Showing results for "Publishing" in Dark Fantasy

Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years she’s been collecting a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she’s received. Only death or repayment will fulfill the obligations. Only then will the beads disappear. Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer. He’s a man who can get you anything you want … at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects. But for one client, he’s never asked for repayment. Not until now.

For nearly four-hundred years, the Veil has protected us from the Fae of Alfheimr. In their absence, our lives have shifted from decadence and sin to survival and virtue under the guidance of the New Gods. I’ve spent my entire life tending to the gardens next to the boundary between our worlds, drawn to the shimmering magic like a moth to the flame. All of that changes the day the Veil shatters, unleashing the fae upon our world once again.

Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.

You meet the most interesting men in medieval prisons. This one time, I met a guy who offered me immortality for the low, low price of changing my diet. I didn’t read the fine print. Because, he wasn’t talking about a gluten-free diet. More like hemoglobin-full. And now, I’m a friggin’ vampire with five centuries of pop culture references.

They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois—and they are not like other Midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids. Now the house is being readied in anticipation of the gala homecoming that will gather together the far-flung branches of this odd and remarkable family.

Reverend Deacon Elder does the Lord’s work in his own unique way. A former marine with the ability to detect and cast out demons, Deke goes where the need—and the evil—is greatest. After receiving a terrifying warning of a botched exorcism, Deke shows up in Somerton, Tennessee, ready for battle. The demon possessing sixteen-year-old Carlyss Bolerjack had only partially been driven out, and Deke must convince a traumatized Carlyss to submit to a second exorcism.

When Lady Mae turns eighteen, she’ll inherit her mother’s ghastly job as the Butcher: dismembering Settlement Five’s guilty criminals as payment for their petty crimes. But then their leaders, known as the Deputies, come to Lady Mae’s house, and there in the living room they murder her mother for refusing to butcher a child. Within twenty-four hours, now alone in the world, Lady Mae begins her gruesome job. But a chance meeting years later puts her face to face with the Deputy that murdered her mother.

Morthûl, the dreaded Charnel King, has failed. Centuries of plotting from the heart of the Iron Keep, deep within the dark lands of Kirol Syrreth—all for naught. Foiled at the last by the bumbling efforts of a laughable band of so-called heroes. Still, after uncounted centuries of survival, the Dark Lord isn’t about to go down without a fight, particularly in battle against a mortal! No, the Charnel King still has a few tricks up his putrid and tattered sleeves, and the only thing that can defeat him now may just be the inhuman soldiers on whom he’s pinned his last hopes.

Finn has lost everything – her family, her love and her purpose. Betrayed and sold into captivity, she existed awaiting her end until she was mistakenly taken for a Magic Wielder and gifted to the brutal Destroyer General to be killed. Surrounded by her enemies, Finn makes a promise. One she will fight to keep.

The day Jerusalem falls, Miriam Elmahdy knows her life is over. Houses are burning, the streets run red with blood, and a traitorous army is massacring every last resident. There is no surviving this, especially not once Miriam catches the eye of War himself. But when the massive and terrifying horseman corners Miriam, he calls her his wife, and instead of killing her, he takes her back to his camp.

Sheriffs on flying monsters. Marshals dueling with magic cards. Showdowns fought with creatures instead of pistols. Epic beasts destroying whole towns. And me, stuck in the middle once more. In one step, John went from a beautiful woman's embrace to the middle of a monster battle in a dusty, Old West town. His last mission could only loosely be considered a success, but he's determined to do better with this one. Or at least, not leave entire towns in flames behind him.

In a forest stands a desecrated church, abandoned to the dark forces that fester within. What better place for a medium to seek answers from the dead? At just eight years old, Tabitha Mainwater watched her best friend die. Wracked with grief, she swore never to let death steal anyone from her again. She would learn to speak to the dead—no matter the cost. Two decades later, her search for answers leads her to a church that once housed a fanatical cult. It is said to be a doorway to the other side, a place where spirits linger, waiting to be heard.

The world is falling to the burning shadow of the Possessed and only the power of a battle mage can save it. But the ancient bond with dragonkind is failing. Of those that answer a summoning too many are black. Black dragons are the enemy of humankind. Black dragons are mad. Falco Dante is a weakling in a world of warriors, but worse than this, he is the son of a madman. Driven by grief, Falco makes a decision that will drive him to the brink of despair. As he tries to come to terms with his actions Falco follows his friends to the Academy of War.

For almost thirty years, Shirley Jackson Award–winning horror author Gemma Files has consistently served up tale after tale celebrating monstrosity in all its forms: the imperfect, the broken, the beautifully alien, and the sadly familiar. Her characters make their own choices and take their own chances, slipping from darkness into deeper darkness yet never losing their humanity—not even when they’re anything but.

From mild mannered history professor to ultimate bad-ass, John will overcome his inner demons as he fights to defeat the evil Lich King. Fortunately, he's not alone. Assisted by a group of powerful female warriors and mages, John will traverse the length and breadth of Zamina. Between laying down the law on lizard men and traveling to far off islands in search of an all powerful magical orb, John will become something greater than he had ever dreamed possible.

Lilith Clarke is supposed to be dead: murdered by the vicious King Oren, her blood staining a field of daisies. But death would have been merciful. After years of having no name, she is finally given a title: Queen of Umbra. But it will cost her everything. Lily is now bound to King Asher, the most powerful and brutal shadow divinus in all of Omnia. Forced to rule in secret, she slowly loses herself to the darkness. She fears it will swallow her whole.

Kairhyse - My little demon has been taken again, but this time my journey to get her back is by far more dangerous than the last. My patience is none for those around me, that includes the man that is aiding Sydni and I in finding Xeraphine. Sacrifices will need to be made and I'm willing to give everything fate has for me to make sure I get her back.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when arriving in Salem. Forced to marry a man I’ve never met, attend a private university I’d never heard of, and the whispers of a rumored secret society filling the halls. This life would be near unbearable with my insufferable fiancé if it wasn’t for his uncle, his best friend, and his enemy. When none of them are willing to let me go, it sends us down a path I’m not sure any of us will survive. The life I was promised is distorted behind smoke and mirrors. The truth cloaked by Deceit.

Bastard’s Eve is a night of celebration for most residents in the canal city of Lodi - but not for sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona, who find themselves caught up in the affairs of a shiplost madman, a dangerous ascendant demon, and a very unexpected saint of the fifth god.

For weeks, he stood by my side, twisting his words into pretty half-truths. He enraptured me with his smooth temptation, leaving no corner of my being untouched. He consumed my mind and my body, then finally claimed my heart for himself. But Caelum’s true identity is terrifying enough to bring me to my knees. Then, I discovered the truth of who he is. Caldris is whispered in the Nothrek wind. The legend we only speak of with hushed words, in shuttered rooms, for fear of drawing his wrath once again.