“I’ve been here the whole time,” I tell her.
Fixed this. Rayne has to put the pen down on the bed; the effort is taking too much out of her. Her eyes are wide open, expecting an explanation.
I look around, but all of the nurses are busy with other patients. I lean down close to her face. “I just helped figure out what was wrong. Griffon diagnosed what it was and told them what to give you to fix it.”
Rayne points to the floor, and I know right away what she means. “Yes,” I say. “Griffon was here. Peter too—I’m sure he’s still around here somewhere.”
Rayne looks at me with her eyes wide open, and I can almost hear her question. “No. Everything’s still the same with me and Griffon. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that he figured it out and you’re going to be okay.”
I see one lone tear trickle down her cheek as she closes her eyes, exhausted from the effort of communicating. “I should go find Peter for you,” I say, even though I know she’s already asleep. I reach up to brush the tear away, but something catches my attention as my finger touches her skin. I pull back, startled, and then tentatively reach out to touch her one more time, to make sure I’m not imagining things. But I feel it again, and I hold my hand there to make sure there’s no mistake.
The vibrations coming from her are the same ones that I’ve learned to recognize in others over the past few months. I stare at her, sleeping fitfully, and can’t believe it’s happened. The one thing in all of this craziness that I never even considered possible has actually happened. Veronique, for all her desperation and manipulation, actually did it.
Rayne’s Akhet now.
Even as I’m listening to Zander butcher my favorite Chopin piece, I have one eye on my phone propped up on the music stand, willing it to ring. Rayne and her mom both insisted I leave the hospital and get on with my life, but my mind is still back there with them. I must have left five messages for Janine on the ride between the hospital and the studio. She hasn’t called me back and it’s killing me to not talk about Rayne with someone. I’ve given her until five o’clock, and if she doesn’t call by then, I’m going to Veronique’s lab alone. If it really was ergotoxicosis, then I know exactly where Rayne got it and why.
I touch my jacket pocket to make sure Veronique’s business card is still safe inside. Thank God I kept it from last year when she introduced herself at one of my concerts; otherwise I wouldn’t have a clue where to find her.
We’re finishing up a particularly screechy section when my phone finally jumps to life. I grab it and look through the window in the practice-room door around the hallway and down toward the lounge, but there are parents and students everywhere. I glance at Zander, who looks so bored he’s barely conscious. “Do you care if I take this?”
“Whatever,” he says, dropping the bow and grabbing his phone out of his pocket. He’s immersed in a game before I can even answer mine.
I turn my back to Zander, even though he’s not paying any attention. “Janine! Thank God!”
“I must have gotten half a dozen messages from you,” she says. “But you were talking so fast I barely understood anything. What’s going on? Is Rayne okay?”
“I think so,” I say, trying to stay calm and make sense. “At least she will be. Did Griffon tell you what Veronique did?”
“Yes, but I can’t believe it. The whole link between ergotoxicosis and Akhet transition is just a myth, a theory that some Iawi use to explain a particular period when there was a lot of activity. It’s crazy to think that someone would actually try it.”
I hesitate. “Well, it must have been ergotoxicosis, because the medicine they’re giving her seems to be working. But that’s not why I called.” I look over my shoulder at Zander, but he’s still totally absorbed in his game. And even if he was listening, he wouldn’t understand anything anyway. “Veronique was right!” I whisper. “It worked. Rayne transitioned! I could feel the vibrations when I went in to see her.”
There’s total silence on Janine’s end.
“Did you hear me?”
“I did,” she says slowly. “But do you realize what you’re saying? If this is true, it could have enormous implications for the world. For the future.”
“But I’m sure about what I felt. Rayne is Akhet. It’s incredible!”
“Look, I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but creating Akhet is impossible. It’s something that happens to the essence organically. Maybe you were just excited to see that she was getting better.”
“That has nothing to do with it.” I feel fear gnawing at my stomach. I never thought she wouldn’t believe me. “I know what I felt. I’ll take you with me so you can see for yourself. I may be Shewi, but I’m not an idiot.”
“I believe you,” Janine says quickly. “I’m sorry. It’s just so hard to get my head around it. Don’t talk to anyone else about this, okay? We need to find Veronique and see what she’s done. Do you have any idea where we can find her?”
“Her lab’s in Mission Bay,” I say. I reach into my pocket and pull out the card. “The University Annex. I can meet you down there in forty-five minutes.” I read the address to her.
“Got it,” Janine says. “I’m going to get some people to go down and check it out. Stay by your phone and I’ll let you know what we find out.”
Just sit by the phone? That’s my role in this? “But I think I should—”
“Stay there,” she insists. “Leave this to Akhet who have a lot more experience than you do. It could be dangerous.”
More dangerous than standing on a rooftop three stories up with a gun aimed at my head? I got through that episode with Veronique okay, and I’m a little irritated at Janine’s patronizing tone. “I can handle it,” I say firmly. If I hadn’t called her, they wouldn’t know anything about this.
“The best thing for you to do is sit tight. I know it’s hard, but you’ve done your part. I’ll call you back,” Janine says with a clipped tone, and my phone goes dead.
“I’ll call you back,” I mimic out loud.
That gets Zander’s attention. “Fight with the boyfriend?”
“No,” I say, but I notice my hands are shaking as I put my phone back in my bag. I glance at the clock. Only five minutes left in our lesson, but there’s no way I can concentrate now. It feels like big things are happening while I’m forced to sit behind the scenes and wait. I want to confront Veronique, want to do something horrible to her like she keeps doing to the people who are close to me. She’s a selfish, crazy Akhet scientist, and I want to be there when they take her down. Instead, I’m stuck in the studio waiting by the phone. “How about we cut this lesson a little short?”
Zander shoves his phone back in his pocket. “Works for me.”
“Go to the lounge and get a juice box,” I say. “And walk really slowly. Like, five minutes’ worth of slowly.”
He shoves the music in his backpack and closes the cello case. “I got this.” We stand up and I hold the door open for him.
He leans toward me. “And if you ever need relationship advice, I’m your man.”
I stare at him, slightly disgusted. His head barely reaches my shoulder. “Just. Go.”
Twenty
The sky is streaked with orange as I finally step off the bus. It’s actually not all that far from the studio, but this part of the city seems like it’s worlds away. Despite the fact that it’s after regular working hours, there are still people coming out of the greenglassed building.
I cross the street, rehearsing the words I’ve practiced all the way over here. I’m sure there’s a guard or a doorman or something—they’re not going to let just anyone walk into a university research facility. Pulling the heavy front door open, I run through my story in my head one more time. I’m almost disappointed to find that the front desk is empty. The few people I see on this floor are just rifling through their tote bags for their keys or tapping on their phones on their way to the exit. Nobody is paying any attention to a sixteen-year-old girl looking lost in the lobby. All of the doors—including the elevator—have slots for card keys, and I know I’m not going to get very far without one. I hear a ding behind me as the silver doors slide open and an older man in a black button-down shirt walks out of the elevator.