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He shoved the thought aside as he rushed up the long driveway, past ornamental trees and a perfectly landscaped lawn that was dotted with warm yellow lights. He wished he could appreciate it more. Along with the fact that he was meeting the king of vampires. This was a big moment. A once-in-a-lifetime moment.
But all he could think about was Nolan and curse himself. He’d glanced at the text when it had rolled through during his meeting with Abigail Cartwright, and he’d hesitated. Nolan had said he’d be gone for a couple of minutes, and it was the middle of the day. He would be okay, right? The vampires were all tucked in their coffins, dreaming of bats and biting things. Or whatever vampires dreamed about. Nolan would be safe.
He’d gotten caught up in his meeting with his new client, forgetting all about Nolan.
It wasn’t until he was showing Abigail out his door thirty minutes later that he’d realized he had never heard Nolan return. Had never received a text stating that he was back and working.
His heart leaped into his throat as he spun on his toe and launched himself up the stairs, taking them as quickly as his stupidly short legs would carry him. In his mind, he repeated over and over that Nolan was safe.
The spare bedroom was empty. The bathroom was empty.
Sky zipped through the entire house in record time, but Nolan wasn’t there.
It’s okay. It’s fine. He got caught up in whatever he was looking for at his house. Lost track of time. No big deal.
Sky said those words to himself out loud as he ran out into the downpour and across the street to Nolan’s house. As soon as his knuckles touched the door, it swung open to a dark, silent room. An icy feeling that had nothing to do with his soaked clothes sank into the pit of his stomach.
No one was here.
There was no question in his mind. Nolan wasn’t there.
He still searched every room. The only sign that Nolan might have been there was a notebook laying forgotten in the middle of the floor as if Nolan had dropped it.
As if he’d dropped it when someone forced him to leave the house.
Even now, hours later, that same sick feeling swirled in his veins. He’d failed Nolan. He was supposed to be keeping him safe. The moment he saw the text, he should have stepped away from his meeting and stopped Nolan. At the very least, he should have watched from the window for any signs of intruders as Nolan got whatever he needed for work.
Before he’d even made it to his own house, he was calling Winter. It didn’t matter that the sun was still up, and that there wasn’t a damn thing the vampire could do about the situation until it set. Sky had been prepared to hunt down the vampire and pound on his door, force someone to talk to him.
Thankfully, a groggy Fox had answered the phone and seemed to snap awake the second Sky blurted out that Nolan had been kidnapped and he was likely in the hands of Christoph Sandor.
After a series of frantic phone calls and some careful planning, Skylar found himself parked outside of the Varik manor with his hands balled into fists and his throat sore from holding in screams of frustration. His mind kept conjuring up horrible tortures for Nolan at the hands of Christoph. The fucking bloodsucker had to be furious that Sky outsmarted him. Would he take that anger out on Nolan?
God, please no.
A knock on his window ripped a scream from Sky’s lips. He jumped in his seat, his head jerking to see Moon standing outside with a worried smile.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Sky muttered as he threw himself out of the car and into his friend’s waiting arms.
“Breathe, Sky. You need to take some deep breaths and calm down,” Moon murmured in his ear as he hugged him.
Right now, that was all Sky could do—hold on to his friend and breathe. He leaned nearly all his weight on the man as his fingers twisted in his jacket. The ever-present scent of lemongrass and laundry detergent drifted past Sky’s nose and it was almost as soothing as the deep breathing.
After he’d gotten things settled with Winter, he’d immediately called Moon. If shit went sideways and the Variks couldn’t save Nolan from Christoph, he was going to need some backup. And when it came to facing vampires, there was no one else he wanted in his corner more than Moon.
“I’m so sorry to drag you into this,” Sky mumbled into his friend’s shoulder.
“Idiot.” Moon tugged on a lock of his hair and Sky lifted his head to meet his gaze. “Do you think I would miss out on this? Of course I’m here.” He lifted a fist and rapped his knuckle on the center of Sky’s forehead. “And you need to stop blaming yourself for this happening.”
“But—”
“You are, and this isn’t your fault. You warned Nolan not to leave the house, but he did. Plus, it was daylight. Anyone would have thought he was safe. Let it go. If we’re taking on vampires—particularly a freaking vampire clan leader—we need to be focused.”
Sky blinked at him for a second. That was really astute for Moon. He didn’t mean any offense, but Moon was flighty and very unfocused.
Moon smirked. “I talked to Mad on the way over here.”
That explained it. Maddox always seemed to know what each of them was thinking, even though he vehemently denied using a spell or an artifact for that skill.
