Page 62 of Intersect

Nick grinds his teeth as he twists his leg to make the wound face up. “You fucking bitch,” he says. “What do you want withus?”

She tips her head to her shoulder, amused by his anger. “This is a good start. I never dreamed it would all go quite this well. But don’t worry. I’m going to give Quinn here one morechance.”

One more chance to do what?!I already told her I’d do anything she wants. She’s toying with us, as if this is fun for her, alark.

She turns to me. “Just look at him. You could save him, you know, if you wanted to. That wound won’t kill him. Not immediately, anyway. But now I can shoot him in the head from two feet away, andthatwill. And it’s entirely yourfault.”

I struggle against the shackles, weep so hard I begin to choke, and she strolls over and finally rips the tape from my mouth. “Tell me what to do!” I scream. “Just fucking tell me! I’ll do it.Anything.”

“Quinn,” Nick groans. “Don’t.”

She crouches in front of me. “You want to save him? Then come get me. If you wanted it enough, you could have your hands around my throat in a moment. You just don’t love him thatmuch.”

I thrash against the shackles. “I do!” I scream. “I do! I just don’t know what youwant!”

“If you love him so much, I want you to show me,” she says, smirking. “Close your eyes and place yourself behind me. See that knife on the table? Picture yourself there.” I think of that dream I had weeks ago at my mother’s house. The voice telling me I’d be able to jump on the day when I needed it most. I couldn’t possibly need it more than I do right now, yet there is nothing there. I’m as impotent as I everwas.

“I can’t!” I cry. “I’m not likeyou.”

“You can. You were once such a talented little time traveler. Remember? Remember how you rushed back to change Nick and Ryan’s timeline? The way you swore you’d never wish for anything again after you messed up. You should tell Nick what you did. Goahead.”

My head is shrieking but I see it. I see the decision. I picture the moment I stood there, watching Nick and Ryan tearing each other apart, how I couldn’t stand that I was at fault. “No,” I cry, my eyes squeezedtight.

“The three of you were at a party and your brother was drinking too much. Sulking, as always, because he thought you stole Quinn from him,” says Sarah without emotion. “He kissed her against her will and you caughtthem.”

Nick’s face is so pale, twisted with pain, but he stills at these words. My head falls backward. He’s going to hate me, but maybe it’s better that way, if she lets him live. Maybe hating me will make this easier when I’mgone.

“Tell him what you did, Quinn,” Sarah says. “Tell him what you did, or I shoot him again and endthis.”

I turn toward him. He looks at me with absolute faith in his eyes, and he never will again. “I went back,” I weep. “I went back and convinced you not to go to the party because I wanted it not to have happened. I didn’t want it to come between us, and I was scared you and Ryan would kill each other. And Ryan went alone and got in that truck, and hedied.”

Nick’s face gets even paler, and he stares at me in shock. He’s just...blank. As if everything he felt toward me a moment before has seeped out along with the blood pouring down hisleg.

Sarah turns back to me. “You didn’t just stop time traveling, Quinn. You stopped fighting for anything you want, and I’m sure today’s no exception. You’re going to roll over again and because of it, Nick willdie.”

“I’m not! I just…please…I don’t know how to do what you’re talking about!” Iplead.

Sarah groans in aggravation. “Enough! Enough of this nonsense. He dies.” She walks toward the desk for thegun.

“Quinn,” says Nick, suddenly still. “It’s okay. Look at me.” I comply, stunned by how calm he is, how resigned, as if there’s no use fighting it anymore. That blank look on his face a moment ago is gone. His heart is in his eyes now, a heart that’s entirely mine. “I love you. So much. And even if you can’t say it back, I know you love metoo.”

Love. It’s what holds Nick calm right now, in the face of his own death, worried about me instead of himself. It’s what led him to give up everything to try to save me. And yes, it leads to bad things too—our tenant murdering his wife in a fit of jealous rage. Me accidentally killing Ryan simply because I wanted to prevent a kiss, a stupid fight. But ultimately, it’s a beautiful thing, enabling the weakest of us to transcend our fear and our failings and our desires on behalf of someone else. And I never wanted to open myself up to it, not with him, because I knew it would lead me to this moment—the one in which the door I held so tightly, only letting a tiny bit of air come through, finally swings open. Love for him rushes in, brilliant and painful atonce.

But something deadly is there too—and after way too many years, I’m finally able to welcome it. “I love you,” I whisper. “And I’m not going to let youdie.”

My eyes go to Sarah, to the knife on her desk. I focus so hard that my brain shrieks in response, black oozing into the corners of my vision. But I do not let it go. I stare at the desk while she cocks the gun and points it at Nick’shead.

There is a rush of air. Darkness flecked with tiny pinpoints of light. I ignore all of it and focus:the knife on the desk, the knife on the desk. I picture it in my head until it no longer seems like a picture, until it isreal.

And I land. Free of the shackles, naked, on the floor behind Sarah. My brain begs for mercy, and I want to curl up in a ball at the pain, but I force myself forward to the desk, grabbing the knife. I don’t know how far back I’ve gone, but when I glance at the wall I realize Nick isn’t here yet. Which means there’s one last thing I need to do in order to savehim.

My vision narrows to only a pinpoint of light. I am half here and half in the place I go when I collapse, that land of darkness and absence. Sarah turns toward me just as I hear the door upstairs creak open. There is no time to think, to argue. I lunge, tackling her, with the knife in my hands. Her hands surround mine, and together we drive the knife into her chest. It hits bone first and then sinks in easily as we both fall to theground.

My vision is gone, but I hear her speaking to me. “Good girl,” she whispers. “You finally didit.”

There’s a question on my lips but it washes away along with everything else. I no longer hear Nick upstairs. I no longer see. The floor was cold a moment before and now it’s…nothing.

I give into it, the inky blackness, and the pain begins to ease as night sweeps through my veins.Nick, I think, just before the blackness obliterates thought.I found you before. I will find youagain.