Along Came a Spider (24 page)

“Where are we going?” I asked, glancing around us.

“I’m taking you in the delivery entrance,” he answered. “I don’t want to go in the front door in case Lavender’s spell isn’t up and running yet.”

I glanced around us, my eyes searching the dark woods that lined the road, half expecting something to come charging out at us. Being on the access road made me one hell of a lot more nervous than walking through the front door. Unless . . . “Do you know something I don’t?”

Nicky glanced in the rearview mirror. “Someone was following us after we left the Asylum,” he divulged. “I think I lost him a few miles back. But it’s not like where I live is a secret, and seeing as how your FMA pals fucked up my gates getting to me earlier today, I’m not taking any chances on someone camping out in the front yard, waiting to have another go.”

As he pulled into a circular drive behind his mansion, I turned in my seat to pin him with an expectant look. “Okay, so, do I get to hear the rest of the story now that we’re safely at home?” My eyes widened when I realized what I’d said and quickly amended, “I mean, now that we’re at your house. Sorry.”

Nicky’s lips twitched at the corners and he leaned over to give me a quick kiss that rapidly turned into a slow one. When he finally pulled back, he was grinning. “I like the thought of you calling this place home.”

My stomach fluttered with joy and I wanted nothing more than to drag him back to me for another kiss, but I leveled my gaze at him instead. “You’re changing the subject, Nicky Blue.”

Miffed at being called out, he shoved open the car door and reached under his seat, pulling out a Glock and keeping it down by his side as he came around to the other side of the SUV to help me out. As he led me to the door, his eyes scanned the darkness, searching for any movement.

Once we were safely inside, I grabbed his free hand and pulled him to a stop. “I’ll let it go for now because Lavender and Seth are here. But, make no mistake—this conversation isn’t over.”

He heaved a sigh and led me through the house until we were in the main wing. When we reached the living room, Seth and Lavender were snuggled up on the sofa—fully clothed, thank God!—and murmuring softly to each other. Nicky coughed, looking uncomfortable with intruding on their quiet moment.

But when Lavender’s head popped up, she was grinning and glowing more than a little. “Hey there! Where have you two been?”

“The Asylum,” I told her. “We went to visit Renfield.”

“Did you find out anything?” Seth asked, looking less murderous than the last time we’d seen him.

I exchanged a glance with Nicky. “Nothing concrete. Just the ravings of a madman.”

Lavender extricated herself from her fiancé’s grasp and came to envelop me in a hug. “Oh, honey—I’m so sorry. Do you want me to try a spell on him? I might be able to come up with something that would make him coherent for at least a few minutes.”

I shook my head, not sure that even a spell could make sense of what was in Renfield’s head. The man was too far gone to be able to separate fiction from reality. Anything he told us under Lavender’s influence might come out sounding rational, but I couldn’t depend on the information being reliable. “Thanks anyway, Lav. We still have the Pigg brothers to talk to tomorrow. Maybe we can get something more from them.”

She nodded. “Well, I put the spell around Nicky’s house, so that should keep anyone—human, Tale, or otherwise—from physically crossing the barrier if they have malice in their hearts toward either of you.”

“Thanks, Lav,” Nicky said, putting his arm around my shoulders and drawing me close, his expression still solemn.

“Anytime,” she said slowly, narrowing her eyes. She obviously was picking up on his dour mood, too.

Seth extended his hand to Nicky. “I wish we could stay longer and help you out, but we’ve got to stop by Red and Nate’s before we head back to The Refuge.”

“Forget about it,” Nicky told him. “We’ll be okay.”

“And, uh, sorry about earlier,” Seth said, his ears turning red. “The things that woman does to me . . .”

A smile tugged at the corner of Nicky’s mouth as his arm tightened around me. “No need to explain.”

Lavender suddenly threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. “Damn it! I don’t want to leave you like this! You need a fairy godmother now more than ever.”

I hugged her back, basking in the warmth of her love and friendship, drawing it around me like armor. Then I pulled back and gave her a wink. “I know how to reach you if I need you.”

She nodded, then hugged Nicky. “Take care of her,” she ordered. “My threat to turn you into a toad still stands.” When she stepped back she fixed him with a firm gaze. “You have a friend in my father and in Gideon. Keep that in mind.”

Nicky and I waved good-bye to them from the doorway as they drove off, and I could feel Lavender’s magic crackling around me, seeping deep into the ground and extending far up into the sky. I couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps I’d sleep well tonight after all.

The second the door closed, Nicky’s arms came around me, pulling me into his embrace so he could press a kiss to the curve of my neck. “Alone again,” he murmured against my skin.

I closed my eyes, leaning against him for a moment, loving the tantalizing warmth spreading through my body at his touch, but then I remembered that we had some unfinished business. I ducked out of his hold and turned to face him. “Yes, we are,” I said. “And I believe you have something to tell me.”

Nicky cursed under his breath and strode down the hall toward
the kitchen, shrugging out of his coat as he went. He threw it over the back of one of the dinette chairs and started rummaging through the cupboards.

“Nicky,” I said, sitting at what was becoming my normal seat at the bar, “whatever it is you have to tell me can’t be that bad!”

“No?” he called over his shoulder, slamming a pot on the stove and pouring a generous amount of milk into it.

“Jesus, Nicky!” I cried. “Just tell me what the hell Dracula said to you! You’re being ridiculous.”

Nicky’s shoulders bunched as he added cocoa powder to the milk. I could feel the tension and anger rolling off him, but he didn’t turn around until he’d poured the steaming hot chocolate into a mug. He set it in front of me and then finally lifted his eyes to me, capturing my gaze. The pain I saw there was heartbreaking.

“He looked into me, Trish,” Nicky said. “It was kinda like you do, except not as . . . welcome. It tore at me, like he was ripping my soul apart. He was searching for something—hell—my weakness or somethin’. I don’t know.” He ran a hand down his face, looking more haggard and weary than I’d seen him before. “And he found it.”

“Your love for your friends,” I guessed.

Nicky shook his head. “More than that. He saw how much I hate being powerless. I grew up powerless—just a nobody Rhyme with no future. When I came here, I knew I was gonna change that, and I did. There’s nothin’ I can’t handle, nothin’ I can’t make happen. But I couldn’t save Jules. I couldn’t protect Red. And he saw that fear in my heart.”

I didn’t know what to do to comfort him, so I reached out and twined my fingers with his. He offered me a weak smile and pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.

“So all this time, you’ve been tracking Dracula down, trying to prove that you’re not powerless,” I said. “You’ve done everything you can, Nicky. Hell—you’ve done more than anyone else has been able to.”

He shook his head. “But it’s not enough. That asshole is still out there, doing God knows what, and I can’t do a goddamned thing! I’m supposed to be avenging Juliet’s death, and I can’t even get close to the son of a bitch! What the hell kind of husband can’t avenge his wife’s murder?”

I pressed my lips together, choosing my words carefully. “Nicky, maybe you’re doing this for the wrong reason.”

“Wrong reason?” he cried, pulling his hand from my grasp. “What better reason is there? That woman stood by me no matter what, no matter who I was. And how did I repay her? I got her killed.”

“You didn’t get her killed—”

“No?” he raged. “Whose fault was it then? Red’s? That’s bullshit!” He slammed his fist on the counter, jarring my hot chocolate and making it lap over the edge. “I didn’t have to bring her here that night. I didn’t have to choose her needs over those of my wife’s. I could’ve put her up in a hotel, for chrissake!”

“It wouldn’t have made any difference!” I yelled, fed up with his misguided self-flagellation. “Jesus, Nicky! Red was never the target. It was you all along—and not because you helped Red with the case!”

Nicky’s face went slack. “What the hell are you talking about?”

My stomach dropped at warp speed. “I’m sorry,” I said, scooting off the bar stool. “Just forget I said anything.”

“Like hell,” he called after me as I rushed from the room, mortified that I had let the truth slip out. “What did you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” I snapped. “Just leave it alone, Nicky.”

“The hell I will.” He grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him, his body curving menacingly around mine as he backed me against the wall. “Now, what did you mean?”

I closed my eyes for a moment, preparing myself for what I was about to do to him. I couldn’t even look at him when I said, “Nicky, Juliet put a hit out on you.”

I felt his breath burst from him like he’d been punched in the gut. It was only then that I opened my eyes and met his gaze. It was as pained and as confused as I’d expected. My heart shattered, the jagged pieces tearing the hell out of my soul on the way down.

“Why would you say that?” he breathed. “Why would you do that to me, Trish?”

I shook my head. “Nicky, I didn’t want to tell you, but I couldn’t let you continue to beat yourself up over her death. It was her decisions, her malice, that brought Sebille here that night.”

“It’s not true,” he said, backing away from me. “It can’t be. Juliet wouldn’t do that!”

I followed him as he retreated down the hall. “She was jealous of how you felt about Red. She was convinced you were still sleeping with her.”

“I never cheated on Jules,” he spat.

“I know that,” I assured him, “but Juliet was insecure. She never believed that you loved her. She thought you were always wishing you were with someone else.”

This brought Nicky up short and the blood drained from his face at an alarming rate, just as it had at the Asylum. Had he always been wishing he was with someone else? The look on his face said that little nugget had hit a bit too close to home. Maybe he was still in love with Red. That cheery thought brought my misery to a whole new level.

“Nicky, I’m so sorry to tell you all of this,” I said, knowing the words sounded like hollow platitudes. “I feel like I’m ripping your heart out. But I wouldn’t lie about this. I saw it all in Juliet’s eyes before Nate came to collect her. She was the one who tipped off Sebille and Dracula that you were helping Red in the investigation. The whole flirtation with you in the car on the ride home was just to throw you off balance, get you off your guard so that when you opened the door you wouldn’t be expecting an attack.”

Nicky’s shoulders sagged and he ran a hand through his hair. “You know about what happened on the ride home that night?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“What else did you see?” he asked, no inflection in his voice.

“Nicky—”

“Don’t lie to me, Trish.” His expression had gone cold, his voice devoid of warmth. “What the hell else did you see?”

I sighed and then admitted in a whisper, “She’d been sleeping with Dracula for several months.”

Nicky laughed, his normal deep rumble now edged with sorrow. “No wonder the son of a bitch stopped by the hospital to gloat. He’d been fucking my wife all that time.”

I went toward him slowly, not sure how my offer of comfort would be received. But he didn’t retreat from me this time. And when I placed my hand over his pounding heart, he looked down at me for a long moment.

“Why didn’t you tell me all this sooner?” he asked.

“I didn’t want to hurt you. I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry you told me?” he asked. “Or sorry that I’m a pathetic fucking asshole?”

“Sorry that your heart is breaking.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not breaking,” he said, gently putting me away from him. “If anything, it just got even harder.” He took his keys from his pocket and headed for the front door.

I followed, having to jog a little to keep up with him. “Where are you going?”

“I need to be away from here,” he ground out as he wrenched open the door.

My heart began to hammer in panic at the murderous look in his eyes. “Nicky, wait! Please don’t go out when you’re like this.”

He shot me a dark look. “Don’t wait up.”

The sound of the door slamming echoed throughout the foyer like a gunshot.

Chapter Eighteen