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“Cheers,” Cara said, lifting her glass. “To Quinn’s exam.”
“No, no, no,” Quinn said, lifting her own glass. “To us.”
Quinn sat beside her, throwing her arm around Cara, and they turned to other conversations. Normal conversations. Every so often, she caught Nick’s eye, and they were both thinking the same thing. They were having a great moment with their friends, laughing and joking and talking about the things other people talked about.
But it was only a matter of time before they were forced back into the fray.
***
Chapter 40 - Nick
Every day that passed felt like a stolen moment.
Nick was convinced that the coven would come for Cara, but they didn’t. Cara spoke to her parents and calmed them down, but Nick didn’t believe it was that easy. Nick and Cara tried to keep their distance from each other, just in case the witches showed up unexpectedly and thought the evil void was using Cara like a magical battery. So they kept their visits brief and spent the rest of their time apart.
With every hour, every day, it felt like things were returning to normal. Nick knew it wasn’t real, but sometimes, he let himself believe it, just for a while.
Eventually, the witches would come for Cara, and the vampires were being far too quiet. Nick hadn’t heard anything from them since they broke Brett out of the den. They were planning something. They had to be. He just didn’t know what to do about it.
“How’s Cara doing?” Henry asked.
Nick shrugged. “Her family’s not too happy, but it looks like they’ve accepted the fact that I’m not going to kill her at any given moment. Her father almost lost his mind, but she talked him down, and I think it helped that I wasn’t there. Her family knows that I had the chance to kill her, but I didn’t, and now she’s back at her house again.”
“It seems too easy,” Henry said. “I don’t want to rain on your parade, but did they really change their minds that easily?”
“I thought the same. Apparently, the elder witches-” Nick cut himself off to explain, “They’re the ones in charge of the coven, like the leaders.”
“I know how it works,” Henry said.
“Yeah, sorry, of course you do. Anyway, the elders made the decision. I don’t know why. Maybe they’re using Cara as bait to see what I’ll do. Or maybe they don’t want to imprison one of their own. Either way, it’s been almost a week since she left her parents’ house, and nobody is trying to kidnap her and bring her back.”
“That’s good,” Henry said.
“I guess,” Nick said, and he frowned. “The bar for ‘good’ is really low these days, isn’t it?”
Henry laughed. “It’s progress. That’s all we can hope for right now. It’ll take time, Nick.”
Nick gave him a weak smile. “I guess.”
They heard a car pull up outside the house, and the sound of someone getting out and closing the door. Nick tensed, but Henry brushed it off with a gesture.
“It’s just Brett,” Henry told him.
“When did he leave?”
“Late last night. He went hunting,” Henry explained. “But I think he was a bit... embarrassed, maybe? I don’t think he wanted to tell you.”
Nick wanted to protest, but he understood. Brett was still adjusting. They waited, but Brett didn’t come inside. They shared a glance, and Nick led the way outside, but Henry was right behind him with a kitchen knife in his hand.
Weapons, Nick reminded himself. He needed to get better at carrying around weapons.
Brett was standing outside, frowning at the ground.
“Brett? You alright?”
He looked up. “Yeah, but I can’t get past this spot.”
Nick realised that Brett was standing just beyond the lines of runes surrounding the house. “Really? The magic is stopping you?”
