Quinn laughed. "That's for your birthday party next week." She had picked up a sparkly purple tutu for Annie on her shopping trip. It had been intended as a surprise birthday present, but Annie had spied the bag as Quinn had tried to sneak it into the house. She'd worn it for part of every day since.

"It's mine. I can wear it whenever I want."

"That's true, pumpkin," Megan interrupted. "But you still can't go with Quinn and Zander tonight."

"But I want to! I want to go with Zander!"

"Maybe you can sometime soon," Quinn said. "How about tomorrow we go out for hot chocolate, just you and me?"

"Mmm ... I like hot chocolate."

"So is it a deal?"

"Can Zander come too?"

Quinn shot an exasperated look at her mom, who smiled. "I'll ask him."

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it! I'll get it!" Annie screeched, running toward the front door.

Quinn followed her. She waited patiently as Annie struggled, first with the dead bolt, which she opened successfully, and then with the small, rotating lock on the doorknob, which she still couldn't manage by herself. Finally, she allowed Quinn to help.

"Did you get it this time, Annie?" Zander asked, stepping into the entryway.

"Almost," she answered proudly.

"All right! Give me five." Zander held out his hand, and she promptly smacked it as hard as she could. "That was a good one, kiddo." Annie held up her arms, and Zander scooped her up.

"Hey gorgeous," he said, kissing the top of Quinn's head. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, wondering how he could still make her blush every time he did that. "I just have to grab my coat." The familiar butterflies filled her stomach again as she appraised him. He was dressed more nicely than usual, too, wearing gray slacks and a blue sweater over a white-collared shirt. She could tell he had shaved just before coming.

Zander smiled as he carried Annie into the kitchen and set her in one of the tall chairs that flanked the island where Megan was now peeling carrots into the sink. "That smells fantastic."

"Thanks, Zander," she answered, smacking his hand away from the pile of carrots as he snatched one. "Aren't you going to miss eating it? Your parents will be here in about an hour." Lately, since Quinn and Zander had been together so much, their families had been spending more time together, too. They shared dinner at one house or the other at least twice a week now.

"Nah, it will be nice to be with Quinn without all of the munchkins hanging off of us the whole time." He ruffled Annie's hair as he spoke. Zander's little sisters, Ashley and Sophia, were seven and four.

Megan chuckled. "I suppose that's true. So where are you two off to tonight, anyway?"

"Cafe d'Italia."

"Nice." Megan raised her eyebrows. "What's the occasion?"

"It's our one-month anniversary."

"Is it now?" Megan looked over at Quinn, who knew she had turned a fierce shade of red. Had it already been a month? She hadn't realized. She wondered when he had started counting. She counted weeks backward in her mind. It had been almost exactly a month since the Valentine Dance.

A whole month. Was she supposed to do something special for Zander? Should she have gotten him something? What was the protocol for a one-month anniversary in high school? Abigail would have known what she should do. Quinn mentally kicked herself for not thinking to discuss something like this with her. Of course, apart from the shopping trip, lately she hadn't been spending much time with Abigail who was always with Adam, and Quinn was usually with Zander "Young love," Megan said, smiling again. "What fun. You two have a good time tonight. Curfew still stands, though, even if it is your 'one-month anniversary.'" She directed a firm look at Zander.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll have her home before eleven."

In the end, Quinn's worry was unnecessary, as it usually was with Zander. She had never been to Cafe d'Italia, which was a cute little restaurant in Powder Mountain, a ski town not too far from Bristlecone. It was the most romantic date that Zander had arranged so far, although he always seemed to be working to find ways to please her. Tonight, he held her hand as the host led them to a small table draped with a red-and-white checked cloth. He even pulled out the chair for her, helped her out of her coat, and asked the waiter to bring a Cherry Coke, Quinn's favorite, before he seated himself.

In the last month, her relationship with Zander had blossomed. She couldn't imagine having a nicer boyfriend. She enjoyed his company, and regretted the first two years of high school when the two of them had somehow drifted away from the friendship they had shared since they were toddlers.

They had become inseparable again during the last few weeks, spending most of their time together when neither of them was at work. They did their homework together most evenings, and Quinn had actually been getting the hang of trigonometry. Zander's English grades had improved, as well.

Although she still wasn't sure exactly how significant it was to celebrate a month-long relationship, it had certainly been a wonderful month. She had even managed to mostly push her memories of her trip to Eirentheos out of her mind.

She still saw William at school every day, of course, but over the last weeks they had talked to each other less and less. Most days now, they'd exchange a wave at some point during the day and that would be it. It wasn't exactly the same level of non-contact they'd had before her time in his world she didn't feel like a stalker when she caught herself watching him study in the cafeteria, but it wasn't much more.

* 7 *.

An Invitation

AS ALWAYS, QUINN GLANCED up when she heard the whoosh of the library door while she was working on Thursday night. When she saw William's familiar outline against the glass she paused briefly to wave. She had almost turned her attention back to the books she was checking in at the desk when she realized that William was not alone. Her head snapped back up.

Thomas had seen her before she saw him, and he was headed purposefully toward her, a huge grin on his face. "Hey, princess."

Quinn's smile was nearly as wide as his. "Thomas! What in the..."

"I told you I wouldn't be away for too long. Face it. You're stuck with me now."

She rolled her eyes, catching William's gaze in time to see him doing the same. William shrugged. "He just showed up here about an hour ago, now I can't get rid of him."

She giggled as Thomas punched his brother playfully on the shoulder. "You'll die of boredom if I don't start coming more often, Will. I keep trying to convince Mother and Father that you need me here once a week."

William ignored him, looking around the library. "Where's Zander?"

An odd feeling Quinn couldn't quite explain washed over her at his question. Half irritation, half ... something else. "He works on Thursday nights." He didn't on Tuesdays, though, and it was true that William had seen him here with her often. Zander usually volunteered his services for most of Quinn's shift on Tuesday evenings, just so he could spend more time with her.

Even here in the library, she and William hadn't talked much in the last weeks. On Tuesdays, Zander usually occupied her attention, and on Thursdays, they had drifted back to their old habits of her working, and him being absorbed in his research. There had been a few times she'd almost gone over and talked to him, but she was never sure exactly what to say, and anyway, he always looked so engrossed in what he was doing that she didn't think he'd notice anyway.

"So Zander isn't coming tonight?" Thomas asked. "How unfortunate. I was hoping to meet the man who could capture the attention of the lovely Quinn."

She raised an eyebrow. "And why are you here again, Thomas?"

"You're going to hurt my feelings if you don't start believing the truth that I really would come all the way here just because I've missed you."

Now she narrowed her eyes.

"But it does so happen that I have come this time for a particular reason."

"And that is?"

"To see you."

She sighed, exasperated with Thomas, but also thoroughly delighted, as she always was, by his irreverence. He was too charming for his own good.

"What's the real reason?" She directed this question at William.

"That is the real reason." Thomas intercepted her gaze. "But more specifically, I am here to extend an invitation for you to come back with us to Eirentheos this weekend. You can come with us tomorrow night, and then be back on Saturday evening."

Her jaw nearly hit the counter. She glanced across the library at Sylvia, her boss, hoping that she hadn't overheard any of her conversation. Fortunately, she seemed to be deeply engrossed in a distribution catalog, and didn't appear to be paying attention to her at all.

"What? Why?"

"Simon is getting married, and you are officially invited to the wedding."

"I am?"

"Of course you are. William was supposed to give you your invitation ages ago, but he keeps not doing it. So I came."

She glanced over at William, who had turned several shades of purplish red. The hot lump that suddenly rose in her throat both puzzled and angered her. "You didn't want me to come?"

A panicked expression took over William's face. "It wasn't that, Quinn. I just ... didn't think you would want to go."

"Why wouldn't I want to go?"

"I can think of a number of reasons why a person might not want to leave their life for almost two weeks so they can go stay in a strange world. A world, I might add, where they were nearly attacked, and then nearly poisoned the last time they were there, just so they could go to the wedding of someone they barely know."

Quinn's eyes were wide.

"What William means," Thomas said, "is that he is too much of a coward to ask a pretty girl to go to his brother's wedding with him."

The look that William gave his brother just then almost made Quinn giggle. Almost. Her brain was too overrun with conflicting thoughts and feelings to be actually amused. She had been invited back to Eirentheos, to attend Simon's wedding. This weekend. How could she get away this weekend tomorrow without anyone noticing? Did she want to go back to Eirentheos, knowing that once she decided to go, she would be there for ten days?

And why had William not asked her himself? His explanation didn't make any sense. Even if she didn't want to go, he still could have asked. She had thought he had forgiven her for the last time, for the following him, and discovering his secret. She had even thought that they might have been becoming friends, at least a little. Tears stung the corners of her eyes as she thought about how she had been mistaken.

"Quinn? What's wrong?" Thomas' words pulled her out of her reverie. She looked up to see him watching her, concern in his gray eyes. William had already disappeared; she could see him beginning to unload the contents of his backpack onto his usual table at the back of the library.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

"Liar. Did I say something that upset you?"

"No."

"Not that you'd make it easy on me and just tell me if I had, would you? I'd have to do something to really make you mad, and then you'd just explode and tell me everything."

Quinn laughed. "How do you know me so well?"

"I'm good with people. It's part of my gift, you know. Besides, you're not that difficult to read." He studied her face for a long moment. "It's Will, isn't it? You're upset that he didn't invite you himself."

She opened her mouth to deny it, but the sincere expression on Thomas' face stopped her. He wasn't teasing her. Instead, she shrugged.

"Look, Quinn, I know my brother can seem pretty serious a lot of the time, but that doesn't mean you should always take him seriously."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You don't really think he doesn't want you to come, do you?"

"He didn't ask me to, and he could have."

Thomas shook his head. "He was afraid you would say no."

"That doesn't make any sense, Thomas. He still could have asked."

"You would have hurt his feelings if you had said no."

"Right, Thomas."

Now Thomas rolled his eyes at her. "You don't understand how people respond to you, Quinn."

Quinn didn't acknowledge this statement. "Besides, I probably wouldn't have said no."

"Great! So you're coming!"

* 8 *.

Sneaky

QUINN HATED THE IDEA of sneaking around, but she couldn't stop herself from doing it anyway. Last night, when she'd gotten home from work, after Thomas had talked her in to coming with them to the wedding, she had taken a deep breath and called Abigail.