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“No, I need to do damage control. Witches are just like everyone else - when they’re afraid, they make stupid decisions. I’ll do my best to make sure they see sense.”
“Alright. I’ll follow Brett. He needs to see a friendly face. I’ll try to bring him back to my house if he’ll let me.”
Cara sighed and repeated her words from earlier. “He’s too fast, Nick. You’ll never be able to catch him. At least let me track him with a spell.”
“It won’t work,” Nick said. “Whatever just happened, whatever he is, it’s too late. His void was dormant before, but it’s active now. You can’t track him.”
“You don’t know that. We don’t know what he is. Just let me try.”
“Fine,” Nick said, but he was already walking in the direction Brett vanished. “If I’m wrong, if you find him, call me.”
He disappeared around the corner, and Cara stood there as the sunshine warmed her face. She had to go home and face everything, and she could find a few minutes to do a tracking spell on Brett. But something told her that Nick was right. She could locate a vampire, but a vampire who survived the sunlight because he had void power inside him?
She didn’t hold out much hope.
***
Chapter 25 - Nick
Hours passed, and Nick didn’t find him.
He was starting to lose hope. He had been wandering the city since he last saw Brett, but there was no sign of him anywhere. He checked their house, the bar Brett worked in, contacted friends and acquaintances that might have heard from him. Nobody knew where he was.
He wasn’t anywhere that he should have been.
Every time that thought occurred to him, Nick pushed himself further. He kept looking, thinking, brainstorming places where Brett might possibly be. Guilt and fear and concern pushed him beyond the point where his feet ached and his body begged him to stop. Edinburgh wasn’t a big city, compared to places like London, but there were hundreds of places Brett could be hiding.
The only person he didn’t call was Henry. Their father was out of town, so Brett wouldn’t be with him, but he could help. He held his phone in his hand again, but he decided not to call him. Again. Nick had to solve this before he told him. Henry would drop everything and rush back to help, but Nick couldn’t put him through this.
It was his fault. His responsibility. He had to fix it.
Eventually, Nick let himself stop at a shop and he bought a bottle of water. He’d been thirsty for hours, but he finally had to admit to himself that he wouldn’t be able to help Brett if he passed out from dehydration. He drank the entire bottle in seconds. He stared out the window of the little shop as people and cars passed by outside, completely unaware and uncaring about his life and his problems.
Nick felt someone watching him, and he glanced at the cashier. She quickly averted her gaze. He must have looked strange, gulping water as if he had just walked through a desert.
He walked outside and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the window. There was dried blood splattered across his shirt, and he groaned. Who knew how many people had seen him rushing around with blood all over his clothes? It was a miracle no one had called the police.
Nick found the nearest store and bought a shirt, making an excuse about an unexpected nosebleed when the man behind the counter asked him what happened. He changed into the new shirt and threw out his old one. The break from his frantic search gave him time to think, and he decided he needed to be smarter about this. Besides, he was starving.
The university wasn’t far away, so he wandered in that direction. His feet brought him to his usual spot - the bar just off campus that he often went to with his friends. He found a table near the window, got a drink and ordered food.
Sitting down, he checked his phone again, hoping for a message from Brett, but he knew he wouldn’t have one. He wasn’t about to get that lucky.
Nick scrolled down, looking at his last messages with Cara. She was probably busy with her family and the rest of the coven. He needed to know if she was okay, but he didn’t want to interrupt anything important. She’d message him when she had news, he supposed.
Still, he couldn’t get the image of her out of his head - lying on the ground, barely breathing and covered in blood. Almost killed by vampires because she was trying to help him find his brother.
Nick’s eyes were on his phone, but he saw black lines spreading across his palms. Every time he thought about what they did to her, the void appeared. He didn’t know if it was anger or fear, but the void clearly thrived on his darker emotions. He put down his phone and examined the lines. He still couldn’t believe this was really happening to him.
“Nick?”
He looked up and clenched his fists to hide his palms. “Jackson?”
“Hey, man. Mind if I sit?” Jackson was holding a beer, but he gestured to the chair with his free hand.
“Sure, go ahead,” Nick said, and he was relieved that his voice was steady.
Jackson smiled and pulled out the chair across from him. “You weren’t in class today.”
