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“I want to show you something.”
Quinn hesitated, figured she had nothing to lose, and plugged the buds into her ears. She had to close her eyes to shut out Nick’s searching face, but once the music caught her, he could have been an alien and she wouldn’t have cared.
She didn’t remember all the details of this routine, but Nick wouldn’t know the difference, and she was good at improvisa-tion. Her weeks of studying with Adam had made her stronger, more balanced, and she could feel the difference even in something unpracticed. Her legs carried her through spins and leaps more effortlessly. She spun and dropped and flung her body into the rhythm, every movement punctuated perfectly.
Then she felt it. The air changed, as if the music could suddenly seep into her skin. Her movements had more energy, more control, and each time her feet left the ground, she felt vaguely like a marionette, suspended for just a fraction of a second too long—but effortlessly.
The dance changed against her will, turning from something she was doing with the music into something she was doing because of the music, as if the very song animated her body. Her next leap left her in the air for a moment too long. She almost lost the beat, and spun to find it. One foot, pivot, step, leap.
This time her height, her suspension in the air, was downright inhuman.
She stumbled on the landing, from shock more than anything. Nick caught her, his hands warm and steadying on her elbows. Quinn braced her hands on his chest, unsure whether she should shove him away or not. Her breaths came quick.
Frightened. She was frightened. She’d felt his power in the air.
Exactly how high had she gotten?
She yanked the earbuds free. “Did you do that?” she demanded.
His expression was guarded, but he nodded. “Yes.”
She didn’t say anything for the longest moment, letting her breathing settle.
She could still hear the song, tinny and distant from the headphones. Music was in the air, drawing at her limbs. Not frightening. Exhilarating.
Quinn grinned. “Can you do it again?”
An hour later, Quinn was sprawled on his bed, watching Nick rifle through a dresser drawer. She’d learned about his brothers, how they were marked for death because of their abilities. She’d learned about their deal with Tyler’s family to keep the Merricks hidden from discovery—a deal that created a rift in the Elemental community, putting the Merricks on one side, and the Morgans on the other. She’d learned about the rockslide that had killed Tyler Morgan’s sister, right in front of Michael Merrick.
She knew about the Guides who’d tried to kill him and his brothers more than once—and who would try again, when they had the chance.
The front door slammed downstairs, and Quinn sat up on the bed. One or more of his brothers were home. She slid her phone out of her pocket and wanted to tell Nick to get the lead out.
But he was so adorably anxious about seeing Adam that she didn’t want to rush him. “I think I always knew there was something about you,” she said.
He didn’t glance up. “Yeah?”
“That suffocation thing—you did that to Gabriel once, didn’t you? That day I made you dinner and he came home acting like a real shit?”
Nick’s hands went still. “Yeah.”
He sounded ashamed. Quinn snorted. “Too bad you didn’t follow through.”
He turned to look at her. “It’s not a game, Quinn. I could have lost control.”
“Well, you sure didn’t seem to mind using it on Tyler.”
Nick turned away and shoved the drawer closed with a bang, moving on to the next one.
Quinn came and crouched next to him. His hair was still slightly damp from a shower—which he’d taken alone, despite her offer to keep up appearances—and he smelled slightly sweet and musky at the same time, like one of those guy-brand body washes.
“What’s up?” she said. “You okay?”
He turned his head to look at her. “I hate that guy.”
“Really? I didn’t get that from the warm welcome you gave him in the driveway.”
“I don’t want to talk about Tyler.” He slammed another drawer and moved on to the bottom one.
