Showing results by narrator "Chelsea Stephens" in All Categories

Crystal was born of a bloodline both mortal and magical, raised to one day become a wizard and to defeat a long-hidden evil that threatened the realm of Ardhan. Through many dangerous adventures and lethal deceptions, she was finally victorious. And peace was at hand. Yet it was not so for Crystal. As the last living wizard, she soon found herself living a life without meaning. For while the people of Ardhan prospered in the world she had delivered, Crystal—with her still-growing powers—could find little solace. She was alone.

With the world in chaos and the aliens swarming the domed city of Nashville, Maya Talbot continues on her quest to find her children while destruction rains down from above - the aliens have arrived and the invasion has begun. With a crew of unlikely allies and a mother's incredible determination, she must find her kids and get to safety before it's too late. But what if Maya can't outrun the alien invaders, and what if there isn't anywhere left for the survivors to hide? The race is on and the clock is ticking because the aliens seem bent on annihilating the human race and destroying the planet.

The one constant in Jules’ life is family—the plentiful Martin clan. Domestic terrorism brought the Martins together under one roof to endure food scarcity, punishing Gulf Coast heat, no electricity, and no indoor plumbing. One outhouse for twelve people is no way to live, but at least they are safe. For now. With every setback and stolen dignity, Jules questions whether she wants to survive at all.

Paramedic Maya Talbot assumes her children to be safe at Grandma's. However, nothing could have prepared her for the chaos created when a strange obelisk rises from the ground and generates an impenetrable dome over the city. Riots, looting, and violence run rampant. The situation in Nashville deteriorates, and then they arrive, thrusting Maya into a desperate race to escape the dome and save her children from the dangers on the ground and from above. When darkness falls, the intergalactic visitors manifest our worst fears and threaten the future of humankind.

No longer the Watcher she once was, Sawyer must come to terms with her new reality. Her new identity. She may have new powers, but if she uses them, can she avoid losing herself in the process? Desperate for answers, Sawyer travels to the United Isles with Max in search of help. Of someone who could be an ally. Someone who could break the connection she has to those who will abuse her power. But the haven they find can’t remain that way. And their new allies aren’t the people Sawyer believed them to be.

Days after her capture, Rayna finds herself locked in a merciless desert prison, enslaved, beaten, and hopeless. But inside those eternal walls, she discovers new alliances that share her visions of liberty, fueling her determination to choose between the chains of oppression or the battle of her life - Freedom.

What exactly is the difference between a love letter and a suicide note? Is there really any difference at all? These might be the questions posed by Dear Sweet Filthy World, Caitlin R. Kiernan’s 14th collection of short fiction, comprising 28 uncollected and impossible-to-find stories. Here are 28 tales of apocalypse and rebirth, of miraculous transformation and utter annihilation. Here is the place where professing your undying devotion might be precisely the same thing as signing your own death warrant or worse.

After killing the first of five on his list, Finn Miles is on the trail of his next victim. After changing his name, identity, and appearance, he arrives in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where his second victim resides. Indiana Thomas was one of the members of the Fab 5, a group that tortured Finn in high school and led to some horrific, life-changing events. Now, though, he's determined to make all five pay—and it's Indiana's turn. As he works to blend in and carry out his sinister plan, however, it becomes apparent that someone else is lurking nearby with dark intentions.

Sofia Kennedy has spent the last 24 years keeping her past a dark secret. To the rest of the world, she's a gifted graphic designer, marvelous cook, and doting Minneapolis mother. But then her world is shattered when her teenage daughter is murdered. Has her life of lies caught up with her? Detectives are asking dangerous questions and going after the wrong man. It's up to Sofia to find her daughter's murderer before her elaborate deception is exposed and she loses whatever semblance of a life she has left.

Forest, North Carolina. Under the instruction of enigmatic Professor Joe Lyons, five graduate students are studying the tedious science behind the acts of lying. But discovering the secrets of deception isn't making any of the students more honest though. Instead, it's making it easier for them to guard their own secrets—and they all have something to hide. When a test goes awry and one of them is found dead, the students find themselves trapped by a snowstorm on an abandoned campus with a local detective on the case.

Vampire Alexis Black just wanted to be human again. Now she just wants to stay alive...and undead. After Alexis tried and failed to kill Delano Melazi, an ancient bloodsucker hell-bent on revenge, he’s been trying to repay the favor one pointy-toothed minion at a time. An army of undead intent on stalking and staking her.

With the inevitable return of Coleman looming, Sawyer knows their army is not enough. On a journey to convince an ally to join their war, Sawyer discovers why the stars have placed the fate of the human race in her hands, but can she accept her destiny even if it means working with the man who tried to kill her? Kenzie is her enemy. He’s tried to kill Sawyer more than once, and the control Coleman has over him will not fade. Yet, she can’t stay away from him. Both drawn to each other in a way neither can explain, they must learn to trust one another.

Vampire Alexis Black is on a mission - to rejoin the human race. Coerced into signing an ironclad contract by an angel-with-attitude, Alexis must hunt down and assassinate at least one vampire, werewolf, or creepy crawly every night for 50 years to become human again. Too bad the contract didn’t mention the badass vampire who now rides shotgun in her brain, insatiable bloodlust, or her new I-hate-everything-with-fangs sidekick. If she can fulfill her end of the bargain, her humanity is restored, if not she will be destroyed.

When Jennifer Smiley’s grandmother, Ginny, leaves her an old farmhouse on Edgewater Road in seemingly quiet Ross County, Ohio, Jennifer can’t pass up the opportunity for a new beginning. Almost immediately, she meets a group of men who generously help her move in. When she realizes that they work for Lincoln Bennett, her next-door neighbor, she’s intrigued. Lincoln is gorgeous and has dark lapis-blue eyes she could get lost in...but he doesn’t seem all that friendly. She’s torn between getting to know him and sticking with the solitude she knows so well.

A godless miracle worker. A suicidal teenager. Can a young woman save the dying when the backlash whittles away at her life? Jane Davis isn’t a hero. A twenty-five-year-old rebellious vagabond, she’s stupefied when she discovers she’s developed supernatural powers. Desperate for answers, her search catapults her into the orbit of a disturbed teen carrying a devastating secret—magic and horrific monsters are spreading.

It was the time of the Moon of the Three Rings when the Free Trader ship Lydis landed on the planet Yiktor and junior crew member Krip Vorlund visited a beast show. He was strangely attracted to the owner of the show animals, a delicate and mysterious woman named Maelen. Soon Krip was caught in a vicious struggle by powerful opponents over the fate of Yiktor - and he learned the nature of Maelen's sorcery when he found his mind trapped in the body of a wolf-like creature.

Cupid's aim sucks worse than his curse. Noel was one craptacular boyfriend away from taking a vow of celibacy when she found her dull-but-reliable fiancé. Maybe he didn't get her, ahem, juices flowing, but so what? At least he wouldn't break her heart. But then Cupid had to go and shoot her in the ass with his ill-timed arrow and ruin everything by saddling her with the worst soulmate ever. Grayson Adler. He was everything she swore she'd never fall for again - arrogant and sexy in an obvious, Greek god kind of way.

Gem's life has gone from bad to worse faster than her secret demon baby can say "baby daddy". What started as a crappy job and a possible killer to bring to justice has become a full-blown conspiracy from hell. Literally. Demons are being summoned into New Orleans and Gem is sure there's a Nephilim behind it. Now, all she has to do is prove it. Oh yeah, and not get herself killed in the process. Too bad for Gem, everyone has secrets, including her. And when the powers-that-be find out what she's capable of, they'll stop at nothing to silence her once and for all.

This collection of 22 short stories by the author of Daughter of Hounds and Alabaster firmly established Caitlín R. Kiernan as one of the preeminent voices in dark fantasy today. Through a cycle of interconnected narratives, Kiernan unflinchingly explores a surreal world where the fantastic and the mundane are never separated by more than the insubstantial thickness of a shadow.

What explains the insistent pull of Roe v. Wade? Abortion law expert Mary Ziegler argues that the US Supreme Court decision, which decriminalized abortion in 1973 and was overturned in 2022, had a hold on us that was not simply the result of polarized abortion politics. Rather, Roe took on meanings far beyond its original purpose of protecting the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship. It forced us to confront questions about sexual violence, judicial activism and restraint, racial justice, religious liberty, the role of science in politics, and much more.