An original anthology centered around one very unusual house in Cornwall which serves as a nexus to the multiverse—set in the Wild Cards universe created by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones . An alien virus ravages the world, with effects as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and become bizarrely mutated. But whether joker or ace or a bit of both, few turn down an invite to Keun. The island of Keun lies off the coast of Cornwall, connected to the mainland only by an ancient, tidal causeway. It is a magical place, where anything can happen. The mansion crowning the island is owned by Lord Branok, a mysterious billionaire who is also a wild card of some sort—but whether he is an ace, a joker or a knave, no one is quite sure. Parties at Loveday House are legendary—for adventure, for intrigue, for love, for danger—and guests may take on whatever personae and masks they choose when they attend. Parts of the house seem to exist out of time, and the Wild Hunt is reputed to ride the island. And haunting the house is its original owner: a woman determined to regain control over her domain—by any means necessary. With stories by: Stephen Leigh, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Caroline Spector, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Peter Newman, and Peadar Ó Guilín. George R. R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including those of the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire— A Game of Thrones , A Clash of Kings , A Storm of Swords , A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons —as well as related works such as Fire & Blood , A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms , The World of Ice & Fire, and Rise of the Dragon (the last two with Elio M. García, Jr., and Linda Antonsson). Other novels and collections include Tuf Voyaging , Fevre Dream , The Armageddon Rag , Dying of the Light , Windhaven (with Lisa Tuttle), and Dreamsongs Volumes I and II . As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone , Beauty and the Beast , and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with his lovely wife, Parris, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Longing for Those Lost Stephen Leigh Part I Salt spray sent droplets dancing on Gary Bushorn’s woolen flatcap and doused his already sodden trouser legs and trainers, though his long, rubberized weather jacket was stoutly resisting the water’s assault. Still, the frigid seawater felt good on his skin and the late October wind didn’t bother him. Faint tendrils of steam rose from where clothing met skin. He pulled out an old pocket watch, secured to his belt loop by a silver chain, from where it was nestled in the coin pocket of his jeans, shielding its face from the corrosive spray. The watch was his late wife Caitlyn’s. A few decades before, Gary had repaired the then-broken timepiece—originally an anniversary gift from Caitlyn’s mother to her father—as a gift to Caitlyn. She had in turn gifted it to her daughter, Moira, just before her death. Moira had returned it to Gary for safekeeping a few months before she drew the Black Queen and died herself. The watch was Gary’s most prized possession, representing as it did all his memories of Caitlyn and Moira. He glanced at the time—twelve thirty-five—and placed the watch back in its pocket. “You say you’ve fished down this way before, Cody?” Gary steadied himself on the wall of the wheelhouse cabin of Codman Cody’s boat, the Fear na Gcrúb. The water was choppy, feathered with whitecaps. The prow of the Fear na Gcrúb tore a foaming path through the waves as the boat lifted and fell and lifted again. Gary was holding tightly to the gunwale as the boat rolled heavily in the cold, gray swells; Codman Cody simply swayed easily with the motion, his hands (four fingers on the right hand, two on the left that looked more like the claws of a crab than anything human) tight on the ship’s wheel. The Fear na Gcrúb—“Man of Hooves” in English, and the term in Irish for the Joker playing card—was a working boat, smelling of fish and brine and Cody’s own unique odor, her flanks draped with nets and ropes, her planks slick with fish scales despite continual scrubbing. Gary had hired Cody’s boat to take himself, Duncan MacEnnis, and Jeremy Fingers down to Cornwall. The trio had been invited to a weekend on Keun Island. They’d left Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland the previous evening, spending an uncomfortable night on the boat. “Aye,” Cody offered in answer to Gary’s question, though his gaze didn’t leave the waves. “Though not often. Diesel fuel’s too dear and the fisherfolk here know the local shoals and banks better’n me. Besides, they ain’t overly friendly toward foreign boats takin’ fish from their waters. I stay farther north, generally. So are yeh gents lookin’ forward to this posh party?” “Don’t know how posh it’ll be, but the invitation surely was. I could show you—handma