“I resent the implication that I’m a loud-mouthed idiot.” Quinn flopped down on the bed, stealing all Andre’s pillows to place behind his head. “And also, good call.”
I sat down on the end of the bed, wanting to be near him, to touch him, to know he was real, but also afraid of what that meant. Quinn had no such qualms. He pulled me into his arms, cradling me against his chest, the way Trey had done back in the RV.
“We found that woman Zehra spoke about, the one who used to work with Ms. West.” I tried to explain what we’d discovered about Deborah and her relationship to Rebecca Nurse, but as soon as I tried to talk about magic, my voice froze in my throat. I couldn’t speak. Andre handed me a glass of water, but that didn’t clear the—
Of course. Andre was here. The bloody agreement was still in place. How could it be when Ms. West broke her end of the bargain? When she’d hurt Greg…
Wait a second.
If our agreement was still in place, that must mean Greg was still alive. He was safe.
For now.
“Hazy?” Quinn raised an eyebrow. “You look surprisingly smug for someone who’s snuck into a school filled with people who want to kill you.”
“Iamsmug. I just figured something out.” I sat up, sending Quinn’s arm slamming into the wall. I touched Andre’s hand. “Greg’s safe. I can’t explain how I know that, but you have to trust that I do.” Andre nodded. “I don’t know for how much longer, though. I need you to get Sadie to keep her ear to the ground. If possible, find out where Ms. West has moved her lab. I can’t explain what it is, but just know it’s important.”
Andre nodded again.
“I also need you to go across to my room and wait for me. I have to speak to Quinn and Trey alone for a sec. I’m sorry for kicking you out of your room, but I promise that it’s important and I’ll be done soon.”
Andre looked like he wanted to argue. I think if it had been me in his situation, I’d have demanded to stay, but Andre wasn’t me. He nodded placidly, caught the keys Quinn tossed to him, and slunk out of the room.
I locked the door behind him, replaced the rolled towel and leaned against the door, my eyes darting from Trey on one bed to Quinn on the other. Being in the same room as the two of them gave me flashbacks to what happened between us at the movie night. It was too much testosterone – it made my throat constrict and my stomach to dance in a strange and pleasant way. I swallowed hard.
Quinn looked between Trey and I, and his expression darkened. “You two boned, didn’t you?” he demanded.
“That’s not important,” Trey said. He sounded tired.
“Of course it’s important. You boned and Hazy and Ayaz boned and poor Quinn is just left out here in no-Eskimo sex land.”
“It’sedimmu,” Trey corrected without thinking.
Quinn waved a hand. “Whatever. I don’t begrudge our girl the chance for a little undead lovin’. I just think Hazy should keep her options open. Once she’s gone to bed with me, there’s going to be no—”
“Quinn.” His name hissed through my teeth, even as my body flared with heat. Because I wanted it. I wanted him, which was ridiculous because I shouldn’t even be thinking about sex right now. “Don’t you want to hear what we’ve found out?”
“I want to find out how Hazy reacts when I roll her nipples under my tongue.” Quinn licked his upper lip. “What do you say, friend? We could have a repeat of the movie night—”
I pressed my legs together, trying to stop myself from thinking of the two of them with me, touching me, taking me…No, no, no, not now.
“As tempting as that is, you’re going to want to hear this,” Trey said. “Although it’s probably going to destroy your hard-on. I was right about the fire. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t faulty wiring. The Eldritch Club knew it would happen. Theychoseus to sacrifice.”
Quinn’s body froze. His mouth wobbled. He looked completely flustered.
“You don’t have a smartass comeback to that?” Trey sounded upset – as if somehow hearing one of Quinn’s quips would make what we knew somehow less horrific.
“I really, really don’t.” Quinn lay back on the pillows, his body rigid. All thought of boning fled from him. “Fuck.”
Trey nodded. “Yup.”
“But… my mom is in the Eldritch Club.” Quinn’s mouth wobbled again. “She’d never agree to that.”
He sounded like a little kid, so lost, so unable to believe his beloved parent was capable of such evil. I slammed my fingers into the burn on my wrist, which flared with a bright heat.
I believed it.
I knew what someone who claimed to love you more than life itself could do to you for their own selfishness.
