The Firebird and Other Stories

A Being(s) in Love Collection

Magical creatures known as beings emerged from hiding amid the destruction of the First World War. Since then they've lived on the margins of the human world as misunderstood objects of fear and desire. Some are beautiful, others fearsome and powerful. Yet for all their magic and strength, they are as vulnerable as anyone else when it comes to matters of the heart.

In 1930s Paris, magnificent Kazimir the firebird never expects to find love but is drawn to a writer with a haunted past. Upon returning from fighting during World War Two, a revered jaguar shifter finds Teo, a third-gender human, left on his doorstep. Early rock 'n' roll DJ Hyacinth the fairy shocks his listeners with his admiration for his quiet and very male human assistant. During the AIDS crisis, a leather daddy troll named Tank dreams of a settled life with the interspecies elf across the bar. Rennet the imp, who remembers too well how cruel the world can be, tells himself he's content to stay behind the scenes for the sake of the human he adores—if only his chaotic, impish magic would stop getting in the way. And Miki, a shy human tending his poisonous and carnivorous plants, is convinced no one will ever want him, certainly not the handsome werewolf grieving for a lost mate. It will take advice from a being of inhuman beauty to convince him to try for what he wants, no matter the risk. Human or being, all must overcome fear to reach for love.