Showing results for "Humans" in Fantasy

Rob didn't think of himself as anyone special, but when a pitch-black portal tried to wrap his best friend in chains, he stepped up without thinking and found himself ensnared instead. His moment of heroism results in being torn away from everyone he knew and loved, kidnapped by an unknown force that leaves him with a note in his pocket stating: "Good luck." After being thrown into the wilderness of Elatra, a hostile fantasy world ruled by levels, stats, progression, and bizarre video game logic, he finds himself entirely out of his depth.

Being a grumpy ex-soldier means I like being alone. What better place for solitude, far from home and bad memories, than a remote chalet in Italy? Peace and quiet, just what I need to write my next book. You know what they say about best laid plans, right? Somehow I end sheltering a single mom on the run with her kid—and a talking lizard.

In this new collection, Richard Thomas has crafted 14 stories that push the boundaries of dark fiction in an intoxicating, piercing blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Equally provocative and profound, each story is masterfully woven with transgressive themes that burrow beneath the skin.

The comfortable and safe mortal lands of the Nameless World have been left behind. The petty kingdoms with their endless feuds, the supposedly great empires with their innumerable intrigues and tragedies, even the Strange Lands that consider themselves to be the last bastion of true freedom. The Mad General has traversed them all, from one end to the other. What lies ahead? The road to the Land of the Immortals.

Former Marine Captain Alexander Hale only wanted a weekend out with some old buddies. He could have done without the gang war, the shootout, and...oh yeah, the alien abduction. Now he's in the middle of something he doesn't understand, never asked for, and is having quite possibly the greatest time of his life. Semper Fi and which way are the shores of Tripoli anyway?

My role as Moric—ruler of a small and prosperous fiefdom in a quiet corner of the world—has always been painfully dull and stifling. Until a beautiful, otherworldly creature with pink skin and a mane of golden hair falls through a strange void that has appeared in my guestroom. I am instantly captivated by him. I have never seen anything like him. I have no idea where he came from, and what else is through that unsettling void—another world filled with soft-skinned, defenseless creatures like him? No tails, no horns, no claws, no sharp teeth. Tiny clothing, rounded ears, bright blue eyes.

There are only two ways a human can cross the gates of Bloodstone Institute: as a familiar to one of the Blueblood vampires who attend the elite school or as a snack. I'm neither, but I have to get in at all costs. My brother made a big mistake, and now I have to fix it by stealing from the most powerful and cruel vampire to ever come to Bloodstone, Lucca Della Morte. If that wasn't almost suicidal, I need to get it done before the spell concealing my human nature wears off.

Confined in close quarters, a human woman and a demon are forced to share their truths and confront their aversions to intimacy in the first of Falling for Demons.

When six human women are rescued from the Dreadmoor, Kizros’s only job is to check on their health and provide the rune cuffs that keep them safe. He didn’t imagine that by the afternoon, he’d be escorting one of those humans to his apothecary as his new assistant. But Aofe is the opposite of what he thought humans would be like. She’s a bloom in the dark, a colorful and curious creature, and from the moment he saw her brilliance, Kizros was determined not to scare away his new colleague.

In 2025, the moon hatched and its child died. Things have since gotten worse. Some people have superpowers now, but so do the extradimensional invaders slowly wiping humanity out. By Julietta's eighteenth birthday, the war has been loss after loss for far longer than she's been alive, so she can't bring herself to be terribly shocked when the sky splits in half and weeps death. Surviving is the real surprise.

I never suspected the lava rock I threw into the firepit was actually an egg. I'm blown away when it hatches to reveal a reptile with a voracious appetite. Cute little bugger, until it learns to talk. The bossy critter thinks he can order me around. Claims he's a dragon. Says when he grows strong enough, he wants to rule the world. I say go ahead. He can't do any worse than our current politicians.

I've spent most of my life knowing that supernatural creatures exist but never really interacting with any, so my knowledge of them is limited. Still, who would've thought a demisexual incubus was a thing? Well apparently, not only is it a thing, but I have one who claims to be my soulmate—or viramore, as he calls it. And now he has it in his head that he's going to save me from my past.

As Lan lies dying, she makes a promise that binds her long into the Beyond. A decade later her teenage granddaughter is caught up in an international storm of outrage that unleashes the rage of a whole, failed generation. For one shining fragment of time, the world is with her. But then the backlash begins, and soon she and her family are besieged by the press, facing the all-powerful wrath of the old establishment whose only understanding is power-over, not power-with.

Gianna Harris doesn't think twice when joining a program seeking surrogates for an alien shifter planet whose female population was decimated during war. It's better than grieving a mother who doesn't remember her. With tears, Gianna says her good-byes and then travels to planet Daeria, where she meets not one, but two sexy dragons who claim she's their mate.

One mage: Bel Adams–part demon, gun shy about being rejected by one again, needs a familiar. One familiar: Nico di Rossi–Army Ranger, needs a change of pace and a new purpose in life, is a golden retriever in human form (though not literally). Plus one familiar: Garen Dallarosa–Secret Service, part gargoyle, needs his ex-lover Nico back.

Before he was Oldtimer, he was Craig Emilson, a young doctor,sucked into military service at the outbreak of World War III. Enlisting to become a Special Forces suborbital paratrooper, Craig is selected to take part in the most important mission in American military history, a sortie into enemy territory to eliminate the world's first strong artificial intelligence.

For two years, Beth Williams has run from the past, and the beast that dwells inside her. She is haunted by memories of being kidnapped and the savage attack that killed her best friend. Now Beth finally thinks she's ready to move on...with Braden Edwards, a charming, irresistibly sexy man who tempts Beth to embrace the present.

Annie has learned quite a bit about her new friend Gemma: she's from Bristol, she used to work in a pharmacy, and she's never forgiven herself for the suicide of her teenage son. She also died ten years ago and doesn't know why she's come back through that door. Perhaps it has something to do...

When I meet Bentley DeGray, I’m at the lowest point in my life because no matter how much I fight, my past won’t let me escape. Bentley makes me laugh and care and love, but what does any of that mean when I’m living a lie? Things get complicated when I find out he’s with the Vampire Related Crimes Unit, the organization looking for answers about the abductions of prominent vampires.

George's friend, Kaz, arrives at the flat with a staggering request: she and her partner Gail want to have a child, and they'd like George to be the father. George is warming to the idea - he's always wanted kids, and he can be as involved in the baby's life as he wishes - but he is wary: what...