Magic of Home: an Uncollected Anthology story Read Online Free Page A

ridden to Moretown Bay. The metal felt stiff and unyielding without her friend to give it heart.
    Jocko didn’t appear to have the same misgivings. He sat astride his motorcycle—and it was clearly his now—and gunned the engine, smiling at the deep, throaty, vibrating roar.
    Wait a minute.
    He was smiling .
    “That looks good on you,” Twig said, shouting to make herself heard.
    His smile got wider, but he let the engine idle. “Where are you headed?”
    It was a good question.
    Twig didn’t think she could withstand the emotional upheaval of returning to her kin’s enclave on the island, not just yet. She certainly couldn’t go back to the gang, not that she wanted to.
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m kind of without a home at the moment.”
    Jocko gave her a long look. The smile on his face was reflected in his eyes. He always did like a good fight.
    “You’ve got a home,” he said at last. “You always did.”
    That wonderful ache settled in her heart again.
    Somewhere along the line, Jocko had figured it out. He’d guessed why she’d left Moretown Bay to join the gang and why she couldn’t tell him the reason, and he’d forgiven her.
    She smiled back.
    “Then let’s get a move on,” she said. “It’s been a hell of night.”

 
     
     
     
     
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
     
     
    Award-winning author Annie Reed describes herself as a desert rat who longs to live by the ocean. Since she hasn’t yet convinced her family to relocate to a nice chunk of beachfront property, she’s done the next best thing—written a series of stories set in a contemporary Pacific Northwest city where magic and reality go hand in hand. Private investigators Diz and Dee populate Annie’s more lighthearted stories, while denizens of a much rougher neighborhood lurk in her Tales From the Shadows .
    A talented and versatile writer whose fantasy, science fiction, and mystery stories have sold to a wide variety of publications, including five of the first seven volumes of Fiction River’s inaugural year, Annie is also the author of the Abby Maxon mystery novels Pretty Little Horses and Paper Bullets, as well as A Death in Cumberland.
    For more information about Annie, go to www.annie-reed.com .

 
     
    THE UNCOLLECTED ANTHOLOGY STORIES
     
    The Magic of Home is part of the innovative Uncollected Anthology series.
    Every three months, these talented authors pick a theme and write a short story for that theme. But instead of bundling the stories together, each author sells their own. No muss, no fuss—you can buy one story or you can buy them all. (We’ll be honest; we hope you buy them all!)
    If you’d like to keep reading more fine stories featuring this issue’s theme—magical motorcycles—click on the links below:
     

     
    DANCING WITH TONG YI
     
    Tong Yi works for Huli Transport, a company that specializes in rides and transportation for those who aren’t quite human.
    When the newest job comes up—delivering a message to Zhang Guo Lao, one of the Eight Immortals—Tong Yi assumes the job will be tricky because the immortal likes to play games.
    He has no idea that Zhang Guo Lao isn’t the only one interested in “dancing” with him.

 
     
     

     
    THE MADNESS OF SURVIVAL
     
    The Faerie Folk come when the veil between the worlds is thin, spinning their sticky-sweet glamour and stealing children away. The only thing standing in their way: a motorcycle gang made up of broken, lost people who managed to escape from the Faerie Realm after their own abductions.
    Riding her enchanted steed, sworn to protect children, Alis mourns the loss of her own daughter, taken by the Fae. Abandoned by her husband, shunned by her friends, Alis now knows no family but her fellow riders, knows no joy except when she’s riding.
    But freedom comes with a price…

 
     
     

     
    BLOOD TO BLOOD
     
    Malek—the serpent from the Garden of Eden—counts himself among the local gods. The last time he rode with the others under