Power Surges & Amorous Urges

Trapped with your high school class 25 years later—the textbook definition of Hell. When three friends attend their high school reunion, they have varying expectations for the evening. Surrounded by the people they knew years ago—some who have changed, and some who definitely haven't—is just as much fun as it sounds. They're about to head out early when a bright light encompasses the school. Chaos ensues as a Hell gate opens in the middle of the gymnasium, and powers they never knew they had come to life. Who knew unexpected midlife magic and closing a Hell gate would be easier than healing old high school wounds? Prologue 11:17 p.m. in Crowder, Maine (three hours ahead of Wellspring, Nevada) A necromancer walked into Purgatory to rescue her daughter. No joke. Meredith Ellison, with her husband and ghostly friends, crossed the weakened membrane between our world and Purgatory after an unknown entity kidnapped her daughter. Meredith wasn’t having that… When the entity came at her again, Meredith didn’t resist its attempts to draw her in. Her focus was strictly on his lifesource, and she instantly connected to it. At the same time, she sent out a call to all the souls around her, her voice reverberating like a thundering bell through the meadow. “Join with him. Find his lifesource and drain it.” The entity seemed to final realize he was actually in danger. He began to fight against her, but Meredith’s power was so strong, being linked to those around her, that she almost laughed at his efforts. Suddenly, their positions were reversed and then some. She held on to the thing, whispering the excoriation spell that she’d memorized, as it dwindled. It wasn’t unraveling exactly, but rather, it seemed to be sending its energy to her as parts of it just ceased to exist. For a second, they were practically one, but not in the way the entity had envisioned. Meredith was the one completely in control, and with a single thought, she was able to tell the entity to no longer be. In a blink, it was gone. She was still reeling from that knowledge when she realized there was a giant amount of power consuming her. Strong as she was with the lifesources around her, she couldn’t contain it all and absorb it without being destroyed. Panic seized her for a second, but through all that, she could hear Hunter’s voice and feel his hand on her shoulder as he said, “Come back to me, Meredith.” He sounded terrified. His voice was what she needed to focus. She imagined all the power trying to consume her, and instead of absorbing it into herself, she deflected it outward, like a supernova. It sounded like an explosion accompanied by a bright flash of light. She doubted it could be any brighter to be caught in the middle of a nuclear blast. She’d unleashed an incomparable amount of power, and it rolled through Purgatory in waves. All that power had to go somewhere. The nearest ley lines absorbed it, dissipating throughout the network of ley lines all over the world. With that infusion of unexpected power, all sorts of strange things started to happen, particularly in Wellspring, Nevada…