by Gaie Sebold
‘Don’t kill him,’ I said, through the big soft waves that were rolling over my vision. ‘Tie him up. Don’t kill him.’
‘How the hells did you and Tarek find me?’ I said. Liva and I were sitting either side of Deralis’ bed.
‘I knew you were going to call on the necromancers,’ Liva said. ‘When you didn’t come back, I went to Tarek first, and then we spoke to the girl at the inn. She’d seen you coming out with Sulvan and she thought you were drunk.’
Deralis fingered the scar on her chest. Liva gently moved her hand away.
Deralis looked pretty good, considering, but she was still a way from her tough, raucous self. ‘He kept bringing me things,’ she said. ‘Even after I told him I didn’t want the contract. I came home one day and found him putting up Festival of the Dead decorations in the parlour. He must have got hold of a key, had a copy made – I asked for it back. He gave it to me, but I never thought he might have more than one. I burned the decorations. I tried to give him back the things he’d given me but he wouldn’t take them so I burned those too. As though that would make him go away.’
‘I still don’t understand,’ Liva said. ‘Why did he do it?’
‘He kept a book of his own,’ I said. ‘I read it. Some of it. It was a mess. You know the legend of Meriasen of Kyr?’
‘She kept her heart in a cage, didn’t she?’ Liva said.
‘Yes. And there’s other legends like that – people keeping their hearts somewhere else so they can’t be hurt, or killed. Sulvan believed them. Or believed some version of them. When Deralis told him she didn’t want to take his contract offer, didn’t even want him coming around anymore, he convinced himself that she’d hidden her heart from him, that she’d put it somewhere else. Because really, in her real heart, she had to love him. Because he wanted her, she had to want him back. She was only pretending she didn’t, hiding her heart.’
‘But that…’ Liva shook her head, gripping Deralis’ hand more tightly. ‘That makes no sense.’
‘It made sense to him.’
‘He killed them all, looking for my heart. Thinking I’d wake up, and tell him I loved him, tell him it had all been a mistake.’ Deralis started to cry. Again. ‘Those poor women. If I’d known, I could have pretended … told him I loved him, waited for a chance to get away. Every time I woke up I just begged him to let me go, I didn’t know what was happening. It’s my fault he kept killing. If I’d just known.’
‘No.’ Liva and I spoke together. We looked at each other, and she gestured for me to go on.
‘It’s his fault,’ I said. ‘His. No-one else’s. His fault he couldn’t take no for an answer, and his fault he’d rather murder than admit the person he wanted might turn him down. Just his.’
‘At least you got to Jacinth before they burned the body,’ Deralis said. ‘Is she…’
‘So far as I know she’s fine. She doesn’t remember any of it – which is probably just as well,’ Liva said. ‘And Babylon managed to talk to that councillor and get the records of her identity removed, so no-one’s going to wonder why she’s walking about. Amazing how effective just mentioning fruit can be.’
‘You and Tarek did brilliantly,’ I said. They had, bribing the guards at the public morgue to get Jacinth’s body before they burned it. Getting it to Sulvan’s, and especially the next bit, which was messy. But now Jacinth was back home with her little boy, and Sulvan’s workshop had, unfortunately, burned to the ground. Along with whatever was in it. Apart from a few books that might have found their way into Tarek’s collection.
‘He’s a bit useful, that young Tarek,’ I said. ‘He might never have done it before, but he did all right.’
Deralis gave a shadow of her usual smile. ‘He’s not so bad, is he?’
‘Quite cute, actually,’ I said. ‘In a fresh-faced virgin sort of way. And he’s been working ever so hard. Perhaps he could do with a little recreation. What do you think?’
Liva rolled her eyes. ‘Is she always like this?’ She asked Deralis.
‘I don’t know why she thought she needed me to find clients for her,’ Deralis said.
‘Actually I think I might offer him a freebie,’ I said, ‘what with him coming heroically to the rescue and all.’
Deralis ran her fingers over the scar again. ‘Mine doesn’t feel any different. I wonder if Jacinth’s does.’
‘No reason why it should,’ I said. ‘There was nothing wrong with his heart.’
CONTRIBUTORS
ARTIST
Sarah Anne Langton draws things, writes and scribbles a lot about comics. Qualified Astronaut. Part time archaeologist. Full time geek.
Sarah has worked as an Illustrator for Hodder & Stoughton, Forbidden Planet, EA Games, The Cartoon Network, Sony, Marvel Comics and a wide variety of music events. Written and illustrated for Jurassic London, Fox Spirit, NewCon Press, Anachron Press and ‘The Fizzy Pop Vampire‘ series. Hodderscape dodo creator and Kitschies judge. Daylights as Web Mistress for the worlds largest sci-fi and fantasy website. Her work has featured on io9, Clutter Magazine, Laughing Squid and Creative Review.
Fine her online at http://www.secretarcticbase.com
AUTHORS
A. R. Aston is a speculative fiction writer from former industrial town of Swadlincote, located deep in the Heart of England (in the left ventricle if you must know...). An avid student of history and english literature, he has always had a passion for the written word. When not writing, he can be found reading voraciously, creating a functional time machine, and composing spurious facts about himself... For more of his work, visit his author page on amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/A.-R.-Aston/e/B00AKG2IEK
Or alternatively visit his blog, The Tentacled Tribunal, at: http://lordlucan1.wordpress.com
Stephanie Burgis lives in Wales with her husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire, their two children, and their crazy-sweet border collie mix. She has published over thirty short stories in various SF and fantasy magazines and anthologies as well as a trilogy of Regency fantasy novels for younger readers, The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson. You can find links to her other short stories and excerpts from her novels on her website: http://www.stephanieburgis.com
Zen Cho is a Malaysian writer of SFF and romance living in London. She was a finalist for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2013. Her short story collection Spirits Abroad was published by Buku Fixi in June 2014.
Her website can be found at http://zencho.org
Jaine Fenn is the author of the Hidden Empire series of far future SF novels published by Gollancz, which began with Principles of Angels. She also writes short stories in other genres, and is a sucker for a retold folk tale. Her website can be found at http://www.jainefenn.com
Tom Johnstone’s fiction has appeared in various publications, including the Ninth and Tenth Black Books of Horror (Mortbury Press), Brighton – The Graphic Novel (Queenspark Books) and Supernatural Tales, #27. He also co-edited the austerity-themed anthology Horror Uncut: Tales of Social Insecurity and Economic Unease with the late Joel Lane, published in September 2014 by Gray Friar Press.
Juliet E McKenna’s love of other worlds, other peoples, fantasy, myth and history was nurtured by childhood viewing of programmes such as Doctor Who, Star Trek and UFO. After studying Classics at Oxford University, she worked in personnel management before a career change to combine motherhood and book-selling. Her debut novel, The Thief’s Gamble, was published in 1999, the first of The Tales of Einarinn. That series was followed by The Aldabreshin Compass sequence, beginning with Southern Fire and The Chronicles of the Lescari Revolution, starting with Irons in the Fire. She writes diverse shorter fiction and always enjoying the challenge of something new, she wrote a serial story for Aethernet magazine in 2013. She is currently exploring the possibilities and opportunities of independent ebook publishing alongside traditional methods.
Check out her website at http://www.julietemckenna.com
Christine M
organ works the overnight shift in a psychiatric facility, which plays havoc with her sleep schedule but allows her a lot of writing time. A lifelong reader, she also reviews, beta-reads, occasionally edits and dabbles in self-publishing. Her other interests include gaming, history, superheroes, crafts, cheesy disaster movies and training to be a crazy cat lady. She can be found online at http://www.christine-morgan.org
Gaie Sebold’s debut novel introduced brothel-owning ex-avatar of sex and war, Babylon Steel (Solaris, 2012); the sequel, Dangerous Gifts, came out in 2013. Shanghai Sparrow, a steampunk fantasy, came out in 2014. She has published numerous short stories, had a variety of jobs (some more unusual than others) and is a member of T Party Writers. She now writes, runs writing workshops, grows vegetables, and procrastinates to professional levels. She has also been known to commit performance poetry and to run around in woods hitting people with latex weapons, though seldom both at the same time.
Extracts from Shanghai Sparrow and the Babylon Steel novels can be found on her website: http://gaiesebold.com.
Follow the latest scandal and tidbits from the world of Babylon Steel at http://scalentine.gaiesebold.com.
Sam Stone is the award-winning author of The Vampire Gene Series. Her latest works include the first part of her new apocalypse trilogy, Jinx Town, a short horror novel that first appeared in audio, The Darkness Within, and her latest Steampunk novella, What’s Dead PussyKat.
A prolific and eclectic genre writer, Sam’s short fiction has appeared in many collections and anthologies as well as her own collection Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings. She is currently working on the second Jinx book.
Sam lives in Lincolnshire with her partner David and their cat, Jinx.
Visit her at: http://www.sam-stone.com
Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed Shadows of the Apt fantasy series, from the first volume, Empire In Black and Gold in 2008 to the final book, Seal of the Worm, in 2014, with a new series and a standalone science fiction novel scheduled for 2015. He has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award and a British Fantasy Award and his first full length science fiction novel, Portia’s Children comes out in 2015. In civilian life he is a lawyer, gamer and amateur entomologist.
Find him online at: http://shadowsoftheapt.com
Jonathan Ward is a science-fiction, horror and fantasy writer hailing from the sprawling urban metropolis of Bedford. He has wanted to be an author since the age of eight, though it’s questionable whether his writing talents have improved since then. When not writing he can be found reading a good book, out exploring new places, or in the pub being sarcastic to his closest friends.
Jonathan’s Author Central page containing links to all of his published work: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jonathan-Ward/e/B002BLQ8HA/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Jonathan’s Facebook writing page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Written-Ward/339336243357
Chloë Yates is a writer of odd stories. Having peppered her way across the Fox Spirit landscape with stories in all three of Kate Laity’s Noir series (Drag Noir will be out soon), work appearing (and to be appearing) in all but one of the Fox Pockets, and becoming a Girl at the End of the World (Vol. 1), she is currently working on her first novel and a collection of short stories for the upcoming Feral Tales trilogy. She lives in the middle of Switzerland with her bearded paramour, Mr Y, and their disapproving dog, Miss Maudie.
Find her online at: http://chloeyates.com
EDITORS
Jenny Barber is an editor and writer with a particular fondness for short fiction. Along with Jan Edwards she has co-edited The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders, The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic #1 and Urban Mythic #2. As a writer she has had fiction published with various small presses including Fox Spirit Books and Elektrik Milk Bath Press and has written non-fiction for the Girl’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse blog.
When not doing any of that, she’s a minion of all trades for the family business and can usually be found wrangling spreadsheets and walking around rented houses talking to herself.
Brave souls can find her at: http://www.jennybarber.co.uk
Jan Edwards is a writer with a passion for folklore and mythology; has thirty-six fantasy shorts published in almost every form (with first collection coming very soon); was short-listed for a BFS Award for Best Short Story; lives in North Staffs with other half Peter Coleborn plus the cats and chickens, but was born and raised in West Sussex; is a Reiki Master and Meditational Healer; taroist par excellence; edits for the award winning Alchemy Press (with the inimitable Jenny Barber - The Alchemy Book of Ancient Wonders (2012) and Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic vol 1 (2013) and vol 2 (2014); has one mainstream novel out under a pen name and a fantasy novel as Jan Edwards arriving shortly.
For more details go to http://janedwardsblog.wordpress.com/
If you enjoyed Wicked Women here as some other titles by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber:
The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders;
Discover standing stones, burial mounds, ruined castles or sunken cities: the ancient sites that litter our landscapes; the ancient wonders that possess a mysterious appeal that cannot be denied.
The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic
There is magic out there on the street and the Mythic are alive and well and creating chaos in a city near you. Fourteen fabulous authors bring you tales of wonder and horror, with ancient curses and modern charms, strange things in the Underground, murder and redemption, corporate cults and stalwart guardians, lost travellers and wandering gods, fortune tellers and urban wizards, dragons, fae and unspeakable beasts.
The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic 2.
In the footsteps of volume one, here are a further twelve tales of myth and magic, of legendary creatures, set in the modern age, with stories from: Sarah Ash, James Brogden, Carl Barker, Andrew Coulthard, KT Davies, Pauline E Dungate, Chico Kidd, Tanith Lee, Christine Morgan, Lou Morgan, Marion Pitman and Adrian Tchaikovsky.
For details go to http://alchemypress.wordpress.com/
Foxspirit.co.uk
‘After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.’ Phillip Pullman
Skulk: noun – a pack or group of foxes
Fox Spirit believes that day to day life lacks a few things, primarily the fantastic, the magical, the mischievous and even a touch of the horrific. We aim to rectify that by bringing you stories and gorgeous cover art and illustrations from foxy folk who believe as we do that we could all use a little more wonder in our lives.
Here at the Fox Den we believe in storytelling first and foremost, so we mash genres, bend tropes and set fire to rule books merrily as we seek out tall tales that excite and delight us and send them out into the world to find new readers.
With a mixture of established and new writers producing novels, short stories, flash fiction and poetry via ebook and print we recommend letting a little Fox Spirit into your life.
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