Claire Hansen is a Keeper, one of the select few charged with ensuring the universe stays properly knitted together and in one piece. She's been summoned to her latest mission, along with her cat, Austin.
Austin is a handsome, dignified, tuxedo cat--who talks. He's very opinionated, and dedicated, firstly to protecting Claire, and secondly, to protecting the continued stable existence of the universe.
The place they've been summoned to is a rundown bed & breakfast called the Elysian Fields Guesthouse, run by an unpleasant old man who grudgingly checks her in and assigns her a room. Dean, the handsome young handyman, takes her luggage up, and, still with no clear idea of where the "hole" she'll need to fix is, she goes to sleep.
The unpleasant old man is gone in the morning. Only Dean remains to make breakfast and otherwise tend to the only guest. She can't feel the summons anymore; is it because the old man is gone? Why?
Looking into the papers of the departed innkeeper, she makes the unpleasant discovery that he was a Cousin, lesser members of the same order as Keepers. He's been wanting to leave for years, and his need to leave is, apparently, what summoned her. The paperwork reveals she's now the owner of the inn.
Dean is willing to stay, at least for a while. He gives her a tour, and she discovers the only other guest, on the top floor, in Room Six. She's a Keeper gone bad, who had come to deal with the hole into Hell, in the basement. But now her power is, mostly, sealing the hole, while she herself is completely contained sleeping, unable to do anything, by seepage from the hole.
She can't seal the hole to Hell completely without in the process freeing the other Keeper, who is very dangerous in her own right. If Claire can't solve this dilemma, she can't leave. She'll be stuck here permanently, keeping the hole to Hell sealed enough to contain the danger, and keeping the other Keeper safely contained.
Meanwhile, Dean is dangerously attractive, what Claire thinks of as too young for her, and a truly pure soul. She also discovers in the attic a ghost called Jacques, a French-Canadian seaman who died in the 1920s. The previous innkeeper trapped him in the attic by moving all his remaining possessions there. Both Dean and Jacques find Claire extremely attractive, and Jacques, despite his status as deceased, has a lusty enthusiasm for life. Their lives are further enlivened by some real guests, including retired Olympians. Retired Olympian gods.
There's also the nextdoor neighbor and her quite large and aggressive Doberman. She says she's lived there since she was a little girl. She's the classic nosy neighbor, except--not. There's something more about her.
Oh, and Hell is talking to Claire, tempting her, and attempting to trick and deceive her.
Claire is determined not to stay, but she can't leave without a real solution to the problem.
And stranger and stranger events continue to happen, including an old elevator that, when restored to basic functionality, takes passengers to--other places.
Claire is starting to wonder if there's any way to avoid disaster.
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