Read Online Thorns of Decision (Dusk Gate Chronicles) by Breeana Puttroff - Free Book Online Page B

your mother is going to handle this?”
    “Right now, she’s not talking to me at all, Nathaniel. I haven’t even seen her since Sunday morning. She’s actually avoiding me.”
    “That’s what Thomas was just telling me in the car.”
    “Speaking of Thomas, I’m cold!” Thomas said in a joking tone from his seat. “I’d go into the house while you continue your little chat, but I need some help.”
    Although Thomas made light of the whole situation, Quinn could tell that it bothered him to be so dependent on their assistance. Nathaniel and William had to work together to lift him out of the car and carry him into the house. They were extremely efficient and gentle, but Quinn still saw Thomas wince a few times.
    William had told her that there was no way he would have been released from the hospital already if Nathaniel hadn’t been a doctor. There was still an IV port taped in Thomas’ left hand, and once they’d gotten him settled on the couch, Nathaniel squeezed a small syringe full of pain medication into it. Thomas looked very pale after the exertion of being moved.
     
    Once they were all sitting around a fire in the living room, sipping large mugs of tea brought back from Eirentheos, Quinn turned again to Nathaniel.
    “So you’re really not going to tell me how my mother knows about the gate?”
    Nathaniel sighed. “Your mother has known about the gate for long time, Quinn. How she guessed that’s where you had gone, I’m not sure. I haven’t had more than a passing or professional conversation with her since shortly after your father died.”
    “My boss at the library told me that you used to be close friends with my father.”
    Nathaniel sighed again and put his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. He stayed that way for several minutes, clearly deep in thought. Finally, he looked up. “You really just found out that I knew your father?”
    She nodded. “I mean, I guess I figured that you’d met him. You’ve been my doctor since I was born, and my father was alive until I was three. But I had no idea you knew him outside of that.”
    “And your mother is really completely avoiding you?”
    “Every night this week, she’s made sure she and the little kids are in bed before I get home, and they leave before I wake up in the morning. She’s left me a couple of notes and text messages, grounding and un-grounding me from various things.”
    He leaned back in his armchair, an expression on his face that she couldn’t quite comprehend. He looked … lost, maybe? Helpless. Sad.
    Beside her on the couch, William shifted, his eyes darting between Quinn and Nathaniel, concentrating intently. His posture was almost protective of her. Even groggy as he was from the medication he’d taken, Thomas too, was focused on the conversation.
    “Quinn … I’m not even supposed to tell you this much. But I just … can’t keep not telling you anything. Yes, I knew your father. More than just as a casual acquaintance. More than just as a friend, even. Samuel was … my brother.”
    Suddenly, everything in the room grew slightly fuzzy at the edges, and she felt like she was moving. Her hand hit the couch cushion as she tried to steady herself, and William’s landed on top of hers almost instantly. His was trembling, too.
    “ What? ” Although the word was the one echoing through her mind, the voice that spoke it wasn’t hers. William sounded shocked and angry. Thomas had sat up impossibly far, considering his casts. “What do you mean?”
    Nathaniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s true. Samuel was my oldest brother. He and I were very close – William, you and Thomas have always reminded me of the two of us.”
    “Wait,” Quinn said, finally finding her voice, although it was small and shaky. “If you and my father were brothers … that makes you …”
    “Yes, Quinn. It makes me your uncle.”
    Her uncle. Her father’s brother. She didn’t know the source of the