Hunter Beaumont doesn't understand his grandmother's deathbed wish: "Destroy Beaumont House." He'd never even heard of the place. But after his grandmother passes and his first love betrays him, the family house in the Wisconsin woods looks like a tempting refuge. Going against his grandmother's wishes, Hunter flees to Beaumont House.<br><br>But will the house be the sanctuary he had hoped for? Soon after moving in, Hunter realizes he may not be alone. And who -- or what -- he shares the house may plunge him into a nightmare from which he may never escape.<br><br>Sparks fly when he meets his handsome neighbor, a caretaker for the estate next door, but is the man salvation...or is he the source of Hunter's terror?

A Demon Inside

The bed squeaked, and then there was the sound of a footstep on the floor. Then another. The noise was slightly squishy, as if the feet making it were damp. Still, Hunter could see nothing in the darkness. He slid to one side on the floor, curling into a tight little ball, fetal, his hands over his head. His breath was ragged.


He no longer thought—or felt—anything. His mind had gone somewhere else, delivering him from terror so intense it might have stopped his heart had not his brain mercifully delivered him from it.


After a while, an eternity of waiting for the touch of a scaly hand, the sound of laughter, the whisper of lewd intentions, Hunter allowed his head to move, his eyes to open. He peered into the darkness.


Chapter 63