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In the silence, Nick could only think of his brothers, and he was going to freak the f**k out if he kept doing that.
“What made you come back?” Nick finally asked, making no effort to keep the distrust from his voice.
“Quinn,” said Tyler. He glanced over at her, sitting curled in the passenger seat. “I realized you were doing it again, pushing me away to see if I’d snap back.”
“No,” she said, “I was pushing you away because you were an ass**le.”
“That, then.”
And they lapsed back into silence.
Gabriel, Nick thought. He wished his brother was with them now. He’d know what to do. He’d take charge and organize a plan. He’d figure out a way to find Michael and Chris, or at least a way to warn them.
“They’ll be okay,” Adam murmured. “We’ll find them.”
Nick looked up to find his eyes, warm and worried and intent on his. “You’re taking this well.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure my brain will explode with wtf any minute.”
“I’m sorry,” Nick said. “I should have—”
“Told me?” Adam gave a small laugh, but there wasn’t much humor behind it. “You can fill in the blanks later.” He paused.
“Well, maybe you can fill in one now. How exactly did you do . . .
whatever?”
“A pressure wave,” said Nick. “You ever see an explosion on television, where it blows people back?”
“Yeah?”
Nick nodded. “Like that. All air pressure. It didn’t stop the bullet, but it stopped it enough.”
Quinn twisted in her seat. “And that blew out the windows?”
Nick winced. “Honestly, we’re lucky it didn’t bring the building down on top of us.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t wreck my truck,” said Tyler, meeting Nick’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “The shock wave ran me off the road.”
“Yeah, too bad,” Nick snapped.
“Hey, dickhead, I’m helping you—”
“Shut up,” said Quinn. Nick shut up, but she was really glaring at Tyler. She was twisted on the seat and jabbing at him.
“You don’t get to be nasty to him. You don’t get to say anything to him. Do you understand me? If you want to talk to Nick, if you want to talk to my friend, the first word out of your mouth better be I and the next words better be am sorry. Otherwise, shut the f**k up and drive.”
“Don’t waste your breath,” said Nick bitterly, though he appreciated the sentiment. “He’s not sorry.”
Tyler met his eyes in the rearview mirror again, and Nick expected him to snap back with something vicious, but he held the eye contact for a second, then looked away.
He cleared his throat, and when he spoke, his voice was rough. “Can you do that again?” he said. “The pressure wave?”
Nick hesitated, wondering if there was a trap in the question.
“I don’t know.” He paused and glanced down at Adam’s fingers linked with his. “I didn’t know I could do it in the first place. It wasn’t on purpose—sometimes power takes over when we’re in danger, and we can’t fully control it.” His voice turned sharp and mocking. “Know anything about that, Tyler?”
“You covered a lot of ground,” Tyler said, ignoring his tone.
