Showing results by author "Cebelius" in All Categories

Coming out of the Dakotas with a little bit of extra scratch was more than I could have reasonably expected, given how much trouble we'd found ourselves in. Little did I know how much deeper the rabbit hole could go. When I was offered a job to hunt down and stop a group of flamboyant assassins, I immediately said what any self-respecting poker player would say: No. No way. Absolutely not. Are you out of your mind?

Andrew hunts monsters as a member of the Non-Human Investigative Corps, and he's very good at his job. Unfortunately, the skills he honed to keep the peace aren't much use in the cutthroat world of city politics, and a recent civil ruling is forcing the integration of the once exclusively human NHIC!

When an invitation to try a cutting-edge game promising darkly sensual adventure drops in Abram's lap, it's an offer he can't refuse. After all, as an agoraphobe who never leaves his apartment, his social life is defined by, and limited to, games. Yet an interesting premise quickly shows its dark side as his mind is filled with memories of unspeakable torment, forcing him to rely on his meta-knowledge just to stay sane. The game is like nothing he's ever played: It has no tutorial, no HUD, no levels, no experience system, no respawns, and no mercy.

How much blood is one man worth? Terrence Mack has succeeded in keeping his freedom, but at what cost? The Vicereine of Florence is dead. The city she ruled has fallen to chaos, under assault by both Twilight Zone agents and a seemingly unstoppable dragon determined to claim the template's power for herself.

The Morgan brothers led a vicious syndicate in the streets of Oolytau for over twenty years. It all came crashing down when a legendary cleaner put one of those brothers in the ground and gave the other a grim ultimatum. With the empire he and his brother built in shambles, weary of the outlaw life and faced with the prospect of revenge against a nightmare no one could kill, Will Morgan chose exile. Carina said goodbye to her husband, knowing she might never see him again.

Grace Daytau is a gargoyle with a fresh lease on life. After turning state's evidence gets her witness protection at a university campus, she's determined to play it straight. There's just one problem: She hasn't been to school in almost 20 years! If she can't make the grade, Daytau will revoke her WitPro scholarship, leaving her at the mercy of the syndicates.

Celestine is a land of beauty and horror where the heroic souls of men are tempted to fall from heights mere mortals were never meant to attain. Terrence Mack has managed to survive in this brutal world, gathering bonds of great power and ability, passing trials and tribulations that would crush lesser men. Yet his own unwillingness to let others share his burdens may be his undoing, and his greatest challenges are yet to come. To even reach his destiny, Terry must once again cross the Wildervast, a dream world where desires rule fate.

The Labyrinth behind him, Terry and company arrive on the Eastern Steppes in the midst of a carnival, and a fateful decision puts him under a dire curse. Stripped of his bond powers and exiled to the dreamlike Wildervast, he must find and free the ultimate witch, then kill an invincible man. Meanwhile, those left behind must face the machinations of the tauren herd leaders, whose law allows them to take a template for common use, and the remnants of Theseus' bonds in search of revenge.

With all survivors in Svartheim under his control, Abram has become the Mountain King. Revenge is his, yet his troubles have only begun. The dungeon is a shambles of death and decay. His goblins and hobs are few in number and lack training. The bridge to the surface is in ruins, and his latest bond is a literal demon bent on corrupting and destroying him. Yet Abram is nothing if not resourceful and rapidly sets about improving his circumstances through thrift, hard work, alliance, and subterfuge.

Tony Platz had the respect of his peers, a career on the fast track, and the body of an Olympian. There was only one problem: It was an open secret he carried a torch for his already-married partner. When a raid put her in the hospital and finally exposed her husband's ongoing infidelity, Tony got shipped out to Oolytau. Tayra Manes worked hard, graduated the academy, and became the first of her kind to join the Non-Human Investigative Corps. There was only one problem: She was a griffin, and not everyone approved of her being allowed to serve in the previously all-human NHIC.

Cyril woke up in a hospital bed with a ruined body and no memory of how it happened. His only chance at a normal life was agreeing to a splicer's experiment with a twisted condition: he was forbidden to learn the circumstances surrounding his injuries. Rose saved a life and wound up exiled from her gang, friendless and broke in Oolytau. Given an out by a notorious mob boss, she found herself in the Tracts working with a man who might be everything she never knew she needed.

Tyrfing is both the key to success in Terry Mack's quest to destroy the Dust Lord and a death sentence for any template foolish enough to go after the cursed blade. With Baba Yaga prophesying doom should he pursue the weapon himself, Terry is compelled by his lovers and companions to allow Yuri to retrieve the sword instead, while he moves to secure the tiger kin and bring them home.

This season, on the most unfiltered reality show in the universe, the one to watch will be human …Succubi treat all other species as livestock. Gene seeds from every corner of the universe are bought and sold for sustenance, for labor … for fun. Yet, for all their advantages over natural breeding programs, gene seeds are not without risk. Occasionally, such seeds retain episodic memory of a past life. These seeds – called ghosts – are routinely destroyed when discovered. Succubi, however, are ruled by their desires. Wherever there’s potential for profit, exceptions get made.

A man is only as good as his word.... Celestine is a vast world, filled with mysteries and peopled by creatures most men consider nothing but flights of fancy.

Can't win for losin'...As any gambler will tell you, luck runs hot and cold. For my many sins I've been forced to scrape a life out of poker games and side-jobs on the fringes of civil society. I thought I hit it big when I raked 50-grand off the table at a roadhouse in Texas. It is amazing what a win can cost you. Now, on the run from a drug cartel headed by an unstoppable juggernaut, pursued by a shape-shifting killer, and framed for attempted murder, I have to protect a girl with a bounty on her head.

As former police officer, his back broken in the line of duty, James' life hung by a thread. Securing treatment landed him deep in debt and working for a soldier of fortune company to pay for his recovery. When he learned just how dirty that company was, he had to decide if his conscience was worth becoming a lifelong paraplegic.

To Viggo, the veil was simply a landmark. Crossing it was considered suicide, and he'd never given much thought to what might lay beyond. Then, his life collapsed around him. Ejected from the military academy that was to have marked the start of his career, disowned by his family, passed over by the gods themselves, Viggo's last chance lay beyond the veil. Yet, from the very beginning, something was deeply troubling about the realm from whence the gods came. Its cities lay in ruins, its lands peopled by lunatics locked into tasks they could not escape.

Terrence Mack was born poor, grew up tough, and died hard. Waking up in a sea cave with nothing but the clothes on his back and a new bullet scar was enough to convince him that wherever his death had brought him, it wasn't paradise. His new world quickly proves to be a place of danger, magic, monsters, and - for Terry at least - women. Known on Celestine as a template, Terry's genes are key to the survival of the eldritch races. But the fiercely competitive eldritch don't typically leave their lovers alive long, and aren't accustomed to taking 'no' for an answer.

You're back? And you want to know what happened next? Well okay then, pull up a chair, and I'll tell you what went down in Minot. Yes. North Dakota. That Minot. Just goes to show not all the strange is confined to the big city. We went up there looking for the missing daughter of a friend of mine, and wound up neck-deep in trouble when instead of the missing girl, we found a drug ring. And a mind-controlled cult. Ruse did something stupid, Cougs got jealous, Kahni caused trouble, I got arrested again, and by the end of it, half the town was gunning for my hide.