When caregiver Julianna Margate takes a job looking after the aging widow of the county’s most prominent businessman, she never expects to come face to face with a creature so ancient, its long-forgotten origins are recorded in the Bible. But the longer she stays at Harrow House, the more Julianna realizes something is not quite right. .
Tension seethes between Lavinia Harrow and her manservant and there’s something more than just bricks and mortar comprising the house. When Julianna comes face-to-face with the surprising truth behind the demise of Lavinia’s husband, Randall, and the connection between the family’s fortune and the presence in the mine, she must act fast to save her charge’s life and her own.
What had once been a man took labored steps into the light, which glanced off the tight, charred surfaces of his skin. His body was patterned in a patchwork of black and red that glistened like a basted ham in the beam. There were parts where underlying skeleton poked through the ruined flesh, stark white bone with charred bits on top. Black tatters of skin stretched across vast areas of red flesh that wept pus. One side of his face had been excoriated to the bone, and Julianna could see his jawbone working as he labored for air.
She took an involuntary step backward, causing the figure to halt.
“I told you I wasn’t easy to look upon.” The figure bowed his head and gave a sigh. “Will you turn the light away now?”
Julianna shifted the beam toward the floor, but kept it pointed in his direction.
“Who are you?”
Excerpt from supernatural suspense novella Salt in the Blood.