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

“Technically, I’m a member of all covens.”


I thought about that a moment. “Because you’re royal blood?”


“No.” He smiled again. “Vampire hierarchy is connected to lineage. For witches, it’s more complicated than that.”


“I’m told I was born into the Erjon coven.” He rolled over so he could look at me. “And just before I turned three, I was taken to live at the Monastery with my teachers to prepare me to rule.”


“The library I showed you?” I nodded. “It’s been my entire life for twenty-seven years. I’ve been taught the old ways. All of them. I know my people’s history, I know their spells, no matter how archaic. My job has been to learn so that the whole of the House’s knowledge is never lost.”


It sounded like a lot of pressure for a child, but was probably no worse a childhood than millions of others. “Were there a lot of students like you?”


Chapter 18