Samantha Ryan--cop by choice, witch hunter by necessity--is about to confront the witch who has been secretly manipulating her life. But her search for the truth about her past may end in her death.... All her life, Samantha Ryan has been haunted by a circle of blood, which she has tried to keep at bay--ever since she escaped a vicious Salem coven of witches as a child. But now her carefully constructed life has given way to the darkness she might have embraced, had she not run away. Angry, focused, and more than willing to use her powers on anyone who gets in her way, Samantha travels to New Orleans to confront Lilith Black, the witch who has been mercilessly shaping events around her for months. But little does Samantha know that her own nightmarish past and Lilith's are inescapably intertwined--and that what Lilith wants most of all is for Samantha to suffer until her final breath....