while he tried to save these people, and they dared to accuse him? Behind the anger, a new fear flared. If the Society suspected her of creating the leech, maybe they did suspect Sam of being the leech.
She glared, her hand up, looking for an excuse to do more than mess up a nice shirt. She was tired of hiding, discreetly digging for information.
“Quinn Caldwell!” The president of the chapter pushed through the group. “What the hell are you doing?”
Quinn opened her mouth to retort but her cell phone rang, and suddenly nothing else mattered.
“Forget it. I’m leaving. Thank you for your hospitality.” She snapped open the phone and stalked out into the hall of the community building. “Hello!”
“Quinn, it’s me.”
“Sam.” Relief cascaded through her, and her knees buckled. She stopped to lean against the wall.
“I’m sorry I haven’t called. I couldn’t. Signal has been spotty up here.”
But that wasn’t the only reason. She could tell. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Her lungs compressed again, and she couldn’t get any air out to talk. Sam didn’t need her to ask, though.
“It’s Nick. He’s been shot.”
Chapter Eleven
Historically, the Society deemed it wise to hide the abilities of
our members from the general public. Though full secrecy is not practical or desired in modern society, caution should rule all goddess-related activities. In addition, interaction with non-goddess authorities is to be considered only under extreme circumstances, when all other options are exhausted.
—The Society for Goddess Education and Defense, Public Relations Handbook
…
“I need to borrow your car.” Quinn didn’t wait for Chloe, who’d followed her into the hall, to answer. “Please,” she added, but only because autopilot told her to. She strode down the hall, Chloe running to keep up with Quinn’s longer legs and desperation.
“What’s going on?”
“Nick’s been shot, and it’s serious.”
“I’ll come with you,” Chloe said immediately, but instead of moving faster, her stride slowed. Quinn turned back, ready to protest. Her friend had said she didn’t want to leave the ocean, and despite her positive attitude about the whole thing, Quinn doubted she was ready to come face to face with her leecher. Without power, she’d be vulnerable if it came to a fight. But the keys in Chloe’s hand rattled before she closed her fist over them, and even then her hand still shook.
“Thank you, Chloe, but it’s better if you stay.”
“I can identify Adrian.” Her voice cracked on his name, and despair slumped her shoulders.
“I don’t even know if he’s there.” Quinn walked back to Chloe and hugged her. “Nick could have been shot for trespassing or something.” Her throat clenched, and adrenaline surged again, driving her to leave, to get there now.
Chloe handed Quinn the keys to her Prius. “I’m sorry. Yes, take my car. I’ll get a ride from someone.”
Quinn took the keys but hesitated. “I’m sorry. I’m being—”
“What you need to be. Go.” She turned Quinn toward the door and shoved.
Quinn ran. She jumped into the car and took off without familiarizing herself with any of the controls. At the first stoplight, she punched the coordinates Sam had given her into Chloe’s GPS system. After that, she tapped what power she could to cast ahead and make sure every light was green when she reached it. When she got on the highway, she checked surrounding energies for radar, only slowing when she sensed its use. Then she did ninety up I-95, wishing she had enough power to jump herself to Nick’s side. But even if it were possible—which it wasn’t—it would require massive amounts of energy, and then she wouldn’t have any left to help Nick.
And she knew he needed her help. Sam hadn’t given her any details. Okay, she hadn’t let him. She’d ordered him to give her their location and hung up on him, a stupid move. She was driving too fast to risk calling him back. The longer she drove, the harder it was not to notice that he hadn’t called her back, either.
She didn’t know if Nick was in a hospital, if he was dying or dead, who had shot him and why, or what he’d been doing to get shot in the first place.
“It was a simple scouting mission,” she ground out to no one. She wished telepathy was one of her abilities. She had to conserve her use as much as possible, which pretty much limited her to turning red lights green and avoiding cops. The quirk that allowed her to measure time passing was enhanced as the full moon approached,