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“Guides,” said Gabriel. “I have to find you.”
“You found me,” said Nick. “We got him. You’re okay.”
“Both?” asked Gabriel.
Nick frowned. “What?”
“Hey, douche bag,” Tyler called from twenty feet away. “Didn’t you say you were shot by a guy?”
Nick froze. “Yeah?”
“Well, there’s a hand here, still wrapped around a gun, if you can believe that. And either the dude who shot you liked a nice French manicure, or the Guide you just killed was a woman.”
Quinn’s lungs were burning by the time they made it up the hill to Nick’s house. She’d been inhaling smoke the whole way, but adrenaline was kicking her ass and keeping her going.
So was Adam’s presence beside her.
With every step, she kept seeing Gareth pulling the gun and shooting Nick in the head. It made her want to turn back.
Phone, she thought. Get to a phone.
The landscaping truck was in the driveway.
Quinn almost screamed in relief. Nick’s brothers were here!
They could help!
She didn’t even bother knocking, just grabbed the front doorknob and pushed through to the foyer.
Her eyes registered everything at once.
That Gareth guy wasn’t in the woods with Nick and Gabriel.
He was here, right here, in the Merrick living room.
Michael and Chris were on their knees. Chris was shaking.
She could hear his breathing from here.
She didn’t blame him. Gareth held a gun barrel three inches from his forehead.
“Oh, god,” she whispered.
“Come on in,” Gareth said. “If you’ve come to warn them, you’ll see you’re too late.”
Quinn couldn’t move. She wished she could tell Adam to get the hell away from the house, before he was seen.
“Your friend, too,” said the Guide. His voice sharpened.
“Now. Or this one dies. Three . . . two—”
Adam shoved her through the door, keeping a hand on her shoulder. “We’re inside,” he said, his voice very careful. “We’ll do what you want.”
“I want you both to sit down,” Gareth said evenly. “We won’t be here long.”
“Please,” said Quinn. She couldn’t look away from Chris’s terrified eyes. His breathing had kicked up during Gareth’s countdown. The gun didn’t waver.
All she could think was, Becca, I’m going to watch your boyfriend die.
