Rachel Caine & Kristin Cast & Claudia Gray & Nancy Holder & Tanith Lee & Richelle Mead & Cynthia Leitich Smith & P. C. Cast (31 page)

“You don't dress like a colored girl,” the leader said with a snide smile. “You one of them Creole mistresses?” The others snickered lasciviously.

“I'm going home.”

“You better answer my questions, gal. Are you slave or free?”

For the first time, Patrice realized she would never have to carry her papers with her again. If anyone challenged her—white or black, living or dead—she had the strength to tear out their throats.

She thought she might even enjoy it.

Patrice smiled. “I'm free.”

Cynthia Leitich Smith
is the acclaimed YA author of
Tantalize
(2007), and its companions,
Eternal
(2009) and
Blessed
(forthcoming), all Gothic fantasies from Candlewick Press. She also has written several YA short stories as well as books for younger readers.
Tantalize
was a March 2007 Borders Original Voices selection, honored at the 2007 National Book Festival, and
The Horn Book
called it “an intoxicating romantic thriller.” A graphic novel adaptation of
Tantalize
is in the works. Cynthia may be found on the Web at
www.cynthialeitichsmith.com
. She makes her home in Austin, Texas, with her husband, author Greg Leitich Smith.

New York Times
bestselling author
Kristin Cast
is only going to college because she loves education and lives to attend lectures. Okay, not really. Miss Cast currently attends the University of Tulsa and is a communications major. She has won awards for her poetry, as well as served as journalist
for her high school newspaper,
Tiger Tales
, and as editor for her high school magazine,
Tiger Eye
. Miss Cast would like to become so famous people make fountains and/or shrines in her image. You can reach her through
www.pccast.net
.

Rachel Caine
is the author of more than twenty-five novels, most notably her bestselling Morganville Vampires series and Weather Warden series, as well as being a frequent contributor to BenBella Books's fiction and nonfiction projects. She writes constantly, and frequently gets paid for it, which always surprises and delights her. Visit her Web site at
www.rachelcaine.com
, and friend her on Livejournal, Facebook, and MySpace!

Tanith Lee
was born in 1947 in the UK. She worked in many jobs until becoming a full-time professional writer in 1975. She has to date written nearly 100 books and more than 260 short stories, four radio plays, and episodes of the cult TV series
Blake's 7
. She has won, or been shortlisted for, numerous awards. She lives in England with her husband, writer and artist John Kaiine, and two permanently hungry Tuxedo cats.

 

Richelle Mead
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
Vampire Academy
and
Frostbite
. The fourth book in the series,
Blood Promise
, was released in August 2009. A former middle school teacher, Richelle now writes full-time in Seattle. She buys far too many dresses, hasn't seen the surface of her desk in over a year, and rarely gets up before noon. More information can be found at
www.richellemead.com
.

Nancy Holder
is the
USA Today
bestselling author of more than eighty novels and 200 short stories, essays, and articles. She is currently working with co-author Debbie Viguie on
Wicked: Resurrection
for Simon and Schuster. The author of
Pretty Little Devils
, she has contracted with Razorbill for two more YA horror novels. Contact her at
www.nancyholder.com
.

A recent transplant into the deep south,
Rachel Vincent
has a BA in English and an overactive imagination, and consistently finds the latter to be more practical. She shares her workspace with two black cats (Kaci and Nyx) and her #1 fan. Rachel is older than she looks—seriously—and younger than she feels, but remains convinced that for every day she spends writing, one more day will be added to her lifespan. Find her online at
www.RachelVincent.com
.

Claudia Gray
is the pseudonym of New York-based writer Amy Vincent. She is the author of the Evernight series of vampire novels set in the present day, in which Patrice is a character—now as a 160-year-old vampire. The first book,
Evernight
, came out in May 2008, and the second book in the series,
Stargazer
, was released in March 2009.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors' imaginations and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Introduction Copyright © 2008 by P. C. Cast

“Haunted Love” Copyright © 2008 by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“Amber Smoke” Copyright © 2008 by Kristin Cast
“Dead Man Stalking” Copyright © 2008 by Roxanne L. Conrad
“Table Manners” Copyright © 2008 by Tanith Lee
“Blue Moon” Copyright © 2008 by Richelle Mead
“Changed” Copyright © 2008 by Nancy Holder
“Binge” Copyright © 2009 by Rachel Vincent
“Free” Copyright © 2008 by Amy Vincent

 

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this title.

eISBN : 978-1-935-61829-4

 

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