Storm (Elemental 1)

“The deal can’t be off,” said Nicholas. “They can’t just decide—”

“They can do whatever they want,” said Chris, the words tasting bitter.

Nick stood. “We have to tell Michael. He’ll—”

“He’ll do nothing,” said Gabriel. “Don’t tell him.”

His twin looked at him like he was nuts. “Are you crazy? We have to—”

“No.” Gabriel sat up, any trace of humor gone from his expression. Thunder rolled in the air outside. “You saw him last night. He doesn’t give a crap what they do. All he cares about is letting them have their way.”

“So what do we do?” said Chris. He thought about the way he’d felt the water freeze into Tyler’s skin. That had been a good storm. A powerful one. He wondered how much damage he could do if he practiced.

The thought scared him, a little. But it comforted him, too.

“Tyler says the deal is off.” Gabriel flipped the lighter in the air and snapped it, lighting it as it spun. The flame danced between his fingers. “He’s not going to hold to it. Right?”

“Don’t be stupid,” said Nick. He knew his twin.

Chris knew him, too. But he liked the note of danger in Gabriel’s voice, the promise. It reminded him of that moment of solidarity last night. “Right ... ?”

Gabriel smiled. “That means we aren’t held to it, either.”

Her mom was working the night shift again. The sheer irony was that any kid with a normal social life would envy Becca’s freedom.

Quinn was sitting in the kitchen, but schoolbooks were spread across the table tonight. She looked up at Becca through a fall of blond hair. Her voice was small. “Hey. Your dad called again.”

Swell. Becca hung her jacket in the hall. “What, you’ll speak to me when you need a place to stay?”

“You’re the one who didn’t answer my texts.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t bolted from the lunch table, I could have mentioned that I broke my phone last night.”

Quinn didn’t say anything for a long moment. Becca grabbed a soda from the fridge and swung into a chair. She glanced down at the notebook on the table. Quinn was struggling with Trigonometry.

“So you want me to leave?” said Quinn.

Becca rolled her eyes and popped the can. The storm seemed to be sticking around—thunder still boomed every few minutes and lightning threw silhouettes against the glass. “You are such a drama queen.”

Quinn flung her textbook closed. “Well, at least it’s better than being a liar.”

Becca sat up straight. “A liar? What the hell did I lie about?”

“Self-defense class? You could have just told me you were sleeping with Chris Merrick.”

“Who said—wait—what the—are you crazy?” Becca couldn’t string a sentence together. “You think I’m sleeping with him? Why on earth would you think that?”

“Gee, I don’t know.” Her voice dropped to a mocking baritone. “I’m just here to thank Becca for last night.”

Becca stared at her, unsure whether to laugh or cry. “Quinn—”

“You could have told me, you know.” Quinn doodled on the margin of her notebook. “I didn’t even know you liked him, Bex... . I mean, after all the stuff with Drew—”

“I did go to self-defense class. And I didn’t sleep with Chris.” Becca paused, waiting for Quinn to look up. “When I came out, Seth Ramsey and some college guy were beating the crap out of him in the parking lot.”

“Why?”

The question made her stop. It was a good one. “I don’t know. But I chased them off with the car.” She told Quinn everything, including what had happened in the pet store and her visit to the Merrick house.