Her clients knew her only as Miss Price. She crouched in the bushes, dressed down to match the shadows. Price flicked the latches on the rifle case and pulled it open on silent, well-oiled hinges. The long gun lay in its gray foam like a sunning snake. The target’s dossier was open at her elbow. … Continue reading »

Joseph brushed gentle fingers through the sand. The fine grains slid over his fingers as he gingerly felt out the shape beneath. About seven centimeters long, rough at one end and tapered at the other. Shrouded by concealing sands, it might as well have been on the other side of the world, for all Joseph … Continue reading »

I hate this job. What’s not to hate? It’s less a career path than a monochrome catalog of the boring, soul-crisping problems of modern life. It’s flat, it’s repetitive and my in-box is always full of more pointless, redundant tasks. I’ve been at it for twenty-seven years. I hate it here. Recycled air, cleaned and … Continue reading »

The lawyer stood behind her worn wooden desk. “The prosecution calls Xiander Mavereau.” A man rose from the front row and swept towards the witness stand. His lean-lined black suit was flat as a shadow. Dark hair started at a sharp widow’s peak and flowed down his back in a long fall like a deep … Continue reading »

Fallen warrior, can you hear me? Listen well, for I have only a moment to share before I must tend to my task. We are not as old as time. I did not watch your world spin into being from the primal scattered dust of creation. Some of the others will tell you such stories, … Continue reading »

Even the sun was gone now. Caliss stumbled on through the dark, feeling to find her way with fingers numbed by the empty chill. Stars shone like snow in the sky above, frozen into lightless white immobility by the merciless cold here at the edge of the world. Not everything was cold. The Hound’s eye … Continue reading »