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.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.Now Allie's out for the truth-and she must call upon forces that will challenge everything she knows, change her in ways she could never imagine, and make her capable of things that powerful people will do anything to control.

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.

Allie finds that her late father, sorcerer Daniel Beckstrom, has somehow channeled himself into her mind. She must call upon the Authority, a secret organization of magic users, to find a way to deal with him and gain control over her magical abilities.

Allie must save the city of Portland from a brewing apocalyptic magical wildstorm that will obliterate all in its path.

Allie's lover Zayvion lies in a coma, and she must save him. But her decision may have grave consequences for the entire world.

In the secret lockup of the Authority, the council that decides what can and can't be done with magic, an undead magic user has possessed one of the prisoners. He wants his freedom, and then some.

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. To stop the plague of dark magic spreading through the city, all that she values will be on the line: her magic, her memories, her life. Now, as dead magic users rise to feed upon the innocent and the people closest to her begin to fall, Allie is about to run out of options.

Magic itself has been poisoned, and Allie Beckstrom's undead father may have left the only cure in the hands of a madman.

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...