1874: It's been six years since the roaming magical state of Hexicas--formerly Hex City, first and only community where hexes can finally live in some sort of cooperative harmony--declared its independence. Now someone's killed a member of the ruling council, and since their Oath keeps them from using magic against each other judicially (as well as every other way), city spokesperson Songbird and her lieutenant Yiska are forced to seek outside arbitration from a man most would consider utterly unqualified to play sheriff, even long enough to solve a murder . . . hexslinger Chess Pargeter.

A new story set in the Hexslinger Series universe, set after the events of the final book in Gemma Files's brutal, no-holds-barred Weird West trilogy.

ChiZine Publications (CZP) curates the best of the bizarre, bringing you the most excitingly weird, subtle, dark, and disturbing literary fiction. Look for more titles in the ChiZine short stories collection to build your digital library.