Page 121 of Midnight Coven

I’m willing to take that chance.

I’m not!she snapped.We need to know more, Nick––

Maybe you do. Maybe you need to know more. I don’t, Wynter.

There was a silence.

Nick shook his head when he felt her fuming at him through it.

He fought to calm down, but he could feel them feeding off one another, echoing off one another, worsening each other’s fear and anger.

He realized she was panicking just as much as he was.

Both of them were panicking.

Both of them were half out of their minds with fear.

But she couldn’t do anything about it, not where she was.

Nick could.

You bastard,she thought at him.You unbelievable bastard.

Wynter. I can’t let him take you. I can’t.

Her thoughts came out in another furious rush.

Did you even hear what I said? What Lara thinks?she demanded.They really believe this connection to the other “you” is fucking with your head, Nick. That it’s warping how you’re seeing things. Maybe he’s the one influencing you to go up there and confront him… did you think of that? You said you couldn’t kill him, right? That you when you had the chance, you couldn’t make yourself do it? Maybe there’s a REASON for that, Nick––

I’ve been here for years, Wynter.Nick shook his head. He felt his jaw harden as he thought the words at her.Me and him, we’ve shared this dimension for decades. Possibly even centuries. It’s not as simple as you’re saying, either, wife.

But you didn’t KNOW about one another!

Wynter half-shouted her thoughts at him, her anger rising.

…Obviously, knowing about one another CHANGED things, Nick! You learning about him in San Francisco obviously CHANGED things. It seems to have triggered some kind of chain reaction in both of you. He obviously didn’t know about you until now, either. Maybe you finding out caused some kind of temporal shift. Something that’s ripping that version of you apart. Not to mention confusing him about which one of you is real––

I get all that,Nick growled.I’m still not GIVING him my wife, goddamn it––

No one is saying that, Nick! Jesus. You need to calm the fuck down! No one is saying that! We’re just asking you to slow down. To think about this––

He killed babies, Wynter,Nick snapped.Babies. Little kids who did nothing but be born with the wrong name. A whole damned family, wiped off the map. Gone. Is that something you think I could ever do? No matter how fucking “confused” I was?

There was a silence.

Then Wynter spoke softly in his mind.

You did do it though, didn’t you, Nick? In the beginning? When you were a newborn?

The silence grew significantly colder.

In it, Nick controlled his anger with an effort.

When he next let himself think at her, his mental voice grew quiet.

He’s not a fucking newborn, Wynter.

Gritting his teeth, he went on before she could respond.

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