Rhea and Cynthia Evers are teenage sisters that live with their father, Arden, in a small town called Borough. Two years prior their mother was killed in what appeared to be a robbery gone wrong. They are trying to put their lives back together and move on with their lives, but Cynthia the younger of the two sisters, is having some trouble doing this; mainly because she does not like or trust the woman that has caught their father’s eye, a teacher at their school named Ruth Atkins. Despite their disagreements, Dad, Rhea, and Cynthia learn to live with one another’s differences and are well on their way to having a normal family relationship again.
Everything goes well until Rhea discovers a chest full of secrets hidden away in her parents’ closet. The chest makes her think back to the night her mother died and how strange Mom had acted. What she finds inside the chest makes her question everything she thought she knew about her mother. Why would her mother hide mysterious leather bound spell books, odd charms, and strange pouches full of unfamiliar objects and heady aromas? And then there is the ring that her mother gave her before she died. Did she know something terrible was going to happen to her? Rhea immediately thinks of Grandma, her mother’s mother, when she is desperate for answers.
Once Rhea and Cynthia are at their grandparents’ home in the mountains they finally learn of the secret their mother has hidden from them their entire lives. They belong to an ancient race called The Magi and are blessed with the powers of their fore-mother, Eve. Grandma teaches them how to use their powers and more importantly, how to keep their powers a secret. They also learn it was not robbers that killed their mother, but a rival coven that was once part of their order. And too make matters worse, they are after the magical ring that Rhea inherited from her mother. This news enrages Cynthia who is determined to know the whole truth and find her mother’s killer, despite Grandma’s pleading and admonishments. They learn that The Order is working on a plan to bring the others to justice. Soon it is time for them to leave the mountains and return home to their father. But, they are not idle; they have also been working on a plan. They learn of a man from their past that might have the answers they are seeking. Rhea, with her newly discovered power of telepathy is able to coerce their father into taking them to the coastal city Waterside. When they reach Waterside they do find answers but they lose something much more precious…their father.
They learn their father has been kidnapped by the same rogue group of magi that is responsible for their mother’s death. Somehow they have learned that Rhea now has what they seek and want to negotiate a trade…their father for the ring. The sisters think all is lost until they join forces with an unlikely ally; an eighteen-year-old boy named Glenn St. Claire. Glenn is not a normal boy. He is the son of a vampire; vampires are The Magi’s natural enemy.Rhea is unsure if they should trust Glenn and thinks he might be a spy sent to lead them astray or harm them, but Cynthia, who harbors a little crush for Glenn, points out that they do not have many options. Although Glenn openly shows affection for Cynthia, he is reluctant to get involved with magic. He is very much aware what can happen to his kind when they get on the wrong side of the wrong magus. But he also knows what it feels like to lose a parent and does not want the sisters to have to go through that pain again.Glenn finds himself defending his new found friends, facing off with several magi. Cynthia duels a half-vampire girl that is under Lafaye’s control, the most dangerous thing she has done to date. Rhea goes head to head with Lafaye, and it turns out to be a battle of wills. There are losses on both sides and the sisters have more questions than answers when the dust finally settles.