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He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She must have looked like there was a bird’s nest on her head, but he didn’t look like he cared.
“I could stay,” she said.
“If you want,” he said quickly.
“Just to sleep,” she added.
“Of course,” he said. “Just sleeping.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
They looked at each other for another long moment, and then Nick stood up and closed the bedroom door firmly, shutting out the sounds of Jay’s distant snoring.
***
Chapter 18 - Nick
Nick woke as the sun rose over the horizon.
He tried not to move too much, since he could hear Cara’s soft, steady breathing. She was still asleep in his arms, and he had a moment of wishful thinking - in another life, he could stay here with her until she woke. He wouldn’t have anyone to save or anyone to fight, and the world wouldn’t be trying to force them apart.
Nick carefully slipped his arms out and got out of bed. He knew where the bathroom was, so he grabbed one of the towels Cara left in the guest room and went for a shower.
Afterwards, he returned to the guest room after checking to make sure nobody else was home. He could hear Jay snoring downstairs, but nothing else, so he wrapped the towel around his waist and went back to find his clothes.
He found Cara awake in the bed, blinking sleepily at him as he came into the room. She smiled when she saw him wearing the towel. “Ready for battle, I see.”
He grinned. “Yeah, when the vampires see me, they’ll be so confused that they won’t know what to do. We’ll have the element of surprise.”
“Genius,” she said.
He got dressed and she blinked against the early morning light as she tried to wake up. They didn’t say anything else. Despite the jokes, both of them were fully aware of the day ahead, and Nick couldn’t take his mind off everything that he risked losing.
Nick pulled on his old clothes and went downstairs while Cara took a shower, and he found Jay awake in the kitchen, helping himself to food from the fridge.
Jay grunted a hello, and Nick did the same. Cara soon joined them, and they drove into Edinburgh together a few minutes later.
They took Jay’s car, since it was parked just outside, and he insisted that he was the best driver. Nick was too focused on his brother - and the gaping holes in their shaky plan to rescue him - so he didn’t bother to reply. He just got into the car, and they drove in mostly silence with nothing but Jay’s questionable taste in music to fill the car.
All too soon, they arrived at the place Brett was being kept, and Nick felt his stomach turning.
“The sun’s been up for over an hour,” Jay said, looking out the window at the sky. “I think this is as good as we’re gonna get.”
“Agreed,” Cara said.
Nick didn’t say anything, but he got out of the car, and the others joined him quickly.
Now or never.
***
The entrance was surprisingly unguarded, and Jay broke the lock with a quick spell and a burst of magic.
Nick got suspicious about it being too easy, but Cara whispered a quick explanation about magic wards making it difficult for vampires to get in and out. Too much security would make it difficult and laborious for the vampires to get past, so it wasn’t surprising that the security was so minimal.
“Besides,” Jay whispered, “this place looks abandoned. If anyone knows that vampires live here, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to enter, and if any unlucky soul wanders inside by accident, the vampires get a surprise and a snack.”
