Secret (10 page)

Nick’s eyes widened. ‘What? No. He’s not — Michael’s not an Air. He’s an Earth.’

Quinn licked her lips. ‘Do I need a twenty-sided die here, Nick?’

‘Would you stop making jokes? I’m trying to explain this to you, and you’re —’

‘Freaked out.’ She took another step back from him, looking at the leaves that had fluttered to the ground. Nothing abnormal, no sign of any device that could have done . . . that.

Nick studied her. ‘Do you have your iPod?’

That was like asking if she’d brought her boobs along. Quinn fished it out of her pocket and held it out.

Nick shook his head. ‘You listen. Dance. Do that one you were doing the night I picked you up at the Y.’

When the hell had Nick Merrick gone insane? ‘You want me to
dance
right now?’

He nodded, looking perfectly serious.

‘But you won’t hear the music.’

‘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 improvisation. 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 fluently. 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 to 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 rock slide 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.

‘What are you looking for?’ she asked quietly.

‘Something that doesn’t make me look like I spent twenty minutes doing exactly this.’

‘Are you sure you don’t have a spandex suit under those clothes?’

‘I do, in fact. Little surprise for later.’

Quinn snorted. ‘What you’re wearing is fine.’ And it was: a soft blue T-shirt that clung to his body and made his eyes almost vibrant.

‘Are you nervous about what you told me? You said you were in danger.’

He gave up on rummaging through the drawer. ‘We are. We’re always at risk of someone coming to town to kill us all.’

‘The Guides, right?’

‘Yeah. But we try to keep our heads down and not reveal our talents. That’s one of the rules: we have to demonstrate our abilities to earn a death sentence. When we were younger, Tyler and Seth used to beat the shit out of us to try to force us to use our powers, but we’re stronger now and they mostly stay away.’

Until this afternoon
, she thought. But then she picked up on what Nick had said, that Tyler and Seth used to beat the shit out of them. Like his twin brother, Nick was tall, and landscaping gave his body some solid definition. She couldn’t imagine
anyone
beating the shit out of him — but then again, if everything he’d told her was true, maybe he’d been afraid to fight back.

‘I just don’t understand
why
,’ said Quinn. ‘What do they care?’

Nick glanced over. ‘We scare them.’

‘They’re scared of a little breeze?’

‘Remember Homecoming? Remember the tornado that formed over the soccer field? Ripped out a few trees?’

‘Yeah?’

Nick gave her a significant look.

‘No way,’ she said.

‘Way.’ He grimaced. ‘I lost control of it. Ended up breaking my leg in three places.’

More events were clicking into place. ‘You said you threw out your knee playing soccer.’

‘It made for a good cover story.’ He looked away from her eyes. ‘Air is everywhere. I heal fast.’

‘Can you fly?’

She couldn’t keep the hushed wonder from her voice, and Nick smiled. ‘No. Too much weight. I can’t focus the air pressure enough for that.’

‘What does air pressure have to do with anything?’

‘Are you kidding? Air pressure is awesome.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘You are such a nerd sometimes. You’re lucky you’re hot or you couldn’t get away with saying things like
air pressure is awesome
.’

‘Seriously. Air pressure affects everything. Haven’t you ever heard the expression
nature abhors a vacuum
?’ He grinned. ‘Actually, we were doing this experiment in class once where Dr. Cutter was trying to prove a point with a balloon, but I kept making it pop —’

‘You are the only person alive who would use superpowers to be
more
dorky.’

‘They’re not superpowers.’

That sounded a lot like the difference between to-
MAY
-to and to-
MAH
-to to Quinn. ‘Would it be okay if I told Becca?’

Nick hesitated. He lost the smile.

She rushed on. ‘I know it’s your secret. I don’t have to tell her. I — well, she’s dating Chris, too, so maybe he could tell her . . .’ She stopped. ‘What? What’s that expression?’

‘Becca knows,’ Nick said gently.

‘Becca
knows,
’ said Quinn. ‘Like . . . how long?’

‘Since that party at Drew McKay’s house. Tyler and Seth came after Chris, and chased him and Becca into the water.’ He hesitated. ‘According to Chris, he lost control of the current. She almost drowned. He dragged her out.’

Quinn sat up straight, rotating to face him from the bench seat. ‘Becca almost
drowned
and she didn’t tell me?’

‘Quinn — she
couldn’t
tell you. Knowing our secret — it’s not a good thing. It makes you a target. It puts you in danger.’

That sounded like a whole lot of bullshit. Quinn used to tell Becca everything.
Everything.
‘Then why did
you
tell me?’

‘Because you’re my friend. I wanted you to know.’ He paused. ‘And you kept my other secret.’

Quinn felt herself softening.

The floor creaked in the hallway.

Quinn shoved Nick in the shoulder. He was off balance and rocked back, sitting down
hard
on the carpet.

Quinn was in his lap before he could move, a hand pulling at the hem of his shirt and her mouth latched on to his neck.

Nick sucked in a breath and grabbed her waist, but then Gabriel spoke from the doorway.

‘I’d tell you two to get a room, but at least close the door.’

Nick froze. Quinn lifted a hand to give his twin the finger. She didn’t take her mouth off Nick’s neck.

God
, he smelled good.

‘Classy,’ said Gabriel. He was already moving down the hallway.

Quinn straightened and let go of Nick’s shirt. ‘You’re welcome.’

He gave her a look. ‘If there’s a hickey on my neck, I’m going to
kill
you.’

She patted him on the cheek. ‘Come on, Romeo. Maybe you’ll get a chance to get one from Adam.’

3

Nick studied the sign over the door to the dance studio. The last
time he’d seen Adam and Quinn dance, they’d been using the back room of the relatively deserted local YMCA. Now it was a real dance studio, with real dancers, and a parking lot full of real cars.

Meaning real people. Real people who might know him.

His head had been full of all the family secrets he’d revealed to Quinn, but in an instant he forgot about Tyler and anything remotely Elemental.

‘I don’t think I can do this,’ said Nick.

‘Whatever.’ Quinn didn’t indulge him for one second. She was out of the truck and through the door to the studio before he got the key out of the ignition.

He sat in the silent vehicle, listening to the engine ticking.

Deliberating.

If a girl was waiting in there, he wouldn’t hesitate. He could flirt with girls without thinking about it, and they’d be lining up to follow him home. He’d learned the opposite sex with the same efficiency he learned physics or trigonometry: a system of functions and formulas leading to a calculated result.

He had no idea what the result of this evening would be. Worse, he didn’t know what he
wanted
the result to be.

Quinn stuck her head back out the door. Her expression spoke volumes.

Well. Really, just one sentence.

WTF are you doing?

Nick slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and dropped out of the truck.

‘I wish I could get this on video,’ Quinn said when he stepped into the tiny lobby.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘Nick Merrick, insecure. No wonder you’re such a player.’

‘What does that mean?’ he demanded.

‘With girls, there are no stakes.’ She grabbed his hand. ‘Come on. Adam’s still teaching. You can catch the end of his lesson.’

‘Wait — teaching?’

‘He works here. How do you think we get to use this swank studio?’

‘But —’

She shushed him with a glare, dragging him down a narrow hallway that opened into a huge studio. Parents were crowded onto a few wooden risers along the back wall. Nick’s gaze fell on everything except the people in the center of the room.

Mirrors lined the longest wall, stretching from floor to ceiling to make the room look twice as large as it was already. The opposite wall was all windows blocked by sheer screens, letting the last of the daylight in. A grand piano sat in the corner, next to a massive stereo.

A dozen kids stood spaced across the hardwood floor, mostly dressed in loose pants or stretchy shorts. Nine girls, three boys. None was older than twelve or thirteen.

Adam stood in front of the mirror, facing the group.

Now that Nick’s eyes had found him, they didn’t want to look away.

He’d worried that his imagination had built Adam into someone who didn’t exist, a memory of perfection that the real deal couldn’t match. But Adam’s flawless skin still carried that warm caramel hue. His hair was still pitch dark. His eyes were still brown and sparkling, his cheekbones still high. The same sinewy muscles traced the lengths of his arms. He moved with the same rhythm, as if a song played in his head.

He didn’t notice Nick.

Well, he was occupied. Teaching. Even now, he was talking about lines and balance and something about a firebird leap combination.

But the room wasn’t
that
big. His eyes had flicked in their direction when Quinn climbed onto the back row of the risers — but his gaze passed over Nick without recognition.

And now Nick was sitting here staring at him.

God, this was awkward.

In a flash, he understood the smiley in that text message. Maybe Adam was okay with Nick coming along because he didn’t care anymore. And honestly, Nick couldn’t blame him. Adam was
out
. He was comfortable in his skin. He had an apartment and a job and a life.

He wasn’t hiding from his family and ignoring a stack of college correspondence because he didn’t want to deal with reality.