Heartwood by Jeff Gardiner

And then one wondrous night she hears the voice of her lover calling on the wind. She creeps into the night, enraptured by the hardness of the grass on her bare feet. The cold breeze tingles her skin through her thin nightdress. She wants to merge with nature: be the rejuvenating rain falling upon the earth; the fire that devours with a raging lust; the adamantine rock which endures with a spirit never-ending; the libertine, invisible air that flits and gusts so wantonly. She desires to lie with her love and know his contentment. Then she reaches the forest where the leaves flow silver with moondrops.

A tantalising sensation fills her with longing. With a soft rustling, a figure emerges from the greenwood: a beautiful naked man with copper-coloured hair. His skin glows mottled silver, covered in tiny veins. His limbs are strong and wiry and when he moves a barely perceptible sound makes her shudder. Read more

Candles Illuminate the Circle by David Gorena

Candles illuminate the circle, the walls barely visible at the edges of the dim light. In the center a figure, clad in flowing black robes with intricate patterns of swirls and glyphs sketched in a shimmering blue silk, kneels with his head bowed.

“Varium salitus exporium ver corpium…” He chants slowly, his voice barely a whisper.  The candles begin to sputter as a breeze fills the small chamber.  The sound almost drowns out the man’s whisper, “I don’t want to love her anymore.” Read more

Kindred Chronicles: The Blood Prophecy By Carmon Steele

“Awe man, I love Air Supply,” she relaxed into her car seat, cranking the volume up as loud as it would go. She lost herself in the moment singing, “I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you.”

High beams from an oncoming car blurred her vision. Blocking the lights with her hand, Adrienne swerved toward the shoulder of the road. Correcting herself, she veered back onto the pavement and honked her horn.

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Garden Refuge by Melissa Ann Long

We met in the garden. It was one of those lazy summer days where the heat gives way to a quick shower and rain sprays over your skin. I was sitting in the cove of a willow tree, protected by its sloping limbs when he came up behind me.
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