Search Worlds Without End

Before they even met. Mikael Lee and Shironne Anjir were tangled together in their need to solve murders.

Mikael Lee, an aide to the king's brother, dreams his way into others' deaths, and then follows the clues within back to the killer. Shironne Anjir, a young girl so sensitive to the stimuli around her that she cannot shut it out, has been sharing those dreams with him, and when a death falls closer to her doorstep, she's the one who takes up the task of finding a killer... a path that might give her a direction for the rest of her life.

Table of Contents:

• "A Mention of Death", short story
• "Touching the Dead", novelette
• "Endings", novelette

Shironne Anjir's status as a sensitive is both a gift and a curse. Her augmented senses allow her to discover and feel things others can't, but her talents come with a price: a constant assault of emotions and sensations has left her blind. Determined to use her abilities as best she can, Shironne works tirelessly as an investigator for the Larossan army.

A member of the royal family's guard, Mikael Lee also possesses an overwhelming power--he dreams of the deaths of others, sometimes in vivid, shocking detail, and sometimes in cryptic fragments and half-remembered images.

But then a killer brings a reign of terror to the city, snuffing out his victims with an arcane and deadly blood magic. Only Shironne can sense and interpret Mikael's dim, dark dreams of the murders. And what they find together will lead them into a nightmare...

What does it mean to be bound? Mikael and Shironne have known for a month now that they are bound, but neither truly knows what their future holds.

When Shironne is kidnapped, Mikael uses the nascent tie between them to get her back, and to keep her safe, Shironne is placed among the Family in their underground Fortress. As long as she's within those walls, outsiders can't get to her. That leaves Mikael working to discover who would steal her away in the first place. Her ability to creep into others' thoughts, memories, and dreams is unprecedented, but who would be able to use that?

And Shironne must deal with a new and frustrating way of life, where contact with adults -- including Mikael -- is strictly curtailed and her time is constantly monitored. She also has to live among a yeargroup, and the Sixteens are not the calm, unemotional Family she's accustomed to seeing from a distance. They have their own problems and petty jealousies, not too different from her own sisters. Finding her place among them is going to be a challenge.

Fortunately, Shironne can access Mikael's thoughts to guide her in her new life... while for some reason, he can't access hers, leaving him without guidance at times when he could definitely use it.

Mikael Lee has dreamed of death for a decade now. He shares the last moments of murder victims, usually ones he's later fated to investigate. But one death has always eluded him: his father's murder.

Now he's dreaming his father's murder again, an old and powerful dream that can drag him to the brink of death. This time, though, he has a witness who can help him find the truth: Shironne Anjir. She's been dragged into Mikael's dreams for years. As much as Mikael does, she wants this dream put to bed, the deaths in Mikael's memories solved once and for all.

And more than that, Mikael wants his father's greatest secret - the identity of a half-brother Mikael has never met.

Nebula- and PRISM Award-nominated Novella

It's the early 1900s, and widowed homesteader Imogen Hawkes is running out of time. She must come up with enough money to prevent the bank from foreclosing on her farm. All her hopes are pinned on her horse, Blue Streak, winning the Special Stakes, so that the prize money can save the farm.

But things keep going wrong, and it's soon clear someone is determined to stop her. As race day draws closer, Imogen finds unexpected sources of help... including the new stallion she's purchased from Boston, who's not at all what he seems.

Despite a life spent avoiding it, Imogen learns that magic may be her best ally...

After the Great War, Alejandro Ferreira wandered across Europe, unable even to remember his name, until one night in Lisboa, a young woman recognizes him. She brings him home to his family -- one he can't recall, but very much wants to keep.

His seer's gift has been as much of a trial as a blessing. It didn't keep him out of trouble during the Great War, either -- someone cursed him to lose his memory. Someone else is after him, wanting him to keep a secret he doesn't even remember he has. And he quickly learns that all is not well between himself and his lovely wife. Without his memories or his seer's gift, can Alejandro rebuild his life and unveil his stalker before they eliminate him?

Genoveva Jardim's father was a monster -- a defrocked priest who used his healer's gift to murder instead. Determined to make amends for the deaths her father brought to the Golden City, she turned her back on her life among the aristocracy. She's chosen to work for the Special Police, learning how to use the healer's gift she'd never even known she had. She wants to save lives instead of killing like her father.

Rafael Pinheiro has kept an eye on Miss Jardim for some time now. The very first time he met her, his seer's gift told him he would someday marry her. What he can't figure out is why he would choose her. She's young and an aristocrat -- hardly a match for a mere police captain raised in an orphanage. They don't seem to have anything in common.

But when Miss Jardim's life is threatened, everything changes...

For two years, Oriana Paredes has been a spy among the social elite of the Golden City, reporting back to her people, the sereia, sea folk banned from the city's shores....

When her employer and only confidante decides to elope, Oriana agrees to accompany her to Paris. But before they can depart, the two women are abducted and left to drown. Trapped beneath the waves, Oriana survives because of her heritage, but she is forced to watch her only friend die.

Vowing vengeance, Oriana crosses paths with Duilio Ferreira--a police consultant who has been investigating the disappearance of a string of servants from the city's wealthiest homes. Duilio also has a secret: He is a seer and his gifts have led him to Oriana.

Bound by their secrets, not trusting each other completely yet having no choice but to work together, Oriana and Duilio must expose a twisted plot of magic so dark that it could cause the very fabric of history to come undone....

Magical beings have been banned from the Golden City for decades, though many live there in secret. Now humans and nonhumans alike are in danger as evil stalks the streets, growing more powerful with every kill....

It's been two weeks since Oriana Paredes was banished from the Golden City. Police consultant Duilio Ferreira, who himself has a talent he must keep secret, can't escape the feeling that, though she's supposedly returned home to her people, Oriana is in danger.

Adding to Duilio's concerns is a string of recent murders in the city. Three victims have already been found, each without a mark upon her body. When a selkie under his brother's protection goes missing, Duilio fears the killer is also targeting nonhuman prey.

To protect Oriana and uncover the truth, Duilio will have to risk revealing his own identity, put his trust in some unlikely allies, and consult a rare and malevolent text known as The Seat of Magic....

Even as the branches of peace are being offered, there are some who still believe those who are not human should be used as chattel. And they are willing to go to great lengths to retain their power.

Newlywed siren Oriana Paredes has been appointed Ambassador to her home islands now that communication between Northern Portugual and the magical races has been restored. But convincing her people that the new Portuguese Prince's intentions are honorable after years of persecution is difficult. And her husband, Duilio, faces his own obstacles among the sirens where males are a rare and valuable commodity with few rights.

In addition to their diplomatic mission, the two hope to uncover the truth behind Oriana's mother's death. Evidence suggests that Spain – a country that has been known to enslave magical beings – may have infiltrated the siren authority. Unable to leave their post, Oriana and Duilio must call on Inspector Joaquim Tavares to root out the truth.

But even his seer's gift cannot prepare him for what he will discover.