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“I know.”
“We can’t always be there to protect the ones we love,” I reminded him. “Hell, he could get hurt cooking for us in the kitchen or driving to get groceries. Are you going to blame yourself for that, too?”
Hudson’s lips quirked up. “I suppose Jax and I are both really good at blaming ourselves. He still blames himself for breaking us up.”
I shook my head. “You blame yourself for not being there when he got turned because you weren’t there for him when he got that scar as a kid… and he blames himself for breaking us up when you came to rescue him. You two definitely are twins.”
Hudson laughed and poked me in the side. “Hey!”
He curled his fingers and tickled my ribs, making me burst into laughter as I tried my best to squirm away from him.
“Shhh!” I finally said. “What if Nico’s trying to sleep on the couch?”
“Then he’s a glutton for punishment, and he deserves to suffer for not being here to join in the fun.”
“On that we agree.” I caught my breath, still wary of where his hands were, prepared to block any future tickle attacks.
“Do we also agree we should get some rest if we plan to go back to the infernal realm soon?”
I sighed. “Yes, I suppose so.”
Hudson and I got ready for bed and then cuddled up together in our messy sex bed, just in case Nico did decide to come in and sleep on the other one. Hudson spooned me, and soon I felt his muscles twitch as he relaxed into sleep.
His heavy breaths lulled me into near-sleep, my mind drifting, my consciousness wavering. And yet, I couldn’t quite get there. I rolled over, deciding that maybe spooning wasn’t the best sleeping position after all.
But after tossing and turning, my thoughts kept circling back around to the mysterious man who hadn’t joined us to sleep. The vampire who’d gone into a frenzy to protect me. Nico had only come out of it when we shared blood, simultaneously breaking the frenzy.
We had things to discuss, he and I.
Chapter Seven
Mel
Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to get up instead of rolling around in bed and waking Hudson. Something told me I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I talked to Nico.
To gather my thoughts, I first stopped by the back room and gave Tempest a quick pet, though I still wasn’t sure she liked it. She didn’t complain, though.
“I’m going to go talk to Nico,” I murmured to her.
She crossed her pitch-black paws and laid her triangular head down on them. Her smoky tail stretched out behind her on the floor as she settled in. Lightning arced in her tail, but luckily didn’t seem to affect anything else.
“Call out if you need me to bite him.”
I chuckled, wishing my own bite had been enough to get through to him. I wanted Nico to accept his place as our coven-mate, but he pulled away at every turn. On the way down the hallway to the kitchen, I thought of what I could say this time that might finally make a difference.
He’d decided he was too dangerous, and then he’d been proven right. The exact thing he’d feared would happen had come to pass. That had to sting.
And I was willing to bet it was also why he was keeping his distance from all of us. Jax had longed to repair things with Nico forever, but they’d never been able to bridge the gap.
Was it foolhardy or prideful for me to think I could succeed where Jax had failed?
My coven-mates were hurting. It wasn’t just Jax. Even Hudson was affected, worrying about Jax and Nico. And Nico?
He was good at hiding his feelings, but he must be hurting, too. He had to be, after his prediction had come true.
The house was dark, but since I could now see in the dark, I didn’t turn on any lights. I expected to find Nico on the couch where Jax and I had tempted him once before. Instead, I followed the sound of his heartbeat and found him in the kitchen, his elbows on the table, his head in his hands.
He heard my footsteps, of course, and raised his head, but said nothing, as usual.
