Witches of Kirra Cross Series

Darby wasn’t looking for magic. She was looking for a fresh start.

Series Overview

Welcome to a world where magic doesn’t bloom in moonlit gardens — it cracks through concrete and refuses to die. Witches have existed for centuries, hidden among ordinary people, forming covens through bonding spells that fuse their power into something far greater than any single witch could wield alone. But for every coven that rises, the Torch Bearers — a violent, centuries-old order of witch hunters — work to burn them out of existence.

Darby Hendricks didn’t know she had magic. She definitely didn’t plan to trigger an ancient bonding spell in a dusty library archive, tying herself to four women she barely knows and awakening power none of them can explain. She was supposed to be starting over in Medeon — new city, new job, new life. Instead, she’s bound to a coven with no training, no mentor, and no time to figure any of it out.

Because the Torch Bearers have already noticed. And they don’t wait for witches to be ready.

The World of Asphalt Coven

Magic pulses beneath the cracked streets and smokestacks of Medeon, a rust-belt city where the supernatural has survived not in sacred groves or ancient towers, but in rebar, root systems, and industrial decay. Witches draw power from themselves and the world around them — each manifesting magic unique to their nature. Plant witches coax life from impossible places. Fire witches carry volatile, dangerous heat in their blood. Other abilities surface without warning or explanation, shaped by the witch and the city she inhabits.

Covens form through bonding spells — rituals that fuse a group’s magic into a shared well of power, amplifying each member’s abilities and creating something stronger than any individual witch. A bonded coven is the most powerful thing a witch can be part of. It’s also the biggest target.

The Torch Bearers have been hunting covens for generations. They’re organized, relentless, and effective. They’ve already burned other covens out of existence. They believe witches are a corruption that must be purged — and they have the resources, the reach, and the ruthlessness to do it.

For five women bound together by accident and held together by necessity, there are no ancient tomes of wisdom, no elder witches to guide them, and no safe place to practice. There is only the bond, the city, and the fight to survive long enough to understand what they’ve become.

The Series

Book 1: Asphalt Coven (2025)

The Bonding

All Gideon Bean wants is to be left alone to burn corpses in peace. Is that too much to ask?

Darby Hendricks came to Medeon for a fresh start — not to discover she’s a witch.

Working in the city’s old library archive, Darby accidentally triggers a bonding spell that ties her to four other women: Topaz, a volatile bartender with fire in her veins; and three others whose lives couldn’t be more different from her own. None of them asked for this. None of them knew they had magic. And none of them are prepared for what comes next.

Because the Torch Bearers — a violent order that has hunted witches for generations — are already in Medeon. They’ve caught the scent of a new coven, and they don’t wait for witches to find their footing.

Five women. No training. No time. And a bond forged in concrete, grit, and the kind of magic that refuses to die.

Featuring: Urban fantasy, accidental coven bonding, elemental magic, gritty industrial setting, found family, witch hunters

What Makes This Series Special

Raw, Urban Magic System This isn’t fairy-tale witchcraft. Magic in Medeon is shaped by the city itself — plant magic that forces its way through pavement, fire magic that sparks from friction and fury, and abilities that surface without a rulebook. There are no wands, no incantations, no tidy spellbooks. These witches are learning what they can do by doing it, often badly and under pressure.

Accidental Coven The five women at the heart of this story didn’t choose each other. They were thrown together by a bonding spell none of them intended to cast, and now their magic — and their survival — depends on learning to trust women they barely know. The coven bond amplifies their power but demands cooperation, vulnerability, and a kind of intimacy none of them were prepared for.

Everyday Women, Impossible Situation Darby and her coven aren’t chosen ones. They’re ordinary women with jobs, baggage, and complicated lives who’ve been thrust into a world of magic and violence with zero preparation. True to Gwen DeMarco’s signature style, they face extraordinary danger with stubbornness, dark humor, and the kind of unglamorous bravery that comes from having no other choice. They’re not looking for a fight — but they won’t run from one either.

Ruthless Antagonists The Torch Bearers aren’t cartoonish villains. They’re an organized, generational order with deep roots, real resources, and an unshakable belief that what they’re doing is righteous. They’ve destroyed covens before — efficiently and completely. They are the reason most witches never survive long enough to come into their full power.

Found Family Forged Under Fire Five strangers become something more — not through montages and bonding exercises, but through shared danger, ugly arguments, reluctant trust, and the slow realization that the bond between them might be the only thing keeping them alive. This is found family earned the hard way.

The Setting: Medeon

Location: Medeon — a fictional rust-belt city of smokestacks, crumbling infrastructure, and stubborn life pushing through industrial decay Atmosphere: Gritty urban fantasy blending action, suspense, and found family Witches: Women whose magic manifests uniquely — plant, fire, and abilities that defy easy classification — amplified through coven bonds Coven Bonds: Magical rituals that fuse a group’s power into a shared well, making the coven exponentially stronger than its individual members The Torch Bearers: A violent, centuries-old order of witch hunters dedicated to the extermination of covens, organized, resourced, and relentless Magic in Medeon: Raw, unpolished, and shaped by the city — not the magic of ancient forests, but of concrete, rust, and roots forcing their way through cracks

Recurring Themes

• Accidental Power: What happens when magic chooses you and you’re nowhere near ready for it
• Survival Over Mastery: Learning just enough to stay alive when there’s no time to learn properly
• Found Family: Strangers becoming something unbreakable — not because it’s easy, but because the alternative is dying alone
• Fire and Endurance: The coven that refuses to burn, even when everything around them does
• Ordinary Courage: Regular women who keep showing up for each other when every instinct says to run

Reading Experience

The Asphalt Coven series offers:

• Gritty Urban Fantasy: A magic system rooted in industrial decay, raw power, and a city that shapes the witches as much as they shape their magic
• Character-Driven Stakes: Five distinct women with real flaws, real fears, and a bond that demands more from them than any of them thought they had to give
• High-Tension Action: Witch hunters closing in, magic they can barely control, and a coven learning to fight together before it’s too late
• Signature Voice: Gwen DeMarco’s trademark blend of heart, grit, dark humor, and high stakes
• Found Family Earned the Hard Way: No instant sisterhood — just five women figuring out how to trust each other while the world tries to burn them down

Perfect for Readers Who Love

• Urban fantasy with gritty, unconventional magic systems
• Found family forged through danger and necessity
• Strong female ensembles with real friction and real loyalty
• Witch hunters and high-stakes supernatural conflict
• Blue-collar settings and underdog stories
• Characters who fight dirty and never give up

Ongoing Series

The Asphalt Coven series is just getting started. Darby’s coven has been forged — but surviving the Torch Bearers will take everything they have and more. Join the fight now and discover what happens when magic takes root in the last place anyone expected.

This isn’t a story about peaceful garden witches. This is a coven that won’t burn.