The last time, I saw someone walking away from the machine, which had a snapped electrical cord. He was wearing a big, flaring coat, but I knew him anyway.
Oliver paused at the door, looked back at me, and nodded, just a little.
And that was the last time they fixed the machine. The next day, it was gone. I felt a little tingle of phantom hunger, of disappointment . . . and relief.
Because some things just aren’t meant to come out of a can.
About the Authors
CLAUDIA GRAY (“Giovanni’s Farewell”) is the pseudonym of Chicago-based novelist Amy Vincent, author of the New York Times bestselling Evernight series and the upcoming novel Fateful. Gray has worked as a lawyer, a disc jockey, a telemarketer, a journalist, and a waitress, and very much hopes this book-writing thing works out so she doesn’t have to go back to any of those jobs. Ever. You can visit her online at www.claudiagray.com.
CARRIE RYAN (“Scenic Route”) is the New York Times bestselling author of several critically acclaimed novels and short stories set in the same world as “Scenic Route,” including The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Dark and Hollow Places. Her first novel was chosen as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association and a Best of the Best Book by the Chicago Public Library. A former litigator, Carrie now writes full-time and lives with her writer-lawyer husband, two fat cats, and one large Rott-Lab in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are not at all prepared for the zombie apocalypse. You can visit Carrie online at www.carrieryan.com.
KAMI GARCIA (“Red Run”) is the New York Times and internationally bestselling coauthor (with Margaret Stohl) of Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness, Books One and Two in the Caster Chronicles. Kami draws heavily on her Southern roots for her Southern Gothic paranormal novels. She is very superstitious and lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, two children, and her dog, Spike (named after her favorite character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). You can visit her online at www.kamigarcia.com.
JACKSON PEARCE (“Things About Love”) is the author of Sisters Red, Sweetly, and As You Wish; the story she penned for this anthology is set in the As You Wish universe. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with a lot of secondhand furniture and pets who like to sleep on her keyboard when she’s trying to write. You can visit her online at www.jacksonpearce.com.
RACHEL VINCENT (“Niederwald”) is the author of the Soul Screamers series, where the characters from “Niederwald” originate, as well as several other stories in that world. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling adult series Shifters. Rachel lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband, two black cats, and a large cast of fictional characters, including bean sidhes, reapers, and cat shape-shifters. You can visit her online at www.rachelvincent.com.
MELISSA MARR (“Merely Mortal”) is the author of the New York Times and internationally bestselling Wicked Lovely series (a film of which is in development by Universal Pictures). She has also written a three-volume manga series (Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales), a number of short stories, and her adult novel, Graveminder. All of her texts are rooted in her lifelong obsession with folklore and fantastic creatures. Currently she lives in the Washington, DC, area with one spouse, two children, two Rott-Labs, and two Rottweilers. You can visit her online at www.melissa-marr.com.
KELLEY ARMSTRONG (“Facing Facts”) has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Darkest Powers young-adult trilogy as well as the Otherworld and Nadia Stafford adult series. Armstrong lives in Ontario, Canada, with her family. You can visit her online at www.kelleyarmstrong.com.
SARAH REES BRENNAN (“Let’s Get This Undead Show on the Road”) is the author of the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy, a series about demons, magicians, urban England, and two very troubled brothers. The first book was named a Top Ten Best Book by the American Library Association, was among the top ten for Best British Children’s Fantasy, was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal, and received three starred reviews. She was into literary fiction until at the age of thirteen she stumbled across the combination of magic, teenagers, and city life that was Margaret Mahy and Diana Wynne Jones in her library, and she’s been writing books like that ever since. She lives in Dublin, Ireland, which she uses as a base for many strange adventures, and she can always be found online at www.sarahreesbrennan.com.
Award-winning author JERI SMITH-READY (“Bridge”) lives in Maryland with her husband, two cats, and the world’s goofiest greyhound. Her novels include the Shade ghost series for teens, where Logan’s story begins and continues. She has also written several novels for adults, including Wicked Game and Eyes of Crow. When not writing, Jeri can usually be found—well, thinking about writing, or on Twitter. Like her characters, she loves music, movies, and staying up very, very late. You can visit her online at www.jerismithready.com.
KIMBERLY DERTING (“Skin Contact”) lives in the Pacific Northwest, where the gloomy weather is ideal for writing anything dark or creepy, leading to her debut novel, The Body Finder, and its follow-up, Desires of the Dead. She lives with her husband and their three beautiful (and often mouthy) children, who serve as an endless source of inspiration. In “Skin Contact,” you can find out more about Rafe, a character first introduced in Desires of the Dead. For more about Kimberly, you can visit her online at www.kimberlyderting.com.
ALLY CONDIE (“Leaving”) is the author of the New York Times bestselling Matched, a dystopian novel that is the first in a trilogy. She is a former high school English teacher who began writing because she missed being in the classroom and hearing her students’ stories. In addition to writing she loves reading, running, and listening to her husband play guitar. She lives in Utah with her family and blogs at www.allysoncondie.com.
JESSICA VERDAY, New York Times bestselling author (“At the Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show”), wrote the first draft of The Hollow by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. The first draft of The Haunted took fifteen spiral-bound notebooks and twenty black pens. The Hidden took too many notebooks and too many pens to count. When not searching for cannibal Girl Scouts, she spends her days and nights buying stock in pens and paper. The dedication for “At the Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show” is: For Lee, because you took me to my first Rocky Horror live show. For Tim Curry, because quite frankly, you are the shit. And to David: Sorry about the leg! You can visit her online at www.jessicaverday.com.
MARGARET STOHL (“IV League”) is the New York Times and internationally bestselling coauthor (with Kami Garcia) of Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness, the first two books in the Caster Chronicles. Beautiful Creatures, named Amazon’s Top Teen Title of 2009, is currently in development by Warner Bros. Studios. Studying American literature while living on Emily Dickinson’s street in Amherst and earning an MA at Stanford, Margaret came to her love of the South much as she comes to her love of everything—through books. Margaret spends most of her free time traveling to faraway places with her husband and three daughters, who are internationally ranked fencers. You can visit her online at www.margaretstohl.com.
MARY E. PEARSON (“Gargouille”) is the author of several award-winning books, including The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which is being made into a movie by Twentieth Century Fox. She is a native Californian and writes from her home in Carlsbad, where she lives with her family and two very spoiled golden retrievers. Her book awards and honors include the Golden Kite Award, the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults, the New York Public Library’s Best Books, the International Reading Association’s Choice Books, and the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award. Her other novels in
clude A Room on Lorelei Street, The Miles Between, and her newest book, The Fox Inheritance. For more information on Mary and her books, visit www.marypearson.com.
JENNIFER LYNN BARNES (“The Third Kind”) is the author of eight books for teens, including Raised by Wolves, the Squad series, and Tattoo. She wrote her first YA novel when she was still a teenager herself, and since then, her books have been published in a dozen countries worldwide. Jen grew up in Oklahoma, lives in Connecticut, and generally tries to avoid road trips because she has no sense of direction whatsoever. You can visit her online at www.jenniferlynnbarnes.com.
RACHEL CAINE (“Automatic”) is the internationally bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series as well as the Weather Warden and Outcast Season adult urban fantasy series; “Automatic” is based on the Morganville Vampires series and features Michael Glass and his Goth girlfriend, Eve. In 2011, Rachel premieres a brand-new adult urban fantasy series, the Revivalists, with the release of Working Stiff, the story of a young funeral director who discovers her new bosses have an illicit business in reviving the dead . . . for profit. Rachel lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband, award-winning fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, and their ginormous iguanas, Darwin and Popeye. You can visit her online at www.rachelcaine.com.
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Copyright
Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions
Copyright © 2011 by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong
“Giovanni’s Farewell” copyright © 2011 by Claudia Gray
“Scenic Route” copyright © 2011 by Carrie Ryan
“Red Run” copyright © 2011 by Kami Garcia
“Things About Love” copyright © 2011 by Jackson Pearce
“Niederwald” copyright © 2011 by Rachel Vincent
“Merely Mortal” copyright © 2011 by Melissa Marr
“Facing Facts” copyright © 2011 by Kelley Armstrong
“Let’s Get This Undead Show on the Road” copyright © 2011 by Sarah Rees Brennan
“Bridge” copyright © 2011 by Jeri Smith-Ready
“Skin Contact” copyright © 2011 by Kimberly Derting
“Leaving” copyright © 2011 by Ally Condie
“At the Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show” copyright © 2011 by Jessica Verday
“IV League” copyright © 2011 by Margaret Stohl
“Gargouille” copyright © 2011 by Mary E. Pearson
“The Third Kind” copyright © 2011 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
“Automatic” copyright © 2011 by Roxanne Longstreet Conrad
The authors assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of the work.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ISBN 978 0 00 744246 1
EPub Edition © AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 9780007442478
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Melissa Marr, Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions
(Series: Wicked Lovely # 5.50)
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