It was only supposed to be one little job – a simple curse-breaking for Mennik Thorn to pay back a favour to his oldest friend. But then it all blew up in his face. Now he’s been framed for a murder he didn’t commit. So how is a second-rate mage, broke, traumatized, and with a habit of annoying the wrong people, supposed to prove his innocence when everyone believes he’s guilty? Mennik has no choice if he wants to get out of this: he is going to have to throw himself into the corrupt world of the city’s high mages, a world he fled years ago. Faced by supernatural beasts, the mage-killing Ash Guard, and a ruthless, unknown adversary, it’s going to take every trick Mennik can summon just to...

Would you rather dance beneath the waves or hide your smuggled magic there? Welcome to a world of sparkling adult fantasy and science fiction stories edited by Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent and featuring underwater ballrooms of one sort or another, from a 1920s ballroom to a Martian hotel to a grand rock ’n’ roll ball held in the heart of Faery itself. Stories in this anthology: Ysabeau S. Wilce, “The Queen of Life” Y.S. Lee, “Twelve Sisters” Iona Datt Sharma, “Penhallow Amid Passing Things” Tiffany Trent, “Mermaids, Singing” Jenny Moss, “A Brand New Thing” Cassandra Khaw, “Four Revelations from the Rusalka Ball” Stephanie Burgis, “Spellswept” Laura...