Page 45 of By the Orchid and the Owl
“You didn’t even try,” I said quietly.
She stopped. Turned to me. A single bead of rain broke through her own personal shield and rolled down her forehead.
“Don’t you dare,” she said, “try to tell me what I did or didn’t do, Rayna. Just becauseyoucouldn’t fathom making a single new friend didn’t meanIwas going to whine and whimper until I’d found you two.”
Heat rushed up my chest at that. From the corner of my eye, I saw yellowish-brown crabs lifting their tiny shelled heads from the sand to observe us and talk to each other in quick, clicking whispers.
“Look!”
“A faerie?”
“No. One of those invasive humans from the school.”
Ignoring them, I shook my head at Quinn.
“What happened to you?”
She tipped her head back in a laugh.
“You wouldn’t understand, Rayna. You’ve always been content to stay small.”
Even the crabs hushed.
“Excuse me?” I breathed.
Quinn wrinkled her nose. “I said what I said. You never wanted to come here to the Institute. You always planned to return to Alderwick and live the rest of your life alongside your fathers. You never wanted any friends beyond me and Lander. ButIdid.” Something foreign lit in her eyes. “I wanted out. I wanted more.”
I shut down the heat, the mortification, the anger. Let the pounding of the rain wash warm fury over me instead
“I didn’t realize we were using human beings as stepping stones to make ourselves feel bigger, Quinn. Loving my fathers, wanting to stay friends with you and Lander… those things don’t mean I’m small. It just means my love for you all is big.” I paused to collect my breath. “Humans aren’t just objects to discard when you grow bored of them.”
A dry laugh. “They are if they hold you back.”
In the distance, another bolt of lightning cracked through the clouds, and Quinn pressed on before I could respond.
“Youknew, Rayna. You knew how my mom treated me. You knew the hell I went through with her back at home. Having her constantly in my mind, controlling everything I did… it erased my sense of self, and youknewthat. Yet you know where I saw you heading to last night when I came to see you?”
I didn’t say anything, but understanding flashed through me.
“The Mind Manipulator house,” Quinn said grimly. “A Mind Manipulator abused your best friend for years, but you’re choosing to fraternize with them now.”
“Quinn—”
“I also,” she persisted, “heard what you did to Jenia and the others. Were you jealous of my friendship with her? Is that why you made the ants attack?”
“I didn’t.” I shook my head to clear it. “I did, but they were harassing a—”
“Oh, spare me your self-righteous bullshit, Rayna. You. Hurt. Them. And there is no excuse for hurting people.”
Faster than my heart could even stop, Quinn struck out with her hand.
I flinched, but the fire that erupted from her palm sped toward one of those crabs instead.
The rest of the creatures burrowed back into the sand, but that single unlucky one… it lay blackened and motionless among the rocks now.
“There you go,” Quinn said. “A crab for your crocodile. Glad I could help.” She turned back toward the zigzagging stone staircase. “See you around, Rayna.”
I watched her go, thoroughly drenched now, only relaxing my shoulders once she’d disappeared over the cliff’s edge high above me.
