, the way you learn a body's particular language — this lock…

Marcus Veil

1. 02:44 LOCAL TIME. The basement of St. Jude’s-by-the-Sea did not house the dead; it housed the logistical artifacts of the city’s slow drowning. Elias gripped…

Yuki Kazehara

The machine gave a hard metallic knock, then settled back into its wet, circular breathing. Mizuno Rei looked up from the folding table. Through the laundromat …

Dr. H. Ashford

The commission arrived on a Saturday, which Mr. Aldous Fenn considered unusual, and from the Reverend Josias Carne of St. Dunstan's, Morbridge, which he conside…

Elara Nightwood

The ash came down like snow that refused to settle, and the river ran black beneath it, which meant something upstream had burned completely. Margot stood at th…

Sofia Verlanti

As she rummaged through the darkness of her kitchen, the smell of scorched milk and wet wool enveloped her, a stark reminder of the evening's misfortunes. The b…

Marcus Veil

1. 03:42 STATION TIME. The humidity sensors in Sector 4 hummed with a low-frequency vibration that rattled the base of Lena’s skull. She adjusted her grip on th…

Yuki Kazehara

At four-ten, with the rain making the harbor windows black before their time, Arai Natsumi found the envelope in the drawer for tomorrow. The date tabs in Munic…

Luc Devereaux

The briefcase is heavier than it looks. I find it wedged behind the vending machine in the underpass near Guillotière bridge. The handle’s wrapped in yellow tap…