Blood in Her Veins (Nineteen Stories From the World of Jane Yellowrock)
Faith Hunter
Sometimes someone enters your life and, because they believe in you, in your ability and talent, your life changes. Their passion for your work gives you faith in yourself, your stories, your career, and your future. Jessica Wade, my editor at Penguin Random House, is that person. She makes me a better writer. She makes me strive for more action, deeper characters, better stories, darker outcomes, and she accepts nothing but my best. For that reason alone I should dedicate every single thing I write to her.
This is for you, Jess. Thank you for the long hours, the mental gymnastics you do for my stories, and mostly for your belief in me. I couldn’t do it without you.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my fans, you made this happen. Thank you!
To my wonderful agent and friend, Lucienne Diver, for her help in putting this compilation together, my great thanks!
To Isabel Farhi, thank you for all you did for this compilation and all the work you shoulder for me and for my stories.
To my editor, Jessica Wade, there are not enough words to say thank you . . . soooo . . .
Hi, all,
This is a first for me. An almost complete collection of my own short stories—nineteen of them, to be exact. I’ve been writing shorts since almost the beginning of telling Jane Yellowrock’s story. I love them because I can explore things that don’t make it to the novels—new ideas, new perspectives, new characters. This is the first time they’ve all been collected together (with a very few exceptions, plus all the stories I intend to write in the future!).
I hope you find that they help you understand Jane’s world better—writing them certainly helped me see her world through new eyes. I’ve also included a timeline, so you can see where each story fits in relation to the novels.
I gotta tell you, I am psyched about this collection, and it’s all totally because of the fans. You asked for all the shorts in one place. And you asked. And asked! And that persistence worked, because now you have them! Thank you! And to make that thanking mean more, I have written two brand-new novellas.
Let me tell you about those stories, “Bound No More” and “Cat Fight.” “Bound No More” is about Angie Baby and an arcenciel and the future. We get to see Angie’s powers in new, and possibly frightening, ways, because she is growing up fast. It’s a fight to save the Everhart/Trueblood clan, and it’s downright fun!
In “Cat Fight,” Jane is tasked by Leo Pellissier to return to Bayou Oiseau, a pretty little Cajun town on the banks of the bayou of the same name. She takes Eli and Alex Younger—natch—but she also has a tagalong in the person of the undead Edmund Hartley. The four quickly discover themselves in the midst of what looks like a love triangle among a vamp, a witch, and a prickly tempered human. It looks as if Jane is expected to play therapist—and then it all goes to hell in a handbasket.
I had a pure blast writing all of these stories. I hope you love them half as much as I do!
Faith Hunter
TIMELINE
Here’s a timeline of the stories in this collection and when they take place in relation to the Jane Yellowrock novels.
Enjoy!
“Wesa and the Lumber King”—Short story from Beast’s point of view, set in the Hunger Times “The Early Years”—Short story about Jane Yellowrock just after she left the children’s home “Snafu”—Jane interviews for an internship with a PI.
“Cat Tats”—Short story about how Rick LaFleur got his tattoos
“Kits”—Short story about Jane, with Molly Everhart Trueblood as a secondary character “Haint(s)”—Short story from Molly’s point of view, with Jane as a secondary character “Signatures of the Dead”—Short story about Molly, with Jane as a secondary character Skinwalker—The first Jane Yellowrock novel
“First sight”—From George “Bruiser” Dumas’ point of view, when he first sees Jane Blood Cross—The second Jane Yellowrock novel
Mercy Blade—The third Jane Yellowrock novel
“Blood, Fangs, and Going Furry”—Short story about Rick LaFleur’s first full moon after being bitten by a were. From Rick’s point of view, with Jane as a secondary character.
“Dance Master”—From Bruiser’s point of view. He calls Jane to investigate a problem in the Royal Mojo Blues Company. And, oh my, do they dance . . .
Raven Cursed—The fourth Jane Yellowrock novel
“Golden Delicious”—Rick is in PsyLED school with his dual nemeses Brute and Pea. His fellow students go missing, and everything starts to go wrong.
“Cajun with Fangs”—Jane is stranded in Bayou Oiseau when her Harley, Bitsa, has engine trouble. And she walks right into a war between witches and vampires that seems destined to drag her and her boss, Leo Pellissier, down with them into flames.
Death’s Rival—The fifth Jane Yellowrock novel