Marcus Roth is a top criminal lawyer by day and a demon-slaying warder by night, but he is merely one of five in his clutch - of no real significance to anyone but his hearth, Joseph Locke. Or so Marcus believes. On a trip to Lexington, Kentucky, to celebrate Joe's grandfather's birthday, that belief is challenged when Marcus stumbles upon a paranormal crime and ends up revealing his warder identity to Joe's family.

Faced with a traitor, demons, and the return of an old enemy, Marcus puts his own needs aside to save his friends - though in doing so, he risks losing the man he loves forever. Surviving the battle may not be enough if Marcus can't forgive himself for forsaking his hearth. He will come to learn what it means to be the center, the nexus, and that neither his hearth nor his clutch can thrive without him.