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Henry sighed. “Nick, you’re not making sense. You met a witch. Alright, so you went to a fortune teller or something? I just hope you didn’t pay her anything, they just want to scam you out of-”
“No!” Nick was on his feet before he could think, and the chair scraped back against the floor, and then fell with a clatter.
Henry’s eyes widened, and Nick cleared his throat.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’ll... I’ll pick that up.”
Henry watched him without saying anything. “Are you going to sit back down?” he asked, when Nick stayed standing.
“No. I... I need you to tell me the truth.”
“I’m always honest with you, Nick.”
“Not on this. I’m hoping that you’re just trying to protect me, but it’s too late for that, and I need you to be straight with me. Please.”
Henry took a moment, watching his face. He stood slowly, calmly, and stepped closer to Nick. “Something happened.”
They were the same height now. Nick remembered when his dad was taller than him. He used to look up at the bigger, stronger, smarter man who took care of him. Not anymore.
“I trust you,” Nick said.
“I know. Are you hurt? Did something happen?”
“I need you to trust me.”
“Nick, if you just tell me-”
“Please, I need you to be honest with me. I need to know the truth, before I say anything else.”
Henry sighed. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You met a witch.”
It’s so much more than that,he thought.
“Yes,” he said.
Henry shook his head. “We should sit down. I was planning to have this conversation with you and your brother together, but he’s at work, and this isn’t something we can put off.”
“Why do you think he’s at work?”
Henry frowned. “He sends me his work schedule. He’s supposed to be working tonight. Isn’t he?”
“He’s...”
Nick could think of more than one lie that would get him out of this, but he was tired of it, and he could barely remember why he was keeping anything from his father in the first place. Some idiotic notion about protecting people, maybe. It seemed so stupid now.
“He’s not at work,” Nick said.
Henry took a breath, and then he reached out and put his hands on Nick’s shoulders. “I need you to tell me what’s going on.”
Nick resisted the urge to flinch when Henry touched him - the memories of black veins and terrified witches flashed through his head - but he was too slow. Henry saw the reaction before he could hide it, and Nick tried to relax the tension in his shoulders.
“I don’t know where to start,” Nick said.
Henry nodded. “Okay, then I’ll start. I know about witches. I know about magic. There are other things out there, and I’ll tell you the rest, but for now, I want you to tell me what you know. Is your brother okay?”
“I don’t know,” Nick blurted. Henry’s eyes widened, and Nick quickly added, “He’s alive. I just saw him. But I... I don’t know where he is. I tried to follow him, but he was... I lost him.”
Henry’s eyes searched his face for a moment, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, he released Nick’s shoulders and turned to one of the kitchen cabinets.
