Destination: A Witch in Venice

A Witch in Venice story begins immediately after the conclusion of Italian Masquerade. It's New Year's Day 2006 in Venice. Neal and Sara, after dating secretly for months, are longer hiding their relationship. But their status still may not be obvious. Sara works in London and their opportunities to meet will be severely restricted.

Warning for minor spoilers to earlier Crossed Lines stories

Alcy Lancaster makes a return appearance in this story. Readers may recall that she was featured in Witches' Sabbath. Alcy is one of Astrena's so-called sisters or handmaidens. She facilitated Curtis Hagen's escape from prison and then held him prisoner in her house in Windsor, Connecticut. It was there that the demon Crowley took possession of Hagen. Afterward, Crowley set the house on fire. Neal, Peter, and the Winchesters were able to escape the inferno, but Alcy's priceless collection of paintings was destroyed. The works included portraits of her victims, including Titian, Shelley, and Constable. At the conclusion of the story, Astrena punished Alcy's lack of discretion by ordering her to leave the States and acquire a new name. Alcy laughed off the banishment, indicating her pleasure at returning to Venice. Did Alcy reform? It won't take long for Neal and Peter to find out.

Alcy isn't the only woman Neal and Peter have to worry about. Raquel Laroque owns a jewelry boutique in Venice. During the last story she was featured in, The Mirror, Raquel helped Neal set a trap for Keller but it came at a cost. She also nearly wrecked the budding romance between him and the woman he was dating at the time. Now Neal and Sara are in a relationship. Will Raquel capsize their love boat as well?

Dean and Sam can sympathize with Neal over the difficulty of separating personal relationships from jobs. Despite their efforts to keep their girlfriends at a safe distance, Chloe and Maia are proving their usefulness for cases. The guys didn't initially realize how much witch potential their women had, but now they're growing to rely on their help. A warning sign for hazards down the road?

Summaries of the previous stories, as well as profiles for the supernatural beings, are in my blog post, The Road So Far.