Sunset, days after the vanishing of the first group, the Carnival goes oddly still. The rides don't stop, the crowd keeps moving, but in spite of all the noise and motion there's a frozen feeling in the air, like everything in motion is just a collection of confetti in a shaken snow globe ( Read more... )

Neal is genuinely excited ( Read more... )

The more baffling a mystery was, the more interested Conan became.  But this was just too baffling.  He could remember all those weeks of believing he was somebody else.  How had that happened?  Had it been a dream?  Reality?  And if it was reality, how much did Neal
remember of that confrontation?  He kept turning all of these questions over and ( Read more... )

Neal Caffrey is lounging on a stool in a high-class bar, wearing a clearly new, clearly tailored suit and a trilby cocked down over one eye. His trench coat is still damp from the rain and slung over the bar with a kind of possessive self-assurance. This is his comfort zone. It's like breathing again after being underwater for long enough to nearly ( Read more... )

It was a dark and stormy night.  The kind of night that would prompt any law-abiding citizen to stay safely inside their homes.  Still, something was brewing in the gloomy streets.  And knowing the kinds of people that usually came out on nights like this, that something was probably big trouble.

In a dark alley near the Noirland museum, private ( Read more... )

It's an hour or so to sundown, and the barracks are full of golden sunlight and long slanting shadows. Harry's standing just outside the barracks walls, in one of those patches of deep late afternoon shadow, staring off in the direction of Tempest's castle with an expression most people who know him well would be deeply concerned about.

Harry ( Read more... )

Neal is under the big tree behind the library, wearing a clay-spattered, color-smeared pair of jeans and a tank top that was once white. Now it's approaching that pucey color that comes when you mix too many colors together and stir them until well blended ( Read more... )

Jo's not exactly what one would call a morning person, but the past few months have made her into something that almost resembles one. It's a quiet time, one where she can not have to worry about hunting or gathering supplies or rescuing someone (mostly because the majority of the barracks is still asleep prior to 8am). It's really the only time ( Read more... )

As the sun starts to rise, a handful of people emerge from the trees, heading for the barracks gate. It's not another attack - for one thing, the group's a bit small and ragged-looking for that. For another, as they get closer to the gate those inside the barracks may recognize them, all friends or acquaintances who quietly went missing before the ( Read more... )

Murphy knows just staying awake isn’t a long-term solution, but she’s been pretty happy to escape Kitsune’s dream world for the real one. More or less. Now, she’s laying in the dark, listening to Harry breathe steadily in his sleep. She’s drifting, every so often jerking herself awake and trying not to move. Morning is starting to ooze through the ( Read more... )