An Allie Beckstrom Novel

"Using magic, meant it used you back. Forget the fairytale hocus pocus, sparkles and pixie dust crap. Magic, like booze, sex, and drugs, gave as good as it got"

Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user, maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allie Beckstrom is the best there is.

Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic . . .

Allie Beckstrom knows that there's a price to pay for using magic . . .

She's suffered her fair share of migraines and gaps in her memory during her time working as a Hound, tracing spells back to their casters. But now Allie's been visibly marked by magic with a mysterious iridescent tattoo. She's not only lost all memory of how she got it, but also of the man that she's supposedly fallen in love with. Oh, and as usual, she's completely broke.

So when the criminal magic enforcement division of the police asks her to consult on a missing persons case, things start to look up. At first, it seems to be a fairly straightforward way of earning some money - but like most things in Allie's life it soon turns into a dangerous mix of underworld criminals, ghosts and blood magic. This time Allie is going to discover it takes more than magic to survive . . .

'Every time you use magic, it uses you back. Sure, you could magic yourself a photographic memory for that big test, for that big interview, for that big stock market job. And all it cost you was a nice case of liver failure. Or the memory of your lover's name.'

Magic is Allie Beckstom's blessing and curse. As a Hound, she uses her gifts to track down practitioners who abuse their power, and then stops them from inflicting harm on unsuspecting innocents. Unfortunately her spells have taken a toll on her, physically marking her and erasing her memories - including those of the man she loves.

But lost memories aren't the only things preying on Allie's thoughts. Her late father, a prominent businessman - and sorcerer - has somehow channeled himself into her mind. With the help of the Authority, a secret organization of magic users, she hopes to gain better control over her own abilities - and find a way to deal with her father . . .

Allie Beckstrom knows better than most that when magic's involved, you always pay. Whether the price is migraines, amnesia, or muscle aches, she is committed to her work as a Hound, tracing illegal spells back to their casters. But her job is about to get much more dangerous.

There's a stom of apocalyptic force bearing down on Portland, and when it hits, all the magic in the area will turn unstable and destructive. To stop it from taking out the entire city, Allie and her lover, the mysterious Zayvion Jones, must work with the Authority - the enigmatic arbiters of all things magic - and make a stand against a magical wild storm that will obliterate all in its path.

'We knew as soon as we stepped out on those streets, we were walking blind, into a war. All of us were going to have to bear the pain of paying the price for the magic we called upon. And I was going to have to bear the pain of carrying a weapon that made me face what I had become. A killer.'

Allison Beckstrom's talent for tracking spells has put her up against some of the darkest elements in the world of magic. But she's never faced anything like this.

Magic itself has been poisoned, and Allie's undead father may have left the only cure in the hands of a madman. Hunted by the Authority - the secret council who enforces the laws - wanted by the police, and unable to use magic, she's got to find the cure before the sickness spreads beyond any power to stop it.

But when a death magic user seeks to destroy the only thing that can heal magic, Allie and her fellow renegades must stand and fight to defend the innocent and save all magic . . .

'We were about to enter a war with two of the most powerful creatures who had ever used magic. And we were nowhere near ready for this fight.'

For most of her life, Allison Beckstrom has used magic and accepted the heavy price it exacts. But now that all magic is poisoned, it's no longer just using people - it's killing them.

With Portland about to descend into chaos, Allie needs to find a way to purify the wells of tainted magic beneath the city. But the only options left to her are grim: attempt to close down magic forever, or follow her father's plan to set magic into the right hands - even though she's learned to never trust his word.

In her final stand against death, darkness, and her own deepest fears, Allie must fight smart and choose well, or pay the ultimate price.