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Nick wanted answers, but he nodded. “Yeah, we should, but we need to find him first.”
“If we’re going after him, it will be dangerous. First, I need to show you how to keep yourself safe. And after that, I need to reach out to some old contacts. If we’re running headfirst into a war between witches and vampires, we need information. I’ve been out of the game for too long.”
“Brett’s out there right now.”
“We can’t help him if we get ourselves killed. I know it’s hard, but we need to be patient and play it smart.”
“Okay. If you think it’s the best way.”
“I do. Now, unlock the trunk, and let’s get started.”
***
Chapter 29 - Cara
Cara and her father were living in silence. Or close enough, anyway. She spent her time texting Nick, giving excuses to Quinn and Julia about her absence, and contacting her college professors to tell she was having a family emergency.
At the start, she spoke to her father to ask him how long she was going to be trapped in her own home, but he wouldn’t give her an answer.
Soon, they stopped talking altogether, and it was tearing her up inside.
Cara walked past the kitchen, and she stopped when she saw her father sitting alone at the table. Her mother hadn’t been home since that last time Cara saw her, when she left to meet the elders.
“She’s been gone a long time,” Cara said.
Eric glanced up at her. “She has.”
“Where is she?”
“With the elders,” he said.
“And?”
“If you need to know more, I’ll tell you.”
She resisted the urge to yell. Instead, she calmly got up and left the room, choosing not to engage at all.
Time passed the same way, in stilted conversations and long stretches of silence. A couple of days later, Cara sat in her bedroom, enjoying the bright sunshine warming the room. It was a lovely day outside, and she considered going for a walk around the garden. Her mother tended to it with the utmost care and affection. It was beautiful and teeming with life, and despite what some people thought, none of it was created with magic. Her mother didn’t believe in using her power unnecessarily. The garden was purely a product of hard work and attention.
But if she went outside, her father would watch her like a hawk in case she tried to get past the perimeter wards. The thought of it soured her good mood, and she sat back against her pillows and took out her phone.
There was a knock at the door, but he didn’t come in.
She thought about ignoring him, but it felt childish, so she sighed. “It’s open.”
Her father stuck his head in. “If you want to talk about it, I’ll be downstairs.”
“Are you going to apologise?” she asked.
He paused. “No. But I can explain some of it, if you’re willing to listen.”
Eric left, leaving the door open behind him, and she shook her head. She had a right to be angry, didn’t she? She wasn’t being stubborn. She felt like a prisoner in her own home, and they didn’t care. She was allowed to be angry.
Against her better judgement, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and got up.
Downstairs, her father sat in the kitchen. The heart of the home, as her mother often said. She was full of phrases and sayings like that. Cara grew up hearing them, and she was still struggling to reconcile those memories with the woman who seemed so angry, so afraid, so quick to condemn Nick and his brother and throw them at the mercy of the elders.
Cara knew why. Of course she knew. Her mother loved her, and she was trying to protect their family.
