In the real world, Adrian Ocampo is a high school junior with a Mohawk, an eyebrow ring, and a crew of nerdy friends. But when he and his buddies get together to play their favorite role-playing game, he is transported to the world of Kazala, a world of elves, wizards, and monsters, a world in which Adrian is a mighty elf warrior fighting for the good of the land.

To add to the fun, Adrian recently started dating the handsome Jesse, one of the guys in his gaming circle. In the past, every attempt they’d made to be alone had been thwarted by overly present parents. But one day, after wrapping up the game, Jesse invites Adrian to his house and explains his mother will be away all night. Excited by the possibility of finally having sex with Jesse, Adrian’s mind catapults back and forth between the real world of Jesse’s kisses and the imagined world of Kazala, where he and Jesse must battle a terrible enemy.

Conjuring the Shroud is presented as part of Brent Hartinger’s Real Story Safe Sex Project, whose mission is to encourage safe sex among gay and bi teens and twenty-somethings while also providing some entertaining reads.