From "The Demigod Proving" by S. James Nelson

Wrend hefted a crate of cheese and considered his brother’s suggestion. Accepting it could not only cost him his life, but also his eternal soul.
Yet, it could also be so tasty.

Grunting at the weight of the cheese, Wrend carried the crate up the steps and out the doorway. He blinked in the sunlight and stopped on the boardwalk as Teirn emerged with his own crate.

“Just think of it,” Teirn said. “Sardo cheese. Or just-right testouri.”

Wrend shrugged. “I’m not debating the value of cheese. It’s how the Master would react to my stealing it.”

Teirn rolled his eyes. “You only lose your soul if you’re caught. Besides, if you do get caught, at least you’ll know why the Master ends up wringing your neck.”

Wrend shrugged and raised his eyebrows. “Knowing why you’re having your head popped off is a definite plus. Although the dying part kind of spoils it.”

When Wrend was two, the Master—as tall as clouds and as angry as thunder—came into the playroom. The mothers started to sob. The more experienced children began to cry. From the midst of toys and playmates, the Master lifted a four-year-old girl and twisted her head off.

From "It's Always Darkest" by Steve Spencer

Reporter Paul Mallory found handball referee Lori Schachter murdered in her bed twelve hours ago. Then she showed up on his doorstep...

"Now," I said. "What in the hell is going on here?"

She took a deep breath. "Karin is dead because they thought she was I."

"They? Who is 'they'?"

"It is the word that first came to my mind. I do not know who killed Karin—who intended to kill me."

"Why do you think 'they' thought it was you?"

"Because Karin and I changed rooms when we checked into the hotel."

"Why change rooms?"

"Karin was abergläubisch...what is the English word—superstitious. Much more so than I. Her assigned room number was 418 and mine was 416. So we naturally changed rooms."

"Naturally. Because 418 is such a well-known harbinger of...oh, wait a minute. Four plus one plus eight is thirteen. Is that it?"
Lori nodded.
I believed her. Sports people are a superstitious lot across the board: athletes, fans, officials...journalists, too. I was no different, except that my superstitions made perfect sense and were firmly based in logic. I wore a blue shirt every Friday, never wrote on the first page of a new steno pad, and always used two stir sticks when I bought coffee at a convenience store.
And just look at how lucky I was.

From "The Oracle" a story in "Black & White" by Nicki Lynn Justice

Seventeen year old Marina is quite sure that she has had the worst day ever, but it gets even worse when her attempt to catch her grandpa's psycho cat lands them on a different world far in the future just in time for dinner:
            “I am not a barbarian,” he said quietly. “Not in the manner that you are thinking. You need to eat in order to live, as do I.” He rotated the poor little dead thing over the fire.

“Not that!” She looked down at the ground and swallowed hard.  He patted a log that he must have placed by the fire while she was gone. Her legs were feeling weak and shaky, so she sank down onto the log, although it was far too close to what was impaled on the spit. “I guess I just never really thought about what we ate. Maybe I’ll just eat potatoes. You do have potatoes, right?”

He shrugged. “We cultivate potatoes in the village, but I have chosen to travel lightly.“
“Okay then.” She still felt ill.

“What are these French Fries?”

“Oh,” she smiled, a feeling of well-being washing over her, “you make them by getting a package of frozen, peeled, cut up potatoes, then dumping them into hot oil and letting them cook. They’re crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Then you get a whole bunch of ketchup, which is squished up tomatoes and sugar, and dip them in. They are unbelievably good!”

From "Snow White and the Alien" by Artemis Hunt

The fugitive Snow White meets Aein, the alien, in the woods for the first time...
Clothing him was trickier than she thought. She held up her coat. The sleeves could be tied around his waist like an apron and the rest of it could be used to shield... well, whatever.

“This is the best I can do for a loincloth,” she said. “You’re not cold, are you, Aein?”

“Loincloth?” He pronounced it as though it were a suspicious type of medicine.
“It’s for... you know.” Helplessly, she waved it before his genitals.
He took it from her, frowning. “But I have never covered myself.”

“Not even once?” she said. He must come from some place seriously liberal. Hanna Cherry would have a fit to know she was talking to a naked man and discussing his state of undress as though it were an entomology dissertation.

“No.”

“Well,” she said firmly, “you’ll have to cover yourself in these parts. It’s the rules, or you’ll be hung for indecency.” Not really, but that would put a spur into him. “This will do until we get you new clothes. Or unless you trap a bear and skin yourself a new coat.”

Don’t expect me to trap one for you, she didn’t say, thinking of the rabbits.

From "The Jester's Apprentice" by Amy Saunders

"This is as far as I can go," he said between gasps. "I think you'll recognize soon enough where you are. Run straight ahead here and your home is just a couple of miles." He gripped her hand, pushing something into the crook of her palm. "Don't stop until you're inside. I have no idea how long it was until he knew we were gone. Just keep moving."

"What about you? Why can't you come with me?"

He gave her a wry smile. Philippa blushed. "Oh, of course," she said sheepishly. "But where will you go?"

"I'm not as much of a part of this crowd as I seem. I have other places to go."

Philippa surveyed his small frame, wondering what was really going on inside of his head. He kissed her hand.

"Take care, my lady. These are dangerous times." With that he bowed and sprinted in the opposite direction. Philippa hoped this all wasn't another ploy and forced her legs to move again toward Wolf Manor.

From "Secret of the Scarab" by Jay Roudebush

I really had no alternative but to make a run for it. To some extent I had the element of surprise in my favour, and Heather was a good-sized mount. I counted on getting past him and to the open road before he realized what was happening.

The torch was only ten yards or so away.

I flung back the latch, dug my heels into Heather’s side, and screamed, “COME ANUBIS!” We crashed out of the stable into the night.
The rest was a blur. The man’s light shone directly in my eyes, blinding me. There was a loud explosion, followed by a shrill yelp from Anubis. I felt myself flying through the air.

Then: blackness.

From "Harbingers of Mortality" by Steve Thomas

Jeshu the assassin has attacked a Kalharian senator, only to discover that it was a soldier in disguise...

The soldier’s breathing was slow and steady as he closed the gap.  “I must say, assassin, I’m impressed.”  The soldier was advancing, and Jeshu backed toward the window.  “But honestly, how many senators did you expect us to let you kill here?  One dead senator is to be expected.  Two is greedy on your part.  Three is irresponsible on ours.” 

Jeshu laughed, trying to seem confident.  Trying to seem like he wasn’t barely avoiding a fatal stabbing every three seconds.  “I see Kalharia has discovered patterns.”

Jeshu lunged at the man’s shoulder, trying to find a weak point.  Stuffing puffed out of the cut, and he thought he felt iron underneath.  He couldn’t win this fight.  He had one hope.  He inched sideways, trying to look like he was feinting, until he was right in front of the window.

The gladius thrust again.  Jeshu jumped, and heard the shutters burst below him.

A quick backflip, and he was in the street and on the run.

He didn’t get far.  The City Watch had closed off all the streets around the hotel.  He had barely taken three steps before a guard tackled him.

It was supposed to be a simple mission.