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

Justin’s eyes…were red. Not the usual rich shadowy spice-rack sweetness. Tear-scuffed around the edges.


And he’d been talking to his father, alone, in the study.


And he’d in the last twenty-four hours rescued a baby and lost a boyfriend: if not someone he’d loved wholeheartedly, at least someone who’d been part of his life for the last six months, who’d wanted him to move in.


Someone who’d hurt him. Not only that first and last physical time.


He’d not dyed his hair back into concealment yet. The reminder flickered windily in bedroom light.


Kris felt his heart crack, then: a painfully welcome fault-line, carved of his own resignation and Justin’s present amusement. “Hey,” he said, “I’m glad I met you, if nothing else because you introduced me to Witch’s Brew lattes,” and put a hand on Justin’s shoulder. A friend. Nothing more. “Are we going to find your lake-merpeople or whatever?”


Chapter 49