Gideon’s Growing Into His Power
When we last saw Gideon, he was just beginning to understand what being an auramancer meant, and that the things he’d been sensing his whole life weren’t hallucinations. Now that he knows magic is real, he’s diving in headfirst. He’s working the night shift at Tranquil Haven, a Conclave-owned funeral home, using every body that comes through the doors to develop his ability to sense and catalog magical signatures. Manticores, hedge witches, basilisks – each one teaches him something new about the supernatural world he’s only just entered.
For the first time in his life, Gideon is building something real. He has a job he loves, a coworker who’s become a genuine friend, and he’s heading back to college in the fall. Gideon Bean is finally finding his footing.
And then Dacey Menet walks through the door.
A Case That Changes Everything
Dacey arrives with her usual whirlwind energy – pink cardigan, mischievous grin, and a case that’ll pull Gideon straight out of his comfort zone. People are dying in a charming little Florida town, and nobody can figure out why. No trauma. No poison. No obvious cause. Victims just… stop living.
The Conclave wants Gideon’s unique abilities on the ground, and Dacey wants her favorite auramancer by her side. Armed with fake IDs and a whole lot of determination, they head to Millhaven, a picture-perfect town of historic brick buildings, a gorgeous lakefront, and secrets that run deeper than its foundations.
Small Town, Big Secrets
I had so much fun building Millhaven. Think revitalized Southern charm meets supernatural underbelly. A place where the food hall serves Korean corndogs in a converted train depot and the mayor is a mountain witch descended from Appalachian Granny Women. It’s the kind of town where everyone knows everyone, keeping secrets is supposed to be impossible, and something very, very dark is hiding in plain sight.
As Gideon and Dacey dig deeper into the mystery, they discover something Gideon has never encountered before; something that even his mentor can’t explain. And when they witness it happen firsthand, they realize they’re not just solving murders. They’re racing against a killer whose method is unlike anything the supernatural world has seen.
The Magic Goes Deeper
One of my favorite things about writing this book was expanding the magic system. In Gideon Bean, we learned what auramancy could do. In Spirit Marked, we see how far it can go – and how terrifying that can be.
Gideon isn’t just picking up stray impressions anymore. He’s sensing magical signatures through walls, detecting things that shouldn’t be possible, and identifying creatures he didn’t even know existed. Now that he’s embracing his abilities instead of fearing them, his power is growing fast; and the deeper he goes, the more he realizes how much danger that puts him in.
And then there’s the mystery at the heart of this book, a form of magic so dark and so clever that it kept me up at night working out the details. I can’t say more without spoiling it, but trust me: you won’t see it coming.
Partners in Crime (Solving)
If you loved the chemistry between Gideon and Dacey in book one, Spirit Marked turns the heat up, sometimes literally, because Dacey is a bennu shifter and flames tend to happen when emotions run high.
Watching these two work a case together was an absolute joy to write. Dacey is fierce, fearless, and has zero patience for Florida traffic. Gideon is the quiet observer who notices everything, including how hard it is to focus on murder investigations when your partner shares a Korean corndog with you and the whole world goes silent.
Their slow burn gets a lot less slow in this book. But because the universe apparently has a grudge against these two, the timing is never quite right. I regret nothing.
Found Family Gets Bigger
Gideon’s world expands in Spirit Marked, and so does his found family. He’s got new teammates with their own abilities and quirks, a coworker at the crematorium who gives enthusiastic thumbs-ups behind Dacey’s back, and a growing network of people who actually care about him. For someone who spent most of his life alone and invisible, watching Gideon build these connections, and struggle with what it means to let people in, was one of the most rewarding parts of writing this book.
What You’ll Find in Spirit Marked
- A supernatural murder mystery set in a sun-soaked Florida town with dark secrets
- Gideon fully embracing his auramancer abilities and discovering how dangerous that can be
- Dacey Menet being a firecracker in every sense of the word
- A dark magic mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end
- Found family that grows messier and more wonderful with every chapter
- Slow-burn romance that finally starts to catch fire
- A villain hiding exactly where you’d least expect
The World Keeps Growing
The Auras & Embers universe gets bigger with every book, and I have so many more stories to tell. Spirit Marked deepens the supernatural world we glimpsed in book one: the Conclave, the different types of Mythicals, the politics and power plays happening just beneath the surface of everyday life. If you loved discovering this world through Gideon’s eyes the first time, there’s so much more to see.
Where to Find It
Spirit Marked is available now on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. It’s also in Kindle Unlimited for KU subscribers!
Sometimes the most dangerous mark isn’t the one you can see, it’s the one someone left on your soul.