Under the Moon (33 page)

No one moved. She sensed Nick staring at her, Sam’s concern emanating from behind her. Slowly, she released her draw on the energy and let it seep away, taking her anger with it. Marley’s distress was sincere. She wasn’t evil, only very, very stupid.

In the silence, Quinn’s stomach growled.

“O-kay! That would be my cue.” Nick eased to his feet and wrapped his hand around her arm. “It’s been a while since breakfast. Let’s go pick up some lunch, then we can all sit and work this out. M’kay?”

Marley jumped up. “Oh, no, you’ll have lunch here. It won’t take long to prepare.” Her voice trembled, and tears still clung to her eyelashes. Quinn drew in an anguished breath. She wanted to believe her sister, to salvage shreds of possible friendship for the future. But she couldn’t take her at face value. Nick was right. She needed a break, to get some perspective, but if they left the property Marley could disappear. Finding her again would be much more difficult and much more vital, especially if she went to Anson.

“I’ll stay here,” Sam said, standing close to Quinn, his eyes on Marley. “You two go pick something up and bring it back.”

Quinn didn’t want to leave him behind. Marley could do irreparable harm to him in the short time they’d be gone, and she had those guys with the guns. But he watched her sister with an implacable expression. Marley huddled into herself, sniffing and wiping her eyes, not appearing to be much of a threat. When Sam reached under the table for his duffel and removed a handgun, never taking his eyes off Marley, Quinn finally agreed.

Nick limped outside, and Quinn followed. He got into the Prius without comment but stared longingly at his stranded Charger as they passed.

“You’d better not have damaged her,” he said.

“She’ll be fine. I can fix her like that.” She snapped her fingers.

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” He pointed to the right. “There’s a grinder place up here.”

She cast him a glance, amused despite herself. “Grinder?”

He shrugged. “Speak the lingo, you blend in better.”

She pulled into the rutted, wavy parking lot of Bruno’s Grinders and turned off the car. They both sat for a moment, watching the few people inside the take-out restaurant. Quinn’s head throbbed, her shoulders and neck so tight from tension there was no room for her body to recognize the proximity of the man in the car. Until she thought about it, and the yearning throbbed a few times before fading again.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For?”

“Stopping me from doing something I couldn’t take back.”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t difficult.”

“So what do you think?” she asked after a few more minutes of silence.

“I don’t know.” He propped his elbow on the door and rubbed his forehead. “She seems sincere. I mean, sure, she did something colossally stupid, but I don’t think she’s lying about her intentions.”

“I don’t, either. But I can’t—”

Nick didn’t look at her. “How about we deal with the concrete stuff first? She still has a lot of questions to answer. Like, why did she say he is her fiancé, not was?”

“That one’s easy.” Quinn snorted. “She loves him and doesn’t want him to be a bad guy. And if he is the leech—which he’s got to be, no matter how deep her denial—then it’s a subtle way of accepting responsibility.”

“If she gave this guy his power, why hasn’t she told anyone?”

“Maybe she has,” Quinn countered, aware Nick was putting her in a position to defend her sister. “I mean, Alana knew something. Maybe that’s why they didn’t want me to be part of it.”

“Okay, if they know, why don’t they have her in custody or anything?”

“They’re not the FBI. They may have someone watching her, either to make sure she’s not in cahoots with Anson or to use her as bait. But he’s probably done with her. He’s obviously been elsewhere.”

“He’s here now though.” Nick shifted his leg.

“We think. And the Society wouldn’t know that.”

“Unless they’re tracking your movements and think he’s coming after you at the full moon. Using
you
as bait.”

Quinn stared at him, another shocking possibility filling her head. Her skin flushed. Nick stared back. Then, obviously reading her, he made a “what the hell?” face. “You think they’re tracking you through
me
?”

“No. Not exactly.”

“Then what?”

“I called John,” she admitted. “Maybe that triggered— He didn’t know about the rogue thing.”

Nick groaned. “What the hell did you do that for?”

“I was worried. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Seems clear to me. This tornado guy—”

“Tournado.”

“Whatever. He knows I’m your protector, and he made Hollinger send out that accusation hoping I’d be recalled. Leaving you vulnerable.”

“I’m not vulnerable right now, so it didn’t work.”

“And I wanted to keep it that way. If John knew, he would recall me. So, what?” He returned to Quinn’s concern. “You think Tournado’s got John’s phone tapped or something?”

“I don’t know.” She thought about Jennifer. “You know, we were wondering why that e-mail didn’t get out. It was on the group mail. But if Jennifer hadn’t been leeched yet, maybe she ensured it only came to me, instead of to the whole Society. You know, protecting you. Us.”

“Goddess voodoo,” he said. “You blew me off when I suggested it. Could she do that?”

“Not voodoo,” Quinn insisted. “Hacking. Or something like that. She could have coded her e-mail so Anson wouldn’t know what she was doing.”

Nick’s frown cleared. “That could explain why it stayed quiet. So when Tournado’s attempt to discredit me or get me away from you didn’t work, he came here and shot me. Trying to take me out or, what, lure you up here?” He shook his head, unconvinced. “How did he know I was coming?”

Quinn didn’t have the answers, and she could tell they were about to go in circles again. She needed a break. “Let’s get the food.” She got out and went around the car, but Nick stood without her help and limped into the restaurant. The scent of spicy tomato sauce and toasting bread filled the air. Her stomach growled again, and Nick grinned.

“You always were a stress eater.”

She smacked him on the arm. “I didn’t finish breakfast.” He smiled and rubbed the back of her neck, and both the muscles and inner tension loosened. How did he do that so effortlessly?

They sat at a tiny table while they waited for the food they’d ordered.

“Back to Marley,” Nick said, leaning on his arms and putting his face inches from hers so they wouldn’t be overheard.

It was too close, because in easing her tension, he’d attracted her body’s attention. “Hang on.” They’d been gone twenty minutes, and she wanted to check in. Get her equilibrium back somehow. And get a little distance from Nick. She pulled out her phone and dialed Sam, who answered right away.

“Everything’s fine here.”

“Okay.” She let out a long breath and finally felt normal. “The food should be ready in ten. Then we’ll be back.”

“Got it.”

“See anyone else?”

“I met Fran. She’s as protective as Nick. Doesn’t like me.”

Quinn drew in a quick breath at the word. “Do you think she’s a real protector?”

“Could be. Ask Nick.”

“I will. See you soon.” She closed the phone.

“Does he think who’s a real protector?”

“Fran, Marley’s assistant manager. Sam said she’s very protective. It would be a good cover, right?”

Nick looked disgusted. “If she is, she’s not a very good one. Marley was alone with us for way too long while Fran was doing laundry.”

“Good point. Maybe she’s not. We’ll ask when we get back.” She glanced up when the guy behind the counter rang a bell, but the number he called wasn’t theirs.

The important question had to be asked. “Do you think Marley’s still working with Anson? That all this was deliberate?”

“If she is, she’s a good actress. I don’t get a lying vibe off her.”

“Me, neither. But my judgment is clouded.”

Nick’s face softened. “I didn’t think you’d admit that.”

“I thought I’d made it kind of obvious.”

“Yeah, but your judgment is clouded.” He smiled, and her heart rolled.

“Nick—”

He picked up her hand and held it between both of his. Her skin warmed, the sensation spreading up her arm and into her body, filling her. Natural attraction fed into her hunger, and she closed her eyes, trying to keep it at bay.

“Quinn, no one’s judgment is less clouded than yours. You want her to be cool. That’s normal. But you’re not blind to the possibility that she’s not. You’re asking the question.”

“Threatening her.”

“You were scared.”

“And mad.” She grimaced. “I sent your car into a ditch.”

“Yeah, that pissed me off.” He smiled again. She wished he’d stop doing that. This time she felt like he’d sprinkled glitter in her chest. That was hardly compatible with her anger and suspicion.

“But you were doing what you felt you had to do,” he continued. “You only slowed us down, and you knew it. I’m pretty commanding. You were tired of fighting me. I get that.”

Her lips curved. “Fighting you? Rescuing you, maybe.”

“About that.” He turned serious. His eyes lightened to a golden green, and her heart panged.

“About what?”

“What you did last night.”

“Oh.” She looked down at the table, but only for a moment. His soft words, spoken intently, compelled her to meet his eyes again.

“I’ve never felt pain like that, Quinn. I thought I was going to die.”

She whispered his name, her hand convulsing around his.

“You were amazing. Whatever you did, you kept me grounded. I didn’t think until later that you probably hurt just as much.”

“No, only a little,” she lied. “It doesn’t matter. I’d sacrifice anything for you.” Afraid she’d ventured too far into off-limits territory, and afraid he’d push her away from it again, she sat back and glanced away.

The bell dinged again, and the Italian behind the counter called their number. She went up to take the bag, and a minute later they were heading back toward the inn.

“So how do you want to play the rest of this?” Nick asked.

Quinn forced herself to think unemotionally. “Let’s find out what she can tell us about Anson. Then we’ll get Sam set up with his laptop and he can try to match her story or find more that she doesn’t know or doesn’t want to tell us. I need to talk to her about our family some more, too.”

“We need to prepare for tomorrow, Quinn.”

For the leech. “I know. But we don’t know how.”

“Hell we don’t. We pull the Charger out of the ditch and get the hell out of there, hole up somewhere he won’t have allies.”

“Nick—”

“Even if your sister isn’t in cahoots with him, her so-called ‘misfits’ could be on his side. It’s not safe to stay there.”

“Cahoots?” She couldn’t stop a giggle, which diffused Nick’s intensity in turn.

“C’mon, give me a break. I’m trying to save your life here.”

She sobered. “You’re trying to save my life
style
. He doesn’t kill. Having my powers taken away doesn’t change who I am, it only changes how I live.”

Like, if she were no longer a goddess, she wouldn’t need Nick’s protection anymore.

“Do you
want
him to leech you?” His tone was exasperated.

She didn’t even need to think about it. “No.”

“Then we get the hell outta here.”

“My safety isn’t important anymore.”

“The hell it’s not!”