She was what I wanted.

We were close to the playground now, Savannah squealing in joy as Bay held her up to bat at the monkey rings. The session had left me drained, but in a good way. Like how I felt after a long run. “You’re both pretty good at this.”

Yolanda rewarded me with another one of her laughs. “I hope so. Not every session will be fun. We’re going to dredge up things that won’t be pleasant for you.” She offered me her hand and I shook it. “No matter what, though, during our sessions, remember that I’m on your side here. No one else’s. Not the Tribunal’s, not even Lou’s. I’m your emotional battle buddy.”

“You have her sword,” Juliet said with a grin. “And my ax.”

I hugged her to me with one arm. I appreciated a good Lord of the Rings reference. “Thanks. To both of you.”

I’d never had emotional battle buddies before. Turned out I liked it.

Chapter Eighteen

Lou

Declan and I spent a few more days with our heads down, working and ignoring the hormone-bedazzled disco ball elephant in the room. It was a difficult elephant to ignore.

That elephant had some dance moves and I couldn’t look away.

I will admit to googling chainmail pajamas today at work. A low moment, for sure. Since I wasn’t allowed to work with familiars, I was spending more time up front, doing reception and checking regular clients in. Lainey was really enjoying watching me flounder dealing with humans, and I was having to remind myself more and more to avoid cat thoughts.

Lainey thought it was hilarious, even with her increased workload. I tried to keep my grumblings to myself. In her shoes, I would be laughing, too.

One guy had asked about euthanasia prices for his cat, and when I gave him a quote, he got irritated and said, “A bullet would be cheaper,” and then asked why we couldn’t just “chuck the bodies out back into the dumpster.” I started climbing over the desk so I could assault him with a stapler before Lainey yanked me back down by my scrubs, all while explaining in a sugar-sweet voice that chucking deceased and beloved pets out back would be both a health code violation and a publicity nightmare.

She smiled the entire time while she took my stapler away and somehow managed to calm everyone down.

I regretted not moving faster with that stapler. People were monsters. Cat. Thoughts.

Lainey said she didn’t mind the additional work, but I still tried to take anything I could off her plate. Declan helped by doing all her filing. He couldn’t just sit there through my shift, so he read. Then he filed, swept, washed the windows, and reupholstered the chairs in the breakroom. I didn’t know where he got the glue gun, or the rest of the supplies, and Lainey wouldn’t let me ruin the mystery by asking.