Page 47 of Calling Quarters

“How? It seems to have only threatened it even further. My brothers are weakening by the day, and the Movement is turning everyone against us. Killing you would have given me the boost I needed to prove I was a worthy Quarter. I just didn't think you'd make it so impossible.”

His voice dropped with the last part as he hung his head.Shame. He was feeling humiliated at following his instincts and failing to fulfill the one thing he'd been trained to do.

I wanted to kiss him. The urge to climb his body right then and there and hand myself over to him in gratitude was overwhelming. Imagining the power that would flow through us as we connected with this newfound knowledge on a physical and spiritual level had my heart doing excited somersaults inside my chest.

“You've got it all wrong, Remy.”

The crazed smile that took over my face was sure to startle him. My body buzzed with anticipation as I finally realized that I shared this unexplainable feeling with someone else. That while it went against everything I'd ever been told, my instincts told me to place my trust in him and they'd been right all along.

“We're not enemies. I'm your counterpart. I've been created to protect you. We share the same energy.”

His throat bobbed and I continued, my arms flailing around us manically.

“Can't you feel it? That undeniable force that seems to be pushing us together isn't just in our imagination. It's in our nature.”

I could practically see the gears moving inside his head as he considered what I was saying. He knew it to be true, though he was clearly fighting it. It didn't matter how many people tried conditioning us to believe otherwise—our hearts knew each other.

“How do you know this?”

“Tabitha. She's got all these ancient books and records dating back before Beacon Grove was even created. She warned me that you'd hurt me if you found out what I was, but I knew she was wrong. None of the Quarters are as bad as you're made out to be.”

“Tabitha Granger?” He shot me with a disbelieving scowl. “Storie, listen to me. You can't let anyone else know about this, okay? Including the other Quarters. If they find out what we are to each other, they'll eliminate you. Youhaveto keep quiet.”

“No. That's what I'm saying. Tabitha said the same thing about you, and she was wrong. I'm sure if we told them what we knew, they'd understand, and we'll be able to help them.”

Why wasn't he as excited as me? This was monumental. Surely, the Quarters would understand, just as he did.

“They won't. They won't understand and they won't hesitate to kill you. They can't feel the connection we feel.” He grabbed my arms and the familiar jolt of electric current shot through my body. “Feel that? That's how I knew you were special to me. How I knew not to hurt you. But they've never experienced this before. They won't get it. Please, tell me you understand.”

Desperation like I'd never seen before was marring his perfect face. Even though they turned him against his own kind, he believed his words and he needed me to believe them, too. I finally nodded my agreement, hoping he was wrong.

“Just give me some time to figure out how to tell them. This is huge. I've wanted them to know for a while now, but they're growing hopeless with the Movement closing in on us. I can't have them hurt the only thing that's helped us get by. I can't lose you.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” he breathed. Large hands slid down my arms and grabbed onto my fingers. The scowl from before finally loosened and I could have sworn I saw the ghost of a smile.

“What else did Tabitha tell you?”

We spent the rest of the night together going over every detail of what we knew so far.

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The sun was just making its debut when he reached his hand over and caressed the bruised spot on my face from where he grabbed it the night before to prove his point. We were sitting on the edge of his bed, facing the ocean as the fresh air wafted around us through the open French doors.

“I'm a danger to you,” he softly sighed in self-defeat.

I shook my head vehemently. “No. You're the only place in this town where I feel safe.”

“Storie, I've got so many people relying on me to make this right. Even the ones who have lost their trust in us. Especially them. I'm afraid you're going to be put in harm's way over a lie that began way before our time just because people want their sense of normalcy back and they think that's the answer.”

I had no idea how to make him see that we were in this together. That without the other, neither of us was truly whole. It's how we were created, our fates intertwined long before we were even a blip in the universe. And no amount of time or distance could ever keep us from finding the other again.

My leg swung over his lap until I was straddling him. The move felt more awkward and unskilled than it had in my head, but I pushed through my insecurities and hesitantly rested my hands on his shoulders to steady myself. His palms found my hips, adjusting me until we were perfectly aligned.

“We've managed to defeat the odds together this long,” I whispered into his ear.

I thought of the sacrifices my family members made to keep him from finding me. To keep this entire town from learning what I was and hunting me down. Then, I remembered what Lunet said about making a choice based on intuition and standing on the edge of greatness.

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