“Most days, I’m invisible.”

My whole life, I’ve been overlooked and unappreciated, until I no longer wanted anyone to notice me.Not until George. He’s been a true friend to me, and nothing could ever change things between us. Even if I want them to.

I’m too shy to risk my friendship with George by asking for more… and he doesn’t want that anyway. Does he?

“I think I might be in love with you.”

That’s the third thing my new boss said to me, right after introducing himself and complimenting my name. I’ve worked in the corporate world long enough to know that’s not normal workplace behavior. Worse, I think I feel the same way.

I don’t believe in love at first sight, but this guy makes me feel like I’m walking on air.

“I didn’t actually accuse the guy of being an arsonist.”

My job is to put out fires, so the people who set them on purpose make me mad. There’s one arsonist we’ve been after for years, but finding him is harder than you’d think. So when I see the same sexy redhead hanging out at fire after fire, what am I to think except that he might be our guy?

He sure does like playing with fire… just not the way I thought.

“I might be hallucinating or have a brain tumor.”

How else am I supposed to explain the super-hot blue-haired man in a flamingo-printed swimsuit who appeared beside me while I was scuba diving? He could be a merman, but that doesn’t make me sound sane.

Or I might need to reexamine what sanity means and prepare for my life to turn upside down.

“We're mates, Perry.”

This morning a meth lab fell through my kitchen ceiling, I lost my job, and my car broke down, officially making today the worst day of my life. The last thing I need to deal with is a naked, green-haired man with a loose grip on reality.

Or is it just that reality isn't what I think it is?

This novella originally featured in the Fated Mates charity anthology. No changes have been made.

Blaise

There are a few things I know for sure: I'm gay, I want to do costume design for film and television, and a supportive family is what other people have. Oh… and fate's not my biggest fan. That's fine, though—who needs fate? I've got friends I love, a welcoming community, and a plan. Graduate college? Check. Build up my portfolio? Whenever I can. Impress industry pros? Done. Save the money for my dream internship? Working on it. All I've gotta do is stick with the plan, and that internship is mine next year.

And then Jordan Marks walks into my life, and my plan turns into a loose guideline. Suddenly I'm learning about baseball and giving away shifts at work so I can watch him play. My goals are the same, but maybe there's room in them for the world's sweetest athlete.

Jordan

I'm pretty sure the gods of baseball don't care if I wear a suit on game day, but Franklin U and Coach do, so when mine rips, replacing it is an urgent mission. That's how I meet Blaise Warner and my “I guess I could be bi” musings become full-blown “I wanna learn to handle a bat” demands. Blaise is smart, talented, and has goals… and he's more than happy to teach me a new batting style.

But as we go from casual to more, the things I never mentioned—like my dads' connections in the entertainment industry—become heavy secrets. Plus, while our friends know we're dating, nobody else does. That's not fair to Blaise, but do I really want to be the latest queer college ball player?

I don't get a chance to figure it all out before things fall apart, and now we both have to decide what our real priorities are.

What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?

Before that night, there wasn't much in my life I could complain about. I hunt rogue demons for a living, which is the coolest thing ever, and my brothers are the best. Sure, there was that thing with our parents betraying humanity, and okay, I wasn't thrilled when my brother-bestie hooked up with a demon, but everything else was amazing.

Except that Dylan, the person I love more than anything, wanted to keep our relationship secret.

I got it; I really did. He's lost all his family, and he was afraid if my family adopted him, he might lose them too. It's not like we've got the world's safest jobs. I was sure he'd change his mind eventually.

That decision was taken from him one awful night. Now, everyone knows, but Dylan's more worried about the people trying to kill me. Unidentified and vicious; that's all we know. Oh, and they hacked The Collective's server.

How does a demon hunter fight a virtual threat? He doesn't… that's his kickass techie boyfriend's job. Dylan will find these people, and then we'll deal with them.

Even if there is more going on than we know about.