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Yeah. It was.
“Fuck you,” Nick gasped. He remembered a time when he was younger, when Tyler had trapped him after gym class, when he’d pinned him much like this to let Seth Ramsey beat the shit out of him.
God, he hated this guy. He hated his own fear more.
Wind tore between them, stinging Nick’s cheeks, pelting him with the same debris he was using to attack Tyler. But then his gusts began to pull into a spiral, almost against his will. The clouds overhead shifted. In a minute, he’d have a tornado. His power was always like this—no middle ground. Lively breeze one moment, massively destructive weather event the next.
At least Gabriel’s fire needed something to burn. Air was everywhere.
He needed to rein this in before he leveled the school.
Tyler smiled. “Guess what, douchebag? You don’t get to play like that anymore.” He tightened his grip on Nick’s wrist.
And then flame curled from under his hand.
Fire bit through fabric to find skin, and Nick yelled, fighting like mad. His sweatshirt was on fire, a flame trapped beneath Tyler’s fingers. Nothing anyone else could see. The burn clouded his senses, eating into his arm like something alive.
rifted into silence, letting the rest remain unsaid. Calla might not be dead, but she hadn’t made a reappearance in town.
Maybe she’d moved on to start her war somewhere else.
Tyler held her for the longest time, but when he finally spoke, his voice was careful. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but your mother—”
Quinn started to pull away. “You’re right. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Are you going to hide here forever?”
His voice was gentle, but it made her cry again. “I don’t know what to do. Would they arrest her? What would happen to me and Jordan?”
“I don’t know. But . . .” He paused. “She could have really hurt you, Quinn. Jesus, she did really hurt you. If she’d hit you a second time—”
“I’m not calling the cops. I’m not. If you want me to leave, fine. But I’m not—”
“Shh, take it easy. I’m not telling you to leave.”
“I just need a few days, okay? Let it blow over.”
Tyler stiffened. “You want to go back there?”
“She’s not always like that. If Jake is gone, maybe it won’t be so bad.”
Tyler sighed.
“Please?” she begged. Then she winced. This reminded her of the night she’d been in Nick’s truck, begging him for a place to sleep, too.
“Okay,” Tyler finally said. “We can give it a few days.”
She turned her face up and kissed him.
Tyler pulled back. “Quinn. Stop.”
She froze, then jerked away from him. “Forget it,” she cried, feeling fresh tears on her cheeks. She punched him in the chest.
“Forget it. I don’t need charity from—”
He caught her wrists and pinned them behind her back. The motion was so quick, so rough, that she almost cried out. It put her right against his chest, staring up into his eyes. “What do you want?” he said. “Is this how every guy treats you, like you have to pay to play? Tell me, Quinn.”
“Didn’t you hear her?” she said. “This is all I’m good for.”
