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Binding the Shadows
Binding the Shadows
Binding the Shadows
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Binding the Shadows

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Demons sure know how to kill a girl’s buzz.

Renegade mage and bartender Arcadia Bell has had a rough year, but now the door to her already unstable world is becoming completely unhinged. When a citywide crime wave erupts, Cady’s demon-friendly tiki bar is robbed by Earthbounds wielding surreal demonic abilities that just flat-out shouldn’t exist. With the help of her devilishly delicious boyfriend, Lon Butler, Cady sets out to find the people who wronged her—but her targets aren’t the only ones experiencing unnatural metamorphoses. Can Cady track down the monsters responsible before the monster inside her destroys everything—and everyone—she loves? If she survives this adventure, one thing is certain: it’s last call for life as she knows it.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherPocket Books
Release dateMay 28, 2013
ISBN9781451695113
Binding the Shadows
Author

Jenn Bennett

Jenn Bennett is an award-winning author of young adult books, including Alex, Approximately; Starry Eyes; The Lady Rogue; and Always Jane, and the middle grade novels Grumbones and The Knight Thieves. She also writes historical romance and fantasy for adults. Her books have earned multiple starred reviews, won the Romance Writers of America’s RITA® Award, and been included on Publishers Weekly’s Best Books annual list. She currently lives near Atlanta with one husband and two dogs.

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Really good series, loved them all..Hope she continued to write more books!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Absolute page Turner! I don't usually leave reviews but as a new fan of jenn Bennett? I say bravo!! Keep them coming!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Reviewed by: Rabid ReadsEvery time I pick up a new installment in a series I automatically expect it to be better than the last; and even though there have already been plenty of books this year that have fit that description, Binding the Shadows is their Queen. This novel is larger-than-life, full-to-the-brim, jump-off-the-page, made-of-awesome good. I loved this series before but I am infatuated with it now! If you haven’t discovered Jenn Bennett you well, should get on that but, if you have and haven’t pre-ordered Binding the Shadows yet… what the heck is WRONG with you!?The characters in these books are absolutely stellar; every time I come back to visit them, I feel like I’m returning home. They are just such a great bunch of people! On top of Cady, Lon, Jupe and Kar Yee; we also get to spend some quality time with the Giovanni’s and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I guess maybe we bonded over out mutual hatred of Yvonne? Yes, the ex wife and the “new” girlfriend finally meet in this installment and things go exactly as you’d expect them to… absolutely terrible! In spite of all the chaos that happens in this book, and I do mean chaos, I loved that Cady and Lon’s relationship actually grew stronger. And Jupe, I mean, how can anyone not love this kid?The main plot is relatively simple; it’s what’s happening on the sidelines that makes this book so interesting. In a lot of ways this story felt like a stepping stone, or a point of no return. Cady’s been working so hard to carve out a normal life for herself but unfortunately, her old one is finally catching up with her and no matter what she does, she can’t outrun her past this time. Arcadia is either going to have to embrace the changes that are upon her or get buried by them because she’s in too deep to be able to turn back now. I loved the sense of urgency and all the build-up in this book; it made for one heck of an intense read. The wait for the next installment is going to be pure agony. So many questions, and so few answers! Gawd!I’m going to keep this review short because nearly everything I want to say about this novel is a spoiler is some way, shape or form. I guess that’s what happens when you weave a killer story the way that Jenn Bennett does! Arcadia Bell is one of my all time favourite Urban Fantasy heroines and she does not disappoint in Binding the Shadows. Magic, mayhem and romance collide! But watch out for the cliffhanger because it’s a doozy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    First of all, make sure you have the fourth book at hand before you finish this one. You are going to really, really want to read it.Cady Bell is happy with her boyfriend Lon and his son Jupe but there are some challenges ahead. There is a new drug in town that enhances Skills. Cady and Lon first run into it when Dare sends them to question another member of the Hellfire Club and he exhibits way beyond the ordinary range of Skills. Next there seems to be a local crime wave going on. Cady's tiki bar is robbed by a couple of Earthbound teenagers who have too much telekinesis. On the personal front, Cady's own abilities are evolving and becoming much more powerful. She learns that the mother who was taken into the demon world, and who Cady thought was dead, is not only alive but is determined to gain control over Cady and her powers. And, even more personal, it is Christmas time and Cady has to meet Jupe's grandmother and aunt and she is afraid of making a bad impression. Then Jupe's mother shows up claiming to be drug-free and eager to rebuild her relationship with Jupe. But no one, least of all Cady, is willing to trust her as she wreaks emotional havoc on one and all.This story is action-packed and Cady has more than her fair share of enemies who are all trying to get control of her. I love her relationships with Lon and Jupe and I love that she is learning to be part of a family. These relationships help balance all the chaos in the rest of her life.I need to know what happens next! Excuse me while I slink off into my reading cave with BANISHING THE DARK.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    These books only get better and better. Review to come closer to release date.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Took me a few chapters to get into, but soon remembered why Lon & Cady are one of my favorite fictional couples. Lon's teenage son Jupe is still that special extra ingredient that makes the whole thing magical & I love the way that this book pairs one extremely normal, relatable plot (Family from Lon's first marriage coming to visit and giving Cady the stink eye) with an extremely bizarre, utterly UF plot (about a crime spree accomplished using amped-up knacks).

    The peril gets really rather dire in BINDING THE SHADOWS, and while it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, it will leave you biting your nails. Cady provokes the nasty head of the Hellfire Club, her powers are growing out of control, her parents are back on the scene and up to no good, her bar is robbed.

    There's a really heartbreaking moment where Cady & Lon are still exchanging 'code words' instead of 'I love you', Cady is neck-deep in disaster, and I found myself thinking: Oh, Cady, you are so lucky to have ended up with Lon and Jupe and I really hope you don't lose them. On the face of it, it's a hard sell: what's so great about a divorced single dad with a teenaged son? Doesn't that sound like a nightmare? But when you read, they are both such keepers, and there's a perfect, perfect moment where Lon reveals that he feels the exact same fears that Cady does, that he's the lucky one and astonished that she puts up with all his problems.

    Anyway, really packed an emotional punch. Good read. Still a huge fan of this series. (Though I do wish the parents would just die already, please please, just die...)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This story is made up of 3 main threads. The first is that some Earthbounds' knacks have been amped up. How? It becomes very personal when these knacks are used against Cady in her own bar. The second is Jupe's annual Christmas visit from his aunt and grandmother; Cady is rather nervous about meeting them and what they'll think of her. It takes them all by surprise when Jupe's mother shows up wanting a new start. And lastly there is Cady's ever increasing power and it's scaring her. Just what is she? Is she too dangerous to be around Lon and Jupe? There's a huge jump in this back story that adds a great deal of drama and emotion.Wow, I was so engaged in the story that it felt like hitting a brick wall when I got to the end. There's plenty of action, drama and emotions in this book. And while I wouldn't quite call the ending a cliffhanger, it's definitely going to leave you yearning to know what happens next.The world and characters built, including the secondary ones, are very realistic. And while the action and drama are always good, it's the relationships that really push the story from a good read to a great one. These are all characters that I would love to have in my life; quirks and all. Emotions run the gamut from fear to love with a great variety in between. And you'll feel much of it along with Cady.Thankfully we only have to wait until January for the next book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another slam dunk for author Jenn Bennett and her Arcadia Bell Series. The characters make the series for me and every installment with Cady, Lon, Jupe, and Kar Yee makes me love the series even more. So much happens in BINDING THE SHADOWS I'm not sure where to start. Ok lets talk about Cady and Lon. LOVE them. Each book pulls them closer together and in BINDING THE SHADOWS you continue to see their devotion to each other grow. Jupe is a huge pot of pure entertainment. His innocence and sense of humor never ceases to amaze me. There is nothing like meeting the ex wife's family and I have to say I enjoyed it. They all share a mutual hate for the ex and it was nice seeing them bond over that even though there were some ups and downs. Yvonne you ask? She makes an appearance and I wanted to punch her teeth out. Cady really shows how much of a mother she has become to Jupe.I do not want to say too much about the plot because it would be full of spoilers but we get to witness the return of past character, both allies and enemies. We get to see Cady in action. We witness Cady sticking up for herself and those she loves. We watch Cady reveal her true self to Kar Yee and it does not go well. There is humor, heartache, joy, pain, action and entertainment for everyone.The ending is best described in the email that I sent Jenn the moment I finished BINDING THE SHADOWS (has been slightly edited, please excuse the screaming ). SERIOUSLY?? What kind of horrific ending is that??!?!?!? I'm devastated, DEVASTATED I tell you. And I have to wait a WHOLE YEAR to find out? Wow evil I tell you, evil. Loved it. But your still evil Jenn ;)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Fans of the Arcadia Bell series are in for a treat. This book is engaging from start to finish. I didn’t want to put it down and immediately wanted to start the next book when I finished.Opening Sentence: I scrambled through the second-story window and balanced on a square section of slanted roofing above a portico on the first floor.The Review:Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that ending! I’d heard there was a cliffhanger at the end of this one, so I found myself trying to figure out what it would be as I read the book. Theory after theory crossed my mind, but I didn’t even come close to what actually happened (which is good because despite my guessing, I would have been disappointed if I’d been able to figure it out). My first thought after finishing this book was “I need to read the next one immediately,” which was then followed by, “What do you mean it’s not coming out for another month?!” Obviously, this book inspired a very large reaction from me, and that’s great.Cady’s life is never simple. Christmas is a stressful enough time, but on top of that, Lon’s former mother and sister-in-law are going to be in town. On top of that, Dare continues to hold his knowledge of Cady’s real identity over her head so that she’ll continue to do work for him. On top of that, there seems to be a rash of Earthbounds with more powerful than usual knacks running around causing mischief. On top of that, Cady’s powers seem to be increasing rapidly, with scary results. And on top of that, she’s beginning to see visions of her mother, a woman who shouldn’t be on this plane, let alone alive. Christmas might be a little stressful this year…I have loved Cady since book 1, and that fact certainly hasn’t changed. I’m continuing to love watching her open herself up to other people after a lifetime of trying to hide from people so they don’t discover her identity. It makes my heart ache (in a good way) to watch her interact with Jupe, to see her start to form a family of her own. Long continues to be a wonderful hero. He might not talk much about his emotions, but he makes it clear how he feels about Cady with his actions. I also love how they don’t let drama sideline their relationship. If there’s a problem, they talk about it; they don’t make assumptions. It’s a very mature relationship, and you don’t always get that in paranormal romance and urban fantasy.Something else that makes this series unique is Jupe. You don’t often find a hero who’s a single father, and Jenn Bennett makes the most of it. Jupe has been one of my favorite characters ever since book 1. He’s so full of energy and dynamic, his personality practically leaps off the page. He lights up every scene he’s in. It also doesn’t hurt that he loves horror movies, just like me, so that just makes me love him more.This book was non-stop action from start to finish. There were moments my heart was pounding from suspense, then times I was laughing at Jupe’s antics, and still other times when I had tears in my eyes. So many emotions! Fans of this series are in for a treat. Just be prepared to be anxious for the next installment!Notable Scene:“Forget it. I’m done.”“Fine,” Dare said. “I don’t give a damn if you come to the funeral or not.”“I’m not talking about the funeral.” I strode to meet him, everything suddenly clear to me. There were a lot of things I couldn’t control, but this was one I could. “I’m done being your slave.”“Slaves don’t get paid.”“I never asked for the job. You bullied me–no, you blackmailed me into working for you.”“It’s not my fault you’re living a lie.”“No, but you’re a dick for taking advantage of it. And I’m done with you. Don’t wire me any more money, don’t ask me to do anything else for you.” Surging anger heated my chest and loosened my tongue. “If it weren’t for me, seven of your club’s children would be dead by now and Central California would be overrun with AEthyric demons.” I stuck a finger in his chest. “You should be kissing my feet. You have no idea what I could do to you, demon. No fucking idea. If you did, you’d be sending me roses everyday, begging for my forgiveness.”He didn’t look like he was about to fall on his knees and ask for said forgiveness any time soon. But he did look surprised. Probably because no one ever stood up to him.“I–”“What? What are you going to do? Have your lackeys shove a gun in my face and force me on another job? Go on, I dare you.”Now he was angry, too. “If you want to negotiate more agreeable terms, I’m open to that. But you seem to be forgetting that I could bring down your matchstick framework of an existence with a couple of phone calls.”I stepped closer. Close enough to smell the expensive aftershave clinging to his leathery skin. Close enough to see a muscle jump in his jaw. “Go right ahead,” I goaded. “Tell the whole world. I’m not going to pay my parents’ crimes for the rest of my life. If I end up in jail for living under a stolen identity or aiding and abetting my parents’ disappearance, then you’re just going to have to bail me right back out, because I can’t charge your damned Hellfire summoning circles from prison. And if you even think about using Lon to get to me, or threatening anyone I care about, you and I will be enemies. And you’d do well to remember all my enemies are dead.”FTC Advisory: Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster provided me with a copy of Binding the Shadows. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.allthingsuf.comThe Arcadia Bell series works on two levels, both as a series with grand, sweeping plot points, and within each book, with the more intimate moments between characters. The cross series action is interesting, but not a motivating factor for me. It’s the personal bonds, the interactions between Cady and Lon and Jupe, that have me excited to go from one book to the next.And in that regard, BINDING THE SHADOWS more than delivers. Lots of Jupe time, charming and hilarious and awkward as ever. Lots of relationship growth for Lon and Cady, meeting the “in-laws” and slowly integrating two independent lives into one family. Even the action in this book has some “up close and personal” moments, where the general mystery that Cady is trying to solve comes home to roost on her doorstep. And it’s those close to home, boots on the ground moments that I really loved. The threat of Cady’s origins and ever growing magic is intellectually very cool, but those events don’t feel like they’re growing from Cady’s efforts (they often just appear at moments of high stress), so I’ve always felt a little removed from that part of the action.But regardless of whether you’re looking for action or character, the ending of BINDING THE SHADOWS covers both sides of the story. As magic bleeds into Cady’s relationships, I’m looking forward to seeing the Moonchild faced head on.Sexual Content: Kissing, references to sex and prostitution.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There are those kinds of Urban Fantasy worlds that are intricately built and detailed that you can completely envision and understand it. But then there are those kinds of worlds that are so easily envisioned that they are almost real. Sure there's a demon realm and magicians and all sorts of other craziness going on but you could swear it's really happening around you, Arcadia Bell's world is just that vivid. It's a world that manages to suck you in and make you a part of it all. That's the kind of world that Jenn Bennett has crafted in her Arcadia Bell series.In my experience, the longer a series goes on for the less likely I am to continue loving it. Characters get old, story lines feel reused... I just prefer stand-alones more often than not. Well, that theory gets completely blown out of the water when it comes to this series. This series has managed to get infinitely better with each new story, and Binding the Shadows is the best installment yet. The character growth continues building, the relationships continue to get stronger and more involved, and I can only sit back and marvel at the complexity of the story lines. I was in complete awe by the last page. Jenn Bennett isn't afraid to take the risk and inflict her characters with immense pain and suffering but I believe that risky chance paid off big. These characters may be fictional but they struggle despite their magical abilities and it manages to humanize them. Binding the Shadows leaves you with a jaw-dropper of an ending that will leave you desperately wanting 'Crossing the Æthyr'. Urban Fantasy fans: read this series, it won't fail to enthrall you.

Book preview

Binding the Shadows - Jenn Bennett

I scrambled through the second-story window and balanced on a square section of slanted roofing above a portico on the first floor. Lon followed, biting out obscenities. I’d never seen him move so fast. Fire is a good motivator.

We hugged the outer wall of the house, flanking both sides of the open window. A sharp night wind whipped my hair around my face and shoulders as I butted my shoulder against the siding.

Where is Merrimoth now? I thought.

Left the room to search for the gun, Lon said in a low voice.

I quickly surveyed our surroundings. A small balcony lay to our left, a couple of rooms away. I risked a glance below and got queasy watching the tide crash and foam around an outcropping of jagged rocks.

Merrimoth’s contemporary house was built on stilts over a lonely expanse of Pacific coast. The shoreline that stretched in front of us was studded with crags and driftwood and sea otters, and maybe the occasional wet-suited surfer seeking a thrill. I was neither sea otter nor surfer, and I figured I had a one percent chance of surviving a dive into the threatening waters below.

Long strands of golden brown hair fluttered around the back of Lon’s neck as he leaned against the house and listened. Light from the still-burning fire radiated from the open window, creating dancing shadows that deepened the long hollows of his cheeks.

Like Merrimoth, Lon Butler is an Earthbound: demons on the inside, humans on the outside—with the small exception of a wispy halo of light that floats around their heads, marking them as other. When Lon was transmutated, his demonic halo morphed from the usual nebulous gold-speckled green cloud to an eruption of flames that licked around his head and shoulders. He also sprouted a pair of spiraling ram-like horns, which were currently making a disconcerting knocking sound when he leaned his head against the house.

He thinks he’s spotted where the gun landed, he whispered.

Lon’s damned Lupara. He’d only managed one shot before Merrimoth took possession of the gun a couple of minutes ago. I’d shocked Merrimoth with charged Heka—natural magical energy kindled with electricity—causing the gun to fly out of his hand, and he retaliated by inexplicably creating a wall of fire across the room. Which is why we were now standing outside the window above a rocky shoreline when we should be sitting down to dinner.

Ambrose Dare, the very rich and very powerful head of the Hellfire Club, sent me here to put a metaphysical leash around Merrimoth’s neck after hearing reports that his Number Two Earthbound had gone mad. Not usually my business or concern, but Dare was busy at some holiday fundraiser, and I was getting paid to care.

We can’t stand here forever, Lon said in a low voice.

No, we damn well couldn’t. I longingly glanced at the nearby balcony. It was several feet away and connected to our roof by a slim ledge of cedar.

Would it hold us? Lon asked.

I tested it, easing the toe of my shoe on the ledge. Seemed strong enough, though it was awfully narrow. I don’t know . . .

Try to bind him again.

You think I’m not? I whispered hotly.

My inherited moon power was stronger than it’d ever been, now that I was using it regularly, but that didn’t mean I understood the mechanics behind it. All I knew was that it damn sure didn’t work in the daytime and—like the cable in Lon’s house up on the cliffs—went on the fritz during storms.

Lon exhaled in frustration. Clever eyes studied mine as his index finger and thumb moved in unison to smooth the thin pirate mustache that trailed around his mouth and matching triangle in the center of his chin.

Bind Merrimoth, he finally said, and I’ll do that thing you like later.

It’s not like my power reacts to the reward system, I said, then added, What thing?

The corner of his mouth quirked. On the chair.

"You mean that thing you like?"

"We both like, he corrected. Win-win."

I snorted a soft laugh. I don’t think you understand the concept of bargaining.

He held up a hand to quiet me, then whispered after a few moments. The gun fell behind his piano. He can see it from the landing.

Perfect. When he heads back downstairs—

Cady—

—we’ll just go back inside and—

Ahhh!

Lon lurched away from the side of the house and nearly toppled off the narrow roof. I felt it a second later: fire on my back, spreading across the wood siding. I yelped in pain, then ducked into a crouch as a sudden boom! rattled the house. Flames burst from the open window, a column of orange fire like dragon’s breath. It spewed over our heads, just missing one of Lon’s horns, then retreated. Mostly. Flames continued to cavort around the window and surrounding wall.

The scent of burning hair wafted. I furiously patted my bleached white Bride of Frankenstein streak, which hung over my shoulders and stood out against my otherwise dark hair. How is he doing that? I hissed.

Hell if I know. Even transmutated, there’s no way he should be able to do this.

But Merrimoth wasn’t transmutated, which made even less sense. Many Earthbounds have a demonic ability, what they call a knack. Lon’s an empath. He can read your emotions. Transmuted, like he was at that moment, he can also read your thoughts. Merrimoth possessed a knack I once would’ve classified as harmless: temperature control. Last time I saw him, he could warm my hand with a touch. But creating giant blasts of fire? This was new.

Ha! Merrimoth’s joyful voice called out from inside the house. I am God—no, the Devil himself. I’ve never felt so alive!

And I’d never felt so angry. Come to think of it, I’d felt nothing but hate for David Merrimoth since I met him at the Hellfire caves several months back. Not only because the elderly Earthbound tried to feed Lon to a caged Æthyric demon in a fighting ring, but also because he wanted to herd me into an Incubus orgy.

Stay right there, won’t you? Merrimoth hollered from inside the house. His batshit-crazy laugh was lost in the crackle of flames that licked around the window frame.

Lon pulled me to my feet and craned to see inside the window. He’s going downstairs.

Heat from Merrimoth’s fire caused sweat to trickle down my back. We weren’t circus lions. No way was I jumping through the ring of a window on fire, but I wasn’t going to stand there and wait for Merrimoth to come back and shoot us. I gazed at the balcony and resigned myself to a tightrope act. I’ll go first. Wait until I’ve crossed.

Like hell. I’m not going to stand here and watch you fall. We both go.

Fine. If our combined weight destroyed the ledge, maybe I’d get to give him an I-told-you-so on the other side. I flattened my back against the house and gingerly sidled onto the cedar ledge. My heart drummed inside my chest as salty ocean air filled my lungs. I stretched out an arm and guided myself forward with an open palm on the siding for balance. One step . . . two steps. . . . The ledge creaked.

Slow, Cady, Lon’s voice said somewhere behind me.

I was inching forward one foot at a time—how much slower could I go?

Something fell on my face. A sharp pinpoint of cold. Then another. Plop.

Shit. So much for clear skies. A handful of plops, then the heavens just opened up without warning and dumped a torrent of winter rain.

Keep going, Lon said.

Christmas was next week, for the love of Pete. I should be wrapping presents right now and preparing myself to meet Lon’s extended family—not running from fire and tightroping across the side of some nut-job’s house in a storm.

At least the anger was motivating. Three more steps and we were halfway there. Or were we? It was hard to tell—I couldn’t turn my neck to look back or I’d lose my balance. Blustering wind thrashed my hair and fanned a hard sheet of rain across my face. Vertigo turned my knees to jelly.

Ignore it! Lon barked at my side.

He was right. Too late to turn back now. I had to press forward. Had to make it. All I needed to do was slide one foot, fingers reaching, slide second foot, and repeat. But during the next step, I felt the house rumble against my back.

What was that? I whispered.

Something behind us, on the safe little island of roofing we’d left. I’d fall if I glanced back. Lon must’ve detected something with his knack because his hand suddenly gripped my shoulder. All my muscles went rigid as a breath stuck in my throat.

A gun’s report cracked the night air.

My back stiffened. Fingernails gouged the rain-slick siding, scrabbling for purchase. Lon swore indecipherably.

You couldn’t hit a buffalo with this old thing, Merrimoth’s voice shouted into the storm.

Keep going, Lon said to me. The Lupara’s out of shells now.

I drew harsh breaths through my nostrils and took an indecisive step. Then another. Lon was saying something behind me again, but I blocked him out. Three steps to the balcony. I extended my arm. I could do this. Two steps. Almost there. My fingertips reached for the wooden railing—

Glass doors swung open.

A green halo swam in front of my eyes as Merrimoth burst onto the balcony. The gray-haired Earthbound was in his early seventies. He wore perfectly ironed gray slacks and a white shirt that gaped open three too many buttons to expose a plush thicket of curly gray chest hair.

How stupid do you think I am? he said breathlessly as rain soaked through his shirt. No horns, no fiery halo. He definitely wasn’t transmutated, so how could his knack be potent enough to create fire?

Merrimoth! Lon shouted. Let us inside. We’ll discuss this like adults.

There’s nothing to discuss, m’boy. Dare wants to sic his hounds on me? And not even worthy hounds—Jonathan Butler’s privileged ragamuffin son and his witchy Sheba, barely old enough to tie her own shoes, much less bind me properly. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that little stunt you pulled in the Hellfire caves. Dare blamed me for the vermillion binding circle you broke. He flayed me for it.

The crazy Earthbound held out an upturned palm. My rain-bleary vision took several seconds to register that his hand was striped with pink scars.

Dare said I couldn’t touch you or I was out of the Hellfire Club. But I don’t need them anymore, not with power like this! The beginning of a laugh was choked in his throat as his gaze narrowed and landed on Lon. Get out of my brain, Butler. I feel you poking around. You want to know how I started those fires? I’m not telling. But remember that my knack always went both ways—hot and cold. Would you like a demonstration?

Merrimoth—

Look at you, little birds perched on my house. The footing on that ledge looks awfully dicey. Would be even more precarious if the temperature dropped a few degrees . . .

The rain surged and swirled as the Earthbound flicked his wrist. A volley of cold, sharp raindrops flew against my body and pinged off the house, sounding like a thousand marbles had been scattered into the wind. Hail. He’d frozen the rain around us.

Ice quickly formed on both the ledge below and the wooden siding at our backs. My fingers slipped. Merrimoth swooped his arm in a downward arc and a long strip of ice solidified at our feet. It shot out into the night air like the enormous, curling tongue of a mythological Nordic Frost Giant.

Lon’s leg banged against mine, then his foot gave way. I turned just in time to see him careen down the icy slide. He launched into the air, rocketing into the night sky as if he’d been released from a slingshot. I watched in horror as his body hung for a split second, then dropped, heading straight for the rocky coastline below.

I didn’t have time to make a plan. No option existed but stopping Lon’s fall. And after all the trouble I’d been having summoning up my moon power to bind Merrimoth, in that single moment—the second Lon dropped—the erratic magick immediately submitted to my will and lashed out like lightning. I had no particular spell in mind, not even a sigil. Only one thought ballooned inside my head and crackled through my synapses: No.

Magick whooshed out of me with my breath. I blinked, drowsy and momentarily disoriented. I knew I’d done something big, but it took me a moment to realize exactly what.

Time had slowed.

I glanced around in shock. A peculiar silver light swathed my vision. Raindrops hung suspended in the air—illuminated by light from the house’s windows, they looked like clusters of misshapen glass beads. And on the balcony, Merrimoth’s body stood stock-still, his mouth open, hand poised in the middle of some unrealized gesture like a wax figure. As if I’d pushed a pause button. I peered over the arch of ice at my feet, dreading what I might find.

Lon!

He was suspended in the air a floor below me, caught in my magick, falling facedown, his halo and long hair streaming behind.

I’d never, never done anything this big—never even imagined I could. But the amount of energy it took to power it was already draining me.

Screwing up my courage, I chanced a couple of small, cautious steps on the slick ledge until my hand wrapped around the railing. I took a deep breath and awkwardly pitched myself sideways, scrambled onto the balcony, and skidded, almost crashing into Merrimoth. Silver fog swirled around his legs. Creepy as hell. Even creepier when I realized he wasn’t completely still. His arm was rising in slow motion, a hair at a time. His angry gaze struggled to shift in my direction.

A wave of dizziness unsteadied me. My Heka reserves were draining and I was running out of time. I shuffled around Merrimoth, spotted Lon’s vintage gun in his hand, and pried it out of his fingers. Then I scurried through the balcony doors into the house.

I found myself inside a cavernous bedroom, decorated with restraint and neutral colors, like the rest of Merrimoth’s home. Automated ceiling sprinklers doused everything with circular sprays of water. I stumbled across polished wood flooring, frantically looking for a way out, and found more than I wanted: three cameras on tripods, a bed outfitted with black rubber sheets, an object that I initially thought was a curly dildo (and upon closer inspection, was, I thought, a butt plug with one end shaped like a pig’s tail), and a gleaming, shiver-inducing metal speculum. I scurried around a black leather swing hanging from an exposed beam and darted into the hallway.

Silver fog eddied around my feet as I galloped down the main stairwell and rushed through the living room. The layout was disorienting. Lon and I had only been in this room a few moments before Merrimoth went apeshit earlier and chased us upstairs. I finally spotted a pair of glass doors. My fingers shook as they flipped a dead bolt and flung the doors open.

A small set of stairs led to the beach. Trudging over wet sand, I slipped the bulky Lupara inside my jacket and scoured the shoreline. Lon’s golden halo hummed in the darkness. He was still hanging in the sky over the foaming water, though he’d descended a bit. If he dropped a few more feet, I could reach him . . . if he weren’t suspended a few yards out over the ocean.

Minutes ago, the crashing tide would’ve pounded me to a pulp against the rocks here, but now the water was eerily still, silver fog clinging to the quiet surface. I plodded into the winter-chilled water. My steps left dark holes in the foamy surf. Utterly surreal. I marveled at the way the splashes around my watery footprints hung in midair, how they deepened as I waded knee-deep. Farther away, somewhere beyond Merrimoth’s house, I could hear the surf pounding: my moon magick apparently had limits.

Lon was above me now, his black peacoat billowing at his sides like the wings of a fallen angel. I focused on climbing the rocks to reach him, a task more difficult than I initially thought. They were slimy with seaweed, rough with broken mussel shells, and it didn’t help that shivers racked my body. When I got to a point where I could stand without falling, I stretched and nabbed Lon’s ankle, then tugged. He moved a few inches. Holy Whore—it was like pulling a box of bricks out of the sky. I tugged harder and, with a series of groans, dragged him through the air, retracing my steps to shore.

My lungs felt close to bursting and I was seriously dizzy from the amount of Heka I was using. But I knew that once I let go of the moon magick, Merrimoth would inflict some sort of insane Narnian winter across the beach. Maybe even turn us into frozen statues. Or set us on fire. I shoved Lon closer to the ground, leaning across his back, then finally sitting on him when that didn’t work.

Screw David Merrimoth and screw Dare for calling me up in the middle of the night to bind him. As I considered whether I had the strength to wrangle Lon up the driveway and into the car so we could just get out of there, a figure materialized in the shadows beneath the stilted house.

It was a woman, possibly fifty years old, long and lean. She was wearing odd clothing—a toga-like gray dress. Silver fog clung to her bare ankles. Her dark hair was pinned up and dusted with gray at the crown. She had intelligent eyes, cheekbones that could cut diamond, and a full, sensual mouth. French, through and through. She crossed her elegant arms with an air of superiority and smiled at me like she’d just won the lottery.

When I realized who she was, I screamed bloody murder.

Complete shock severed my connection to the moon magick, and the woman disappeared in a flash. Newly reanimated, Lon faceplanted into the sand just as the ocean roared back to life, echoing Merrimoth’s angry shouting somewhere above us.

My heart raced around my chest like a fox outrunning a hunter. A terrible feeling of hopelessness took root.

Enola Duval. Never in a million years did I think I’d see her again. Gifted student of the occult and author of multiple books on magick. Infamous former member of the highly esteemed Ekklesia Eleusia esoteric society, or E∴E∴, as it’s known in occult circles. One of the Black Lodge Slayers. Number 37 in a set of American Serial Killer trading cards. On the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

Mom.

My mother had been gone for months, claimed by a primordial albino demon named Nivella the White and taken into the Æthyr with my father as payment for crimes they committed. Nasty crimes. Unpardonable crimes. Long before her stint as a serial killer, my mother conceived me during an arcane ceremony that invoked something big and secret and unknowable from the Æthyr inside my cells—all so that she and my father could steal its essence through good, old-fashioned ritual sacrifice.

Mom was evil. She was crazy. And she could not be alive—Nivella wanted my parents dead, and had every reason to kill them as soon as they crossed into the Æthyr.

What I saw just now was only . . . a hallucination, or something. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be my mother. Period.

Lon’s muffled swearing wrenched me away from my panicked thoughts. As he pushed himself to his feet, I bent to help him and brushed sand from his jacket.

You did that? he rasped. Stopped my fall?

I’m as surprised as you are.

His eyes quickly narrowed in concern. What—

Don’t read my thoughts right now, okay? Later.

He nodded, and with his typical economical way of compartmentalizing emotional situations, promptly tabled his curiosity and focused his attention toward the underside of the house, listening for Merrimoth. Can you bind him from here?

Is he coming? Can you read him? Where is he?

As if in answer, the sound of the crashing waves suddenly stopped. The nearby surf was white. Not foamy white—snowy white. Not my magick this time. Lon and I cautiously glanced around the stilts.

Merrimoth had created a sludgy, half-frozen iceberg on the ocean’s surface. If he had been aiming for us and just missed, I didn’t want to risk him trying again and succeeding.

Time to get this over with.

I zeroed in on his voice and called up the moon power again. How could I have had so much trouble reaching it earlier? It came so naturally now. Power hummed inside me, ready to be wielded, as I warily scanned my surroundings for my mother. Not there. Good. Whatever had caused her image to appear earlier, it must’ve been a product of my mind—some sort of witchy glitch. At least that’s what I told myself.

The blue dot of light that marked my starting point appeared in my line of vision. I expanded it, molding the light into a standard binding triangle with all the proper seals and symbols. Then I shut my eyes, concentrated, and projected it upward through the house, searching for Merrimoth.

I lassoed him, but something felt wrong. He should be trapped, unable to do anything but pace and moan inside my binding, but he was moving. Lon shouted something incoherent. My eyes snapped open. I saw the blue light of my binding nose-diving through the night sky, spinning in circles around Merrimoth. I tried to yank the binding toward me like a leash. Tried to will him to stop—to slow time again. It was too late.

Two terrible realizations twined inside my head. Merrimoth had already jumped from the balcony when my binding trapped him—he’d constructed the snowy iceberg as a landing pad to soften his fall. Whatever he’d done to amp up his knack’s once meager power, he now believed himself to be infallible. Godlike.

And by yanking on my binding—even though I’d been trying to save him—I’d pulled him off course. His grotesque scream was abruptly aborted when a sickening crack! pierced the air.

Like an afterthought, the iceberg melted all at once into the sea and the renewed surf pounded against Merrimoth’s torso, impaled on a jagged point of rock.

I’d just killed someone. Again.

•  •  •

Shock silenced us for several heartbeats as we stood in the rain. Lon finally prodded me away from the shore and we retreated beneath the cover of the stilted house.

I felt a tickle in the back of my nose, then a familiar drowning warmth. Nosebleed. I lifted my hand to catch the first drop, then untucked the hem of my T-shirt and used it to pinch my nose. Cool night air drafted across my bared stomach.

Oh, Cady. Not again.

I didn’t mean to, I said, my voice muffled inside my shirt. My eyes brimmed with prickly tears.

Lon offered me a waded up paper napkin from his coat pocket. I meant the nosebleeds. Of course you didn’t mean to—

Kill the second most powerful person in the Hellfire Club? I thought back to him in response.

Just because he was Number Two doesn’t mean he was second in charge, Lon said. You know that. He just got the second slot when my father died. Dumb luck.

Dumb luck or not, Merrimoth had been a fixture in the club for twenty years. Dare wasn’t going to be happy. If I hadn’t bound him . . .

He might’ve broken his neck instead of his back. He was seventy-two, Cady, not seventeen.

He was in good shape.

I’m not sure if a cat with nine lives would’ve survived a fall from that height. Damn sure thought I was a goner until you saved me. What the hell kind of spell was that?

It wasn’t a spell, exactly. I just wanted to stop you from falling and it happened.

Lon’s eyes tightened into slits. No spell?

I shook my head.

That’s —

Scary as shit?

Amazing.

A slow, salt-tinged wind blew rain beneath the stilted house. Lon pulled his coat closed and began fastening a row of oversized buttons. His next question was spoken in a low, quiet voice. Why were you thinking about your mother?

Ugh. Trying to control my thoughts when he was transmutated was impossible. It took me a few moments to answer. I saw an image of her, or something. Over there,

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