Chapter 1

One

Immediately after the battle at Dark Arts Tattoo…

From his vantage point on the sidewalk, Gideon Goode scanned the wreckage of Dark Arts Tattoo under the pale moonlight. A battered pile of wood and stone spread out in an arc across the plot where the building once stood. Goose bumps skimmed along his arms, the eerie quiet curling his fingers into fists. He turned to search the neighboring houses, probing for prying eyes or swaying drapes in the broad, timeworn windows. He found nothing.

He and his fellow coven members had engaged in combat with at least a dozen demons on a residential street and no one had witnessed anything? Sure, several of his fellow coven members had thrown up spells to conceal their movements… but all-out war wasn't exactly easy to hide from normies. In the heat of the moment, life and death on the line, the question of who might be watching wasn't exactly at the top of their priority list.

Gideon paused, listening to the sounds engulfing them. He quieted his own heartbeat pulsing in his ears, seeking echoes outside of that.

No sirens raced their way. No screams of panicked onlookers running for their lives.

Nothing.

Gideon eyed his coven brothers. Their grim expressions hinted that they, too, were shaken in the aftermath of what had transpired. Dust and debris from the demons' house lingered in the air, falling like snow. With their aid, Eli had demolished it with his ancestral power. Not only that, but he'd knocked every last demon on its ass. They were laid out like weird lawn ornaments across the scorched grass, their bodies bent in odd shapes.

He turned to eye Eli, who appeared weakened from the use of that power. His crystals were the source—passed down by the witches who had come before him and imbued with their powers before they passed on to the next plane of existence. Gideon had sensed their potency in the past but had had no idea just how impressive they'd be.

Silently, Cassius lifted his hand, coiling power into his palm. A portal opened and an exhausted Eli was ushered through with hushed tones. As soon as Eli disappeared, Cassius turned to the rest of them. "Atlas, Oracio… put a spell on the lot. Keep humans out until we can come back to seal it. We don't need anyone hurt from the debris or getting too nosy about what went down here. Luca, Phoenix, and Oz? We need to do something with these guys," Cassius said, eyeing the demons.

Gideon was bone weary, and he sensed everyone else was, too. They'd added their own power to Eli's. Disposing of a dozen demons in their current state? He wasn't sure they had enough gas left in the tank.

"We could always leave them here and call it a Halloween decoration," Gideon joked, attempting to lighten the moment.

Cassius chuckled, but there was no light in his eyes. "You guys get them loaded into this." Cassius snapped his fingers and an empty, white box truck appeared on the street beside them.

Gideon's eyes widened. A simple snap of the fingers? That was new.

"Why don't we just kill them?" Luca asked. "Send them back to Hell where they belong."

"Because it kills the human they've possessed," Phoenix answered for Cassius. Their new addition hadn't been very communicative in his short time with them, so everyone paused to turn in his direction. He clearly didn't like that and took a step back. "These humans didn't ask for this, nor did they do anything wrong."

"That you know of," Gideon murmured. "Some humans welcome demons inside."

"Thesehumans didn't," Phoenix snapped.

How does he know?Gideon wondered and cocked his head to eye their newest recruit.

"As long as the demons have been inside them, there might not be any coming back," Luca added.

"Doesn't mean we shouldn't try," Cassius said. "Nix is right. We should try to save the humans and find another way."

Gideon chuckled. "What? Are we gonna dump these on an exorcist's front stoop?"

"Exorcism isn't real," Phoenix said. He shrugged. "Well, it can remove a demon from a human's body, but it won't send them to Hell. The demon'll just go snag another fresh body."

"Sending them to Hell isn't much better. They'll be back in no time," Cassius said. "Let's get these guys on the truck and we'll try something else."

"Whereare we taking them?" Gideon asked, eyes narrowing. "What's something else?"

"I'llworry about that," Cassius replied, jaw tight. He gave Gideon a pointed stare. "Canvas the neighborhood and ensure no one saw anything. If they did, do your thing."

Gideon opened his mouth to ask another question, but Cassius was gone before the first word fell from his lips. Gideon's eyes widened.

No portal. Cassius was simply gone.

A snap of his fingers? Portalling without a portal?

Oz scanned their faces, brow furrowed. "Did you guys notice that?"

"Notice what?" Phoenix asked, frowning.

"No portal," Luca murmured. "I've never seen him do that before."

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one surprised," Gideon said. "No magic build-up before he made that box truck appear, either. Seems his powers have evolved."

"Perhaps," Luca murmured. "We can ponder that later. We have work to do."

Atlas elbowed Oracio, and the pair headed for the house to place the cloaking spell without another word. Oz lumbered toward the truck and unlatched the back door while Luca and Phoenix crossed to one of the prone demons. Gideon eyed the pair. Luca's dislike for Phoenix wasn't exactly a state secret, yet the two were working together without complaint?

All kinds of weird goings on that day.

Itis Halloween, after all. Weird is the name of the game.

"I don't know where Cassius expects we're going to confine these fuckers," Gideon murmured.

"I'm more concerned with any humans who might've witnessed the fight," Luca said over one shoulder. "Cassius asked you to check the neighbors and tweak memories. Why don't you go do that?"

Gideon scoffed. "Who made you assistant manager of the coven, Karen?"

Luca glared.

"I think I have a right to know how we plan to store them. It better not be in the very building where I lay my head at night, but where else is there?" Gideon asked. "Before I go, answer me that, oh wise one."

Gideon and Luca had apprenticed together, starting within days of one another. Luca could kiss his ass with the bossy bullshit.

"It's not like we haven't bound a demon inside our walls before," Luca said.

"One,"Gideon barked. He'd not been pleased about that, either, but he'd kept quiet. "One is a lot less than a dozen."

"There's always the tunnels underneath," Phoenix murmured, leaning his shoulder against the back of the box truck.

He, Luca, and Oz paused to regard their newest recruit.

Gideon frowned. "Excuse me, but the what?"

"Oh, come on," Phoenix said, the corners of his lips curling up, clearly satisfied he knew something they didn't. He shoved a hand through his short, dark waves, the smile blossoming. "The labyrinth of tunnels that run from where the old docks were to many of the original houses of the rich and wealthy?" He paused, searching their faces. When no one answered, he continued. "They built them to avoid paying import taxes. One empties into a cellar below Enchanted Ink. I found it in my first week here."

"It can't be. We'd know." Gideon glanced at Oz and Luca and sensed he wasn't the only one unconvinced. If there was a major security concern like that, they would've known.

Wouldn't they?

Flippant, Phoenix shot back, "Google it, if you don't believe me."

Gideon reached into his pocket.

"Afteryou clear the neighborhood and we get these bastards loaded up," Luca barked, pegging Gideon with a heavy stare.

"Who died and made you king?" Gideon snapped.

"Stop it!" Oz said from where he knelt next to one of the dormant demons. "We're all exhausted. Don't take it out on each other." He ran a hand through his tousled hair. "These things aren't going to sleep forever."

Gideon crossed his arms over his chest and "hmph"-ed all while knowing Oz was right. They were weary, yet wired up and on edge, all at the same time. It was a dangerous combination. Luca was one of his best friends. He glanced at Luca, who wore a remorseful expression. "Whatever. You're still bossy."

"You're still an obstinate pain in my ass." Luca fought a grin. "You might piss me off, but I love you."

Gideon lowered his arms. "You piss me off more, my love."

Luca templed his fingers. "Can you please go use your exceptional, memory-bending powers to ensure the locals weren't watching Demon Armageddon so we can get the hell out of here and go get the rest we all desperately need? Please."

"Fine, fine," Gideon muttered.

Luca gave him a wink before he turned to help Phoenix and Oz. Gideon stalked down the street to the nearest house, waving a hand to change his black mini skirt and belly baring rainbow sweater to a boring, black gas company uniform. Tucking a few strands of his long hair under the newly-appeared ball cap, he knocked on the door of a white clapboard home that was almost identical to the one Eli had imploded. He listened for sound—and heard none. Using his powers, he listened for thoughts, feelings… and more importantly, memories.

He pressed a hand to the doorframe, closing his eyes and seeking the home's memory. He rummaged through over a hundred years to learn that the last family who'd lived there had been gone some months. No one had been there to see a thing. He moved on to the next house. Another empty like the first, as were the next three.

Odd.

He finally heard sounds at the sixth. Long seconds passed, and a shuffling grew louder before the heavy oak door slowly swung open with a creek. A tiny woman stood behind it, her cataract-filled eyes pale behind thick glasses. Gideon smiled, the house remembering her as a little girl living there with her parents long ago.

"Can I help you?" she asked, a smile spreading across her thin, wrinkled lips.

"Good day, ma'am," he said, tipping his ball cap. "We've had calls about a gas leak in the area and I wondered if you've had any issues or smelled any gas?"

"What was that, dear?"

Gideon smiled to himself. Hard of hearing worked in their favor, though he knew he shouldn't be pleased. He repeated the question two more times, increasing pitch until she nodded in understanding.

"Oh my, yes… I've smelled the worst scent in recent months. Like rotten eggs. It's gotten worse as the weeks pass."

Brimstone. The demons had reeked of it.

She shouldn't have that problem again. Hopefully.

Gideon used his powers to sweep through her mind. Thankfully, her eyesight was as bad as her hearing, if not worse. Thankfully for them, but not her. He saw nothing in her recent memories, and particularly the last few hours that spoke of her realizing what was going on. "I'm going to check with your neighbors and see if we can't find the source. No worries. We'll get it all taken care of."

"What was that?"

Gideon smiled, leaning closer and squeezing her shoulder. He repeated himself at the higher volume.

"Oh, you don't have to check on them. Some big fancy company has bought most of these houses in the last few months. They want to turn this whole area into a shopping center. I'm the final hold out. The entire block is empty."

Makes for the perfect demon hideout. An empty block with only a sight and hearing-impaired senior citizen as their neighbor. Had the demons chosen it for that very reason?

He leaned closer again. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll have a peek around and see what I can find."

"That's lovely, my dear. When you're done, you can come in and have a cup of tea. I don't get many visitors these days."

He had no time for tea, but he hated that she was all alone without any neighbors to watch over her. He scanned her memories once more and saw little family came round, either. His chest tightened at her utter loneliness. It gnawed at him, his own lonesomeness pulling him to help her. Biting his lower lip, he smiled. "I'll do my best to get back as soon as I can. I promise."

The woman patted the back of his hand and smiled. "You're a sweet girl, my dear. Such a pretty one, too."

Gideon fought a smile. He was often misgendered, but then, he didn't exactly make it that easy to determine what he was, either. He preferred a feminine appearance and often wore what was deemed "women's" clothing, not that a piece of fabric could be gendered.

Instead of being insulted, he reveled in her confusion.

Well, sheis nearly blind.

After bidding her adieu, he climbed down her front stairs, and just in case, checked all the other houses. Empty didn't always mean empty—teenagers, the addicted, or unhoused folks could be in any of them—but she'd been right. The rest were devoid of recent human memory. The houses themselves, not so much, but they couldn't speak to normies. Couldn't speak to many witches, either.

Gideon didn't make a habit of sharing that part of his gift with others. Not even Cassius. The one time he had, he'd been labeled a freak. By the time he returned to the ashes of the demon lair, Phoenix and Luca were loading up the last of the demons into the white box truck, along with Oracio and Atlas. With a flick of the wrist, his outfit returned to what he'd been wearing.

"That was fast," Luca murmured once the final creature was hefted into the back. Phoenix closed the door, locked it, and made a mark with his magic on both door and lock.

Gideon pulled off the ball cap and flung it. It disappeared into the ether before it ever hit the ground. "One old lady, mostly blind and hard of hearing. She didn't notice anything." He ran a hand through his long locks, correcting what the hat had mussed. "She claims the rest of the neighborhood has been bought out by some big, fancy company—her words. I found a memory of some sleezy lawyer trying to convince her to sell. Glad she told him no."

"A company buying up the properties around a demon lair?" Luca brushed his hands off on his denim-clad thighs before running one through his spiky purple hair. "That has to be related."

"Seemed pretty strange to me, too," Gideon agreed. "Though she said they wanted to develop it into a shopping center, which makes sense. She's a holdout, throwing a wrench into their plans, and likely delaying their project. If so, the demons might've picked it for that reason alone. It's quiet… not many people around."

"Umm…we can discuss this later," Oz said. "Eli's magic won't last forever. Let's go."

Gideon threw out a hip and glared at Oz. "Do we even know where we're going?"

Before Gideon was done speaking, Cassius appeared in front of them.

Once again without a portal.

"And he comes back as soon as the hard work is done," Phoenix muttered under his breath.

Cassius lifted a brow as he glared at Phoenix. "Is there something you want to say?"

Phoenix opened his mouth as if he would, but after a withering look from Cassius, he closed it.

"Cassius doesn't make a habit of shirking hard work," Gideon mentioned, though he wondered what had been so important that their leader had left them to clean up the mess.

Cassius sighed. "I had to prepare a space to keep these beasts contained." He patted the side of the truck. "All loaded?"

"Whereare they going, Cas?" Gideon demanded. He wouldn't be denied a second time. "I don't like the idea of having them inside our walls. We have runes to keep evil out… and now we're just going to welcome it inside?"

"They will… and won't… be in our building. There's an old cavern underneath, attached to a bunch of old tunnels."

Phoenix lifted his head at Cassius' remark, looking around with a victorious smile.

Cassius continued, "With Quilliam, Dee, and Graham's help, I used pieces of the Celestial cells Pierre and Raymond had been locked in to forge an iron cell for the demons. They won't be able to get out of that."

"And then what? We play demon babysitter from here to whenever?" Luca asked. "Hell's going to come looking for them… and we're luring them right to our doorstep."

"What else can we do?" Phoenix asked. "We kill them, it kills the host and sends the demon back to Hell. Depending on who's in charge of this lot down there, they could be right back up here in a matter of days. Even if we can't stop that, the least we can do is save the humans they've possessed."

Gideon eyed the mysterious Phoenix. He hadn't gotten a full read on the guy yet—not that he made it a habit to invade coven members' memories. He'd simply wanted a peek to catch the vibe, but he'd been thus far denied. Phoenix's mental locks were strong.

"My thoughts exactly, Nix." Cassius searched their faces. "Save the humans, send the demons back to Hell. It's the best we can do."

The best we can do…A thought slammed into Gideon. "What if there's another way?"

Cassius glanced his direction. "I'm all ears."

"What if… we used… the spell we're not supposed to talk about?"

"If you're talking the one that starts with E and ends with a death sentence from the Celestial Council, I think the answer's gonna be a hard no," Luca said.

Cassius didn't respond at first. From the look on his face, Gideon assumed he was contemplating it. "I don't think we want to toy with Evanesce, Gideon. Even if we did, I don't know if any of us are powerful enough to pull it off."

"Not powerful enough? As if we haven't noticed you portalling without a portal," Gideon shot back.

Cassius' brows rose. "I did?" He searched the faces of his brothers around him. "Oh… I didn't even realize." Shaking his head, he said, "We're going off topic… I won't mess around with Evanesce. It's too dangerous."

The Evanesce spell was terrifying on two fronts. It was worse than death. With death, you moved on to the next plane of existence. With Evanesce, the person bespelled no longer existed. Anywhere. On any plane. They evaporated, and there was no coming back from nothingness. Those who knew and loved them would slowly forget they'd ever existed. Offspring vanished. Erasing someone from the timeline could shift history and change the present which—depending on the person—could cause small ripples or massive tsunamis.

Taking out a demon couldn't impact the timeline too much, could it? It wasn't human, though it had touched those in the afterlife. Time worked very differently in Hell, too.

Yet someone wielding that kind of power was chilling. If they were strong enough to master the spell, there was a plethora of dangerous, dark magic they'd be able to use with ease. Speaking the name of the spell aloud was frowned upon in witch circles, that's how dreaded it was.

"I know it's not something to be trifled with, but in this case…" Gideon murmured. "Together, we might be able to pull it off. Like with Eli… focus our magic on you, Cas."

Cassius' eyes darkened. "We don't need to give the Council another reason to come after us right now."

"The councilis the thing you're concerned with here, not the danger of that spell?" Oz asked.

Ignoring Oz's comment, Luca added, "If the council sent Raymond here to investigate, they're already sniffing around as it is. What does it matter?"

"Hopefully, we'll soon put a stop to that sniffing," Cassius said. "Let's not open another can of worms before we do that, hmm?" Cassius ran a hand through his hair, clearly stressed. It was rare for their leader to get rattled, but rattled he was. "Can we focus on the pressing issue right now? Move the demons and get them locked away. We can ask questions and find answers later."

A cough got everyone's attention. Gideon's gaze flicked to Atlas, as did everyone else's. Atlas hadn't been himself the last week. He'd been quiet. Sullen—well, the sullen part wasn't that off, but he usually sprinkled them with a liberal helping of sarcasm and humor, enough to balance the scales. Suddenly, Atlas wasn't the same and Gideon didn't like it.

"I've seen a spell that might banish the demons and keep them locked in Hell. Forever."

"What spell?" Cassius asked.

"In… the book."

Both Cassius and Luca cringed. Gideon stiffened, sensing trouble.

"What book?"both Oz and Oracio asked in unison before their gazes met.

"Hammer of the Witches," Cassius said before Oracio and Oz both gasped. "It appeared in Quilliam's bookstore recently. Pierre intercepted it, hoping to cure Colby, but," Cassius eyed Atlas. "Atlas took it from Pierre before the little skunk got himself into more trouble with magic, only to use it himself."

"I used it to cure Colby. Then Quilliam stole it from me," Atlas ground out.

"It wasn't yours in the first place," Cassius corrected, a hint of anger in his tone.

Atlas' eyes darkened, his jaw tightening. "It chose me. It belongs to… me."

Gideon sensed the darkness growing in Atlas. The book must've left its mark. "He needs to be cleansed. Fast. Before whatever darkness has him flourishes."

"Agreed," Cassius said, eyeing Atlas—who stormed off down the sidewalk a few feet. "We can have Quilliam look through the book for the spell. He's immune to most dark books, so it shouldn't affect him. Until then," Cassius paused, pointing that the truck. "We lock them up. After Quilliam finds the spell, we can bind them to Hell and free the humans."

"Tick-tock," Oz said, pointing to his watch. "I said ten minutes ago that time was running thin."

"How are we getting to the shop? The streets are going to be packed," Luca said.

Salem turned into a madhouse the month of October when Essex Street overfilled with celebrating humans as if it were the French Quarter at Mardi Gras. Without all the booze and flashing, sadly. Gideon loved a good flashing, giving and receiving.

"We can forge a path." Cassius waved his hands, creating a massive portal, large enough for the box truck to drive through. The neon sign for the tattoo shop was in view on the other side. "Oz… Oracio… Gideon… go through and drive people back then use an invisibility spell. We'll pull up in front, empty out, and get the hell out of there."