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But she hadn’t even crossed his mind. Sky had flashed as the answer to his problem and he’d moved without a second thought.
With a reassuring smile, Sky crossed to his side and placed his hand on his biceps, giving it a squeeze. “Don’t worry. We’ll get your brother and bring him here. We can protect your place to make sure it’s vampire proof.”
That wasn’t it. His brain was screaming, Why are you doing this? Why are you putting your life in danger for some guy you barely know?
“But we need to get moving.” Sky’s gaze darted to the front window in his living room and frowned. “It’s late and if there’s traffic, this trip could take longer than we want. We need to be back here before sunset.”
Sky released him and moved through the house. Nolan trailed behind him, his eyes skimming over the brightly decorated home full of soft colors, comfortable furniture, and knickknacks that demanded exploring, like the collection of porcelain bunnies that were frolicking across his fireplace mantel. How in the world is this man a necromancer?
He shoved the question as Sky gathered up his wallet, phone, keys, and even a strange leather bag that reminded him of those old satchels doctors took with them for house calls.
Nolan opened his mouth to inquire about it, but Sky stopped him with a smile and a pat on the side of his bag. “Some supplies, just in case.”
Nolan could guess that the “just in case” was for any vampires they might encounter. He didn’t want to know what qualified as “supplies” when it came to Sky and vampires. The bag wasn’t nearly big enough to hold a crossbow. Holy water and a wooden stake? It was probably better if he didn’t know.
With everything in hand, they jumped into Sky’s adorable blue car and zipped toward Hartford.
Unfortunately, the zipping stopped pretty quickly, turning into a gut-twisting crawl thanks to an accident on the expressway that had everything clogged up. The forty-minute drive shifted to sixty in the blink of an eye. At least Nolan was able to use that time to tell Sky everything he’d learned from his call with Owen.
It was not reassuring that Sky’s frown got deeper and deeper with all that he said.
“Okay, don’t bullshit me. How bad is it?” Nolan demanded as they sat behind a growling pickup truck outside the city limits.
Sky rested his elbow on the doorframe and leaned his head against his hand while his right hand loosely held the steering wheel. The necromancer was in a pale-yellow knit shirt with a green vest over it. If not for the jeans, the man would have reminded Nolan of a buttercup or maybe a spring tulip. How did he look so fresh and well-rested? Considering the number of muffins he’d brought over, he had to have been baking for hours. Did Sky not sleep?
“There’s not much I can say for sure because I don’t know vampires that well. Most of it is rumors and hearsay. I don’t know anything about the Sandor clan. The only one I know anything about is the Variks, but that’s because they are the most powerful vampire clan. If you’re smart, you don’t fuck with them.”
“Do you think the Sandor clan is a friend of the Variks?”
“No clue,” Sky admitted with a sigh. His fingers tapped on the steering wheel. “As for the other…”
“What? Say it. I know my brother’s an asshole and I probably shouldn’t be rescuing him.”
Sky glanced over at him, a weak half smile lifting one corner of his mouth. “I haven’t met him yet, but I don’t think he deserves a little brother as nice as you. As for the people he’s handing over to the vamps, it could be as simple as the bloodsuckers grabbing a meal and letting them go.”
“But…” Nolan prodded when Sky seemed to hesitate. His stomach twisted into a tighter knot with each second that Sky didn’t talk. He was pretty sure he didn’t want to hear what Sky had to say. “Come on. You’re the only person I know who can tell me about this world. Do you want me walking in as ignorant as I am?”
“No. Hush with that. You’re going to give me a heart attack just thinking about it,” Sky muttered under his breath. “The vampires have this thing called pets. They’re not exactly big on the idea of mates or soul mates or dating. But if they find a human they want to keep, they’ll call that person a pet.”
“That sounds…bad.” A chill that had nothing to do with the setting sun and the cooling temperature outside the cozy car swept through Nolan.
“Pretty much. From my understanding—and you have to keep in mind, this is all hearsay and rumors—a pet loses their status as a human being with rights and free will. They live to serve their new vampire master. I think some might be treated well, but I get the impression that these people are sort of in-home dinners that exist until their master uses them up.”
