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“So how do you know if the child is going to be a witch or a void?” Nick asked.
“You don’t,” Henry said. “As far as I know, it’s a recessive gene. Or it acts like that, anyway. Of course, no one has ever done a proper study of void genealogy.”
“Of course,” Brett said drily.
“If I’m honest, your mother wasn’t very close with the rest of her family. After your grandparents died, she rarely saw any of the others. I’ve looked into it myself, but I never found anything. Witches have a lot of tricks and workarounds when it comes to legal documents - magic has its perks - so it’s possible they hid themselves. I can’t imagine they were happy that your mother married a former witch hunter and started a family.”
“It must have been a lot to adjust to,” Nick said.
“In some ways, yes, but it didn’t matter. We cared about each other.” His eyes stayed on Nick. “People can change.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Nick said.
Brett sat forward suddenly. “I thought our grandparents died in a fire.”
“They did,” Henry said.
“But if they were witches with magic, why didn’t they just escape or control the fire or something?”
Henry frowned. “They weren’t witches. I just told you that.”
“Are you sure?”
“I... Well, I guess not. But if they were, your mother never knew. It doesn’t matter. Even if they were, witches are still people. They have the same vulnerabilities, the same chances of getting sick or injured. Magic can’t fix everything, especially if it happens quickly.”
“Cara heals herself,” Nick said. “I’ve seen her do it.”
“Healing is usually limited to minor injuries,” Henry said.
Nick frowned. “She’s done a lot more than that. In the vampire den-” He broke off, glancing at Brett, but his brother just shrugged.
“When we were in their den,” Nick continued, “she got separated from us. Vampires attacked her. She should have died, but she healed herself. Those weren’t just minor injuries. Lethal doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
“Then she must be a powerful healer,” Henry said. “In my experience, most witches have natural strengths and weaknesses. They’re not good at everything. Healing must be a strength of hers.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about magic?” Brett asked.
“Don’t ask him that,” Nick said quickly. “You’re putting him in an awkward position.”
“Why not?” Brett said. “It’s a simple question. It runs in our family, so why did you keep it a secret from us?”
“You don’t have to answer that,” Nick said.
Henry gave Nick a long look, and he moved closer. “It’s okay, Nick, we didn’t know about you,” Henry told him. “There was no sign of you becoming a void.”
“That wasn’t the question,” Nick said.
“That’s why you were trying to avoid the answer,” Henry said.
“I didn’t say anything,” Nick said.
“You didn’t have to. I know you, Nick. If we knew about either of you having a dormant void, we would have talked to you about it. The secret had nothing to do with you. We didn’t tell either of you because there hasn’t been anyone supernatural in the family for generations. You should have lived long, happy, normal lives. You didn’t need to know.”
Brett was looking at Nick with a strange expression. “Why did you think the secret was because of you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re blaming yourself for all of this,” Brett said. “It’s not your fault. We both had that void thing lying dormant inside us. You just had the bad luck of meeting a witch.”
