Page 58 of Splitting Secrets
“I supposed that’s all the confirmation I’ll get from you then.”
I turn to face her, offering another flat look.
Yeah, that’s all she’s getting from me.
31
Sonny
For all their power and influence, it sure appears that the rebellion has got more enemies than allies.
The whole situation would be comical if my own safe house wasn’t tucked deep inside the very woods we’ve been warned away from since the moment we got here.
It doesn’t help that the home has been carved directly into the side of a mountain like some evil lair. The only way to get to it is by creeping through a heavily wooded trail that sits between the two infamous cities. When Quinn turned her van off the road the following morning, I was positive we’d get stuck at least three times.
I’m glad the four of us opted to be housed together. It’s the best decision I’ve made since I found this horrible place. With what we’ve endured together, they feel like a part of me now—an extension of my very being. Now that Poppy is gone, I’m clinging to that bond for dear life.
We’ll ride this out together until the end.
We stayed the night at Quinn’s, sprawled out on her living room floor. I was so tempted to creep up the stairs and find Raze’s old bedroom, but my fear of being caught won out. Something tells me she’s looking for an excuse to get rid of me, and sneaking around her house seems like a great start. She claimed that driving there at night would put the safe house at too much risk. Apparently, it’s less conspicuous to visit during the daytime.
At least we didn’t have to wear those smelly cloaks on the way.
She parks the van beside the base of a looming mountain, and the four of us climb out with her, our necks swiveling around in search of our new home. Dread fills my gut when we come up short, my mind spiraling with possibilities.
No, I stop myself.We can trust them.
There is no sign of life anywhere, though. No home camouflaged by leaves or cabin built into the trees. In fact, we still don’t notice anything even when Quinn walks over to the stoney base. Her hand moves in a blur, like she’s typing into a keypad, and then something shifts to our left. We watch her spin on her heel with wide eyes, noting how she doesn’t spare a glance toward the shifting earth as she heads back toward the van.
A part of the mountain begins to lift, the light from the afternoon sun bleeding into what appears to be a...garage? Four tires peek out at us first until the stone slate lifts up to reveal a four person side-by-side parked on the left and an open space on the right. Toolboxes and a work bench line the stone walls, and rods of fluorescent lights hang from the ceiling.
Quinn waits for the door to open fully, eases the van into the empty spot, then kills the engine and makes her way toward a door along the back.
“If you don’t get in here, I’m going to lock you out,” she warns, her hand hovering over another keypad.
That seems to pull us out of our trance, as all four of us immediately jog in behind her right as the motor begins to rumble and the slate of stone starts to move downward.
“Never in a million years would I have guessed you had a secret lair,” Jonah mutters quietly.
She waits for the stone door to seal shut before twisting the knob on the one before us and pushing it open. Her reply is so quiet, I almost miss it under the intakes of breath from my friends.
“It’s not mine,” she retorts.
But our attention has settled completely on the stunning interior before us. I imagined our safe house to be just as quaint and inconspicuous as the cabin Raze kept us in. Nothing like...this.
We’re standing in a living room with high ceilings and a wraparound sectional couch. The walls are painted in a soft, light gray and accented with tasteful black and white decor. Pops of color are scattered all around—from the blue throw pillows to the purple abstract painting hanging on the wall. Even though there aren’t any natural light sources, the home still feels open and airy.
There’s a hallway to our left that I assume leads to a kitchen and dining room, based on the small sliver of a table and chairs that I can see. An open staircase takes up the wall on the right.
Quinn confirms my suspicions about the kitchen when she jabs her finger in that direction and says, “Kitchen, dining, and bath are over there. Bedrooms are up there.” She swivels her body and points to the staircase. “You can draw straws or something to decide who gets what room. They’re all open on that floor.”
She sends us upstairs, muttering something about having to talk to someone, and we take the opportunity to get away from her thorny attitude and tour our new home.
Four bedrooms and a full bathroom make up the upper level of the two-story home. It feels like a mansion compared to what we’ve been living in. Beatrix and Ava volunteered to share the largest master bedroom, which has two separate full-size beds and matching dressers. Jonah agreed to take the room beside it, leaving me to stay in the room down the hall, across from the empty one.
“I’m sorry you got stuck all alone,” Ava says guiltily, following me through the hall as I drag my feet toward my new space.
The full-size bed takes up most of the floor space, leaving almost no room for a dresser. The closet door hits the end of the bed when I open it and hardly has room for me to stand inside with my hands at my sides. Not that it matters, anyway. I don’t have any of my belongings.
