Allie Beckstrom

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 Allison Beckstrom is the best there is.

Working as a Hound---tracing illegal spells back to their casters---has taken its goll on Allison Beckstrom. But even though magic has given her migraines and stolen her recent memory, Allie isn't about to quit. Then the police's magic enforcement division asks her to consult on a missing persons case. But what seems to be a straightforward job turns out to be anything but, as Allie finds herself drawn into the underworld of criminals, ghosts, and blood magic.

Allison Beckstrom's magic has taken its toll on her, physically marking her and erasing her memories---including those of the man she supposedly loves. But lost memories aren't the only things preying on Allie's thoughts. Her late father, the prominent businessman---and sorcerer---Daniel Beckstrom, has somehow channeled himself into her very mind.

Allison Beckstrom is committed to her work tracing illegal spells. Now, there's an apocalyptic storm 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 take a stand against a magical wildstorm that will obliterate all in its path.

Allie Beckstrom's lover, Zayvion Jones, is a Guardian of the Gate, imbued with both light and dark magic and responsible for ensuring that those energies don't mix. But Zayvion lies in a coma, his soul trapped in death's realm. And when Allie discovers that the only way to save Zayvion is to sacrifice her very own magical essence, she makes a decision that may have grave consequences for the entire world.

There aren't many girls who can say they've gone into the realm of death and lived to tell the tale. But to restore her lover Zayvion's soul, Allison Beckstrom had to pay a bitter price - and things are about to get worse. It turns out that the leader of the Authority, the council that decides what can - and can't - be done with magic, is being held hostage.

Allison Beckstrom has willingly paid the price of pain to use magic, and has obeyed the rules of the Authority, the clandestine organization that makes---and enforces---all magic policy. But when the Authority's new boss, Bartholomew Wray, refuses to believe that the sudden rash of deaths in Portland might be caused by magic, Allie must choose to follow the Authority's rules, or turn against the very people for whom she's risked her life.

Magic itself has been poisoned, and Allie Beckstrom'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.

With Portland about to descend into chaos, Allie Beckstrom 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. Now Allie will have to make a choice and face the darkness of her own deepest fears before time runs out for them all....