“You should.”

“I don’t. He’s never hurt anyone.”

“How do you know? Have you asked him?”

That question drew her up short. She thought of Nick in the woods behind his house, showing her what he could do. Relax.

It’s only wind.

But then he’d told her about the accidental tornado on the soccer field. The storm that had shattered his leg. His abilities had let him heal in record time. What if a normal kid had been caught up in that storm?

What else could Nick do by accident?

“I trust him.” She hesitated. “He warned me to stay away from you.”

Tyler snorted. “Wait, let me put on my surprised face. You want to stay away from me? There’s the door.”

Quinn didn’t move.

Tyler’s eyes didn’t leave hers. “Where was friendly ol’ Nick Merrick when your brother was smacking you around? I don’t see him putting those powers to good use to protect you.”

“He didn’t know,” she whispered.

“Why not? Too busy with another guy?”

She flinched. It was just a little too close to the truth. “Just because Nick didn’t know about my brother doesn’t mean he should be killed.”

“If a lion escapes from the zoo, do you think they should let it run loose, or do you think they should shoot it before it hurts someone?”

“They can shoot a lion with a tranquilizer dart.”

Tyler circled the table, leaning down over her. His voice was intense, but his words were soft. “Or that could piss it off so it causes more damage.”

Her eyes flicked to his lips. She had no idea why he was sex-ier while he was arguing, but there it was.

“In fact,” he said, “I have a theory.”

“What’s that?” she said.

“If a Guide comes to town to kill them, he’s going to have to be good. Really good. He’s going to have to figure out a way to take them all out at once.”

Quinn swallowed. She didn’t like that he sounded happy about that. He was so hard to classify in her brain: protecting her, kissing her, defending her.

All while wanting her friends dead.

“Why?” she whispered.

Tyler smiled. “Otherwise, he’ll learn what I learned. You just have to mess with one to piss the rest off.”

CHAPTER 15

Nick didn’t make it home until one a.m. He expected to find the house dark and quiet, but Michael was half asleep on the couch, some late-night news program throwing light against the back wall.

He’d hoped to sneak up to his bedroom unnoticed, but Michael sat up and rubbed his eyes when Nick slid the deadbolt on the front door.

“It’s late,” he said quietly.

“Sorry,” Nick said, wondering if he was going to catch any crap about coming home after midnight every night this week.

“How’s Quinn?” Michael said.

Nick shrugged, feeling like the question was a trap. “She’s all right.”

“You okay? You look a little scattered.”

“Just tired. You know.”

“Anything going on?”

Nick’s heart kicked into triple time from all the questions.

Michael wasn’t one for small talk. “No. Why?”

Michael picked up the remote and turned off the TV. “What did you do tonight?”

This was starting to look like a round of Let’s Talk, and Nick really didn’t want to play.

He shrugged again. “Nothing really.”

I pissed off Quinn, and probably chased her into the arms of a psychopath.

Yeah, Tyler. Remember him? He used to make our lives hell.

Oh, and I made out with another guy. It’s a miracle our clothes stayed on.

He suspected the latter half was Adam trying not to push him further than he was ready to go. Amazing and excruciating, all slow hands and fierce kissing, broken only when Nick would hesitate. Adam never pushed.

Nick wondered if some of that was for Adam’s own benefit, too.

Knowing what he knew, Nick never pushed, either. It left them tangled in a careful dance of caresses and stronger touches.

He hadn’t wanted to leave.

Michael was studying him. “Gabriel said you and Quinn seem to be getting pretty close.”

Great. Nick dropped into the armchair and wondered how much he could say without incriminating himself. What else had Gabriel said? Did Michael already suspect something?

“She’s going through a lot,” he offered, keeping his eyes on the end table. “At home. You know.”

“You want to talk about it?”

Yes. He did. Emotions wrapped around his neck and jerked tight, and he wanted to tell Michael everything. About Quinn.

About Tyler.

But if he talked about them, he’d have to talk about Adam.

For an instant, he hated Quinn for putting him in this position. Then he hated himself for putting her in this position.

This sucked.

He met his older brother’s eyes. “Not really.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “She’ll be all right.”

Like Michael would leave it at that.

His brother inhaled—a loaded breath. Nick braced himself for an interrogation.

Why’d you get all jumpy when Gabriel said g*y guys are creepy? Are you g*y, Nick? Of course it’s creepy. God, and we’ve been living under the same roof. Jesus, what would Mom and Dad say? Maybe you should sleep in the basement.

But Michael didn’t say any of that. “I need to ask you a favor.”