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

But then Jamie’s expression turned serious, and he sat up straighter, coughing slightly to clear the roughness from his voice. “I dreamed of Piter right before I found you on my dock that night.”


“What?” Nico tried to temper his anger when Jamie looked at him in surprise. “What was this dream?”


He frowned when the color deepened in Jamie’s cheeks, and he clenched his free hand, rage burning white hot in him when Jamie moistened his lips before confessing, “He was in my bed.”


“Bastardo! Lo scortico vivo—” Nico broke off, realizing he was muttering Italian in his fury. “I want to skin the bastard alive. No need to ask what you were doing with him.”


“Nico! It was only a dream. At least, I think it was a dream.” Jamie sounded uncertain. “I woke up before it went too far.”


Nico let go of Jamie’s hand and rubbed his own face, unaccustomed to the jealousy biting at him. But he needed to know the rest. “But you saw him again, here?”


Chapter 17