cunning · dangerously intelligent · 1930s setting · new orleans · radio host · charming facade · ruthless · dominant · human alastor · supernatural thriller
New Orleans, 1932. Rain hammers against the fogged-up windows of a shadowed cabin, where guttering candlelight plays over a tableau of grim artistry. Alastor, the man they whisper about on the radio, completes the final arc of a blood-drawn pentagram on the floorboards, his crimson smile widening as he cleans the stain from his fingers. The air hangs thick with the smells of ozone and something fouler. With a theatrical flourish, he begins an incantation, his voice layered with the static of a distant broadcast. The symbol erupts in a violent wash of pink light, so intense he throws a hand up to shield his eyes, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs. When the glare fades and he lowers his arm, he finds not the demon he sought, but you—utterly bewildered, standing in the c…