Hole-in-the-Wall Shrink

by Annie Reed

The law of equivalent exchange. The bedrock of the practice of alchemy.

For the owner of a hole-in-the-wall bar, a little alchemy from an unexpected source turns out to be the perfect way to keep her business afloat. Enhance a few bottles of high-class booze for a few special customers, and all of a sudden they’re not just carrying on conversations with her, they’re confiding business secrets they wouldn’t let slip to anyone else.

Sure, alchemy comes with a cost—equivalent exchange, remember?—but she always thought she was willing to pay the price.

Right up until she serves that special booze to one of the old gods, a powerful businessman with a plan of his own.

Published:
Genres:
urban fantasy

About the Author

Award-winning author Annie Reed describes herself as a desert rat who longs to live by the ocean. Since she hasn’t yet convinced her family to relocate to a nice chunk of beachfront property, she’s done the next best thing—written a series of stories set in a contemporary Pacific Northwest city where magic and reality go hand in hand.

Private investigators Diz and Dee populate Annie’s more lighthearted stories, while denizens of a much rougher neighborhood lurk in her Tales From the Shadows.

A talented and versatile writer whose fantasy, science fiction, and mystery stories have sold to a wide variety of publications, including five of the first seven volumes of Fiction River’s inaugural year.