Thorns of Decision (Dusk Gate Chronicles) (9 page)

“What happened?”

“I broke up with Zander.”

The shocked look on his face was almost comical. “When? Just now?” He studied her eyes; she knew they were bloodshot.

“I called him after I got home last night.”

In the next instant, she understood exactly what it was that drew her to William. He didn’t ask any questions, or try to tell her that it would be okay, or any other nonsense. He just took her into his arms and held her there. She rested her head on his shoulder. He let her stay there, softly rubbing her back, until she finally pulled away, even though all she really wanted was to stay right there, where she felt safe.

She couldn’t spend the whole day with William, though, even if she hadn’t felt guilty just for wanting to talk to him. Last night on the phone when she’d told Zander that she just wasn’t going to be able to have the kind of relationship that he wanted with her, the first thing he’d accused her of was cheating on him with William.

She knew that he had every right to feel that way, had felt like a liar as she’d assured him that wasn’t the case. She’d had trouble looking at herself in the mirror this morning.

So today, when she had already hurt Zander so badly, the last thing she wanted was for him to see her talking to William the whole day. It felt like rubbing it in his face. So she ended their conversation before anyone else could arrive and see her with him.

The morning quickly turned excruciating, though. She couldn’t concentrate on anything in any of her classes, even though the teachers were trying to keep things fun to hold the attention of the students whose minds were on Spring Break. There were a lot of videos.

Everyone else seemed excited and carefree about this last day of school before a glorious ten-day vacation, but Quinn was miserable. The look Zander gave her the one time she caught a glimpse of him in the hallway made her want to crawl into a hole, and Abigail wasn’t talking to her either. By lunchtime she knew she couldn’t do it anymore. There was no way she was going into that cafeteria.

She found William by his locker, putting his heavy coat on over his sweater.

“You’re leaving?” she asked.

“Yes. I want to make it home before Nathaniel gets back with Thomas. There isn’t anything going on in any of my afternoon classes that I need to be there for.”

“Can I come with you? I can drive and you won’t have to walk.”

William frowned, his gray eyes concerned behind his wire-framed glasses. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Quinn?”

The only thing she heard was that he didn’t say no. She looked up at him pleadingly. “I’m out of ‘good ideas’ right now, Will. I need some space just to breathe, okay? Please?”

“Let’s go get your things.”

William was holding her backpack for her while she turned to get her coat, when suddenly a familiar voice behind her made her heart jump into her throat.

“Nice, Quinn.”

She whirled around, and found herself face-to-face with Zander. He was warily eyeing William, who was staring at the floor, zipping Quinn’s backpack while red colored his cheeks.

Quinn found she couldn’t meet his eyes either. “Zander … I …”

“You couldn’t just be honest with me? Tell me the real reason you were breaking up with me?”

“It isn’t like that, Zander!” She blinked furiously, trying to hold back the tears that were building in the corners of her eyes.

“Sure it isn’t! And what is
your
problem?” he growled, turning on William. “Can’t be bothered finding a girl unless someone else is interested? Or has this been going on for a long time and it’s some kind of joke on me? The two of you plan this out together in the library?”

A spark flashed in William’s eyes that surprised Quinn. “That’s enough, Zander.” His voice was low, careful, and firm and his eyes met Zander’s directly.

But Zander was angrier than Quinn had ever seen him. “Who are you to say what’s enough?”

“I know what it looks like, Zander, believe me, I do. But Quinn has been as straightforward with you as she can. She and I are friends. My family has had some challenges lately, and she has been a friend to me. Now she’s having a hard time, and I’m trying to return the favor. I’m sure you can understand that.”

Zander didn’t look like he could, at all, but he took a small step back. He stared at William, looking intimidating, even to Quinn, but William held his ground, his shoulders back, and his expression calm. Quinn was instantly reminded that he was a prince.

“She’s the one who broke up with me, been lying to me. She’s not the only one going through a hard time.”

“Just because she’s the one who broke it off doesn’t mean it’s easy for her. She cares about you. And she handled things between the two of you in private. Not in the middle of the hallway like you’re doing. Don’t stand there and tell me you actually care about her feelings when you’re trying to have it out with her with a hundred people walking by, all of whom are going to side with you because you’re more popular than she is in the first place,
and
you’re the one who gets to play the broken-heart card. If you’re even half the man everyone gives you credit for being, you’ll walk away now, go to lunch, and let Quinn have her space.”

Quinn’s eyes were glued to the floor, her cheeks on fire; she could not bring herself to look up at Zander, or even at William. After a long silence, Zander turned and walked away.

*          *          *

Quinn’s hands were shaking as she and William climbed in the car. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself enough to be able to drive.

“I’m sorry,” William said quietly.

She swallowed hard, looking up at him, although she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I should be saying ‘thank you’ for standing up for me. I can’t believe what a mess I’ve just made of everything. I can’t believe how badly I just hurt Zander.”

William was quiet for a minute, and then he sighed. “Quinn, I know you’re probably not ready to hear this right now, but
you
didn’t do anything wrong, either.”

She thought about arguing with him, but the only retorts she could come up with involved talking about the kiss, and she wasn’t ready to go there, to explore either of their feelings about what had happened in that basement, so she just turned the key in the ignition and drove off instead.

They’d been at William’s house for only a few minutes when Quinn heard the sound of Nathaniel’s car in the driveway, and a sudden shiver of anxiety tightened her stomach, mixed with a new bout of anger. She hadn’t seen Nathaniel since the other evening at the bridge. If she couldn’t get any answers from her mother, she wanted some from him.

She followed William outside.

Thomas grinned widely when he saw her. “You decided to skip school this afternoon, too?” he asked when she opened the back door of the car. He was lying across both seats, unable to bend his leg with the splint that extended from just below his hip all the way to his toes. He was trying to remove a knitted blanket, but it was challenging to pull it up and over his leg with his one free arm, so she reached in and took it from him.

“I guess so,” she said, folding the blanket and setting it over her arm.

“She’s had kind of a rough week,” William told him, putting his hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “We need to cheer her up.”

“Easy enough,” Thomas said. “As soon as you all help me get into the house.”

Nathaniel appeared just behind her then, and she stiffened. “Hello, Quinn,” he said.

She turned and looked up at him. His face was apologetic, almost sad. Something in his expression made most of her anger dissolve on the spot – her anger towards him, anyway. Another fierce rush directed at her mother filled her chest.

“Are you going to tell me what is going on here?” she asked.

“Quinn, I would tell you everything I could right now, really, I would, but I made a promise that I don’t know how to break. I never imagined that you would find out anything like this. Can you please be patient with me until I can figure out what to do, and until I’ve had a chance to see how your mother is going to handle this?”

“Right now, she’s not talking to me at all, Nathaniel. I haven’t even
seen
her since Sunday morning. She’s actually
avoiding
me.”

“That’s what Thomas was just telling me in the car.”

“Speaking of Thomas, I’m cold!” Thomas said in a joking tone from his seat. “I’d go into the house while you continue your little chat, but I need some help.”

Although Thomas made light of the whole situation, Quinn could tell that it bothered him to be so dependent on their assistance. Nathaniel and William had to work together to lift him out of the car and carry him into the house. They were extremely efficient and gentle, but Quinn still saw Thomas wince a few times.

William had told her that there was no way he would have been released from the hospital already if Nathaniel hadn’t been a doctor. There was still an IV port taped in Thomas’ left hand, and once they’d gotten him settled on the couch, Nathaniel squeezed a small syringe full of pain medication into it. Thomas looked very pale after the exertion of being moved.

Once they were all sitting around a fire in the living room, sipping large mugs of tea brought back from Eirentheos, Quinn turned again to Nathaniel.

“So you’re really not going to tell me how my mother knows about the gate?”

Nathaniel sighed. “Your mother has known about the gate for long time, Quinn. How she guessed that’s where you had gone, I’m not sure. I haven’t had more than a passing or professional conversation with her since shortly after your father died.”

“My boss at the library told me that you used to be close friends with my father.”

Nathaniel sighed again and put his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. He stayed that way for several minutes, clearly deep in thought. Finally, he looked up. “You really just found out that I knew your father?”

She nodded. “I mean, I guess I figured that you’d met him. You’ve been my doctor since I was born, and my father was alive until I was three. But I had no idea you knew him outside of that.”

“And your mother is really completely avoiding you?”

“Every night this week, she’s made sure she and the little kids are in bed before I get home, and they leave before I wake up in the morning. She’s left me a couple of notes and text messages, grounding and un-grounding me from various things.”

He leaned back in his armchair, an expression on his face that she couldn’t quite comprehend. He looked …
lost, maybe?
Helpless. Sad.

Beside her on the couch, William shifted, his eyes darting between Quinn and Nathaniel, concentrating intently. His posture was almost protective of her. Even groggy as he was from the medication he’d taken, Thomas too, was focused on the conversation.

“Quinn … I’m not even supposed to tell you this much. But I just … can’t keep not telling you anything. Yes, I knew your father. More than just as a casual acquaintance. More than just as a friend, even. Samuel was … my brother.”

Suddenly, everything in the room grew slightly fuzzy at the edges, and she felt like she was moving. Her hand hit the couch cushion as she tried to steady herself, and William’s landed on top of hers almost instantly. His was trembling, too.

“
What?
” Although the word was the one echoing through her mind, the voice that spoke it wasn’t hers. William sounded shocked and angry. Thomas had sat up impossibly far, considering his casts. “What do you mean?”