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“Hey,” she called out. “Are you okay?”
He squinted at her. “Who are you?”
“Cara. I’m a friend of Nick’s. You’re his brother, right?”
“Brett, yeah. Nick hasn’t mentioned you.”
“We’re new friends,” she said, and she tried not to show how panicked she was. He stopped in front of her, swaying slightly, and she reached out carefully to take his arm.
Brett frowned when he saw her hand taking his elbow to steady him, but he didn’t stop her. “Where’s Nick?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I came here to find him.”
“Don’t you have a phone?”
“He’s not answering his phone.”
Despite his injuries and his unsteady stance, his gaze sharpened as he looked at her. “That’s not like him. Are you sure you have the right number?”
“Yes.”
His eyes unfocused again. “God, my head is all over the place.”
Cara’s hand was still on his arm, and she felt something in the back of her mind. It was vaguely familiar, but it took a second to recognise it.
The lingering cloud of the undead. The energy was clinging to him like smoke, and when she looked into his unfocused eyes, she knew she was right. A vampire, or multiple vampires, had messed with his mind. They were probably responsible for the head wound, too.
A vampire attack on Nick’s brother, and Nick was missing. Cara took a shaky breath and tried not to panic. The street around them was empty, but the darkness made her uneasy.
Brett shifted, and she tightened her grip to hold him up. Her magic flared in her chest, reacting to the dark energy, but she forced it back. It was a bad idea to try anything before she knew what she was dealing with.
“What happened to your head?” she asked, trying to lead him towards the wall so he could sit down.
Brett frowned at the wall, and he didn’t sit. “I’m not sure. I think someone robbed the bar I work in. They must have caught me by surprise, since I don’t remember seeing anyone.”
They erased his memory. “Let’s get you inside,” Cara said, gently pulling Brett towards the house.
After a moment, he nodded and let her lead the way.
Cara glanced at the wards carved into the ground. They were supposed to keep out anyone and anything supernatural. On a hunch, she kept walking, tightening her grip on Brett’s arm. He lived here, after all.
They crossed the threshold, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Textbook home protection spell. It recognised residents, as designated by the caster when the spell was created.
That meant two things - first, the spell had been put in place after Brett and Nick moved into the house, since it recognised Brett.
And second, while they didn’t know about the supernatural world, someone else did, and that person knew that they needed to be protected from it.
***
Chapter 9 - Cara
Brett sat on the couch in the living room while Cara stood over him. She used water, tissue and an old, clean t-shirt to wipe away the dried blood, trying to get a clearer look at what the damage was, and she talked to him while she worked.
“You’re sure nobody cares about this shirt? I feel bad rummaging through your house.”
“Nah, it’s fine. It’s one of mine, but I’ve been meaning to get rid of it for ages. Haven’t worn it in forever.”
Brett was starting to sound better, less confused, and she had to hope that meant he was improving by himself.
