Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Tales From The Shadows
    Tales From The Shadows
    Tales From The Shadows
    Ebook86 pages1 hour

    Tales From The Shadows

    By Annie Reed

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In this five-story collection, award-winning writer Annie Reed takes us on a bone-chilling tour down the mean streets of The Shadows, a place where dark magic and crime rule the night.
    A man obsessed by his wife’s death finds more than he bargained for in “Changeling,” as does the budding serial killer in “Famous.” A young woman goes on a desperate search for her twin’s murderer in “Iris & Ivy.” A stripper becomes the latest target of a dangerous man in “Don't Touch.” And in “Ties That Bind,” a young wizard risks everything to save the company she inherited from her father.

    “The appearance of a new Annie Reed story is a treat. Try one and you'll be hooked.” -- Dave Hendrickson, author of CRACKING THE ICE

    For more information on Annie, go to www.annie-reed.com.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThunder Valley Press
    Release dateApr 1, 2012
    ISBN9781476223711
    Tales From The Shadows
    Author

    Annie Reed

    Award-winning author and editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch calls Annie Reed “one of the best writers I’ve come across in years.”Annie’s won recognition for her stellar writing across multiple genres. Her story “The Color of Guilt” originally published in Fiction River: Hidden in Crime, was selected as one of The Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016. Her story “One Sun, No Waiting” was one of the first science fiction stories honored with a literary fellowship award by the Nevada Arts Foundation, and her novel PRETTY LITTLE HORSES was among the finalists in the Best First Private Eye Novel sponsored by St. Martin’s Press and the Private Eye Writers of America.A frequent contributor to the Fiction River anthologies and Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Annie’s recent work includes the superhero origin novel FASTER, the near-future science fiction short novel IN DREAMS, and UNBROKEN FAMILIAR, a gritty urban fantasy mystery short novel. Annie’s also one of the founding members of the innovative Uncollected Anthology, a quarterly series of themed urban fantasy stories written by some of the best writers working today.Annie’s mystery novels include the Abby Maxon private investigator novels PRETTY LITTLE HORSES and PAPER BULLETS, the Jill Jordan mystery A DEATH IN CUMBERLAND, and the suspense novel SHADOW LIFE, written under the name Kris Sparks, as well as numerous other projects she can’t wait to get to. For more information about Annie, including news about upcoming bundles and publications, go to www.annie-reed.com.

    Read more from Annie Reed

    Related to Tales From The Shadows

    Related ebooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Gift of Gold

      Nov 10, 2021

      The Gift of Gold
      8 min read

    • Article

      Life In The past Lane

      Aug 27, 2021

      Life In The past Lane
      5 min read

    • Article

      100-WORD-STORY COMPETITION Winners

      Aug 16, 2022

      We’ve been delighted by the huge response to our 100-word-story competition. The entries have flooded in thick and fast during the past few months, but while we’ve enjoyed reading every story, only a few can come out on top! You, our readers, voted t

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Missing Limousine

      Sep 28, 2021

      The Missing Limousine
      21 min read

    • Article

      Reading CORNER

      Dec 4, 2022

      For six years, a town has been hiding big secrets This novel starts out like a murder mystery, but very quickly becomes so much more than that. A heartfelt tale set in the suburbs of an Australian country town in the early ’90s, it’s about friendshi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Kerre, Quite Contrary

      Jul 3, 2022

      Kerre, Quite Contrary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Visions of Summertime Sadness and Solitude in ‘The Green Ray’

      Oct 23, 2023

      Romance, like film, is in large part projection. The post Visions of Summertime Sadness and Solitude in ‘The Green Ray’ appeared first on The Millions.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Why I’ve Stopped Waiting for ‘The Winds of Winter’

      May 11, 2018

      1. It was my ex who first suggested I read George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. “I think you’ll like it,” he said, pulling his copy from the wooden bookcase in the corner of his bedroom. The shelves sagged under the weight of the epic fantasies th

      5 min read

    • Article

      Hardly Never in Vegas: Fat Johnny Little and Salty Salt Sue make a break for the desert.

      Jun 18, 2015

      Salty Salt Sue met Fat Johnny Little at a card game so hot it burned a girl, the sultry Louisiana night dampening her clothes, making her tingle from the waist down. She sat next to Vinnie DeLuca, who bore a passing resemblance to Dillinger—his penci

      11 min read

    • Article

      Hardly Never in Vegas: Fat Johnny Little and Salty Salt Sue make a break for the desert.

      Aug 8, 2013

      Salty Salt Sue met Fat Johnny Little at a card game so hot it burned a girl, the sultry Louisiana night dampening her clothes, making her tingle from the waist down. She sat next to Vinnie DeLuca, who bore a passing resemblance to Dillinger—his penci

      11 min read

    • Article

      A Kind Of Magic

      Apr 1, 2024

      A Kind Of Magic
      7 min read

    • Article

      On The Record

      Dec 9, 2021

      On The Record
      8 min read

    • Article

      Child’s PLAY

      Jun 2, 2020

      Child’s PLAY
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Hard Man To Forget

      Jan 8, 2024

      A Hard Man To Forget
      4 min read

    • Article

      Australia Reads At Home

      May 18, 2020

      Australia Reads At Home
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Heavy Load

      Dec 31, 2018

      The Heavy Load
      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘Sing to It’: Featured Fiction from Amy Hempel

      Mar 25, 2019

      If she was home at night in her husband’s bed, did he care what she did with her days? The post ‘Sing to It’: Featured Fiction from Amy Hempel appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Pedro Almodóvar

      Jun 6, 2023

      Pedro Almodóvar
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Tales From The Shadows

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Tales From The Shadows - Annie Reed

      TALES FROM THE SHADOWS

      Annie Reed

      Published by Thunder Valley Press at Smashwords

      Copyright © 2012 Annie Reed

      Cover art Copyright © Sergey Gordeev | Dreamstime.com

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This story is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

      For more information on the author, go to www.annie-reed.com.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Changeling

      Famous

      Iris & Ivy

      Don't Touch

      Ties That Bind

      Copyright Information

      About the Author

      (If you would like to jump directly to the story, just click on the title)

      ~ ~ ~

      Introduction

      Every big city has a neighborhood where it's not safe to walk alone in the daylight, much less after dark. A place where all manner of illegal substances are bought and sold, and sex is used like a weapon. A place where the crimes on the street don't hold a candle to what goes on behind closed doors and shuttered windows.

      In Moretown Bay, the locals call that neighborhood The Shadows.

      I started writing stories set in the fictional Pacific Northwest town of Moretown Bay a few years ago when I wrote the first Diz and Dee detective story. As I initially envisioned my fantasy detectives, they were serious police officers dealing with very serious magical crimes and criminals. It seemed like a natural. After all, I grew up reading crime fiction and watching crime shows and police procedurals on television. If someone would have added a little magic to a show like Hill Street Blues, I would have been in seventh heaven, as my dad used to say. It's no wonder I'm currently enjoying the heck out of Grimm.

      However, as it turned out, Diz and Dee didn't want to be serious all the time, and their stories took on a more light-hearted tone. But since I have that soft spot in my heart for noir stories, I never forgot that Moretown Bay has a seedy underbelly. I just needed the right character to come along and tell me his story.

      That character showed up when I wrote Changeling as an assignment for a fairytale noir anthology that didn't take off. Rory the cab driver was noir to his core, and such a strong character that he makes an appearance in two more of the stories in this volume, Famous and Don't Touch.

      I wrote Ties That Bind for Loren Coleman's anthology WIZARDS, INC., published by Daw (2007). Ties That Bind delves into the world of corporate crime, only since magic's involved, the stakes in this story are much higher than simple downsizing. The fifth story in this collection is Iris & Ivy, a tale of twin sisters, murder, and revenge.

      The fine folks at Thunder Valley Press are putting together several more five-story collections of my short fiction. Each collection will focus on a topic or genre, like this one. As long as Thunder Valley keeps wanting to publish these collections, I'll keep writing the stories. I hope you enjoy reading them.

      —Annie Reed

      Reno, Nevada

      March 31, 2012

      ~ ~ ~

      Changeling

      The changeling reclined on her narrow bed in the squalid little room, rumpled sheets testifying to a busy night already spent on her back. Features flowed across her face, flesh moving like liquid to thin her lips, widen her brows, sharpen her chin and the delicate shells of her ears.

      This what you want, sugar? she asked. Her waist narrowed, lean muscle flattening her naked belly. Her breasts shrank from the porn queen size they'd been when Rory picked her up on the street to something he could cup in his hand. This what you're after?

      Most normals couldn’t watch a changeling shift. Couldn't witness human features rearrange themselves and know, deep in the gut, it wasn't an illusion. The wrongness of it hurt the eyes, made the stomach heave and the pavement tilt underfoot. Rory didn't have a choice. He had to watch.

      The changeling hadn't turned on the overhead light when she let Rory in her room. Enough watery streetlight filtered through the sheets of rain beating against the window for Rory to see her try to become what he wanted. What he'd told her was his fantasy.

      A half-full World's Best Mom mug sat on the bedside table next to an overflowing ashtray. Lipstick smears circled the rim. In the dim light, the lipstick looked black. Judging by the boozy smell, the mug hadn't seen coffee in a long time.

      You got a kid? he asked. No toys littered the room, but that didn't mean anything. Not every mother was the world's best.

      She saw him looking at the mug and laughed. Goodwill, sugar. Got it cheap. Someone's momma didn't want it no more. She took a drink. You want some? I got a clean glass and a bottle in the closet. Five bucks extra.

      The place stank of sweat and cigarettes and sex. No. A drink wasn't what he was after. He leaned one shoulder against the wall at the foot of her bed. Unzipped his coat. She didn't have a kid. He couldn't stay if she had a kid. He allowed himself to hope. Maybe she'd be the one.

      So? She gestured at her face. At her reshaped body. How'd I do?

      Close, but close wasn't good enough. The chin's wrong, Rory said. A dimple, right here. He touched the middle of his own chin. Like I told you.

      Like this? A cleft appeared in the middle of her chin, but too high up. It looked like a piercing gone wrong.

      I said here. He touched his own chin again. What was so difficult about a cleft chin? Why couldn't she get it right?

      Would be easier if you brought a picture with you, she said. Don't you have a pic—

      Just do what I tell you, and you won't need a damn picture.

      Now he did want a drink. Frustration did that to him, but he'd quit drinking just when any other man would have started.

      Rory didn't need to be reminded that

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1