Mercifully, our rehearsal is finally done. I’ve had no further issues beyond the usual nasty looks I’ve always received at Hollywood High. I turn to the barre and take two steps back before bending down to stretch my back and sore legs.

Demitri sidles up to me. “Do you have plans after this?”

I glance his way curiously. “My plan was to go home and continue being pissed. Why?”

“I have something to reveal to you.”

Part of me wants to tell him to leave me alone, but I hang by him while everyone makes their way out of the dance studio. When it’s just the two of us, Mr. Isley waves us over.

He unfolds a tumbling mat, dropping it with a thump. “Full disclosure,” Mr. Isley says. “Demitri filled me in before rehearsal.” I start to turn red, but Mr. Isley holds up a hand. “I’m in no way judging you for any of this. I realize how humiliating your medical condition is, along with this Tiffany mess.” He looks to Demitri. “I’m here to provide a safe space.”

Demitri takes a deep breath and gestures to the mat. “Please sit.”

It’s almost surprising when I do. I’m hesitant to participate in anything more right now.

“I’m about to tell you something that only a few know,” Demitri says as he sits down beside me. “Those few are my dad, Bear, Darren, and Mr. Isley. I don’t share this because energy workers who can do what I can tend to be sought after.”

“Sought after?” I ask, having no clue what he’s talking about.

“By the government, enemy factions, and wealthy assholes,” Demitri says. He takes a deep breath, nervous. “I’m a healer. As far as I know, I’m likely the strongest healer in the world.”

“This sounds like cult shit,” I say, unsure.

“I know, but I’m about to prove it to you.”

Realization dawns, and I tear up desperately. “Do you think you can fix me?”

Demitri nods. “I rushed over here after I left your house. Mr. Isley and I looked up diffuse axonal brain injury in the school library. I think I understand it.”

“How does this work?”

“Lie down on your stomach. What I’m going to do won’t hurt, but it’ll feel weird.”

Without further hesitation, I lie down, and Demitri’s hands land on my neck and lower back. I close my eyes and feel an odd searching within my body. He’s right, though. It doesn’t hurt.

“Got it,” Demitri whispers. “Here we go, Melanie.”

His hands heat up, and I slide a curious gaze his way from my prone position. Sweat starts pouring off Demitri’s forehead in rivers. His shirt quickly soaks, and sweat droplets fall to my back. His head drops as his breathing becomes labored. The pain starts to dissipate in my neck, and then my legs regain full feeling after a long moment.

I gasp.

“You okay?” Demitri murmurs.

Not wanting to disturb him verbally, I nod under his hand.

Time stretches so long that I start to worry. Finally, Demitri sags as his hands drop to his sides. “Done,” he says, sounding exhausted.

I sit up and take stock of my body. My eyes widen in disbelief. “My legs feel right again. I didn’t realize how numb they were before you did that.” I look to Demitri. “My neck doesn’t ache now.”

Demitri nods. “Your headache is also gone.”

He’s right. I’ve had a dull headache almost every minute of the day and night since the hospital first declared me recovered.

“Unbelievable,” I whisper as I gaze at Demitri. “I had zero clue you could do that.” I rush to add, “I’ll never tell anyone!”

Softly, Demitri smiles. “You can tell Zane. He deserves to know you’re healed after everything he went through with you. I also trust your parents with this information.”

“Understood.” My expression melts until I’m staring at him lovingly. “Thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome.” Demitri looks to Mr. Isley and tears up. “She had permanent damage in her brain stem. This issue wasn’t going to improve. It was starting to degenerate.”

Mr. Isley kneels and puts a hand on Demitri’s back. “I know it’s difficult for you to reveal these things, but you did the right thing by helping her.” He smiles at me. “Feel better?”

I nod in wonder. “I feel back to normal.”

All at once, an epic posttraumatic meltdown hits. Tears roll down my cheeks, and I crawl the few feet to Demitri. He sits cross-legged and pulls me into his arms.

With a soft smile, Mr. Isley stands. “You kids work through things. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He heads to his office on the other side of the dance studio and closes the door.

Demitri squeezes me tighter. “You know I love you, right?”

“I love you too, D.”

He waits out my breakdown for a long while. When I finally calm, he says, “I’d like to take you on a date.”

I rattle my head a little, stunned by the request. “Demitri, our spirit-guide future eternity bond is gone.”

Demitri chuckles. “I’m aware.” He gives me a gentle look. “I might be working on that.” He gestures toward me pointedly. “Hence healing you.”

“You talked to Pierre?” I ask in a rush. My eagerness reveals how desperate I am not to lose Demitri, and I blush.

Demitri smiles as if my reaction gives him confirmation that he’s on the right track. “He and I have discussed this at length. Turns out there are options if I do my job with you. My job is taking care of you.” He really studies me. “So much time away from you didn’t help. I thought if I distanced myself and focused on the soulmate bond with Victoria, I’d be able to move forward.” He shakes his head. “The moment I saw you again, it all came raging back.”

My eyes widen. Demitri and I started off soulmates our first lifetime together two hundred and three lifetimes ago. We were so attached that we decided to forego our soulmate bond for a deeper eternal possibility. This was all revealed to us by Pierre, after he died. He explained that soulmate bonds dissolve after the course of a soul’s lifetimes. This is when a soul moves on to its eternally bonded mate, and the pair achieves spirit-guide status. Pierre revealed that Demitri and I have twelve lifetimes left, but Demitri derailed from the path when his shallow desires for shallow women crept into his habitual process. He developed a soulmate bond with Victoria, which fizzled our deeper bond, but didn’t know it at the time. Pierre then replaced Demitri as my eternally bonded mate. None of this went over well with Demitri. It’s remarkable what happens when someone has all the pieces to the puzzle.

“I’m glad you tried with Victoria,” I inform sincerely.

Demitri swallows hard. “It’s awful.”

I snort out a laugh. “I’m aware. My soulmate bonds with Adam and Trey are also awful.”

“I’m wasting my time with Victoria. There’s nothing there.” He slides a mournful gaze my way. “You have no idea how sorry I am, Melanie. I know our eternal bond is a mess, but I promise I’m working on that.” He smiles a little. “I thought we could also work a little on our actual bond.”

My eyebrows rise curiously. “What’s our actual bond?”

“D and Meley, who clearly have a thing for each other that D runs from while Meley cries and gets all caught up in trying to make it work with Trey.”

When I giggle, Demitri chuckles a little. He scrunches his face. “What’s happening between you and Zane?”

I sigh. “I’m positive he loves me. I’m also positive our age difference tortures him.” I shake my head dejectedly. “That man is perfect. He never falters. He’s always there when I need him. He deserves space.”

“Are you sleeping with him?” Demitri asks.

“No. He hasn’t even kissed me.” Reflexively, I rub my forehead. “My forehead had a permanent bruise the whole time I was in the hospital though.” My eyes flutter at Demitri. “He kisses my forehead so hard it hurts. It’s all he’s got.”

“Oh, eeew. No. I don’t like that. He really is perfect, isn’t he?”

I nod with big eyes. “I love him. I think he might be my guy, but I’ll have to wait to know, because he won’t overstep while I’m underage.”

Demitri rubs his face hard. “If you were eighteen?” he asks, clearly dreading the answer.

“It’d be over, and I’d never look back,” I inform almost venomously. The power behind the statement surprises even me.

“That means I have a year and eight months to prove to you that he isn’t your guy,” Demitri says with just as much conviction.

I laugh a little. “You don’t have to do this, Demitri. I appreciate you helping me more than you know, though. I’m okay being just your sidekick.”

Demitri gazes at me intently. “No, I miss you and want to give us a shot. Come on a date with me today.”

I find myself pleasantly surprised. “What about Victoria?”

“Don’t you think it’s time I ditched her?”

After the briefest contemplation, I look up at Demitri. “What did you have in mind?”

His lips part into a massive smile. “I have an idea. Go get changed.”

+++

We round the corner, and I bounce happily as Demitri pulls me into the exit turnstile at the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland. The attendant takes the pass Demitri pulls from a never-ending stream of them that he seems to have in his pocket.

We load into the cute purple caterpillar.

“How did you pull off all these front-of-the-line passes?” I ask.

“My uncle’s a shift leader in Tomorrowland,” Demitri says. “He hooked me up.”

“Well played, sir. I’m impressed.”

Demitri puts an arm around me, and I snuggle happily into his side as we go through my favorite ride.

When it ends, he asks, “Where to next?”

“We’ve made it through my favorites. You pick.”

He laces his hand with mine, and we stroll over to Tomorrowland. We get to Space Mountain, where a man gestures us toward the exit corridor. He smiles at me as Demitri introduces us. Intrigued, I study the man as he chats with Demitri. He’s Demitri’s uncle but I’d never know if I wasn’t told. Demitri and his dad are the ultimate chisel-jawed hotties, with piercing steel-blue eyes. Demitri’s uncle is an ample man with a personality to match. His eyes are an oddly dull shade of light blue, but the way they twinkle makes me smile. He proves to have an infectious laugh that makes his gut jiggle.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Melanie,” Demitri’s uncle says. “You two, come on.”

We go up a winding series of exit ramps, and he puts us on the front of the next roller coaster that pulls up.

+++

It’s warm tonight, and I’m leaning on a rail with Demitri’s arms around me. The fireworks show starts. We have a front row view, thanks to Demitri’s VIP access.

“This has been amazing,” I tell him with a warm smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for agreeing to come with me.”

Something about the magic of the moment seems to sweep us both away, and the crowd disappears as the world narrows to just us. Demitri gently slides his fingers along either side of my jaw and leans in, delicately kissing me. My head spins. I find myself completely happy for the first time since Pierre died.

Demitri ends the kiss and seems shell-shocked. After he relearns how to speak, he gravels out, “You sure you and Trey are through?”

I smile shyly. “I’m sure. Trey’s a never-ending downward spiral. I’ve never been that connectedly disconnected with someone.”

Demitri smiles and gathers me in his arms. We watch the finale of the fireworks show. He doesn’t let me go until the massive crowd disperses. When we’re alone, he asks, “Ready for dinner?” He leads me up a walkway to the Blue Bayou restaurant.

Excitedly, I bounce. “I love this place. I’ve only been here once.”

It’s usually impossible to get into this gorgeous place, but when Demitri gives his name, we discover that his uncle somehow managed to get us onto the reservations list.

We’re guided to a quiet table by the rail. This restaurant is inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I gaze around taking in the soft, moonlit-night feel, and pretty-colored paper lanterns strung overhead. I watch as a ride boat drifts by in the water.

After we finish perusing the menu and place our order, Demitri leans closer to quietly talk to me. “You need to know some things.”

I huff. “Serious talk for a second, and then more fun.”

Demitri’s head drops. “I should have been the one to help you in the hospital. I flat couldn’t do it. Because of my healing ability, it causes me a great deal of turmoil to be in hospitals. Knowing that I could heal so many people in those places nearly causes me to rattle out of my skin. With that said, I should have manned up and gotten my ass down there.” He smiles wistfully. “My dad was furious with me for not going down there and healing you. Adam was the one who helped relieve Rich and Zane at first. He’d give me updates on your surgeries and broken bones.” He swallows hard. “Then, Zane started discouraging Adam from coming to the hospital. Considering that Valerie was pissed about it anyway, Adam quit going. I’ve figured out that must have been when the more embarrassing stuff started after your medical coma was lifted, and Zane was protecting you from other people finding out.”

I blush, thankful it won’t be obvious in the dim restaurant. “I can’t believe Zane still talks to me. You have NO idea how horrible it got.”

“It’s all fixed, Melanie. You don’t have to worry about that happening again.”

“Thank you. I’ve been sick worrying about going back to school.”

“I’m sure. No one wants dropping deuce in the quad on their record.”

Jokingly, I smack him on the arm.

He grins at me, but his expression slides toward thoughtful again. “I feel sorry for Trey about this Tiffany mess. We talked after you left CityWalk. He never wanted you to know, and guilt has apparently been eating him alive.”

I furrow my brow. “I don’t like secrets. I don’t like affairs. I don’t like Tiffany.”

“That’s all valid, but I can vouch that Trey’s mortified.” Demitri gives me a look. “We all know he knocked her up, and he’s catching shit from everyone.”

“Think she’s going to continue coming at me?” I ask.

Demitri wobbles his head. “Everyone’s decided that if she does, Tanner, Presley, and Deb are going to spread her dirt far and wide.”

I wince. “Now that I’m feeling better, and not worried about fogging my drawers every time I get nervous, I’m a little more open to living and letting live.”

Demitri shrugs. “Then we try that approach. I’ll talk to her on Monday.”

“I can’t believe summer is almost over.”

“We still have a few days.” He smiles as he takes my hand. “I’ll meet with Victoria and end things tomorrow afternoon. Can I pick you up at four and take you for a nice dinner?”

I smile softly at him. “I want it clear that I would normally never spend today with someone who’s taken. It was one thing when we were friends, but a date is different.”

Demitri smiles back. “I should have ended things with her before I took you out, but the date idea came to me during rehearsal, and I couldn’t pass up one of our last days of summer. I apologize for the mixed-up order of things, though.”

“Are you positive you’re done with her?”

Demitri leans in and puts his forehead against mine. “I’ve never been more positive of anything.” He kisses me, and my heart hammers with joy.