Betrayed by a lover, Jamie rents an isolated cabin on Lake Huron, wanting only to be left alone. Instead, he is pulled from his solitary existence as an artist and tumbles headlong into the legend of Saint Nicolas.<br><br>As a young man, Nicolas accidentally killed a man intent on murdering three children, only to have the man's malicious spirit rise up against him. Fleeing through the centuries from the Krampus, the evil troll-like creature that dogs his steps, Nico finds refuge with the young artist who takes him into his home and bed. But Jamie has questions. Who is Nicolas, and why does the Krampus want to destroy him?<br><br>When the Krampus begins to torment and torture anyone Nico comes in contact with to punish him, Jamie's life is put in danger. And Jamie isn't sure whether he can help Nico defeat his nemesis or if he's merely a pawn in the Krampus's game.

Nicolas

He frowned as he watched the water rise. Where was the man going? Did he know someone in Alpena? A lover, maybe? Jamie shied away from that thought. Maybe Nico had friends in the area, though he’d denied it. That was probably it. They’d had a fight and Nico had taken the canoe out yesterday and maybe gotten caught in a current, unable to return to his own dock. He must be from one of the many cabins that dotted the shoreline of Thunder Bay.


Chapter 5