Kris Starr used to be famous. Rock and roll. Sold-out shows. Literal magic. Empathic talents and screaming fans. But he has a problem or two. He's having a hard time writing new music. It’s Midwinter, which means he’s surrounded by depressing holiday cheer. And he's in love with Justin, his manager, who has a talent for rescuing almost- or once-famous bands ... and who’s hiding secrets of his own. Justin Moore, on the other hand, is very good at keeping those secrets -- he's had to be for years. One secret involves a demonic inheritance that would make him a target of suspicion. Another involves his past. And the third involves Justin’s feelings for Kris Starr, rock and roll icon and now his client ... and a powerful empath of his own.

A Demon for Midwinter

Words danced around pizza-crust and scotch and ginger ale. Brightness in glass tumblers, in cardboard boxes, in the flash of Justin’s hands when sketching a point in the air. City lights twinkling beyond windowpanes, green and white and gold. The shiver of shock, not unpleasant, when he got up without thinking and grabbed the old-fashioned acoustic guitar to demonstrate a note sequence and realized that he’d not felt any hesitation at all.


He surreptitiously checked his phone a time or two. The New York Demon was trending on social media. Blurry pictures of a baby clutched in arms, distorted crimson fuzziness. Demons popped in and out of the general populace, of course, and this wasn’t an apocalyptic sighting, but sufficiently unusual to gather some traction. Chatter was happening, though not panic. He opted not to mention it.


Chapter 21