Into the void, p.8
Into the Void, page 8
“A dog,” Nick said, immediately breaking into a smile. “You didn’t tell me you had a dog.”
“It didn’t come up,” she said. “And he’s more my mother’s dog than mine, really.”
There was more movement inside, but instead of seeing anyone old enough to be Cara’s parents, there was a guy approaching who looked to be about the same age as them.
“Jay, what are you doing here?” she asked. “Is there a coven meeting?”
“Your parents were out, and they asked me to mind the house.”
Cara took a moment. “They wanted someone to wait for me to come home.”
He smiled sheepishly. “Maybe. Who’s this?”
Cara glanced at Nick and hesitated. “A friend from college,” she said, deliberately not saying his name. “Why don’t we all go inside?”
Nick shrugged. “Sure. What did you say the dog’s name was?”
“Finn,” she said, and the dog finally turned his eyes to Nick.
“Don’t worry if he doesn’t like you,” she added. “He takes a while to warm up to strangers.”
Nick held out his hand, and the dog padded over to him, sniffing his hand and looking at him with strangely intense eyes. The dog observed him for a moment, as if casting judgement, and then he pushed his head against Nick’s hand and let him pet him.
“Oh,” she said. “He’s never that friendly with strangers.”
“He’s beautiful,” Nick said. “And massive. Good boy.”
The dog turned and led the way inside the house, and Nick followed him, completely unaware of the two witches staring at him.
“That was weird, right?” Jay said quietly.
“Very,” she said.
***
“Is that beer?” Cara said, glancing at the bottle on the counter of the standalone island in the middle of the kitchen.
Jay shrugged. “Yeah. I didn’t know how long I’d be here. There’s more in the fridge, do you want one?”
Cara shook her head, but Nick took one, and she sighed. Meanwhile, Finn had wandered over to his basket in the corner of the room and curled up, resting his head on his paws as he watched them.
Nick went over to the dog and crouched beside him, rubbing his head.
“Listen, Jay, we need help,” Cara said. “There are vampires involved, and we need to talk to someone who knows what they’re doing. My parents, ideally, but maybe the elders would help us. Or your family. Are your mothers around? They might know what to do.”
“My parents are out of town,” Jay said. “As far as the elders... Why do you need them?” He glanced at Nick again. “You said we need help. Who’s we?”
“I meant me,” Cara said, but the lie fell flat, and Jay’s eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?” he asked. “I didn’t get your name.”
Nick slowly stood up. “I didn’t give it,” he said.
“You’re not a witch,” Jay said, stepping around the island. “How are you involved?”
“Jay, wait,” Cara said.
“No. I think I know exactly who this is. Your parents tried to keep tabs on you, to make sure you were safe at your college house, or on the campus, or wherever you go with your friends. You vanished a while ago. No tracking spells, no magic, nothing could find your location.”
Nick set down the beer on the table beside him.
“They went to find you,” Jay said, eyes still locked on Nick. He stood a few feet from him, but he didn’t close the distance. Not yet. “There’s only one thing that could cause you to disappear like that.”
“Jay...”
“He’s the void.”
Nick frowned. “They can’t track her because she’s near me?”
“Don’t pretend to be surprised.”
“I told them I was fine,” Cara said. “My parents, I mean. I called them earlier.”
“You’re with a void,” he said, glaring at Nick. “Nothing you said would make a difference. He’s probably twisted your mind while he feeds off your magic.”
“We had an entire conversation,” she said. “They sounded fine.”
“Probably didn’t want to alarm you, in case you acted differently in front of him.” Jay said ‘him’ with such disgust that the word was almost unrecognisable. “Voids can be erratic and violent. If you knew they were worried, you might have given it away. And if he knew, he might have killed you on the spot.”
“I’m not a murderer,” Nick said.
Jay scoffed and his hands tensed as his fingers curled. The room filled with energy, and everything around them started to tremble.
Cara stepped between them before it could escalate. “Jay, we need answers. Nick isn’t the enemy. Vampires came for him and his family.”
“They want me to support them,” Nick said, steadily meeting Jay’s eyes over Cara’s head.
“You’re going to make an alliance with vampires?” Jay said. “You are a monster.”
Nick stepped forward sharply, but a soft whimper stopped him. He glanced over his shoulder at the dog. Finn had raised his head, and he watched them with big, soulful eyes. Another gentle whimper came from his throat, and Nick sighed.
“Sorry, buddy,” Nick told him, and turned back to Jay. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. I just want to protect my family. Samuel made me an offer-”
“Samuel? You’re on a first name basis?” Jay growled and moved in and grabbed Nick’s shirt.
Jay shoved him back and he knocked against the table, toppling the beer bottle and spilling it across the wood.
“Stop!” Cara yelled, getting in Jay’s way.
Nick resisted the urge to knock him out, but he felt something rippling across his hands. He glanced down and saw black veins flickering across his palms. He quickly clenched his fists, hiding the darkness and trying to suppress whatever the void was doing.
“Leave him alone,” Cara said. “He hasn’t done anything to anyone. You’re being an ass, Jay.”
Jay glared at him. “He’s a void, Cara.”
“If he wanted to hurt you, he would’ve done it by now,” Cara said.
Jay frowned. “Why didn’t he?”
“What?” Nick said.
“Why didn’t you use the void? My magic is still here. I can feel it. You didn’t take it from me.”
“Of course, I didn’t,” Nick said, exasperated. Finn was out of his basket, and he pressed his flank against Nick’s leg. Nick automatically reached down to run his fingers through the dog’s fur. “How am I supposed to take your magic if you’re not using it?”
Jay hesitated, and his eyes flicked to Cara before they returned. “Seriously?”
“What?” Nick demanded.
“This act isn’t fooling me. You’re playing mind games, trying to hide the monster beneath the-”
Nick pushed past the dog and grabbed Jay before Cara could stop him. He shoved Jay against the wall, almost knocking a picture frame off the wall.
“Stop calling me a monster,” Nick growled.
Jay’s eyes widened, but it wasn’t fear. “Again. Why aren’t you doing it? You’re not draining my magic.”
“I can’t do anything!”
Nick released him, giving Jay a chance to throw the first punch. If he started it, Nick wouldn’t have to feel bad about knocking him out.
Jay didn’t move.
“If we’re doing this, let’s do it,” Nick said, spreading his arms. “Come on.”
Jay frowned. “What are you doing?”
“What am I... What does it look like?”
“You’re not using the void,” Jay said. “I can’t use my magic on you directly, but I can do a whole lot of other things. Why aren’t you stopping me?”
“I... What other things?”
Jay looked genuinely confused, but he extended his arm to the side. He didn’t take his eyes off Nick, and after a few seconds, a large stone plant pot rose into the air from the windowsill across the room.
“I could hit you with this,” Jay said.
Nick looked at it, floating in mid-air, and he tried to decide what to do.
“Put that down, Jay,” Cara said. “He’s not trying to hurt us! He doesn’t even know how to control his power. That’s why we’re here. I was hoping my parents would talk to him, give him a chance. Maybe tell us how everything works.”
“That’s not happening,” Jay said. “They’d attack first and ask questions later. You know our coven’s history with voids.”
“I really don’t. Do you?”
Jay frowned. “My mother skimmed over the highlights. I don’t know the details, but I know enough.”
Cara sighed. “Why can’t anyone give me cold, hard facts about this stuff?”
Jay looked at Nick again.“You stepped back. You should’ve grabbed me and drained my magic.”
“It’s not something I can control,” Nick said.
“Of course you can.”
“Then I guess I don’t know how,” Nick said.
“You’re actually new at this.”
“Yeah. Obviously.”
Jay tilted his head. “Okay. I don’t trust you, but I believe you don’t know how to use the void. For now. If we’re lucky, you won’t figure it out. Believe me, if I knew how it works, I wouldn’t teach you.”
Cara sighed.
“Very helpful,” Nick said. “Can you at least tell us about the vampires?”
Jay thought about it for a moment. “Fine.”
***
Chapter 14 - Nick
Nick checked the time and held back a sigh. “So, to summarise, you’re saying that vampires are bad.”
Jay frowned. “There was a bit more to it than that.”
“This was a waste of time.”
Cara touched the back of his hand. “It’ll be okay. At least now we know what we’re facing.”
They both saw Jay looking at her hand with a frown, and she pulled away.
“We already knew,” Nick said. “There are a lot of vampires, way too many to fight, and they all follow Samuel. We’re completely out of our depth. That’s not news.”
“We could wait for Cara’s parents,” Jay said.
“I still don’t know if it was a good idea to tell them I’m here,” Cara said.
“It’s fine, I didn’t mention Nick,” Jay said. “Although, if we’re talking about bad ideas, that’s at the top of my list.”
“I should go before they get here,” Nick said. “Coming here for help was a mistake.”
“They won’t be here anytime soon,” Cara said. “But when they arrive, best case scenario, my parents show up alone, and I can talk to them. Worst case, the whole coven shows up, and that doesn’t end well for any of us.”
“Some of us, maybe,” Jay muttered.
Nick glared, but Jay ignored him.
“I’ll talk to my parents when they arrive,” Cara said. “I’ll find out what I can, and then... I don’t know. We’ll make a plan.”
“I need to talk to Samuel again,” Nick said. “I’m running out of time. Maybe I can convince him that I’m not on anyone’s side.”
Cara’s voice was gentle. “Do you think that will work?”
“No, but I have to try. It’s the only option left. Even if your coven was willing to help me, they’re too far away. It will take too long.”
In their panic about Cara’s safety, her parents went to the elders to ask for help. Nick didn’t know what that meant in the long run, but right now, all that mattered was the location. The elders lived in the coven’s ancestral home, a small village further along the coast away from the city, while the younger generation, like Cara’s parents, had moved closer for work and schools.
That small village was too far away for them to do anything today.
Cara looked guilty when she heard that her parents had gone to such trouble, but Nick was relieved. It was one less thing to worry about.
Cara looked like she was about to say more, but Nick’s phone buzzed.
“It’s Brett,” he said, checking it. “I’ll be right back.”
He got up and went into the next room as he answered the call. He could feel Cara’s concerned gaze following him, and he closed the door gently.
“Hey, Brett.”
“Hello, Nick.”
Nick went cold. “Where’s Brett?”
Samuel’s voice was smooth and warm. “Your brother is safe. We would never consider hurting him, Nick. He is far too valuable as my guarantee.”
“Guarantee of what?”
“That you will make the right choice.”
“This isn’t a choice. It’s blackmail.”
“It is still your choice, Nick. I just provided extra motivation. The decision lies with you.”
“And if I don’t choose to be your ally?”
“Every choice has consequences, Nick.”
Nick paused as something else occurred to him. “Why did you take him now? Today, I mean.”
“You want to know if I know where you are. I do.”
Nick turned to look at the windows, even though he knew he wouldn’t see anything.
“You’ve been following me.”
“Not me, personally, but yes, I had my men keep an eye on you. I predicted that you might need some persuasion, and I had a feeling you might be tempted by your pretty witch acquaintance. As it turns out, I was right on both counts.”
“I haven’t been here for long,” Nick said, words tumbling out of his mouth as his mind raced to find a solution.
“My people were already in place. As I said, I was prepared for this possibility. You can’t fight this, Nick. Your brother seems to be a lovely young man, and I would hate to hurt him.”
“If you lay a hand on him, I’ll-”
“My dear boy, threats would not be wise.”
Nick stood there, heart pounding through his chest, and he tried to snatch some small piece of calm from the maelstrom in his head. “What do you want?”
“You.”
Nick gritted his teeth. “Where?”
“The address will be sent to your phone. You have exactly one day. It will give you some time to consider the consequences of defying me.”
“I’ll be there.”
“I look forward to a beneficial friendship, for both of us. One day, Nick.”
The call ended, and Nick stood there, staring at nothing as panic and fear and rage threatened to consume him.
Black lines spread across his hands, over his arms, and he felt the void in his chest. It looked into him, seeing into his very soul, every hidden part of himself. It saw him. All of him.
The void flickered and faded, but it didn’t disappear completely. He could feel it coiling around the edges of his thoughts, lurking in the back of his mind. His skin was clear, but it wasn’t gone.
It was waiting.
***
Chapter 15 - Cara
“We’ll get him back, Nick. We’ll find a way. You’re not in this alone.”
“Of course I am. You can’t get involved, Cara. You’re already too close to this. They’ve seen us together. You’re in enough danger.”
“I don’t care.”
“But I do. They took Brett because he’s my brother. And he’s human. What do you think they’d do to a witch?”
“Nick-”
“They know who you are, Cara! They could come for you next.”
She tried to take his hand, but he jerked his arm away and stormed across the room, kicking the side of the couch. His fist was clenched, and she wondered if he was going to punch the wall, but he didn’t.
Cara waited for him to stop, but it was already over, and he just stood there, staring out the window and breathing hard.
She took a few steps closer to him. “If you want to break something, we have some old furniture in the shed outside.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I lost control for a second there.”
He kept his back to her, and she could see the tension in his shoulders.
“It’s fine,” she said.
“It’s not, really, but it’s done now.”
She moved closer to comfort him, but he turned his head slightly to look at her, and she froze. Thin black lines trailed across his neck and the corner of his jaw. As she watched, they faded, pulling back towards his shirt and disappearing underneath.
“It’s okay, Nick,” she said. “You’re worried about Brett.”
“It’s not just him,” he said.
“What is it?”
“We can talk about it later,” he said. “I need to deal with the vampires.”
“You’re distracted, and that won’t help your brother. Saying it out loud might help get it off your mind.”
He was quiet, but the void lines were gone, so she took a shallow breath and reached for his hand. He felt normal, and her magic didn’t vanish.
“Nick?” She gently pulled his arm until he was facing her.
“This is a bad idea. I can’t put anyone else in danger. This is the second time Brett’s life is at risk because of me. We can’t do this, Cara.”
“We can’t do what? The vampires?”
He looked up at her, piercing her with those blue eyes. “This. Us.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“There is no us. Not yet, anyway.”
“I know, but I need to be honest with you,” Nick said. “It’s not fair to make you think this could go anywhere.”
“Why can’t it?”
“You’re a witch, and I’m... I’m a void. I’m the last person you should be with. I can’t hurt anyone else I care about.”
“You care about me?”
For a moment, the corner of his mouth twitched, almost like it was going to lift into a smile. “That’s what you’re focusing on?”
“It’s pretty important,” she said.
“Okay, yes, I care about you, and that’s the problem. I can’t let it go further, Cara.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me, Nick,” she said.
“We can’t know that. I’m sorry, Cara, but this can’t happen. You can’t risk your life for me.”
“Nick, this is my fault as much as yours. We’re in this together.”
“This isn’t happening.”
“It’s not your decision,” she said. “It’s mine. I’m coming with you, Nick. We’ll fix this together.”
“It didn’t come up,” she said. “And he’s more my mother’s dog than mine, really.”
There was more movement inside, but instead of seeing anyone old enough to be Cara’s parents, there was a guy approaching who looked to be about the same age as them.
“Jay, what are you doing here?” she asked. “Is there a coven meeting?”
“Your parents were out, and they asked me to mind the house.”
Cara took a moment. “They wanted someone to wait for me to come home.”
He smiled sheepishly. “Maybe. Who’s this?”
Cara glanced at Nick and hesitated. “A friend from college,” she said, deliberately not saying his name. “Why don’t we all go inside?”
Nick shrugged. “Sure. What did you say the dog’s name was?”
“Finn,” she said, and the dog finally turned his eyes to Nick.
“Don’t worry if he doesn’t like you,” she added. “He takes a while to warm up to strangers.”
Nick held out his hand, and the dog padded over to him, sniffing his hand and looking at him with strangely intense eyes. The dog observed him for a moment, as if casting judgement, and then he pushed his head against Nick’s hand and let him pet him.
“Oh,” she said. “He’s never that friendly with strangers.”
“He’s beautiful,” Nick said. “And massive. Good boy.”
The dog turned and led the way inside the house, and Nick followed him, completely unaware of the two witches staring at him.
“That was weird, right?” Jay said quietly.
“Very,” she said.
***
“Is that beer?” Cara said, glancing at the bottle on the counter of the standalone island in the middle of the kitchen.
Jay shrugged. “Yeah. I didn’t know how long I’d be here. There’s more in the fridge, do you want one?”
Cara shook her head, but Nick took one, and she sighed. Meanwhile, Finn had wandered over to his basket in the corner of the room and curled up, resting his head on his paws as he watched them.
Nick went over to the dog and crouched beside him, rubbing his head.
“Listen, Jay, we need help,” Cara said. “There are vampires involved, and we need to talk to someone who knows what they’re doing. My parents, ideally, but maybe the elders would help us. Or your family. Are your mothers around? They might know what to do.”
“My parents are out of town,” Jay said. “As far as the elders... Why do you need them?” He glanced at Nick again. “You said we need help. Who’s we?”
“I meant me,” Cara said, but the lie fell flat, and Jay’s eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?” he asked. “I didn’t get your name.”
Nick slowly stood up. “I didn’t give it,” he said.
“You’re not a witch,” Jay said, stepping around the island. “How are you involved?”
“Jay, wait,” Cara said.
“No. I think I know exactly who this is. Your parents tried to keep tabs on you, to make sure you were safe at your college house, or on the campus, or wherever you go with your friends. You vanished a while ago. No tracking spells, no magic, nothing could find your location.”
Nick set down the beer on the table beside him.
“They went to find you,” Jay said, eyes still locked on Nick. He stood a few feet from him, but he didn’t close the distance. Not yet. “There’s only one thing that could cause you to disappear like that.”
“Jay...”
“He’s the void.”
Nick frowned. “They can’t track her because she’s near me?”
“Don’t pretend to be surprised.”
“I told them I was fine,” Cara said. “My parents, I mean. I called them earlier.”
“You’re with a void,” he said, glaring at Nick. “Nothing you said would make a difference. He’s probably twisted your mind while he feeds off your magic.”
“We had an entire conversation,” she said. “They sounded fine.”
“Probably didn’t want to alarm you, in case you acted differently in front of him.” Jay said ‘him’ with such disgust that the word was almost unrecognisable. “Voids can be erratic and violent. If you knew they were worried, you might have given it away. And if he knew, he might have killed you on the spot.”
“I’m not a murderer,” Nick said.
Jay scoffed and his hands tensed as his fingers curled. The room filled with energy, and everything around them started to tremble.
Cara stepped between them before it could escalate. “Jay, we need answers. Nick isn’t the enemy. Vampires came for him and his family.”
“They want me to support them,” Nick said, steadily meeting Jay’s eyes over Cara’s head.
“You’re going to make an alliance with vampires?” Jay said. “You are a monster.”
Nick stepped forward sharply, but a soft whimper stopped him. He glanced over his shoulder at the dog. Finn had raised his head, and he watched them with big, soulful eyes. Another gentle whimper came from his throat, and Nick sighed.
“Sorry, buddy,” Nick told him, and turned back to Jay. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. I just want to protect my family. Samuel made me an offer-”
“Samuel? You’re on a first name basis?” Jay growled and moved in and grabbed Nick’s shirt.
Jay shoved him back and he knocked against the table, toppling the beer bottle and spilling it across the wood.
“Stop!” Cara yelled, getting in Jay’s way.
Nick resisted the urge to knock him out, but he felt something rippling across his hands. He glanced down and saw black veins flickering across his palms. He quickly clenched his fists, hiding the darkness and trying to suppress whatever the void was doing.
“Leave him alone,” Cara said. “He hasn’t done anything to anyone. You’re being an ass, Jay.”
Jay glared at him. “He’s a void, Cara.”
“If he wanted to hurt you, he would’ve done it by now,” Cara said.
Jay frowned. “Why didn’t he?”
“What?” Nick said.
“Why didn’t you use the void? My magic is still here. I can feel it. You didn’t take it from me.”
“Of course, I didn’t,” Nick said, exasperated. Finn was out of his basket, and he pressed his flank against Nick’s leg. Nick automatically reached down to run his fingers through the dog’s fur. “How am I supposed to take your magic if you’re not using it?”
Jay hesitated, and his eyes flicked to Cara before they returned. “Seriously?”
“What?” Nick demanded.
“This act isn’t fooling me. You’re playing mind games, trying to hide the monster beneath the-”
Nick pushed past the dog and grabbed Jay before Cara could stop him. He shoved Jay against the wall, almost knocking a picture frame off the wall.
“Stop calling me a monster,” Nick growled.
Jay’s eyes widened, but it wasn’t fear. “Again. Why aren’t you doing it? You’re not draining my magic.”
“I can’t do anything!”
Nick released him, giving Jay a chance to throw the first punch. If he started it, Nick wouldn’t have to feel bad about knocking him out.
Jay didn’t move.
“If we’re doing this, let’s do it,” Nick said, spreading his arms. “Come on.”
Jay frowned. “What are you doing?”
“What am I... What does it look like?”
“You’re not using the void,” Jay said. “I can’t use my magic on you directly, but I can do a whole lot of other things. Why aren’t you stopping me?”
“I... What other things?”
Jay looked genuinely confused, but he extended his arm to the side. He didn’t take his eyes off Nick, and after a few seconds, a large stone plant pot rose into the air from the windowsill across the room.
“I could hit you with this,” Jay said.
Nick looked at it, floating in mid-air, and he tried to decide what to do.
“Put that down, Jay,” Cara said. “He’s not trying to hurt us! He doesn’t even know how to control his power. That’s why we’re here. I was hoping my parents would talk to him, give him a chance. Maybe tell us how everything works.”
“That’s not happening,” Jay said. “They’d attack first and ask questions later. You know our coven’s history with voids.”
“I really don’t. Do you?”
Jay frowned. “My mother skimmed over the highlights. I don’t know the details, but I know enough.”
Cara sighed. “Why can’t anyone give me cold, hard facts about this stuff?”
Jay looked at Nick again.“You stepped back. You should’ve grabbed me and drained my magic.”
“It’s not something I can control,” Nick said.
“Of course you can.”
“Then I guess I don’t know how,” Nick said.
“You’re actually new at this.”
“Yeah. Obviously.”
Jay tilted his head. “Okay. I don’t trust you, but I believe you don’t know how to use the void. For now. If we’re lucky, you won’t figure it out. Believe me, if I knew how it works, I wouldn’t teach you.”
Cara sighed.
“Very helpful,” Nick said. “Can you at least tell us about the vampires?”
Jay thought about it for a moment. “Fine.”
***
Chapter 14 - Nick
Nick checked the time and held back a sigh. “So, to summarise, you’re saying that vampires are bad.”
Jay frowned. “There was a bit more to it than that.”
“This was a waste of time.”
Cara touched the back of his hand. “It’ll be okay. At least now we know what we’re facing.”
They both saw Jay looking at her hand with a frown, and she pulled away.
“We already knew,” Nick said. “There are a lot of vampires, way too many to fight, and they all follow Samuel. We’re completely out of our depth. That’s not news.”
“We could wait for Cara’s parents,” Jay said.
“I still don’t know if it was a good idea to tell them I’m here,” Cara said.
“It’s fine, I didn’t mention Nick,” Jay said. “Although, if we’re talking about bad ideas, that’s at the top of my list.”
“I should go before they get here,” Nick said. “Coming here for help was a mistake.”
“They won’t be here anytime soon,” Cara said. “But when they arrive, best case scenario, my parents show up alone, and I can talk to them. Worst case, the whole coven shows up, and that doesn’t end well for any of us.”
“Some of us, maybe,” Jay muttered.
Nick glared, but Jay ignored him.
“I’ll talk to my parents when they arrive,” Cara said. “I’ll find out what I can, and then... I don’t know. We’ll make a plan.”
“I need to talk to Samuel again,” Nick said. “I’m running out of time. Maybe I can convince him that I’m not on anyone’s side.”
Cara’s voice was gentle. “Do you think that will work?”
“No, but I have to try. It’s the only option left. Even if your coven was willing to help me, they’re too far away. It will take too long.”
In their panic about Cara’s safety, her parents went to the elders to ask for help. Nick didn’t know what that meant in the long run, but right now, all that mattered was the location. The elders lived in the coven’s ancestral home, a small village further along the coast away from the city, while the younger generation, like Cara’s parents, had moved closer for work and schools.
That small village was too far away for them to do anything today.
Cara looked guilty when she heard that her parents had gone to such trouble, but Nick was relieved. It was one less thing to worry about.
Cara looked like she was about to say more, but Nick’s phone buzzed.
“It’s Brett,” he said, checking it. “I’ll be right back.”
He got up and went into the next room as he answered the call. He could feel Cara’s concerned gaze following him, and he closed the door gently.
“Hey, Brett.”
“Hello, Nick.”
Nick went cold. “Where’s Brett?”
Samuel’s voice was smooth and warm. “Your brother is safe. We would never consider hurting him, Nick. He is far too valuable as my guarantee.”
“Guarantee of what?”
“That you will make the right choice.”
“This isn’t a choice. It’s blackmail.”
“It is still your choice, Nick. I just provided extra motivation. The decision lies with you.”
“And if I don’t choose to be your ally?”
“Every choice has consequences, Nick.”
Nick paused as something else occurred to him. “Why did you take him now? Today, I mean.”
“You want to know if I know where you are. I do.”
Nick turned to look at the windows, even though he knew he wouldn’t see anything.
“You’ve been following me.”
“Not me, personally, but yes, I had my men keep an eye on you. I predicted that you might need some persuasion, and I had a feeling you might be tempted by your pretty witch acquaintance. As it turns out, I was right on both counts.”
“I haven’t been here for long,” Nick said, words tumbling out of his mouth as his mind raced to find a solution.
“My people were already in place. As I said, I was prepared for this possibility. You can’t fight this, Nick. Your brother seems to be a lovely young man, and I would hate to hurt him.”
“If you lay a hand on him, I’ll-”
“My dear boy, threats would not be wise.”
Nick stood there, heart pounding through his chest, and he tried to snatch some small piece of calm from the maelstrom in his head. “What do you want?”
“You.”
Nick gritted his teeth. “Where?”
“The address will be sent to your phone. You have exactly one day. It will give you some time to consider the consequences of defying me.”
“I’ll be there.”
“I look forward to a beneficial friendship, for both of us. One day, Nick.”
The call ended, and Nick stood there, staring at nothing as panic and fear and rage threatened to consume him.
Black lines spread across his hands, over his arms, and he felt the void in his chest. It looked into him, seeing into his very soul, every hidden part of himself. It saw him. All of him.
The void flickered and faded, but it didn’t disappear completely. He could feel it coiling around the edges of his thoughts, lurking in the back of his mind. His skin was clear, but it wasn’t gone.
It was waiting.
***
Chapter 15 - Cara
“We’ll get him back, Nick. We’ll find a way. You’re not in this alone.”
“Of course I am. You can’t get involved, Cara. You’re already too close to this. They’ve seen us together. You’re in enough danger.”
“I don’t care.”
“But I do. They took Brett because he’s my brother. And he’s human. What do you think they’d do to a witch?”
“Nick-”
“They know who you are, Cara! They could come for you next.”
She tried to take his hand, but he jerked his arm away and stormed across the room, kicking the side of the couch. His fist was clenched, and she wondered if he was going to punch the wall, but he didn’t.
Cara waited for him to stop, but it was already over, and he just stood there, staring out the window and breathing hard.
She took a few steps closer to him. “If you want to break something, we have some old furniture in the shed outside.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I lost control for a second there.”
He kept his back to her, and she could see the tension in his shoulders.
“It’s fine,” she said.
“It’s not, really, but it’s done now.”
She moved closer to comfort him, but he turned his head slightly to look at her, and she froze. Thin black lines trailed across his neck and the corner of his jaw. As she watched, they faded, pulling back towards his shirt and disappearing underneath.
“It’s okay, Nick,” she said. “You’re worried about Brett.”
“It’s not just him,” he said.
“What is it?”
“We can talk about it later,” he said. “I need to deal with the vampires.”
“You’re distracted, and that won’t help your brother. Saying it out loud might help get it off your mind.”
He was quiet, but the void lines were gone, so she took a shallow breath and reached for his hand. He felt normal, and her magic didn’t vanish.
“Nick?” She gently pulled his arm until he was facing her.
“This is a bad idea. I can’t put anyone else in danger. This is the second time Brett’s life is at risk because of me. We can’t do this, Cara.”
“We can’t do what? The vampires?”
He looked up at her, piercing her with those blue eyes. “This. Us.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“There is no us. Not yet, anyway.”
“I know, but I need to be honest with you,” Nick said. “It’s not fair to make you think this could go anywhere.”
“Why can’t it?”
“You’re a witch, and I’m... I’m a void. I’m the last person you should be with. I can’t hurt anyone else I care about.”
“You care about me?”
For a moment, the corner of his mouth twitched, almost like it was going to lift into a smile. “That’s what you’re focusing on?”
“It’s pretty important,” she said.
“Okay, yes, I care about you, and that’s the problem. I can’t let it go further, Cara.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me, Nick,” she said.
“We can’t know that. I’m sorry, Cara, but this can’t happen. You can’t risk your life for me.”
“Nick, this is my fault as much as yours. We’re in this together.”
“This isn’t happening.”
“It’s not your decision,” she said. “It’s mine. I’m coming with you, Nick. We’ll fix this together.”
