Secret (39 page)

‘I think I saw the last text you sent him,’ said Adam, his voice easy, his words not. ‘I’m pretty sure it said
fuck off
.’

Quinn flushed as guilt punched her in the back. ‘Yeah — I’m not — I didn’t —’

New stretch, hands overhead, then lowering to reach for outstretched toes. ‘You don’t have to explain it to me.’

She didn’t follow this stretch. ‘I was jealous,’ she said quietly.

Adam straightened and looked at her. ‘Of what?’

She looked away. ‘Of you. I guess.’ She swallowed and felt tears gathering behind her eyes. ‘And then Nick was telling me to stay away from Tyler, and I thought it was so unfair, how he got everything and I had to just sit there and pretend to be his girlfriend, and —’

‘Quinn.’ Adam’s voice was low, quiet. He moved close. ‘Quinn, he shouldn’t have asked you to —’

‘He didn’t! That’s the pathetic thing. He never asked me to. He even encouraged me to find someone else. But I didn’t want someone else. I wanted . . .’

‘Him.’

Quinn nodded and looked up. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry.’ He gave her half a smile. ‘I mean, I kinda get it.’

‘Are you mad at me?’

‘No.’ He paused. ‘I wish you’d told me. Is that why you didn’t come to dance?’

She bit her lip. ‘That’s part of it.’

‘What’s the other part?’

She took a deep breath until she was sure her voice wouldn’t shake. ‘My mother — she threw me out.’

His face fell. ‘I wish you’d told me that, too. You could have stayed with me.’

She wagged her eyebrows at him. ‘Sounds like your apartment is kind of crowded.’

‘Don’t do that. Don’t joke. Are you okay? Do you have a place to stay?’

She hedged, worrying that if the wrong person overheard her, they’d call social services or something. This paranoia was ridiculous, but she’d rather sleep on a street corner than be forced into a group home or wherever they’d shove her. ‘I’m staying with Tyler right now. I’m just waiting out my mother.’ She made her voice casual, easy. ‘She needs a few days to dry out is all, and she’ll forget what happened.’

Or maybe she’d throw out Jake’s trophies.

Adam was still studying her.

Quinn moved into another stretch, hoping he’d take this as a cue to change the subject. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Really. I’m fine.’ Motion in the mirror caught her eye. Tyler had definitely moved closer to Nick.

She’d taken Tyler at his word when he’d said Nick had picked a fight Friday night, but now, watching them, it made her wonder. Tyler had compared Nick’s abilities to a rogue lion. Had he poked the lion with a stick, just to watch it break out the fangs?

With a flash of guilt, she remembered Nick’s fear in his driveway. He’d hidden it under a layer of self-defense and aggression, but she’d seen it.

She was seeing it now.

Adam glanced over. ‘Nick said their families are fighting.’

‘He told you that?’

A nod. ‘That’s why he didn’t want you seeing Tyler.’

‘That’s not all of it,’ she said. ‘I think Tyler used to beat the shit out of him when he was younger.’

Adam froze. ‘He didn’t tell me that.’

‘He barely told me. I had to drag it out of him. I almost didn’t believe him. I mean, you look at Nick and you’d think anyone would be an
idiot
to pick a fight with him, but —’

‘It doesn’t matter what it
looks like
,’ Adam snapped. ‘All that matters is what it really
is
.’

‘I know,’ she said quietly. She hesitated. ‘Tyler isn’t a bad guy, either, Adam.’

Adam glanced at where Nick and Tyler were sitting. ‘I hope you’re right, Quinn. I really hope you’re right.’

Nick wondered if he could suffocate Tyler right here and get away with it.

At least it would make this douchebag
shut up
.

‘Your boyfriend looks pissed,’ Tyler whispered, his voice so low that Nick wouldn’t have heard him if the air weren’t so willing to carry the words to his ears. ‘Think he’s jealous?’

Nick didn’t respond. The rest of the studio had cleared out, and they had the risers to themselves. Adam and Quinn were dancing now, their movements full of passion and strength. But Tyler was right: Adam
did
look pissed every time he glanced at where they were sitting.

He couldn’t possibly be jealous of Tyler. Right?

But why else would he be pissed off? Had Quinn said something? What?

Nick hated that this dickhead was sitting here putting thoughts in his head.

Part of him wanted to leave. He could sit outside, or even take the bus back to Adam’s. Hell, he could take the bus
home
if he needed to — Adam had explained the line and given him a bus schedule, telling him which spot would drop him off closest to Chautauga if he really needed to help his brothers with a job.

But he’d finally broken and called home before coming here, hoping he’d get someone other than Gabriel.

By luck — or his twin’s calculated avoidance, he wasn’t sure which — Michael had answered the phone. Chris had agreed to work for Nick today. Hunter had already been planning on going with Becca to visit her father. Gabriel would be home alone with a pile of textbooks.

Pretty much a guarantee that Nick wouldn’t be getting on a bus anytime soon.

Then again, sitting next to Tyler was quite possibly the only thing worse than facing his twin again.

Tyler shifted closer. ‘No wonder you could never fight back.

I didn’t realize Gabriel Merrick had a twin
sister
—’

‘Shut up,’ Nick said.

‘Or what? You’ll huff and you’ll puff and you’ll blow this place down? Or do you only know how to blow —’

‘Shut
up
.’ Nick glared at him and didn’t bother keeping his voice down. ‘Fuck you, Tyler. You might have Quinn fooled, but I know what you’ve done. Michael might give you a free pass because you lost your sister and he feels some shred of responsibility for it, but —’

‘Don’t you dare talk about my sister.’

‘You think losing someone gives you a free pass to be a raging asshole? It
doesn’t
. You’re not the only person who knows loss.’

He’d hit a nerve. Tyler was breathing heavily now, his fists clenched. ‘Shut up, Merrick.’

‘No,
you
shut up. You want to hate us because of
what we are
? Fine. Hate us. Punch me, burn me, call the Guides, whatever. But I know the truth. I know what you are. I know what you can do.’

‘You don’t know
anything
.’

Nick knew Tyler was a breath away from snapping, but he couldn’t stop. Standing up to Gabriel had changed something in him. For the better, for the worse, he had no idea. But just like Adam poking him in the side this morning, demanding to know what Nick wanted, Tyler’s presence was like a constant jab, over and over again.

And Nick wanted. It. To stop.

He leaned forward, holding Tyler’s gaze. ‘I know you’re probably scared to
death
that the wrong person is going to find out you’re just as cursed as the big, bad Merricks. Guess it’d be pretty hard to cry to Mommy and Daddy, then, huh? Or do you think they’d pull the trigger themselves? God knows they’ve been dying to do it to
us
for years.’

‘I’ve never
killed
anyone,’ Tyler hissed.

‘How do we know?’ said Nick. ‘It’s not like you don’t spend every waking moment consumed by
hate
. God, for all we know, you could have been behind the fire at Seth Ramsey’s —’ Nick broke off and stopped short. ‘Holy shit.’

The fire at Seth Ramsey’s. Five years ago. It had killed Seth’s parents.

And Nick’s.

‘Shut up!’ Tyler yelled. His eyes were wide and panicked, his expression fierce. ‘Shut the fuck up, Merrick. I didn’t start that fire.’

Nick almost couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t even identify this emotion. Rage. Bewilderment. Shock. Sorrow, all over again. ‘It was you. You started it. Not Gabriel.’

‘Wrong,’ said Tyler. He was shaking his head fiercely. ‘Wrong.’

‘I’m not wrong. It was you.’

‘It was
both of us
,’ he cried. ‘Don’t you get it? Just like last night. It was
both
.’

Nick stared at him.

Tyler climbed down from the risers. He headed for the door.

Quinn and Adam had gone still in the middle of the dance floor. Nick had no idea how long they’d been watching.

Quinn glanced between Nick and Tyler, and finally ran after Tyler. The front door to the studio slammed.

It left Nick reeling, unsure where his emotions wanted to settle.

He was very aware of Adam’s eyes still on him.

Nick looked at him. He couldn’t speak. He wasn’t sure what he would say.

‘So,’ Adam said. His expression was some amalgamation of curiosity, pity, and resignation. ‘More secrets, huh?’

29

Quinn caught up to Tyler in the parking lot. There were only
two vehicles left: his truck, and a black sedan across the lot that some parent must have left here to come back for later. She grabbed Tyler’s arm before he could jump in his truck and take off.

She expected him to spin in a rage and shove her away, but he didn’t. He just stopped. He didn’t look at her.

‘Are you okay?’ she said softly.

‘No.’ His voice sounded thick.

‘Is what he said true?’ she said. ‘The fire that killed his parents — did you —’

‘I don’t know.’ He turned to look at her, and where she expected to find rage and fury, his expression only offered torment. ‘I don’t know, Quinn. I was sixteen years old. My sister was dead. I hated Michael Merrick with everything. I don’t —’ His voice broke, but he caught it. ‘Gabriel Merrick hated us, too. They all did. I don’t know for sure which one of us started it. But I know I wasn’t the only one. I didn’t have that kind of power, the way the whole house went up in a flash. Not then.’

‘But . . . but you’ve called the Guides against the Merricks. You’ve tried to have them killed. You stood in your kitchen and told me you’ve never hurt anyone with your power. What was that about?’

Now she got the fury. ‘What was I supposed to do?’ he snapped. ‘My parents wanted to kill them for what they’d done to Emily. Was I supposed to stand up and say, “Guess what, guys. I’m one, too! Let’s get cake.” Do you have any idea what it was like for me, knowing what I was, knowing my parents were calling the Guides to come to town to kill off the true Elementals? Knowing I might have played a part in killing my best friend’s parents? Do you have
any idea
?’

‘No.’ She wet her lips. ‘I don’t.’ She paused. ‘But you kept hurting them. You kept going after them. You went after Becca! You kept —’

‘Because I had to!’ he exploded. ‘Because that’s what everyone expected! Don’t you get it? They killed
my
sister. Everyone thought they killed Seth’s parents. I had to hate them.’

‘Or else everyone would have hated
you
.’

A cool wind whipped through the parking lot, reminding her of Nick. Tyler’s breathing was heavy.

‘Yeah,’ he finally said.

She couldn’t reconcile this in her head. The sweet things he’d whispered to her this morning, the way he’d helped her with her own insane family, the way he’d gotten in her face and made her confront her own fears about herself.

And then this . . . this
hate
borne of nothing but selfish fear.

‘You could stop it,’ she said. ‘You could just . . .
stop
.’

‘I can’t. Quinn, you don’t —’

‘Didn’t you pin me against your bathroom wall and tell me to stop pushing people away? That people would help me if I’d give them the chance? The sad, sorry truth is that the Merricks would probably
help
you if you weren’t so determined to be an asshole.’

‘I don’t
want
their help, Quinn.’

‘So you’re just going to keep on being ignorant . . . why, exactly?’

The sarcasm was out before she could stop it. Tyler’s face shut down, chasing away any emotion. ‘You don’t understand. This isn’t me being ignorant. This is me trying to stay alive.’

‘Just like they are.’

‘I can’t argue this with you, Quinn.’ His breathing staggered. ‘Not now. Not — not now.’

She took a step back. ‘Then go.’

He stared down at her.

Then he turned and climbed into his vehicle. He started the engine, but didn’t shut the door. He inhaled like he was going to ask her for another chance.

She took another step back. ‘Go. I’m not coming with you. Go.’

A muscle in his jaw twitched. Quinn looked away.

She expected him to beg her to climb in with him, to make more excuses, to apologize, to break down and give in.

He didn’t.

‘Fine,’ he said.

Tyler slammed the door and backed out of his parking place, spraying gravel when he turned onto the main road.

Quinn was still standing there, watching the dust settle, when a dark-haired man climbed out of the black sedan and approached her. He was young, mid- to late-twenties, maybe, with dark eyes and very average features. He wore a sport coat and khakis. If she saw him on the street, she probably wouldn’t give him a second glance. He looked like every other daddy of a three-year-old in a tutu.

Maybe he’d seen their argument and he wanted to make sure she was all right.

He said, ‘Quinn Briscoe?’

She frowned. ‘Yes?’

Then she kicked herself. What if this guy was a social worker? Or a cop? Wasn’t this how it happened? They cornered you somewhere and made you give your name —

‘I was wondering if you could help me for a moment,’ he said.

Sure. Maybe he was legit, or maybe he was a crazy rapist who would take her back to his commune.

But at least that didn’t sound like the way a social worker would lead off. ‘Yeah, what kind of help do you need?’

‘My name is Gareth.’ He pulled out a gun and put it right in her face. ‘And you’re going to help me kill Nick Merrick.’

Nick felt Quinn’s flare of panic in the air like a bright starburst in his senses, amplified when the door to the studio swung open, sending the chimes ringing through the near empty space.

He grabbed Adam’s arm and dragged him to the opposite side of the risers.