Page 106 of How to Seduce a Slender

“You’re a coward!” he snapped, crouching in front of her.

“No…” Melody whimpered, shaking her head as she finally lifted her gaze up to his dead face. “No, you’re just a reckless little shit who never listened to anyone. No matter what I did, how hard I begged, what it did to me, we had to do things your way. I didn’t even want to go into those woods. You did. I didn’t want to touch the witch stuff. You did. If someone told you not to stab yourself in the gut, you’d do it just to spite your face, Giovanni. And when that Witch told you to jump out the door and never look back, you defied her, didn’t you.”

“No!” He jabbed a bloody claw in her face.

“Yes!” Melody snarled, slapping his claw away. “Yes you did! And you died for it!”

Kill him, little Wolfie.

“Shut up!” He surged forward again, but this time, she dove through his arms. Melody launched forward, wrapping her arms around him. Giovanni went limp in her arms as she hugged him tight. Three ruby eyes flashed open on her face as a massive paw grew out of her right arm.

Don’t make me do this.

“I’m so sorry, Giovanni.” Her claws aimed at his back.

You must.

Please, don’t make me do this.

“I’m so sorry you never got a chance to grow up with me.” She pressed the tips to his back, feeling his own claws uselessly claw at her flesh. The pain didn’t even compare.

She will just use him against you.

Please…he’s my brother.

“I’m so sorry you didn’t get a chance to live and learn and fuck up like I did. I’m so-so-so fucking sorry that you died angry at the world. You deserved so much better. You were just a kid.”

He’s not your brother…he’s a dead thing.

“Mel?” He choked on his own tongue as she buried her paw deep into his back. Past his spine, past the muscle, past the ribs. She dug and dug and dug until she had her paw wrapped around his cold, dead heart.

“I’ll make her pay, Giovanni. I promise you, I’ll make her pay.” Melody ripped the heart out of his body. His hands slapped against her uselessly as she watched from over his shoulder. Her paws moved of their own accord. She squashed his heart like a rotten, old grape. It fell in clumps to the snow as Giovanni broke into pieces before her.

Melody never screamed like she did watching her brother fall apart once more.

She sank into the snow, back torn to shreds, hair in a wild mess around her face, tears streaming down all three of her red eyes as the world filled with pain. The trees rushed away from her, exposing an empty cave. The sky was empty of anything but ugly, gray clouds that even stopped spitting flurries out for a moment to mourn with her. Melody sobbed as she tried to collect all the pieces of him up in her arms, but he turned to moss…then ash…then dirty snow.

“No,” she croaked.

“Little Wolfie.”

Melody shrieked, ripping around with her paw out. Persephone snatched it in one crooked, gnarled hand and stopped her mid-strike. She’d come from the cave, her long, tattered cloak trailing behind her. The massive, molted raven crowed from her shoulder. Persephone stared straight in the werewolf’s face. “Now, now, little Wolfie. It had to be done.”

“You murdered him!” she shrieked, thrashing in an iron grip. There was no freedom from it. Like a shackle, she was stuck in her prison. Her throat burned as she sank into the snow further. Fat tears rolled down her face. “You murdered him again!”

“I did no such thing,” Persephone cooed.

“You made me do it,” Melody hiccupped, staring up at Persephone with betrayal. “You promised you wouldn’t make me hurt my loved ones.”

“He wasn’t your brother…not anymore. Not since the day you came home. That thing you destroyed was her puppet. And she would have made you fight him over and over until she got what she wanted.” Persephone dropped Melody’s arm. “Now are you going to keep sobbing over a corpse, or are you going to keep your promise and make Elyth pay.”

Melody’s face screwed up in the middle as she snarled. “I’ll never forgive you.”

“I don’t need you to forgive me, little Wolfie. That’s not a part of our deal. What I do need is Elyth dead.” Persephone whipped out a handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed Melody’s cheeks. “Now, go be a good guardian and kill the wretched thing, will you? She’s gotten too close on too many occasions for my taste. I’m going to clean up here.”

Persephone hummed to herself as she turned in the snow, lumbering toward the cave.

“Clean up?” Melody murmured, shakily climbing to her feet.

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