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

“We should be all right,” John said, inspecting the sky as they came up to him. “But we’d better get moving. It will be getting dark early because of the storm.”


Jamie straddled the snowmobile and started the ignition.


Nico gave him a quick hug. “Be safe,” he murmured and climbed into the passenger seat of the truck. John settled behind the wheel and glanced at him, but put the truck into drive without voicing the questions evident in his eyes. The tires slipped, then caught, and they began the slow descent off the mountain. Nico screamed in his head as the minutes were eaten away. He needed to find little Andy, wanted it all to be over with.


Chapter 38