Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal. APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards. We publish every other month. Issue 123 contains the following: EDITORIAL Editorial by Jason Sizemore ORIGINAL FICTION The Life & Death of Mia Fremont by A.K. Hudson This Is the Moment, Or One of Them by Mari Ness Throw Rug by Aurelius Raines II Mishpokhe and Ash by Sydney Rossman-Reich All This Darkness by Jennifer R. Donohue DEMON FIGHTER SUCKS by Katherine Crighton REPRINTED FICTION Doll Seed by Michele Tracy Berger Uniform by Errick Nunnally INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Jennifer R. Donohue by Andrea Johnson Interview with Author A.K. Hudson by Andrea Johnson Interview with Cover Artist Denis Zhbankov by Russell Dickerson NONFICTION The Enduring Ensorcellment of King Arthur by Alex Bledsoe Sex Is Great, But Have You Ever Seen Your Real-Life Relationship Depicted in Fiction by Nicole Kornher-Stace Words for Thought: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

When her uncle dies at sea, a third child with no place in society undergoes a ceremony to house his spirit and take his role, minimizing the family's loss. But her uncle's spirit will not content itself with working on shipping ledgers and other shore-bound business. He is convinced that it was not just a turn of bad luck, not just a storm that killed him and wrecked his ship; it was an unthinkably large monster. And when his lover comes knocking with news of an adult son who has set sail along the same shipping lane, dead uncle and living niece must work together to defeat the monster and save a living heir neither of them knew existed.

In the fast-paced, tech-heavy future, a socialite, a soldier of fortune, and a hacker team up to take jobs that pay big and showcase their skills. But when a fake engagement comes a little too close to home, the fun ARG draws unwanted attention, and an old adversary finally catches up to them, the trio has to act fast or lose it all.

After her father is murdered and an attempt is made on her life, New Jersey heiress and witch Juliet Duncan is supposed to be concentrating on getting better and moving forward. Instead, Jules summons her father's ghost using her blood and tears and his old rotary phone to answer the question: who did it? He reveals it was Hector, her dad's best friend and her mom's new fiancé. Certain her life is still in danger, Jules flees the family estate to the Asbury Park apartment she shares with her best friend and fellow witch, Ashes. When another friend joins them, all three women get caught up with a secret boyfriend who's also big into magic, but in all the wrong ways, all while Jules wrestles with whether her father's ghost was telling the truth. But what Jules does know is that power has its cost, and she is more than willing to pay the price in order to get her revenge.

In the fast-paced, tech-heavy future, a socialite, a soldier of fortune, and a hacker team up to take jobs that pay big and showcase their skills. Often, the trio has to think on their feet to come out on top.

When a football player follows her home from an illicit party, preacher's daughter Allie unmasks a secret her mama has been trying to pray away for almost seventeen years. The women in their family are werewolves. All except for Allie's mama. To protect her normal life, Allie's mama dumps her off in the wilderness with three aunts she's never heard of, let alone met. But Allie hardly has a chance to find her bearings among these strangers who are family before somebody kidnaps them and burns down their ancestral home. Allie has one high-speed road trip with her wolfier-than-thou cousin, Morgan, to learn how to make her way in a world she never knew existed.

Six months ago, Allie believed she was a normal human girl from a normal human family. Then one terrible night lead to a breathless road trip to rescue her real family. Her werewolf family. After a begrudging information exchange with the Ward family, Allie's Aunt Rachel has decided it's safest to wait and see what the secret medical organization Allie rescued her from does next. But Allie and her cousin Morgan aren't risking any more of their family. Along with some other young werewolves, they hit the road again to delve into Silvernail's goals and how they found the wolves in the first place.

In the fast paced, tech heavy future, even cowboys get the blues. Bristol is unwinding at a non-work party when she's approached by a bullrider with trust issues; he's had enough injuries that he can't do the rodeo circuit anymore, and he's got a deadline to get married and claim his family fortune if he wants a ready-made alternate career path. With Bits and Dolly posing as her bodyguards, Bristol is plunged into the social lives of the ostrich ranching elite. It's rife with rivalries and there are parties for days, but when people from Bristol and the team's past catch up to them, the race to the altar takes a left turn.

In the fast-paced, tech-heavy future, the team has stolen their greatest prize yet. With the Agency closing in, Dolly calls in help from old friends, some closer than others, and the team gets Will to Bristol's hotel in Morocco. Once they arrive, Bristol switches to party mode, leaving Bits and Dolly to prepare their defenses without disturbing any of the guests. The hotel has a small security team, with little enough experience that it just makes Dolly more worried, not less. When disaster finally strikes, it's almost a relief; she isn't waiting and wondering anymore, she can simply react. But will her reaction be enough to save the team, and herself?