Page 19 of Hell to Slay

“We missed our night together on Lughnasa.” I strutted toward him, remembering that the only way Jax and I had been able to break through his walls in the past was with seduction.

Nico shrugged. “We’re no regs.”

Regs had plenty of weird customs. Although they probably would have said the same about us. Having two coven ceremonies in the same year would’ve seemed like having two weddings in the same year. And cutting ourselves during the ceremony, so we could bleed onto the ground? That was part of what had brought on the witch hunts all those centuries ago.

“True, it’s not like it was our wedding night.” I watched Nico’s face, trying to get any clue as to his thoughts, but he was closed off to me.

“Hudson will go on watch next,” I said in a low voice. “Once Jax is free, the three of us…”

“No,” Nico said firmly, not meeting my eyes.

Maybe I picked the wrong plan. Maybe seducing him only worked if I had Jax helping me out.

Time for a different tact, then. I sat down across the table from him, and he sighed as though my very presence wearied him.

“You act like you’re so much more dangerous than the rest of us,” I challenged. “But I’m a vamp now too, so what do you have to be afraid of? You’re no threat to the rest of us.”

Nico snorted. “The rest of you won’t lose control and go into a frenzy at the slightest provocation.”

“Was it?”

“What?” His thick eyebrows lowered.

“Was it only a ‘slight’ provocation that sent you into the frenzy? A devil captured and threatened one of your coven-mates. None of us knew what might happen.”

Nico frowned and met my eyes as he sat back in his chair, his big hands still on the table. Then he let out a long exhale. “No, it was much more than a slight provocation, Mel.”

His voice sounded resigned, as though it was difficult to admit he actually gave a damn about me. And the fact that he’d used my name instead of one of his nicknames for me? He was taking this seriously.

“I know you’re not much of a talker, Nico, but this is one of those times when most witches would lean on their coven-mates for comfort.”

He shook his head. “They let me down.”

I tilted my head, forcing him to continue by the weight of the silence between us.

He gestured with one hand toward the bedroom and then toward the front door. “I asked the twins to put me down if I lost it, but they refused.”

“They contained you in the van.”

“They got lucky. Things could’ve gone horribly wrong.” He shrugged helplessly.

Looking back on what I’d done during my own frenzy — the way I’d been willing to drain my own friends dry… Being in the backseat of my own mind had been terrifying. I couldn’t blame Nico for replaying the nightmare of his own when I was doing the same with mine.

“You’re afraid of letting out the monster in you, but I know that monster, because now it’s in me, too.”

“No, it’s not the same.”

“No?”

“Your aura is still bright.”

Of course. He thought that because I hadn’t drained anyone dry during my frenzy, that I didn’t understand. He still thought he was too dangerous and different from the rest of us.

It was time to prove to him that he was wrong. I could promise him something that none of our coven-mates could.

“This has nothing to do with the darkness of our auras, Nico.” I stared at him until he met my eyes. “It has everything to do with the darkness of our souls.”

His eyes narrowed, his full attention on me. This might be my one and only chance to break through to him. So I chose my words carefully.

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