Every agent knows that thrusting themselves into danger is part of the job, and may demand of them the ultimate sacrifice. They call on their own inner strength, wits, intellect, and innovations of science and technology.But is it enough to face the unknown and the unexplainable? This is Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, a collection of short stories featuring the derring-do of secret agents cut from a different cloth. These original short stories feature the imagination and voices of…Leanna Rennee HieberThe League of S.T.E.A.M.’s Glenn FreundDelilah S. DawsonJared AxelrodTiffany TrentKarina Cooper…and many more!Travel to the farthest corners of Queen Victoria’s mighty empire and back again to the shores of Old Blighty, unlocking the mysteries of legend, lore, and shadowy societies. Welcome to a world of steam, secrets, machinations and madness.

    Demons, imps, and spirits, evil and benign, spill into the universe from the netherworld. In Paris, a series of grisly murders that couldn't possibly be performed by a human, no matter how depraved, leads the Grand Chatelet and his men to try and raise a demon of their own to learn how to combat the creature that is terrorizing the city. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—the demon who is summoned brings with him a van from the Paris of the twenty-first century. The van contains a modern day drama teacher, her son, and eight precocious high school students—along with all of their electronic devices. Soon, their laptops, tablets and cell-phones become possessed by imps and spirits of the netherworld, some of whom are brilliant and all of whom are insatiably curious. Soon it's a race to see which pack of outsiders can create the most turmoil in the late Middle Ages—monstrous demons or precocious teenagers who soon have their own allies and followers among the ranks of demonkind. And King Charles V had already been in trouble! Piled onto his own poor health, a suspicious and contentious church, France's always-quarrelsome nobility—worst of all, his unscrupulous and ambitious brother, Philip the Bold—the king now has both demons and people from the future to contend with. He does have one asset—and not a small one. He can place his trusted Constable of France, Bertrand du Guesclin, in charge of the rambunctious teenagers from the future and their ever-growing legion of demons. And Bertrand has a great asset of his own—his wife Tiphaine de Raguenel, perhaps the best astrologer in all of France and, for sure and certain, not a woman to take seriously the prattling nonsense of youngsters skeptical of her lore and knowledge.

    Taken to a hospital ward, will she be able to save her mind—and her life? My Soul to Take She's always felt different, but now Kaylee discovers why. The screams that cannot be denied mean that someone near her will die—and she can never save them. Because saving one life means taking another…. My Soul to Save Going on dates with her boyfriend is still new to Kaylee. But when the singer of the band they're seeing dies onstage and Kaylee doesn't scream, she knows something crazy is going on. Soon she discovers souls can indeed be sold….

    All this and the first-ever Hack/Slash Annual in one mega-volumeCollects: Hack/Slash 1-11, Annual 1 featuring the Suicide Girls, portions of 12 and 13, and 14-17.TPB Equivalent: A portion of Friday the 31st (volume 3) and all of Revenge of the Return Part 4 (volume 4) and Reanimation Games (volume 5).Extras: Cover and pinup gallery, sketchbook, and Psychofiles featuring The Lunch Lady, Dr. Gross, Father Wrath 2, Six Sixx, Emily Cristy, The Children, Tin Woodsman, Diaboliq and Dr. Herbert West.

    But her partner, Max Murphy, suspects. She's had one too many spot-on hunches. When they're sent to the scene of a murder, Liz's latest psychic flash leads to disaster. In the Beginning reveals how Liz came to be an ex-cop and started on the road to becoming the Leader of the Light.

    Written in the 1970s, and in a style geared more toward fantasy than the hardboiled prose of the Repairman Jack novels, "Demonsong" kicks off Wilson's massive Secret History of the World.

    Is it the power of summoned demons? An application of the Blood's mystic properties? The will of spirits? Or is it something else altogether? Only those who master its dark secrets can know.Hidden Lore RevealedBlood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy provides the answers to long-asked questions about this most powerful of Kindred Disciplines and explores a gamut of new possibilities. Included in the book are new paths and rituals as well as details on the lesser known but similar arcane practices. What is it about Thaumaturgy that has allowed the Tremere to ascend to prominence in the modern nights? This book examines the answer.Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy includes: A complete look at Thaumaturgy, from its dark origins to its modern practice; A wealth of new paths and rituals; Other path and ritual systems like Necromancy and Koldunic Sorcery

    She's Fisher. They're cops, patrolling the mean streets of the ancient city misnamed Haven, a sinister place where demons, thieves, sorcerers, and murderers own the night and anything can be bought-except justice.

    But the laws of our charter prevent me and I am bound by oath to obey those laws; laws made, not by our own Guild-mothers, but by men who fear what we might have to say to their women!

    

    Mage. Nerd. Gamer Extraordinaire.And yes, I wrote that on my nametag. I was having a great day right up until Justin Bailey, werewolf prince and Grade A Pain-In-My-Ass came barreling into the shop I work at. Then he threw around words like "blood feud," "sorceress," and "murderer," so I couldn't just kick him out, especially since they all seemed connected to me.Now the only thing I can do to clear my name is use my magic to help him find the culprit before the council of wolves takes matters into their own hands. If they do, they won't just kill me, they'll put the kibosh on anyone who's ever talked to me.I guess Uncle Ben was right about that whole responsibility thing.

    from An Apple for the CreatureClora, a girl of particularly gruesome talents, must choose to defy her teacher and the woman who raised her—or else risk losing her soul.