Secret
Page 44
Quinn shook her head. “I never know anymore. Sometimes he works nights, but sometimes . . . I try to stay out of there as much as I can.”
And now she’d burned her bridges with Becca and Nick.
She had nowhere to go.
Tyler was silent for a long while, and she watched the lights zip by outside his truck.
“You want me to take you somewhere else?” he finally said.
“You have a friend you want to stay with or something?”
Quinn shook her head. “You can just—” She had to clear her throat. “I’m all right. You can let me out at the next street corner. I’ll call someone.”
“You think I’m buying that?”
She had no idea what to say. She had no idea what Tyler expected. Just like before, she felt trapped by circumstance. She could get out of this truck and . . . and, what? Sleep on the street? But if she went home with Tyler, would he be looking to hook up?
She kept thinking of the way Anthony had grabbed her ass.
He certainly wasn’t the first of her brother’s friends to lay a hand on her. She swallowed.
At least Tyler’s apartment would mean a place to sleep. At least he wasn’t a total stranger.
“Your place is fine,” she said. “If the offer is still open.”
“It is,” he said. He shut up and drove.
* * *
Tyler’s apartment was a lot nicer than she was expecting. Hell, it was nicer than her family’s apartment.
Lush wine-colored carpeting stretched everywhere. Two bedrooms were at the back, each massive. One had a king-size bed, the other had two queens. A huge kitchen sported granite countertops.
Plush furniture sat everywhere and a huge flat-screen television hung on the wall. It wasn’t immaculately clean or anything—
enough comfortable clutter was scattered around that it looked lived in—but Tyler wasn’t a slob.
“Wait,” she said, taking a second look around. “Is this your parents’ place?”
“Yes,” he said. “Sort of. My grandmother used to live here, and they inherited it when she died. They were going to fix it up to sell it, but then they told me I could live here if I did the work.”
She looked around again. “You did all this yourself?”
“Mostly. I had a few friends help me. Mom had the counters installed, but I tore down the old wallpaper and did all the painting. Hung the new cabinets, too.” He shrugged. “It beats a dorm.”
No kidding. Then she had another thought.
“Do you live alone?”
“Yeah.” He hesitated. “My friend Seth was going to move in after he graduated, but . . .” His voice trailed off.
Seth. Seth Ramsey. Quinn knew all about him. “But your friend tried to rape my friend and now he’s in a ton of trouble,”
she finished.
Tyler frowned. “He’s not really my friend anymore.”
“Don’t like ra**sts?” she quipped.
“You going to hold me accountable for something Seth did?”
It was almost the same thing she’d said to Nick. She didn’t know why she was even picking at this. Maybe because she needed to pick at something before her brain exploded.
A crack pipe. In her bedroom. God.
She dropped her backpack on the floor and swung into one of his dining room chairs. “So why isn’t Seth your friend anymore?”
Tyler leaned on the back of a chair and looked at her. “You know I don’t like the Merricks, yeah?”
“It’s come up once or twice.”
“Fucking with them is one thing. They aren’t supposed to exist. They aren’t supposed to be here. But that’s not—it’s different. What Seth did . . . I could never do . . . that.”
“So it would have been okay if he’d shot her, but raping her is wrong.”
Tyler just stared back at her.
“What?” she said. “I’m trying to figure out your bizarre morality. You’re the one who lit my arm on fire. Didn’t you rough Becca up yourself?”
He didn’t even look ashamed, reminding her that Tyler was no white knight, either. “It’s not my morality,” he said. “I’m not a Guide. Full Elementals are identified and put to death. Period.
Who cares if they get a little roughed up on the way?”
“You’re an Elemental,” she said. “Why are you allowed to live?”
His eyes hardened, and she realized she’d struck a nerve. “Because I can’t accidentally destroy an entire town if I have a temper tantrum. You’ve seen the damage they can do. I know you have.”
“You aren’t the only person who lost someone,” she said quietly. “Their parents died in a fire, didn’t they?”
“Yeah, so did Seth’s.”
She hadn’t heard that. Quinn thought about the carnival fire that had killed seven other students. Or the earthquake that had destroyed the bridge near school—and almost killed Becca. Or the arson attacks that had destroyed half a dozen homes—including hers—and killed people in the community. Whole families devastated because of a temper tantrum, as he called it.
She didn’t want Tyler to be right. But a tiny part of her agreed with him. Maybe Gabriel had been saving people, but she knew enough about Nick’s twin brother to know he had a cruel streak every inch as wide as Tyler’s.
“Nick is my friend,” she said quietly. “I don’t care what he is.”
And now she’d burned her bridges with Becca and Nick.
She had nowhere to go.
Tyler was silent for a long while, and she watched the lights zip by outside his truck.
“You want me to take you somewhere else?” he finally said.
“You have a friend you want to stay with or something?”
Quinn shook her head. “You can just—” She had to clear her throat. “I’m all right. You can let me out at the next street corner. I’ll call someone.”
“You think I’m buying that?”
She had no idea what to say. She had no idea what Tyler expected. Just like before, she felt trapped by circumstance. She could get out of this truck and . . . and, what? Sleep on the street? But if she went home with Tyler, would he be looking to hook up?
She kept thinking of the way Anthony had grabbed her ass.
He certainly wasn’t the first of her brother’s friends to lay a hand on her. She swallowed.
At least Tyler’s apartment would mean a place to sleep. At least he wasn’t a total stranger.
“Your place is fine,” she said. “If the offer is still open.”
“It is,” he said. He shut up and drove.
* * *
Tyler’s apartment was a lot nicer than she was expecting. Hell, it was nicer than her family’s apartment.
Lush wine-colored carpeting stretched everywhere. Two bedrooms were at the back, each massive. One had a king-size bed, the other had two queens. A huge kitchen sported granite countertops.
Plush furniture sat everywhere and a huge flat-screen television hung on the wall. It wasn’t immaculately clean or anything—
enough comfortable clutter was scattered around that it looked lived in—but Tyler wasn’t a slob.
“Wait,” she said, taking a second look around. “Is this your parents’ place?”
“Yes,” he said. “Sort of. My grandmother used to live here, and they inherited it when she died. They were going to fix it up to sell it, but then they told me I could live here if I did the work.”
She looked around again. “You did all this yourself?”
“Mostly. I had a few friends help me. Mom had the counters installed, but I tore down the old wallpaper and did all the painting. Hung the new cabinets, too.” He shrugged. “It beats a dorm.”
No kidding. Then she had another thought.
“Do you live alone?”
“Yeah.” He hesitated. “My friend Seth was going to move in after he graduated, but . . .” His voice trailed off.
Seth. Seth Ramsey. Quinn knew all about him. “But your friend tried to rape my friend and now he’s in a ton of trouble,”
she finished.
Tyler frowned. “He’s not really my friend anymore.”
“Don’t like ra**sts?” she quipped.
“You going to hold me accountable for something Seth did?”
It was almost the same thing she’d said to Nick. She didn’t know why she was even picking at this. Maybe because she needed to pick at something before her brain exploded.
A crack pipe. In her bedroom. God.
She dropped her backpack on the floor and swung into one of his dining room chairs. “So why isn’t Seth your friend anymore?”
Tyler leaned on the back of a chair and looked at her. “You know I don’t like the Merricks, yeah?”
“It’s come up once or twice.”
“Fucking with them is one thing. They aren’t supposed to exist. They aren’t supposed to be here. But that’s not—it’s different. What Seth did . . . I could never do . . . that.”
“So it would have been okay if he’d shot her, but raping her is wrong.”
Tyler just stared back at her.
“What?” she said. “I’m trying to figure out your bizarre morality. You’re the one who lit my arm on fire. Didn’t you rough Becca up yourself?”
He didn’t even look ashamed, reminding her that Tyler was no white knight, either. “It’s not my morality,” he said. “I’m not a Guide. Full Elementals are identified and put to death. Period.
Who cares if they get a little roughed up on the way?”
“You’re an Elemental,” she said. “Why are you allowed to live?”
His eyes hardened, and she realized she’d struck a nerve. “Because I can’t accidentally destroy an entire town if I have a temper tantrum. You’ve seen the damage they can do. I know you have.”
“You aren’t the only person who lost someone,” she said quietly. “Their parents died in a fire, didn’t they?”
“Yeah, so did Seth’s.”
She hadn’t heard that. Quinn thought about the carnival fire that had killed seven other students. Or the earthquake that had destroyed the bridge near school—and almost killed Becca. Or the arson attacks that had destroyed half a dozen homes—including hers—and killed people in the community. Whole families devastated because of a temper tantrum, as he called it.
She didn’t want Tyler to be right. But a tiny part of her agreed with him. Maybe Gabriel had been saving people, but she knew enough about Nick’s twin brother to know he had a cruel streak every inch as wide as Tyler’s.
“Nick is my friend,” she said quietly. “I don’t care what he is.”
