A young witch, on his own for the first time, might look vulnerable to witches with different priorities, but they seriously underestimate his ability to make loyal friends, human and otherwise.

For generations, Christian’s family have had a natural ability to see beings that are usually invisible to humans and to do magic. They aren’t, however, the only witches in the world or even in the area. When his Scottish-born mother wants to return to her family, and her husband and his widower father decide to go with her, Christian inherits the responsibility for their house and its hidden library.

Not alone, however. His family leave him with a roommate, Mark, an apparently normal human around his own age. But appearances are especially deceptive in this case.

Christian builds a reputation, first around the New Age bookshop where he works, then beyond that, as someone to turn to when things go bump in the night. Whether it's lingering negative energy, a lost ghost, or a dangerous infestation, he'll solve it. Sometimes, that's with the help of a powerful, sensual, and often bloodthirsty lamia who is still perplexed about how she has come to genuinely care about a human.

Throw in a group of witches called the Fellowship, who are firmly convinced that all witches should come under their authority and above all else stay below the radar; a subgroup within the Fellowship who feel that the ends for the greater good justify any means; a few supernatural threats; a friend from another independent witch family, who has a very close past history with a kitsune who says less than she does; Christian’s Dungeons and Dragons gamer group; a young black cat in dire need of a home; a colony of feral cats inherited from his great-aunt; and a couple of non-witch friends, and life gets complicated in a hurry.

Two characters in this are significantly transgender, in different ways, and orientation is mostly not a consideration. Oh, and it's set in 1998, which was when the very first, very rough draft was written.

CONTENT WARNINGS This one does have more explicit sex and violence than my usual, and that’s primarily all about the titular lamia herself. It’s going to be difficult to be comprehensive without spoilers, but feel free to ask if you have questions, I completely understand. Broad strokes: lamias are a form of energy vampire/succubus (sort of) and actively hunt men to feed, usually without killing but also without consent – if you’re okay with the typical vampire/succubus morality this should be okay. (Consent is different with humans she knows!) Lamias tend to have a very direct and physical approach to removing obstacles and annoyances; most of the violence is towards aggressive supernatural creatures (one scene came out particularly gory), but not all of it. One minor character who appears briefly late in the story endured some abuse that ends at that point. There’s no harm done to children or animals with the single exception of a cat hunting a mouse. Please be careful with this one!

I’m told this one really needs a sequel to make the very end resolve better, although no complaints otherwise! I intend to write one, but my To-Do list is crowded. I’ll get there, but you’ve been warned!