Tag: Seahaven

Representation – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

“You did threaten to dissolve your last attorney.” Winter kept digging in her large, pale denim hobo bag without looking up. The occasional soft chink of thick glass tapping glass rose from the wide opening, the sweet tones of steel striking steel. Something was loose down there. Wonderful. If this kept up, she’d have to go back to the purple bag. But to start, how could a stack of folders that thick go missing in here? There were two full surgical kits, not to mention the complete stock of medical potions, for heaven’s sake. “That’s not how I’d put it.” Read More …

Waiting for Word – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

Cian sat, eyes glued to the clock high on the wall and hands absently bouncing Noel in his baby seat on the worn kitchen table. The second hand dragged its way around the face. The minute hand jumped. 11:28. It was almost time. The mail was usually in the box at the end of the mile long Mulcahy Drive by 11:45. Cian had learned this week that it took him thirteen minutes to calmly walk from the front door to the mailbox. On Monday, he had done it in nine minutes, running with Noel bouncing in his chest carrier. But Read More …

Be Mine – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

The February wind chased Cian across the wind-chilled patio concrete and back into the house. He closed the sliding-glass door against the onslaught and set his covered basket of fresh cuttings from the winter garden on the table, tickling little Noel’s toes with cold fingers and eliciting a squeal of delight from the baby. He shrugged out of his coat and draped it across the back of a chair, stooping to kiss his son’s round cheek, then straightening and crossing to the big island counter to lay a kiss on the back of Winter’s neck. “I think I got everything.” Read More …

Ink – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

“You doing okay?” Alerich grimaced in the chair, the uncomfortable feeling of the needle penetrating his skin like the rough tongue of a cat scraping over a sunburn combined with thousands of tiny claws perforating his chest. The pain seemed to grow more intense the longer the artist worked on him, but Alerich was determined to see this through. “I’m fine.” The tattoo artist grunted and bent his head back over the design, wiping away blood and excess ink with a practiced swipe. Alerich watched him work, the outline of the blond raven done in white ink finished, and the Read More …

Understanding – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

Winter tied the last stitch and gently patted the therian wolf’s shoulder. “All done.” The wolf growled, and Winter slowly removed her hand, her eyes hardening as she stared the young therian down. The wolves of Seahaven used dominance fighting as their favorite sport, but Winter was in no mood to resort to fisticuffs against an amped up injured therian with something to prove. Not that she would have any chance against him in a physical match. Wizards were neither as fast nor as strong as therian, and they didn’t heal as quickly. Then there was the problem that wolf Read More …

Monster – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

He was coming back. Jessie whimpered and bit her lip, hating the sound for making her look weak and vulnerable. Of course, she was vulnerable, hanging from the chain in the vineyard’s barn. Helpless against the cuts and blows the red-headed freak was inflicting on her. Her body was tender with fresh bruises and sticky with drying blood. She was dizzy and exhausted, her throat raw from screaming, and her arms trembling where the chain held her upright. She had no idea how long she had been here. Less than a day but far too long already. Winter would come Read More …

Knitting for Pixies – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

Knit one, purl two. It was a simple pattern, as patterns went. Knit one, purl two. Knit one, purl two. Etienne could have done something more elaborate, of course, but that would mean more delicate knitting needles. More attention to the details. He was only knitting blankets for pixies, and pixies didn’t care about elaborate patterns. They liked color and they liked being warm in the January nights. That suited Etienne just fine. He could just let his hands go and let his mind wander as he knitted in front of the fireplace. Bess had been the one to teach Read More …

Proof – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

George Joji took another close-up shot. It was real. It was really real. The thickness of the nail, the toughness of the callouses on both hands and feet. The wicked nail edge that could probably slice through flesh. Everything else about the naked man seemed perfectly normal. No fangs, no fur. So where did they keep it all—? “George, you know you’re not supposed to be down here. The mortician is threatening to turn you into a classroom skeleton.” Detective Lawrence Robertson approached from one side of the gurney, George stood on the other. George peered closely at the body’s Read More …

Underwater – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

The crowd finally thinned as they got near the octopus tanks, and Jessie felt something tight inside her uncurl for the first time since they’d arrived at the Seahaven Aquarium. She hadn’t realized it would be this crowded, but she should have, she guessed. The place was lousy with families trying to entertain kids who, like her, were out of school for the holiday week. She desperately wished she had chosen somewhere quieter, maybe the art museum, or hell, what was wrong with an old-fashioned movie, except that her date preferred to watch at home where he could turn on Read More …

Social Climbing – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

Jessie set two overly full fountain drinks on the small table and flopped down into the empty chair. “Rock climbing is thirsty work.” Cat Chen, her new friend from Seahaven Academy of the Arts, smiled around her straw and took a long drink as she adjusted her harness. “Fun though.” Jessie took several long swallows and nodded. “I’m glad we did this today. It’s been a rough month, and like half my house is in mourning. I feel bad for them and everything, it’s just…” “A little much sometimes?” “Yeah, a lot much sometimes. It’s good to get out of Read More …

Exposure – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

“Erik, you have to hold still for this to work.” “I still feel like it needs some adjustment.” Jason rolled his eyes in the direction of the new, breadbox-sized Kodak ‘Brownie’ camera and muttered softly in ancient Greek before raising his voice. “You do know that Katherine’s going to kill you, right?” He returned his attention to the viewfinder. Erik had a bee in his bonnet about getting this… picture… taken and wouldn’t be dissuaded. The Vampire King laughed. “Isn’t that the point of this exercise?” “Hold still. I’m still getting the exposure.” Dammit, Erik had moved again. “We’re going Read More …

Leftovers – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

Jessie St. James felt a grin growing as she watched Justin MacDowell toddle around the worn wood floors of Otherworld Books, the stubby felt feathers on his turkey outfit sashaying with each bit of progress he made. She looked at Brian and found him grinning, too, teeth a flash of white against terracotta skin, before he leaned over and redirected his adopted little brother. “It’s hard to believe how much he’s grown in just a month,” she said, and decided to plant her plump butt in the doorway of the stock room to corral him a little. Brian chuckled and Read More …

Things Fall Apart – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

Posted on

He sniffed the air. The scent of burnt bones and under it—blood. A lot of it. And the outhouse smell of violent death. He walked the utility area carefully, reconstructing the deadly dance from a lifetime lived among its devotees. The spatters of brown flecks. The dust-free smears where a body had been dragged, struggling. A broken fingernail caught in the chain-link. The cloying smell of burning hair and garbage, and just a hint of cucumber. Acetone. At least they had destroyed the body, but it meant the attackers were not human. A human gang might have doused the body Read More …

Faerie Rising is on Sale for 99 cents to Celebrate Virtual FantasyCon 2017!

Posted on

We are having a wonderful time talking about all things Books of Binding at Virtual FantasyCon this week. If you haven’t had a chance to stop by, there are plenty of games, writing discussion, and story details at our VFC Booth. To celebrate this year’s convention, the e-book for our first novel, Faerie Rising: The First Book of Binding, is on sale for only 99 cents at Amazon.com. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, this is a great opportunity to save 75%. The sale is running from Oct 15-Oct 21.  You can grab one here. We Read More …