Kohmi Sakurai loses his parents before his freshman year of college and relocates from Seattle to Kentucky to be near his only remaining relative, his half-brother Heiki, whom he barely knows. Heiki teaches at the local university and Kohmi enrolls there, despite fears about attending college in rural Kentucky as a gay Wiccan. However, Heiki is starting GASA, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, as the faculty sponsor. Maybe Kohmi can start a new life after all: get to know his half-brother, have a supportive college experience in a community of fellow LGBTQIA+ people, fall in love, and settle down.
Even better, the gorgeous redhead from Kohmi’s composition class, Morey Ives, is at the first GASA meeting. Morey’s Southern manners make it difficult to tell if he’s genuinely into Kohmi or if he’s just that good at being nice. As if Morey wasn’t amazing enough, he’s also Wiccan and comes from a long line of rural Wiccans, but he isn’t conceited about it, unlike the “blood witches” Kohmi met in Washington state. Kohmi is officially infatuated.
But the university president’s son Keith also wants Morey and views Kohmi as an interloper. Also Wiccan, Keith intends to start a Wiccan club on campus, with or without his Catholic father’s approval. When this fails to impress Morey or make an impression on Kohmi, Keith pays local dark magic pariahs to have demons scare Kohmi away.
Unfortunately, it goes wrong, and a horde of demons is unleashed on everyone in Morey’s social group, including Keith’s brother. Worst of all? The people who summoned the demons can’t un-summon them. Kohmi, Morey, Keith, and all their Wiccan friends must set aside their differences and work together to find a way to dismiss the demons. But every day the attacks get worse. Will their magic be powerful enough, or will the demons succeed in killing them?
Kassidy stood and joined Morey and Kohmi. “Wanna grab lunch?”
“Sure.” Kohmi was ready to get out of the heat. The heat index was over one hundred degrees today, and he was sweating through his t-shirt and shorts.
Morey and Kassidy traded a smile, a very friendly smile that made Kohmi worry. “Yeah. Cafeteria, Italian, chicken, burgers, or pizza?” Morey asked. Even as small as it was, the campus had five dining options thanks to chain restaurants setting up shop.
“Chicken,” Kumara said. “If that’s good with Kohmi.”
Kohmi barely heard him. Keith Jukinson was glaring at Kassidy now. Jukinson seemed to notice Kohmi’s stare, because he met his gaze and glared at him, too. Oh my God. Jukinson wants Morey, doesn’t he? “Chicken’s fine.” He walked around the clock tower, fleeing Jukinson. Creepy.
Morey fell into step with Kohmi, and Kassidy joined them as well. They headed toward the concrete stairs that led to the street and their dining options.
“I think this club is doomed,” Kassidy said to Morey. “But it would be nice to do magick with someone not my family.”
“Right?” Morey wrinkled his nose. “I want someone my own age to do magick with.”
Kohmi started down the stairs and felt his sneaker catch on something. He grabbed for the railing, but since he was in the middle of the stair, his fingers fell short. Then he tumbled down the stairs, pain streaking across his elbows and knees. He felt his arm hit someone. Shouts erupted. He landed on his back at the bottom, his backpack under him, and hit his head against the concrete. Kassidy landed on top of him.
“God!” Kassidy pushed himself upright. “What was that?”
Kohmi stared up the stairs, seeing Morey running after them. Jukinson stood at the top, expressionless. He turned and walked away. “It felt like I tripped on something.” Don’t tell me that was a spell!
Morey held out his hand to Kassidy. “Are you hurt?”
“Just some scrapes.” Kassidy accepted the help up.
Kohmi sat up, rubbing his head. He had a splitting headache now. “Is there anything on the steps?”
“Nothing.” Morey knelt by him. “You okay?”
Kohmi considered his bleeding elbows and knees. I look like a little kid now. Embarrassing. “Headache. I hit my head.”
“I can try a quick healing spell,” Morey whispered. “But I’d need herbs to really treat you.”
“Whatever you’ve got.”
Morey held his hands over Kohmi’s head and closed his eyes. Kohmi kept quiet, and Morey didn’t speak or move. After several moments, the sharp pain dulled into throbbing.
“Thanks.” Kohmi’s awe filled his chest. This is proof magick is real. His pain had been cut in half. He’d wanted to believe magick was real, and he’d taken hope from some of the scientific theories about how magick worked. But it still had seemed too much like a fairytale-turned-movie.
Morey lowered his hands. “No problem. Herbs first? Or food?”
“Food, I guess.” Kohmi pushed to his feet. He looked between Morey and Kassidy as they headed across the crosswalk. “If there really are evil spirits, can they trip people?”
“Sure,” Kassidy said. “They can tug or push or trip. It usually causes a small accident like a water bottle falling over or someone slipping off a ladder.”
Morey frowned. “Yeah. It’ll look natural. You have to be able to sense evil spirits to know the difference.”
Kohmi really didn’t want to ask the next question. “Can you cast a spell to make an evil spirit trip someone?”
“Yep,” Kassidy said.
Kohmi opened the door to the student complex, and the smell of fried chicken and a blast of cold air washed over him, alleviating the heat. But he wasn’t comforted.
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