She wasn't scared, so much as uncomfortable.  Friends, and those who thought they could get away with it, had constantly reminded Nora that she had a death wish of sorts.  She had it before she met Will and it intensified after she lost him.  The handsome, kind and tough as nails werewolf had a calming effect on her in the years they were together.  As Pace queried her about the rabbit hole, she had some small epiphany that she was once again trying to tempt fate into punishing her for some perceived wrong.  Somewhere deep in her soul, she felt like she deserved it.  Survivor's guilt?  Maybe.  Her parents had died young and she had basically grown up alongside the Barnes' kids, Steve and Lane, her cousins.  Her mother and their mother had been estranged sisters, both gifted witches.  And then her aunt died as well.  Nora had a hard time not feeling as if her whole life just had a trail of death behind it.<br/><br/>"Whatever kind of rabbit hole you see fit, I guess?  You're the one giving out the punishment, yes?"  She arched a brow at him.<br/><br/>Her hand came up to play idly with the pendant around her neck as soon as he mentioned Abernus.  "My partner and I were sent to send that thing back to the shithole it came from.  But, the people we were working for, they botched the briefing and left out a lot of needed information.  Abernus feeds off of suffering and pain, and my partner made a move to save my life.  The demon wanted to kill one of us, he didn't seem to care which one.  He had us both pretty much at his mercy and Will convinced him to take his life.  I think he figured that since he was a werewolf, he could take Abernus once he got free of the bindings the demon had used."  Her hand fell back to her side and for a moment, she wondered why she was even sharing this.  She didn't owe this man her story or her honesty.  Nora shook her head, and figured it was the curse of the bartender, that everyone just poured out their problems.<br/><br/>"Will put up a good fight, but Abernus got the best of him with a hit of his claws, there's a venom on the tips that can paralyze just about anyone, even huge werewolves.  Abernus killed him slowly, made me watch and fed off the pain I felt.  And then he let me go, but he tethered himself to me for awhile, so he could continue to feed off the loss I felt.  I eventually broke the tether, and I can tell you right now if you let me back in that bar, I still have every intention of finishing what I was trying to start."  She looked up at Pace then, trying to hide whatever sorrow she felt behind fierce determination.  She was not a shifter like Will, not a wolf, but there was still something that was ever-wild inside of her.<br/><br/>"You're welcome to try to teach me all about the rules, but I'm gonna bet you I'll be a poor student."  Her brow furrowed.  "Why are you making some kind of loophole here?  Why a deal?  From everything I've heard, the beauty of this place is that you don't make deals and you don't bend your rules.