"Hi, Natalie," said Quinn.
His voice was muffled, as if he were talking through something else before it actually got to the phone. The cold glass of the screen felt great against her cheek, still hot with all the stress and panic that refused to subside after what felt like hours of never-ending fear. But in one instant, hearing Quinn's voice, Natalie felt it diminish.
It wasn't gone, and she was still terrified and angry and confused and had no idea what to do next… but at least she had someone she could talk to. She relaxed against Gwen's soft fur, watching Scrappy's tail twitch left and right as he watched the front door, and tried to forget everything going on.
"How are you?" she asked, not sure what else to say.
"I'm… I'm okay. I've just been at home. Can't really leave. After I…" He trailed off, obviously not wanting to say it. "I got back before my parents did. I tore off the part at the bottom of the note where you said I was…"
"...It's okay," said Natalie. "I understand."
"I'm so—"
"Don't," said Natalie quickly. I don't want to hear that… Quinn hesitated, and she went on. "Don't… don't apologize. Just… talk to me, okay?"
"Okay." Quinn seemed to be moving around now, whatever he was doing. She heard typing. He's on his computer, doing something.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm reading all the stuff online about us," said Quinn. "Guess we're famous now…"
"Yeah…" She winced. He's probably seeing all the awful stuff too… and he's going back to school on Monday… Natalie tried to lighten the mood. "I saw one where they said you were a good-looking boyfriend."
"Do you…" Quinn trailed off again. I miss the old Quinn… he was never so afraid to talk before… That was me. What happened?
Oh, right. I happened. I screwed up his life too, just by being around.
"I still really like you," said Natalie firmly. "And… if someday, when all this is over…" She glanced at her signal bar. It looked strong enough… she hoped. "Hey, can I… can I call you on video?"
"Okay."
Natalie quickly tapped over to the video button. The sound of Quinn's breathing vanished for a few moments, then came back—along with his face. He'd been crying recently. Natalie couldn't blame him. Behind him, she saw his room, his bed, all the stuff she expected to see. He was talking through his computer, rather than his phone, so the camera was mounted up on top.
"I wish I were there right now," said Natalie aloud, before she could stop herself.
Quinn blushed. "You do?"
"...Yeah." She brushed her hair out of her face, trying to smile—trying to ignore everything for a while, just like Riley said. Natalie wasn't in the middle of the forest after a huge battle and protecting her father from the whole world… she was just a kid on the phone with her boyfriend. "I really like your room. It's nice."
"Where are you?"
Natalie held the phone out as far as she could, and tilted it to the side to show Gwen's face. Gwen peered into the screen and growled, though to Natalie's ears, it sounded less like suspicion and more like a bemused indifference.
"Whoah…" said Quinn. "That's… that's her, isn't it?"
"Yeah." She smiled.
"She growled. She doesn't like me, does she?"
"No, not that… she mostly just doesn't get phones." Natalie turned to Gwen.
"I heard my name in there… what did you just say?"
"I told her to be nice," said Natalie. A thought came to mind.
Gwen growled. Percy, up in the corner of the room, squawked indignantly. Gwen turned up her nose at him and huffed disapprovingly, before turning back to look at the little screen with Quinn's face. She bared her teeth just slightly, in what usually amounted to a smile for her.
"See, she likes you." Natalie nodded. "If you were here, she'd probably give you a hug right now."
"...How does a wolf give a hug?"
"Kinda like she's doing for me right now," said Natalie. Gwen's tail was still wrapped up around her along with most of her body. Natalie did her best to show it all with the little phone camera. She didn't want to move, with how comfortable and warm the whole setup was.
"She seems really cool," said Quinn, smiling.
"She is." Natalie settled back into her fur. She smiled back up at Quinn's face as she held the phone way above her head. "You'll meet her someday."
"I'm glad you found her again."
"Me too." Natalie hesitated. She hadn't wanted to ask earlier, but she felt a lot more comfortable now. "How are your parents doing?"
Quinn shook his head—but to her relief, there wasn't any hesitation anymore. They were back to talking like normal, and Quinn was back to his fast-thinking self. Natalie loved hearing that voice again.
"They're still really afraid, but since I didn't leave, I thought they'd be mostly okay. They asked about you a couple times, but I didn't say where you went." He shrugged. "I got them to leave it alone at first, but now everybody else's parents are calling them asking where they are. So between Mitch's mom, Kelsey's moms and Tyler's parents, it's kinda intense."
"Yeah…" Natalie winced. "I dunno if they should have come with me."
"I'm glad they did," said Quinn. "Kelsey would have beaten herself up for weeks if she didn't, you know."
"...Yeah, probably."
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"And Mitch had to go if Kelsey went, and Tyler…" Quinn shrugged. "Well, I think he just really wants you to actually be Linnethea."
"Oh!" Natalie laughed aloud. She'd nearly forgotten all about that detail. "I am Linnethea."
"Huh?"
"I was…" She giggled, realizing just how ridiculous it sounded that she'd been in charge of a military patrol at thirteen years old. "I was helping out the soldiers with something and we wanted to use a codename. So nobody would know who I was. I just ended up saying Linnethea." She winced. "A couple of them called me Linny."
"That sounds so dumb."
"Yeah… I got him to shorten it to Linn. That was okay." Natalie shrugged. "He was pretty cool actually."
"So now you're riding around the forest on a wolf and leading soldiers into battle?" Quinn grinned. "Guess you really are her."
"Yeah…" The mood fell again, after she'd just been feeling good about herself. Natalie shook her head. "It was really scary."
Quinn looked a bit crestfallen, realizing how he'd brought up something uncomfortable. Natalie wanted to change the subject, keep them talking before they lost the conversation entirely and she was back to feeling uncomfortable and alone, but something else happened. A loud thump echoed on Quinn's side, followed by a muffled shout she couldn't understand. He glanced up at the wall toward the front door.
"...What was that?" asked Natalie.
Quinn looked even more uncomfortable than before. He shifted in his chair, adjusting his glasses and obviously trying to delay saying something. "I didn't… I didn't want to tell you."
Natalie hesitated. On the one hand, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. She had enough stressing her out already just in the forest around her. But… it was Quinn. There were only two people in the world Natalie cared more about than him, and both of them were already with her, even if she couldn't decide whether or not to go talk to her dad yet.
She needed to know. "Tell me everything, please?" she said softly. "It's okay."
Quinn nodded. "...There's people outside our house. A couple of news crews and some others. They… after it got out you'd been living with us, they came here."
"...How do people know I was living with— Blake," said Natalie suddenly, interrupting her own question.
He nodded again. "So everything my parents were afraid of came true anyway. Now I think they're regretting asking you to leave."
"Are you guys okay?" asked Natalie. Her mind raced with ideas—was there anything she could do to help them? She couldn't leave Rallsburg, of course, but maybe one of her… do we even have friends anymore?
We do.
But we just told everybody we weren't on their side anymore. I left the Summit.
They are not the only friends we still keep.
"I think so," said Quinn, though Natalie was only half-paying attention at this point. "It's kinda scary though… and Dad says he's not going to work tonight. Saturday's one of the best days for tips, so he's worried about that too."
It's not like Kelsey and Mitch could do anything either…
Think harder, Natalie.
Huh?
Not everyone at the Summit agreed with Cinza and Agent Ashe.
...Hailey.
Yes.
Hailey didn't know about the ritual. She was surprised when they brought it up. She couldn't be involved either, she was in jail way across the country.
She can protect Quinn's family. Quinn already knows her as well.
But she's in prison… How am I supposed to call her?
Lawyers are able to talk to people in prison.
I don't know her lawyer.
You know a lawyer.
"Quinn," said Natalie suddenly, interrupting him. She'd completely lost track of what he was saying, and it didn't matter anyway. She needed to do this for him—for them.
"Yeah?"
"Is your mom home?"
"...Yeah. Why?" he asked, confused. Not suspicious, to her relief—Quinn trusted her without a doubt. He just hadn't followed her train of thought of all. How could he?
"I need to talk to her… please?"
"...Okay." Quinn got up from the computer and walked over to his bedroom door. Natalie felt a tingle up her spine as he called out and Annette answered. A minute later, she'd come into his room.
"What's going on… oh." Annette's face fell at the sight of Natalie on the screen, or however else Quinn had been talking to her.
Natalie's heart sank, but she forced herself to speak against the disappointment welling up in her throat. "Hi…"
"...Hi, Natalie."
"I need your help."
Annette hesitated. She glanced at her son. Quinn was right behind her, practically pleading even though he remained dead silent—letting Natalie take control. Finally, Annette looked back at the screen again.
"You know what's happening here, right?"
"Yes." Natalie nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for… I shouldn't have stayed there."
"No," said Annette firmly. "This isn't your fault. It's just…"
"...complicated," finished Natalie, knowing that word all too well by now. Annette looked upset, but Natalie didn't want to get trapped in another guilt competition. She had more important things to worry about. "I need to get in touch with a lawyer. I was hoping you could help."
"Well… we don't exactly all know each other, but I might be able to," said Annette. She pulled out her phone. "Do you have their name?"
"No…"
"...A firm, at least?"
Natalie shook her head. "It's whoever's… representing," she finally landed on the right word, "Hailey Winscombe in Washington D.C."
"Oh!" Annette nodded. "Jefferson Baux. I do know him, actually. Only in passing, but I know his firm. I can get a message to him." She hesitated. "What's the message?"
Natalie shook her head. "I need to talk to Hailey. Can you… can I get his number?"
"...All right." Annette tapped a few buttons on her phone. A text message appeared on Natalie's screen with Jefferson's phone number. "There's no guarantee he can get a phone call to Hailey, though. They sometimes confiscate our phones before letting us see the defendant."
"I'll figure something out," said Natalie. She smiled. "Thanks."
Annette tried to smile, but it just came out as uncomfortable. "...Be safe, Natalie," she finally offered, before leaving the two of them alone again and shutting the door behind her.
"What was that about?" asked Quinn, sitting down again in front of the computer.
Natalie hesitated, but she had decided they shouldn't lie to each other. It would be wrong for her to turn around and not explain to Quinn what she was planning to do, particularly when it involved him.
"I'm gonna get Hailey to come keep you guys safe."
"...Oh wow," said Quinn, his eyes widening. "Is that… are you sure?"
Natalie nodded. "She's going to be cleared anyway, and she already knows you," she reminded with a small grin. Quinn matched it. "Plus, I… I think it'll be good. Hailey likes helping people, and she's… she's the only one I can trust right now."
"...What?"
"They want to kill my dad," Natalie said abruptly. "They already tried, and I stopped them. Now I gotta stay here and make sure they don't do it."
"Oh… oh man," said Quinn. "That's… that's insane."
"Yeah…" Natalie winced. "I haven't talked to him yet. I don't know if… if I can. But I gotta keep him safe."
"Yeah." Quinn shook his head. "That's horrible."
A sharp prickle on the side of her neck got her attention. Natalie glanced out the window. She thought she heard something, but Scrappy hadn't reacted, nor had Riley called out anything from above. Still, it reminded Natalie she couldn't just talk the whole day. The Summit would end sooner or later, and if they were planning to try again, she was sure they wouldn't waste time.
"I gotta go…" she said quietly.
"Okay," said Quinn.
"I want to call you again. Will you be—"
"I'll be home all day, and tomorrow too," said Quinn. "We're not going to church either." Before Natalie could start to feel guilty about that, Quinn shook his head. "I think we're kinda happy about that though. We all wanted a weekend of doing nothing anyway. So now we're getting that."
"...Okay," said Natalie. "Thank you, Quinn."
"I'll see you again soon," he said, smiling.
Natalie nodded. "Bye."
"Bye."
As soon as she hung up, Gwen flicked her tail into Natalie's face.
Gwen seemed to roll her eyes, as if skeptical. Natalie wasn't sure what she meant, but felt like it had something to do with Quinn.
She shook her head just slightly, huge yellow eyes fixed on Natalie.
<...You do like him?>
A nod.
Gwen growled again, a low soft growl that almost sounded sad. Natalie finally understood—Gwen wanted her to be with Quinn, even if she didn't quite approve of sharing her. Natalie rolled her eyes, but hugged up tight to Gwen anyway. She took a deep breath before pulling the phone out again and making her next call.
"Jefferson Baux."
"Hi…"
"...To whom am I speaking?"
"Natalie Hendricks."