Fourteen-year-old Filipina “Fil” and her eleven-year-old brother Ari are stunned to learn they descend from a powerful bloodline of white witches. Their grandmother, Mina, is one of the last three members of an ancient covenant that, a century ago, imprisoned the dark sorcerer Lord Darius Vane beneath Highgate Cemetery in London, sealing him away to protect the world.
To claim their birthright and awaken their magic, Fil and Ari must return to Highgate under the full moon on Halloween for the Rite of Confirmation. But Ari acts too soon—ripped from Mina and Fil’s protection and from their teleporting vessel: a haunted Victorian telephone inhabited by the mischievous spirit Gerard Finklebopper Livingston, cursed by Vane into eternal servitude.
Ari’s mistake hurls him into Central Highgate, the cursed ground anchoring Vane’s prison, and the barriers begin to crack. Vane’s forces close in—Bloody Jane and her ghostly hounds, gargoyles, and ravens—because Ari’s blood can complete a forbidden ritual that would free Vane and grant him immortality.
Now a race against the night begins. Guardians from West and East—witches, beasts, and unlikely allies—must unite to find Ari and return him to Mina before sunrise decides whether he becomes the world’s salvation… or its undoing.
Mina's Musings The Second Coming of Lord Darius Vane
Fourteen-year-old Filipina “Fil” and her eleven-year-old brother Ari are stunned to learn they descend from a powerful bloodline of white witches. Their grandmother, Mina, is one of the last three members of an ancient covenant that a century ago imprisoned the dark sorcerer Lord Darius Vane in the Terrace Catacombs at Highgate Cemetery in London, sealing him away to protect the world from his terror.
To claim their birthright and awaken their magic, Fil and Ari must return to Highgate under the full moon on Halloween, where the remaining witches live so the Rite of Confirmation can be performed. But when Ari acts too soon, he’s pulled from the protection of Mina and Fil and from their teleporting vessel, a haunted Victorian telephone that houses the mischievous spirit of Gerard Finklebopper Livingston, cursed by Lord Vane to eternal servitude.
Ari’s mistake sends him hurtling into Central Highgate, the cursed ground that anchors Vane’s prison, and his misstep begins to weaken the magical barriers that have held the dark sorcerer captive for nearly a century.
Lord Darius Vane, aided by his ruthless henchmen; the spectral Bloody Jane and her pack of ghostly hounds, gargoyles and ravens, reaches Ari first, the boy’s blood can be used to complete a forbidden ritual, releasing Vane from his prison and granting him immortality to reign in terror over humanity once more. The race is on…
The Guardians of the West, Nero the Lion companion of George Wombell,
Madam Matilda the Chinwag, Molly the Brolly, Sir Michael Farday, a renowned chemist/physicist, and the white witch Duchess Clarissa Agyll, must unite to find Ari and return him to Mina before Vane’s forces do.
But they are not alone in the fight. From the Guardians of the East, the white witch Mary Nichols, the Sleeping Angel, Christina Rosetti, the raven–hair poet, the pugilist Tom Sayer, his loyal dog Lion, and Reginald, the horse with no name, stand ready to defend the balance between light and shadow.
As the barriers weaken and the full moon rises, every choice must be made
before sunrise to determine whether Ari becomes the world’s salvation or its undoing.
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