【TL;DR】 Prologue

Adrian was sick. He had a chronic, degenerative condition for which there was no cure. ****, he decided to turn to alternative means of treatment. Through sheer luck, an ancient book had recently fallen into his possession. He had been translating it with the help of a nearby grad student named Christine, and it detailed a ritual which it claimed could summon some type of entity with great power. Adrian resolved to use this ritual and bargain for his health.

The ritual required six offerings. First, he needed a strand of hair from the last person to tell him a secret. He stole some off a brush belonging to Christine, the bookish redhead who had been helping him translate the book. Second, he needed an article of clothing from the last person to offer him a gift. He took his meek coworker, Rhys's, shirt out of their locker at work for this. Third, he needed the signature of the most recent person to make him a promise. He had been planning on using a prescription from his doctor, but after a fiery cop named Amira pulled him over for speeding and promised him he wouldn't get so lucky next time, he was **** to get her to write him a ticket so that he could use her signature for the ritual. Fourth, he needed blood from the person he had last slept with. He arranged an appointment with a prostitute named Opal (real name Lareina) for this. Fifth, he needed spit from the last person he had spoken with. Adrian was a regular at a local coffee shop, and stole a straw from the bubbly barista there, Ivy, for this offering. Finally, he needed an image of the last person he had seen. He snapped a cell phone shot of the housewife, Faith, who lived across from him.

With all the offerings ready Adrian completed the ritual, summoning Araqiel, an Archon of House Lust and leader of a court of spirits. Araqiel was not one to offer bargains, but it did make him a deal. Araqiel had been imprisoned by a rival, and was impressed with the willpower it had taken to summon it even through the defenses that were meant to keep it caged. It offered Adrian a job as its knight, its right hand on Earth. Being a knight would come with powers, including a boon of health that would cure his ailment.

Adrian agreed to Araqiel's terms, only to discover there was more to the position than it had let on. The people from whom Adrian had collected his six offerings would be bound to him as his squires. As Adrian's pact grew stronger, he would develop a unique bond with each of them, granting him influence over each of his squires in unique ways. Moreover, the energies of his pact would begin to change him and his squires, as determined by the spirits in Araqiel's court. The final revelation was that the enemy who had imprisoned Araqiel, Kyriakos, would likely be coming for them now that it had escaped. Adrian would need to prepare.