Page 54 of From the Ashes

“Oh, good,” Portia drawls. “Because for a second there, I thought you were a couple of homophobic bigots that have been making their son’s life miserable his whole life.”

“Colt,” my mom whimpers as tears fall down her face. “I just want you to be happy. Successful. It’s so much harder for those people. Why would you choose that?”

I laugh and rub my head. “To quote the one and only Lady Gaga, I was born this way, Mom. I’m not choosing to be gay. But I am sure as hell choosing to stop being ashamed and living a lie. This isn’t a phase nor am I experimenting. I’m attracted to men and only men, so you’re going have to come to terms with a very different-looking future from the one you’ve been crafting for me. The only people who could make my life difficult would be the kind with attitudes like yours. So the ball’s in your court now.Youhave to choose whether or not my sexuality is a dealbreaker for you.”

I take a breath and try not to let my sadness rob me of the right words in this important moment.

“This is me. The real Colt. And heisa bit of a daydreamer. He’s gay, he loves surfing, and he’s not sure he wants to be a lawyer anymore. He’s one thousand percent never going to be a politician or marry a woman. If this Colt is someone you’re interested in getting to know, you can give me a call.”

I’m surprised how calm I am as I place my napkin back on the table and stand up, offering my hand out to my left.

“Portia, it was genuinely a pleasure meeting you. If you ever want to grab a cone on the beach, you can also give me a call. If not, good luck with getting to the governor’s office.”

She shrugs and grins at me as she gives me one firm shake before releasing my hand. “Eh. I like the mayor.” She looks pointedly at my parents. “We’ve worked really hard on protecting trans people’s access to healthcare in the city. I’d hate to see anyone try and undo that if I left.”

I snort and wiggle my hand next to my ear with my thumb and pinkie out, making a ‘call me’ motion. She winks, and I take that as my cue to leave.

I’m not sure if it’s the overwhelming relief flooding through me, or the couple of glasses of wine on an empty stomach. But I feel a little unstable as I move past the tank with the baby koi and start heading across the path through the Zen garden.

Then my phone vibrates in my jacket.

So do several other people’s phones around me. Even more phones ping with a message notification.

Frowning, I pull mine out of my pocket to see an alert filling up my screen.

That’s when I realize it’s not my legs that are shaky underneath me.

It’s the ground.

“EARTHQUAKE!” someone near me screams as the glassware hanging above the bar starts vibrating. Within seconds, it’s crashing to the floor. The lights begin flickering and the walls groan. The artificial two-story high cherry blossom tree starts to tilt.

People shove chairs back as they abandon their tables and try to run. I stagger as the ground rumbles, flailing my arms as I spin around. “NO!” I roar, flinging myself at my terrified looking mom. In the same moment, Portia grabs my father’s hand, pulling him to his feet.

But that’s when the lights go out entirely as the ceiling falls on top of our heads.

CHAPTER 22

Zahir

I’ve barely putmy stuff away in my locker at the start of shift before Captain Valentine is calling us all onto the concourse for a briefing. “Any idea what this is about?” Anton asks Lieutenant Flores. He manages to multitask and also drag Sawyer away from his phone, where he’s no doubt texting whoever he went out on his last date with.

“Get your asses through this door, and you’ll find out,” the lieutenant says, already halfway past the threshold.

“Probie! Whatcha do now?” Lili yells at our youngest member.

Teddy rolls his eyes. “We literally just got here, Kwon. If anyone’s fucked up already, it’s your hungover ass.”

She peers above her sunglasses and sips the coffee she obviously picked up on the way in. “Bite me,” she says, flashing him a grin.

“Knowing where she’s been, I wouldn’t recommend it,” Lochlan crows, narrowly avoiding getting smacked over the head by her.

“You only out-drink me because you’re a beast, Beast,” she growls.

I laugh and shake my head, catching Yara’s eye as we head out onto the main concourse. “Any ideas?”

“Gene’s off for a couple of shifts,” she reminds me. “Perhaps it’s something to do with that?”

Ahh, yeah that makes sense. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own personal life, I forgot that it’s Passover, so our driver is going to be spending some time with his extended family.

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