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

Caspian declined an offer for the chef to prepare whatever we wanted, opting for menus instead, and after another few moments, we were left alone to peruse the evening’s fresh catch offering.


He studied the menu. I already knew what I wanted. Blackened fish and something green and leafy would go a long way to soothing me, no matter what Caspian needed to talk to me about.


“The tattoo?” I asked after a few minutes, my voice quiet as if we weren’t the only people in the entire room. “Does that mean he’s a witch, too?”


“Samuel?” Caspian looked up from his menu. “Yes.”


“I had no idea that any of your people lived here.” Which was maybe stupid.


“We go to great lengths to keep a low profile. It’s in the best interest of the House.”


I thought about that. “And why the tattoos? What do they mean?”


“A tattoo denotes your family. Your coven.”


Chapter 15