Witch’s corpse. Witch’s ticket. Witch’s party. As a counter-boy at a high-end men’s boutique, Charlie Jessup’s life consists of little more than work and sleep. That, and enough flirting to help guarantee his commission on sales will pay his rent. So when a twist of fate, and some behavior unbecoming that of a Ganymede employee, leaves him in possession of a dead man’s pass to a mysterious Club 669, Charlie has no desire to waste it. Every seventeen years, the House of Witches throws a party like no other. It’s invitation-only, and for centuries it has helped ensure peace between the covens. It’s the last place Caspian wants to be, but with the death of Queen Avel, and his own imminent rise to the throne, it’s more important than ever that he attends. The stability of the House depends on it. In four days a new king will be crowned, but when Charlie unintentionally crashes a gathering of the most secretive of all the Great Houses, he sets in motion a series of events that could disrupt the transition of power, and threaten the future of the House of Witches forever.

Club 669

“There’s a little speaker right inside. Press the button if you need anything. A different size? Help making your choice?”


“I’m Charlie, by the way.” I really wanted to stay.


We locked the doorbehind the last customer at ten past nine and breathed a collective sigh of relief.


There were still things to be done before the weekend cleaning staff came in—counting down our cash drawers and locking them in the safe, refolding everything that had been pawed through, and restocking the shelves for the morning—but even with how busy we’d been, we’d be out of there by ten.


“So...” Adam walked over to lean on the counter in front of me as I worked to shut down my register. “Did you get Dreamboat’s name?”


“No.” And he’d paid with cash, so I hadn’t even been able to peek at the name on his card. Still, he’d spoken to me more in those few minutes than he ever had, and I was going to count that as a win. “Not yet.”


Chapter 3