Book excerpt: First in a "spellbinding"* series about a coven of witches living in L.A., from Amber Benson, author of the Calliope Reaper-Jones novels. Unbeknownst to most of humankind, a powerful network of witches thrives within the shadows of society, using magic to keep the world in balance. But the witches are being eliminated--and we will all pay if their power falls... When Lyse MacAllister's great-aunt Eleanora, the woman who raised her, becomes deathly ill, Lyse puts her life in Georgia on hold to rush back to Los Angeles. And once she returns to Echo Park, Lyse discovers her great-aunt has been keeping extraordinary secrets from her. Not only is Lyse heir to Eleanora's Victorian house; she is also expected to take her great-aunt's place in the Echo Park coven of witches. But accepting her destiny means placing herself in deadly peril--for the world of magic is under siege, and the battle the witches now fight may be their last...