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He flipped on lights as he crossed through his old ranch house to the master bathroom, where he barely had enough time to lift the lid on his toilet before he was heaving up the contents of his stomach. Vampires, monsters, witches, and a missing brother. It was all too much.
The moment he stopped vomiting, he flushed the toilet, rinsed his mouth out, and splashed some cold water on his face. He winced at his pale reflection. How the fuck was he still alive after making it through that gauntlet?
But there was an even bigger question whispering from the shadows of his mind and twisting his empty stomach into knots.
Should he have told Sky everything?
Reaching up with trembling fingers, he pulled the collar of his black button-down shirt aside and revealed two partially healed puncture marks in his neck.
One of the vampires had bitten him, and he couldn’t remember which one it was.
Or even how it had happened.
This couldn’t be good.
Chapter 3
Skylar Wallace
Sky held himself back until ten a.m. He had no idea what time Nolan woke normally, but most people logged into their online jobs around eight a.m. So, he reasoned if Nolan was trying to sleep off a hangover and the not-so-great scare he suffered at Sky’s, he was likely to be up and moving by ten.
Nolan had looked like he needed a lot of sleep last night, but the man was also worried about his missing brother. If Sky waited too long, there was a good chance Nolan would sneak off to do something stupid and dangerous on his own.
If he was going to do something stupid, it needed to happen with Sky in tow. He could at least help to mitigate some of the damage. Maybe. He hoped.
Fuck.
There was a high likelihood there was nothing either of them could do to locate Owen, but Sky didn’t want to pat Nolan on the shoulder and say, “Sorry, but your bro is lost to the vampires now.” That felt like a cowardly dick move, even if it was realistic.
That was why he’d brought muffins.
Freshly baked muffins were always a great way to begin the day. How could you not feel like you could tackle anything after a yummy muffin?
Of course, Sky might have also struggled to sleep last night and finally gotten up at four in the morning so he could start baking. Nolan wasn’t going to be the only one to benefit from muffins. Sky had a killer stockpile and was willing to use them as bribery with his friends and acquaintances. The underworld minions weren’t so big on anything that didn’t contain meat.
Sky clung to his smile until his cheeks hurt, and rang Nolan’s doorbell for the third time. Would it be weird to slip to the back door? Or maybe peek into the windows? He needed to be sure that Nolan was home and safe. Of course, their neighborhood was chock-full of older, nosy neighbors who were peeking between their curtains right now, watching him. Old Mr. Franklin wasn’t even being all that covert about it. Just three houses away, he stood on his front lawn, “watering” dead flowers that hadn’t even sprouted spring growth yet while staring at him.
Turning his cheeky grin on the old fart, Sky shifted his basket of muffins to his left arm while raising his right and waving. “Good morning, Mr. Franklin!” Sky called out. “Lovely day, isn’t it?” If it weren’t for the sun shining in a blue sky, he’d be sure they were going to get a late snow. The wind was cutting like a knife down the street, keeping things a very brisk fortysomething.
Nolan’s front door opened suddenly and Sky jumped, wrapping his right arm around the basket to steady it. Nolan looked like shit as he stood there, leaning on the doorjamb while holding the door with his left hand. He was in an oversized black hoodie that appeared as if it were trying to swallow him up, and a pair of baggy sweat pants.
“Why the hell are you standing on my porch, shouting at the neighbors?” Nolan grumbled.
“Good morning! I brought over some muffins I made. I thought you could use something yummy to start your day. Plus, we can talk about your brother and come up with a game plan for finding him.” It wasn’t exactly easy to hold on to his cheerful mood in the face of Nolan’s dreariness, but it was proof that this man needed someone caring for him. He needed to be fed and someone to talk some sense into him before he did something truly stupid with the vampires.
Nolan sighed long and loudly. He dropped his head toward his right and scrubbed his face with one hand. “Look,” he began, and Sky clenched his teeth. That was never good. He could feel the brush-off coming. “I appreciate you covering my ass last night and getting me home. I do. But you don’t need to involve yourself in my shit. Owen’s entire existence is a quagmire. Once you get sucked in, there’s no escape. Just get out while you still can. Trust me, no hard feelings.”
