"Noted short story author Foster offers a dozen enchanting and sometimes chilling tales alive with elegantly sketched characters and sensibilities drawn from Asian folklore.--"Publishers Weekly."

PREFACE MY SISTERS VEIL(a poem) Tonis Veil: A beautiful face is never enough To guarantee love, success, and trust. Torn and conflicted by what they see and say Maybe theyre right Its better their way. They always win, So of course we would choose To perpetrate a look That will never lose. Ill just take it to the twelfth degree So it appears self righteously To be me. So bury the mirror, And who you really see. And bury the hatred Of who you really be. Then its easy to forget the grief And promise yourself You can become A respectable Thief! Terris Veil: Restless and young With nothing to lose. Thrown into your world Unblemished, unbruised. Ready to grow, and trust and learn, But guns fill your hands before you discern The value of life, community and respect A simple way to mask your intellect. Apprentice of self-destruction, A king with no crown Frustrated and confused, By the systematic run around. Yet a gnarly lesson awaits to prove Its by your own hand You win or you lose! Tinas Veil: Abandoned and ashamed Afraid and unloved I hid my pain As innocently as a dove. The Lord answers prayers So invisible Ill be cause my blllack and nappy Embarrasses thee. If only but For a genuine veil, Id lose myself In self-medicated hell. But no need to worry, No need to fret Their yaki hair and blue contacts Are easy to get. Spare not a dime For value and worth Designer labels and gold To our pride gives birth. So strut on high, and lively, and proud As you die slowly With a legacy Broken and loud!

A gripping, inventive thriller about justice and retribution set in Paris thirty years after World War II Anna Martin is ready to put the past—and her unsuccessful marriage—behind her and start over with Nicholas Yurovsky. A titled aristocrat from a distinguished family that dates back to czarist Russia, Nicholas never talks about his past. Then Anna gets a call from her ex-husband. Left-wing journalist Paul Martin warns Anna about a plot spearheaded by Nicholas to avenge the murder of his father. But Nicholas isn’t the only one with a score to settle. He and other members of “the Return” have been quietly gathering their forces, preparing to strike out against the man who condemned hundreds of thousands of Russians to life—and death—in labor camps. An elite member of the Supreme Soviet who could be Russia’s next president, Grigor Malenkov buried his past along with countless victims. At the invitation of the French president, he is coming to Paris, where the children of the dead wait for justice that has been a long time coming—with one innocent woman in the crossfire.

Devlin, Sarelle, and Lash begin their lives together on the cusp of the New Year, preparing for both the weddings of Terian and Sundown and Theo and Jenny. Even with their devotion to one another stronger than ever, the trio face many obstacles in melding their lives into one. Facing each other's true nature leads to introspection, as well as healing for the lovers, even as vampire hunters, demons, and old friends invade their newly-formed sanctuary, determined to break them apart.