Under the Moon by Natalie J. Damschroder Read Free Book Online Page B

crashes—he may never come after her. But Jennifer’s e-mail and Alana’s IM blow-off were more personal, the reasons more unknown, and that was scarier. Quinn was afraid waiting a week would allow the chasm the Society was building around her and Nick to be too deep to overcome.
    The attendant began her demonstration while the plane backed from the gate and taxied to the runway. A few minutes later they were taking off. Quinn watched the world zip by, conscious of Nick’s tension. Sure, he wasn’t afraid. But teasing him about his reasons for hating flying didn’t seem fair at the moment.
    As soon as they were airborne, Nick opened his book. “Nighty-night.”
    Annoying as he was, he was right. She hated the boredom of travel and always fell asleep, no matter how hard she tried not to. The drone of the engine and general white noise of the cabin helped her doze until they approached Logan Airport two hours later. Her dreams were vague and jumbled, but all of them incorporated an awareness of Nick’s proximity. She knew when he stood to remove and stow his coat overhead, when he ordered orange juice from the attendant. She sensed when he watched her sleep, and she tightened her arms around herself when he got up to go to the restroom or do another walk-through.
    She kept her eyes closed when she reached full awareness, not wanting to leave the state of comfort being near Nick gave her. A simple state that would disappear as soon as he knew she was awake, old barriers going up automatically.
    He touched her arm. “Quinn. We’re about to land.”
    She lifted her head and yawned. “You sleep at all?”
    “Yeah, right.” He drew the blanket off her to fold it. “You drooled on my shirt, you know.”
    “I did…not.” There was a wet spot on his shoulder. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “Sorry.”
    The captain announced preparation for landing, and they lapsed into silence. They didn’t say much until they were in the rental car, a Taurus Nick wrinkled his nose at.
    “Where to?” he asked, starting the engine.
    Quinn rolled down her window an inch to let in the crisp evening breeze. “Sam booked us rooms at—”
    “Rooms? Plural? No.” He shook his head. “We’ll have to change that.”
    “Fine.” She wasn’t going to argue with him, plus it would be cheaper. “We’ll get a suite. Turn up here.” Half an hour later, Nick left the car with the hotel valet and followed Quinn inside. She signed for the new room and handed Nick his key card.
    Once they were alone in the elevator, she said, “I want to freshen up and then head over to the Society to see if I can catch Alana.”
    Nick glanced at his watch. “It’s after seven.”
    “She might still be there. If not, we can try her at home.”
    “You could call first.”
    “I don’t want to alert her.” The way she’d acted, she was likely to run and hide if she knew Quinn was coming.
    When they arrived at the brick building housing the Society office, Quinn used her officer ID card to activate the elevator. When they got upstairs and emerged in the main reception area, she turned off the alarm with the code given to all board members and staff. The light flashed green.
    “They haven’t locked you out yet.”
    She shrugged to hide her relief. “I guess they didn’t expect me to fly here.” She surveyed the dark reception area and looked down the hall. With the exception of a small lamp behind the front desk, no lights were visible, not even cracks under doors.
    “Doesn’t look like she’s here.” Nick opened the door to leave. “How far’s her house?”
    “Hang on.” Quinn went to the wide white desk and sat down at the computer.
    “What are you doing?”
    “They leave the computers on for backup. Or they did the last time I was here.” She flipped on the monitor, which faded into a desktop image of a white-robed ancient goddess with dark hair down to her ankles.
    “She’s hot.” Nick leaned over her shoulder.
    Quinn