by Unknown
He dropped his gun and raised his hand. The signature unraveled itself into a silver thread as it darted towards Coyote's waiting grasp. It slithered through the space between his fingers then slid along the back of his hand. It wound around Coyote's wrist twice before disappearing into his skin. He closed his eyes, and Jove thought he looked more alive somehow, like a shroud coming off him that he hadn't ever noticed before because it had always been there.
And then Coyote dropped, sweeping out a leg to knock Napier's feet out from under him. The revolver he'd picked up went skittering across the floor.
"How did you know?" It was damn odd for Jove to hear his thoughts coming out of Napier's mouth.
"A little bird told me." Coyote's voice was flint hard as he reached out his good arm. Jove wondered what the hells he could be reaching for—until Ada lifted from the floor and flew into Coyote's hand like she was meant to be there all along.
He pointed her at Napier's head.
"Wait—"
"That's the last damn time you're givin' me orders." Coyote pulled the trigger, leaving a neat hole in Napier's forehead and a look of surprise on his face that matched Jove's own.
Jove had never had a problem finding his words, but it took him longer than usual to come up with just what he wanted to say. Understandable considering both of them were shot and bleeding like stuck pigs, and they had three bodies to deal with. Finally he settled on the most important issue at hand.
"What in an Eternity of red hells did you do to Ada?"
*~*~*
'An improvement,' Coyote called it, but Jove insisted Ada had been perfect the way she was. So what if she was more responsive and seemed to hit her mark better than before? The silver crosshair mark etched into the base of her grip made Jove's palm tingle.
"You'll get used to it," Coyote said for the fifth time in the week since they'd left Canton. He pulled his hat low over his eyes to blot out the glare of the sun. "Besides, I don't hear Molly complaining about her new shoes."
Molly snorted her irritation when Jove jerked the reins in surprise. "What do you mean—?" And then he shook his head. "Matthew."
"Boy's come a long way since I saw him last. Zoe's taught him well."
Jove grunted and adjusted his sling. His arm was healing up fine, but he couldn't wait to get the damn thing off. "Anything else I should know before we get to Bowden, Coyote?"
Coyote smiled slow under the brim of his hat, and Jove tried not to squirm in his saddle. "Hmm, I reckon there's a few things. Don't eat Zoe's rhubarb pie. You'll thank me later. And don't leave your boots out after it rains down there. Things like to come up from the dirt. But most importantly—" he stopped his horse and waited until Jove did the same, "don't call me Coyote."
Jove fought a smile. He'd been waiting for this for months. "Yeah? What should I call you, then?"
"Jericho Frye." Jericho smiled and Jove found himself doing the same. "Nice to meet you."
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
WHEN MELL EIGHT was in high school she wrote a short story for an English class. The assignment was for no more than five pages, yet she had turned in ten and the story wasn’t completed. Her teacher was impressed, but writing stories for fun was her main source of procrastination from homework; handing in an assignment that actually asked her to write fiction was too good to pass up. Since then Mell has continued writing, posting in many online communities for fanfiction and original fiction and eventually branching into slash fiction. She mostly writes paranormal or fantasy stories, but has been seen exploring the real world once or twice.
For more information on Mell’s stories and future writing plans, visit melleightfiction.weebly.com
ANDREA SPEED is a riddle cloaked in an enigma, wrapped in a breakfast sandwich. She may actually be the pseudonym of a bunch of hyper-intelligent monkeys who plan to take over the world someday, but we dare you to prove it. Is responsible for the Infected series from some publisher or another, and the Josh of the Damned series from yet another place, as well as a few random things. She – they? – can be found on her website www.andreaspeed.com, and on most social networking sites, but she invites you to come dick around with her (them?) on twitter, where she might go by @aspeed, but often tries to hide unsuccessfully under some dumbass name.
KISH SWANSON holds down a marketing position in the energy industry by day, and by night cultivates a variety of hobbies, including knitting and crocheting, computer gaming, applying costume makeup, marathon sleeping, and reading and writing LGBT alternative fiction. This interest in LGBT fiction was kindled by exposure to slash fanart and fanfiction somewhere around the year 2001, meaning that Kish’s ongoing fascination can rightfully be labeled 2001: A Gay Odyssey. Kish shares a Chicagoland apartment with a pair of roommates who never pay their share of the rent and leave appalling amounts of hair all over the countertops.
MINA MACLEOD hails from la belle province where she lives with her husband, balancing a career and a love for queer media. She has been writing since she turned six, and simply can’t seem to stop. She is a geek at heart who loves everything from anime to books to Western TV to comics to video games to the comedic value of a well played run-on sentence. She has a thing for men in uniform who have a thing for men in uniform.
Mina can be contacted via twitter or tumblr, and you can also check out her website.
Twitter link: http://twitter.com/minamacleod
Tumblr link: http://minamacleod.tumblr.com
Website: http://www.minamacleod.com/
CASSANDRA PIERCE has been a fan of romance novels and Gothic literature for most of her life, even studying the origins of the genre in college and graduate school. Before long, she got the urge to create paranormal romances of her own. When she is not writing, she teaches English at a small New England college and is active in a charity that rescues and rehomes abandoned pets.
DIANA SHERIDAN edited gay male sexzines for the better part of two decades under the nom de plume of “Dan Maxwell.” Though “Diana Sheridan” isn’t her true name either, it does reflect her true gender. In her own name, she has had numerous books published both in print and as e-books, is an accomplished editor of both books and magazines, and is comfortable switching gears to go from serious nonfiction to erotica in her work. Diana lives with her Significant Other, who is fully aware of and supportive of the many facets of her career.
ARCHER KAY LEAH was raised in Canada, growing up in a port town at a time when it was starting to become more diverse, both visibly and vocally. Combined with the variety of interests found in Archer’s family and the never-ending need to be creative, this diversity inspired a love for toying with characters and their relationships, exploring new experiences and difficult situations.
Archer most enjoys writing speculative fiction and is engaged in a very particular love affair with fantasy, especially when it is dark and emotionally charged. When not reading and writing for work or play, Archer is a geek with too many hobbies and keeps busy with other creative endeavors, a music addiction, and whatever else comes along. Archer lives in London, Ontario with a same-sex partner and their cat.
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Archer-Kay-Leah-Author/170517966489444
ANNABELLE KITCH used to think she was a normal girl. Then she found out ‘normal’ was a lie, threw her pretenses to the wind, and went streaking through life wearing the proud banner of ‘odd’. One of the only constants in this life was an unrelenting passion for storytelling, and she’s traveled the world (or worlds, if you count the ones in her head) in pursuit of this. As an avid fan of, well, everything, she naturally stumbled upon fanfiction. Therein she came upon slash and, after initially resisting, ultimately said ‘why not’. Depending on your point of view, it was all downhill or uphill from there.
These days, Annabelle works a desk job, which is a pretty good cover for the nonsense that goes on in her head. Pretty soon, she’s going to strike it big, but for now the writing of passionate fiction will be relegated to ev
enings and weekends. And lunch breaks. And times when the work is slow and there’s nobody looking at her monitor.
CAITLIN RICCI was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by family and teachers that encouraged her love of reading. She has always been a voracious reader and that love of the written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. If she isn’t writing, she can usually be found studying as she works toward her counseling degree. She comes from a military family and the men and women of the armed forces are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies where she calls home with her wonderful fiance and their two dogs. Her belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs deeply through all of her stories.
Website: www.CaitlinRicci.com
S.S. SKYE is an engineer moonlighting as an author, filling the margins of her notebooks with fluff and stuff. She’s been writing m/m and f/f romance (with a few dalliances with m/f) since discovering it in eighth grade, due in no small part to the founders of Lt3. She’s delighted to be able to share the fruits of many nights interrupted by inspiration and many hours she should’ve been studying, and is speechlessly ecstatic to be doing so among authors of such a high caliber.
Every week, she tries to further hone her fluff ‘n stuff skills by writing short ficlets for the Sunday Snuggles community. Further works by her can be found at the following:
http://skeptics-secret.livejournal.com/
http://sundaysnuggles.livejournal.com/tag/author%3A%20skeptics_secret
FREDDIE MILANO lives with her partner-in-crime, two adorable and devilish cats, and far more ideas than she really has time to set down on (electronic) paper. She’s been writing since she could hold a pen, though most of the embarrassing stories thankfully never made it onto the internet, and can stay safely buried.
She loves wine, Korean pop music, tea, chocolate, coffee, mythology, and both video and tabletop gaming. An ESFJ surrounded by introverts, Freddie has learned the art of socialization in moderation. Besides, staying in just leaves her more time to write. She can be found at http://www.freddiemilano.com.
AUGUST AIMES answers to many titles: Writer. Graphic designer. Art mercenary. Life-ruiner. Kpop addict. Just to name a few. An unapologetic New Yorker—and all the good and bad that comes with that—August has been writing since elementary school when the writing bug first bit. August ended up writing a children’s book at the age of nine and that, as they say, was the beginning of the end. Since then, August has been writing (under a different name) whenever time permitted or whenever the mood struck. Being a writer is one of August’s greatest pleasures and it’s brought with it a bevy of irreplaceable people and experiences.
August shares a home with a partner in crime, two questionable cats, and a ridiculous collection of books.
