Page 149 of Princes of Carnage

I swallow hard, more tears leaking from my eyes. “I didn’t want to.”

Killian cradles my face in both hands, swiping the tears away gently. He drops his head, tilting my chin up.

For a heart wrenching second, I think he might actually kiss me. Despite all the things we’ve done together, he’s never done that before, and I don’t think I could take the first time it happens being right now.

So I take a step back, putting some space between us.

“Thank you,” I rasp. “For getting me out of my own head. I needed that.”

Before he can say anything else, I slip out of the shower and head to my room, wrapping a towel around myself as I go.

I close the door firmly, trying to block out everything. I need to get my shit together. I told myself I wasn’t going to fall to pieces over these guys and the shit they’re trying to pull, and I need to stick to that vow.

I have to.

But it’s harder than I thought.

I take deep breaths, pressing the heels of my hands against my closed eyes until I see stars in the darkness.

“Get it together,” I mutter to myself. “You don’t have a choice. Hold it the fuck together, Quinn.”

I stay like that until I feel a bit steadier, focusing on my breathing. When the urge to cry has passed, I yank open my dresser and start getting dressed. I’m not ready to go back downstairs and see if Nico and Atlas have come home yet, but I feel more steady than I did before, which is something.

A few minutes later, there’s a knock on the door. My shoulders immediately tense, certain it’s Killian coming to check on me.

I take another deep breath as I go to open it, already shaking my head and trying to put a smile on my face.

“I’m fine,” I say. “I was just feeling a little stressed out because of—”

I break off when I realize that it’s not Killian after all. It’s Atlas, his expression excited and serious.

“We’ve got movement,” he tells me. “Silas is at the pawn shop.”

47

ATLAS

Quinn’s eyes widen in surprise as she takes in what I just said, a flurry of emotions flashing through her gray irises as the news sinks in. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting this right now.

But it passes quickly, and I can see when she shoves down her surprise and whatever else, nodding and slipping into ready mode. The leader in her takes over, ready to get this shit done.

“Let’s go,” she says.

We head downstairs, where Nico and Killian are already waiting.

Killian’s hair is wet, just like Quinn’s is, and I spare a second to wonder what they were up to before Nico and I got here. But there’s no time to think about that.

Nico steps forward, taking control the way he always does. “We can handle this,” he says to Quinn. “Your people have already done their part.”

Quinn’s eyes narrow as she looks at him. “What? I’m not fucking staying behind. Not when we have a chance to get this bastard.”

“There are three of us,” he insists, gesturing to himself, me, and Killian. “If any one of us gets hurt, then Carnage still has leadership. It won’t throw everything into chaos. But if you get hurt, that’s chopping the head off Enigma. And your gang is still recovering from that happening once.”

Quinn’s brow furrows, and she opens her mouth, clearly ready to argue more. But then she stops herself, biting her tongue. “Fine. You can go alone.”

There’s something odd in her expression when she says it that doesn’t sit right with me. She’s usually not one to give in this easily. But I can’t figure out what it is, and I assume she just let it go because she knows we don’t have time to argue right now. Every second counts for this.

She steps back, watching the three of us as we take our leave, rushing to our bikes and tearing off toward the pawn shop.

---