Showing results by author "Melissa McShane" in All Categories

For more than 70 years, the use of familiars - monsters bound by magic to fight beside humans in the Long War - divided magery into two factions. Now, the monsters strike back. As Helena prepares for the Conference of Neutralities, reports of familiars breaking their bonds to attack and kill their masters raise tensions between the factions to an unprecedented high.

As the custodian of the oracular bookstore Abernathy’s, Helena has faced any number of challenges in learning her new role. But when the store begins giving out false prophecies, Helena comes up against her greatest challenge yet: how can she fix Abernathy’s when she doesn’t truly know how it works? Armed only with a few special talents and her desire to protect her magical charge, Helena navigates the treacherous depths of the magical world, where secret enemies lurk behind illusions capable of fooling even the most powerful of magical entities.

With two threats to the oracular bookstore Abernathy’s behind her, Helena finally feels secure in her role as custodian. But when a new danger rises, it threatens not the store, but the magi of Portland. As tensions between the factions grow, and monsters terrorize the city, the conflict tests Helena’s neutrality and requires her to solve the mystery — before she becomes the next victim.