I search his eyes in the dim light. “So what does that mean?”
His eyes narrow and he swallows hard. “It means she knows you’re Akhet now. You remember your connection to her. And now there’s no reason for her to hold back anymore.”
Twenty
“Do I even need to ask where the two of you have been?” Rayne squeals as we make our way slowly across the cold sand.
“Probably not.” I glance at Griffon walking beside me, holding tight to my good hand. He wanted to go straight home, but I managed to convince him to keep going toward the beach. We lost the car, and they don’t have any idea where we’re going. A bonfire on the beach is probably the safest place in the city for us right now, and all I really want is to be with him, far from runaway cars and rogue Akhet. I’ll tell Griffon everything I know about Veronique. Tomorrow.
“I’ll bet. You should see how red your face is.” She grins at me and gives me a quick hug. “I’m just glad you’re here. Gabi’s over there talking to some guy from Roosevelt.” Rayne makes a face. She thinks all guys from Roosevelt are snobs.
There are probably twenty people scattered around the sand, some sitting on blankets in the shadows, others standing in knots close to the fire, the flickering flames casting a bright glow over their features.
“The coolers over there have drinks in them, but I’m not sure there’s much beer left. I heard that someone’s going on a run, but I don’t know for sure.”
Griffon looks down at where our hands join, and then at the cooler.
“Go,” I say. “I’ll be fine here.”
“Okay. I’ll check,” Griffon says with a tight smile, giving my hand a last squeeze before he walks over toward the fire.
“I’m sooo glad you guys came,” Rayne says, jumping up and down a little. “How was dinner?” I’d told her that Griffon was coming over, but didn’t tell her why.
“The usual. Kat came home buzzed and totally pissed off my mom. She did kind of deserve it, though.”
“Do they like Griffon?”
“Of course,” I say. “He’s polite to my dad and helped Mom clear the dishes. What’s not to like?” I watch as Griffon pulls a can from the cooler and begins talking to a small group of people near the fire, glancing back my way every few seconds. In moments they’re laughing in the easy way people do when they know each other well, and I wonder if they’re from his school. A girl with short pink hair reaches up and puts her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a hug that looks uncomfortably friendly.
Rayne follows my glance. “Interesting,” she says. “I heard that there are some kids from Marina here. I wouldn’t worry about it, though. He came with you, didn’t he?” She squints as she scans the group. “That guy in the black jacket is so yum. I’ve been watching him all night. Please, please, please let them be friends.”
“Hmmm,” I murmur as I try to tear my eyes away from Griffon and the strange girl. A sour taste rises in the back of my throat as I force myself to turn from them. Griffon has a life completely separate from mine, I remind myself. Different school. Different friends. As much as I’d like to pretend otherwise, it’s not like he began to exist the minute I showed up.
“They had one beer left,” Griffon says as he reappears beside me. “Hold the cup and I’ll split it.”
My emotions are so raw that I don’t say anything as he pours the beer into the blue plastic cup. I hate beer, but after everything I’ve been through tonight I feel like I can drink a couple with no problem.
Never one to be shy about anything, Rayne pounces on him. “So what’s the story with those guys over there?”
Griffon glances back at the group. “Just some guys from school,” he says. He grins at her, relaxing a little. “Anyone you want to know about?”
“No,” she says too quickly. Rayne glances back toward the group. “Although if I did want to know anything about anyone, it might be the tall blond guy in the black jacket over there.”
“Peter,” he says. “Good choice. Let’s see—runs cross country, in my calculus class, no girlfriend at the moment. Want me to introduce you?”
“Definitely, please,” Rayne says. “Let’s go now.”
They start walking toward the fire, but I hang back, not wanting to share Griffon, even with people who knew him first. I like being able to make up my own image of him, and watching him with his friends makes me realize how much I don’t know.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Rayne says, stepping back to grab me by the arm. “Come on, already. Don’t be drama.”
I follow them to the fire, the heat immediately causing my cheeks to burn. Rayne’s smile is wide as she easily joins the conversation already in progress, but I stand just a half step back from Griffon as he laughs with his friends.
Without breaking the conversation, Griffon leans back and puts one arm around my shoulders, drawing me forward into the circle. That one gesture alone is a statement to his friends, and they get quiet as they look at me expectantly.
“Guys,” he says, “this is Cole. And that’s Rayne.”
They’re nice enough as they say hello, mentally adjusting their view of Griffon as he stands with his arm around me. Griffon introduces the pink-haired girl as Alana, and while her smile is welcoming, her brown eyes are wary. She’s pretty in an edgy way, with heavy eye makeup and a tiny nose ring that glitters in the firelight. The way her light hair contrasts with her dark skin makes her look otherworldly, and I immediately feel dull and boring—with hardly any makeup or extra piercings, I’m the picture of an aspiring cellist with no social life.
Alana holds her cup close to her chest and points one heavily ringed finger at me. “You go to Pacific, right?”
I nod slowly.
“So how did you meet our Griffon?” The “our” in front of his name is not lost on me.
“I picked her up in London,” Griffon answers for me.
I laugh quickly while Alana raises her eyebrows. “London? Really.”
“Yep. London.” I smile at him and take a sip from the cup. Our cup. The one we’re sharing. I hand it back to him just to make sure Alana notices that fact.
I spend the rest of the conversation trying to avoid Alana’s eyes as she seems to track my every move. Rayne manages to find something in common with Peter, and the two of them step back from the fire to go sit on the concrete retaining wall at the end of the beach.
“Want to walk?” Griffon asks, gazing out at the shimmering ocean. He reaches back with his hand out and I take it, running a few steps to catch up with him. Away from the fire, the air is colder and the noise from the crashing waves is louder.
We walk down the beach just at the edge of the water, hearing scraps of conversation and shouts of laughter from the bonfires as they’re carried by the breeze. Griffon bends down as a wave recedes and wipes the sand off something before handing it to me.
I look at the perfect sand dollar and run my hand over the smooth edges before putting it carefully into my pocket. The beach is littered with broken ones, but a whole one is always a treasure. “Thanks,” I say, leaning into him as we walk.
There’s a big log a few yards down the beach, and Griffon pulls me down onto it so that I’m sitting in front of him. I lean back, enjoying his warmth as we watch the surf pound the beach. I feel Griffon shift as he looks back toward the bonfire.
“Rayne seems to be pretty happy,” he says.
I glance back to where I can see their silhouettes still sitting on the wall. “Thanks for introducing them,” I say.
“Peter’s a good guy.”
We sit in silence for a few more moments, until I can’t hold it in any longer. “Do you know Alana from school?”