C. Omololu - Intuition

“Sorry about that,” Drew says a little sheepishly as he joins us backstage. There are beads of sweat on his upper lip that he rubs away with the sleeve of his shirt.

“That was amazing,” Rayne says, a flicker of awe in her eyes. “I love that song. Why didn’t you tell us you played on it?”

We flatten ourselves against the wall as the dancers rush back onstage and the lights come up for the next song. “We were just messing around in the studio one day, and that came out,” he says. “We had no idea it was going to take off like it did.” He glances at me, a faintly guilty look in his eyes. “She usually has one of the guys in the band play the piano part. I honestly didn’t think she was going to do that.”

I smile. “You were great.”

Relief washes over his face, and I realize just how much he cares what I think.

“I’m glad,” he says. “It didn’t matter that thousands of people were out there. What mattered was that you were back here. Every word, every note, was for you.”

There’s a pause, and it feels like time stops for just a moment. Everything seems to come into sharp focus as the music and the stage are pushed into the background. I see the way Drew’s hair is damp at the ends from the heat of the stage, and the outline of the ankh he wears through the thin fabric of his shirt. I see the way we were back then, how safe and protected I felt with Connor’s arms around me and how unbelievably broken I felt when he was gone.

I want to be part of something like that again—to feel that level of devotion again. Drew loves me even though I’ve given him every reason not to, and eventually he’ll stop giving me second chances. Someday soon, he’s going to stop asking.

I reach up and put my arms around his neck, pulling him to me and pressing my lips against his in a kiss that I hope holds both an apology and a promise.

Drew pulls back, surprised, and looks into my eyes for confirmation that it wasn’t an accident, like somehow I tripped and fell into him. I smile, almost embarrassed now. He throws his head back and laughs, picking me up and spinning me around, giving me a kiss that’s both tender and insistent. I put one hand on his chest, and his heart is beating so loud and so fast it drowns out the Akhet vibrations between us.

As he sets me back down, I look over at Rayne. She’s watching it all with a smile on her face, and I know that any sins against Griffon have been forgiven. “Nice,” she mouths, and I roll my eyes at her.

We’re walking through the parking lot after the show when my hand bumps Drew’s, and instead of moving apart, he wraps his fingers through mine, watching my face to see that it’s okay, that things have changed enough between us to hold hands in public.

I glance up at Rayne, who’s walking ahead of us through the rows of cars, her head bent and the light from her phone reflected in her face; texting Peter, I’m sure.

“You don’t have to worry,” I say, leaning into him. “I’m not going to run away.”

Drew laughs and squeezes my hand tighter. “I guess I’m not totally sure of that.” He brings my hand up to his lips and kisses my fingers. “It’s just so hard to believe that you’re here, that you’re with me now. It’s been so long.”

“I thought the kissing might have convinced you,” I say.

“I might need a little more convincing,” Drew says, leaning in and kissing me deeply. I can feel his hunger inside, an overwhelming desire so intense it scares me.

I hear a phone clatter to the ground, and we look up to see Rayne slumped against the hood of an old car from the ’50s. She’s not completely unconscious, but looks dazed and not totally aware of us as we rush over to see if she’s okay.

I recognize the look in her eyes, seeing but not seeing, and know she’s someplace else. “I think she’s having a memory,” I say.

“What are you talking about?” Drew grabs her by the shoulders and eases her onto the ground next to the car. As he lets go of her arms, he turns to me. “Why am I feeling Akhet vibrations from her?”

“I’m okay,” Rayne says thickly. She tries to stand up, but her legs are wobbling under her. “I just had the weirdest flashback.” She rubs her forehead. “I’ve been getting them a lot lately. I think it’s from the stuff that Veronique gave me.”

“It is, sort of,” I say, helping her up. “What did you see?”

She squints. “I was driving an old turquoise blue car on a country road somewhere. It had these huge fins on the back like it was the ’50s. It was really hot, so the windows were down, and I was blowing cigarette smoke out into the air.”

I look at the car she’s leaning against. It’s red, not blue, but it has the same huge fins in the back. “Was it like this car?”

Rayne looks at it thoughtfully. “Yeah, it was, kind of.”

Drew stares at me, taking it all in. “You don’t mean . . . how . . . ?”

I exhale. I should have done this long before now. It’s not fair to keep either of them in the dark, even if it’s for different reasons. “Let’s find Drew’s car. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

“So Rayne’s fine with it?” Janine asks, leaning back in her chair as I tell her a carefully edited version of last night’s events.

“More than fine with it,” I say. “Thrilled is more like it. I wish you could have seen her face when I told her. I thought she’d be pissed about what Veronique had done, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her happier.”

Janine laughs. “That’s one way to look at it,” she says. “I’m glad you finally told her.”

“I had to. She was starting to have memories, and I couldn’t let her think she was going crazy.”

“You can always send her to me if she has questions you can’t answer,” Janine says.

“I will. I just hope she can keep the whole thing from her mom. She was so excited; I know that was her first thought, and her mom is totally into all that hippie stuff—psychics and auras.”

“At least she has you. Not many people get that kind of an advantage when they transition.”

“Thanks,” I say quietly.

“What did you tell Drew?”

“Everything,” I say. “Well, almost everything. I left out the part about spying on his party, because there was just no good way to put that.”

“And what did he say?”

I look away, thinking about the hurt on Drew’s face as I told him what had been going on. “He was kind of pissed,” I admit. “He didn’t like that I’d been keeping such big things from him. But we weren’t together when it all happened,” I say. “It’s not like I owed him anything.”

Janine raises her eyebrows at the past tense, but thankfully lets it go. No way do I want to talk about my relationship with Drew right now. Whatever it actually is. He kissed me when he dropped us off last night, but I could tell he was hesitating, holding something back.

“You’re right,” Janine agrees. “You don’t owe him anything.”

Her eyes are so honest and kind—I feel the guilt welling up inside. I’ve been thinking about it for the past two days; I have to tell her. “You know how I said that I didn’t get anything from anyone at Drew’s party?”

“Yes. You said that nobody there seemed to be hiding anything big.” She tilts her head toward me. “Don’t worry, it’s what we expected. We’re trying some other avenues of information.”

“Yeah. Well, that wasn’t totally true. I did see something, but I’m not sure what it means.”

Janine sits up straight. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I take a deep breath. “Because it’s Giselle.”

Her eyes widen. “Giselle? Our Giselle?”