20 #2
“Fought to do something else. You’re only able to be a doctor because other women fought before you.
Yeah, that’s easy for me to say as a man.
I get that, but it’s something my mom says all the damn time.
That she can only have what she does because others fought before her, and it’s her duty to keep fighting so those who came after her have less to fight for. ”
Then I saw it in Leigh’s eyes. She wasn’t a fighter. That was the whole problem. The guilt was there and she looked down at what was in front of her.
“I get it,” I said gently.
“Really?” she chuckled darkly. “Sure you do.”
“No, I do. You’re not a fighter.” I shrugged when she looked at me.
“I wanted to stay out of it too. I did. My dad died and I thought I got to stay out of it. I’d lost enough.
My family had paid enough and that was fair.
” I saw the same in her eyes and knew that I was right in coming to talk to her.
She relaxed some and went over to her fridge, opening it and taking out two sparkling waters. She set one on the kitchen island and slid it over to me. “What changed? Love?”
“No, but it was Bevin,” I told her. “She’d been through so much worse than either of us, and all she wanted to do was fight.
She had to fight to survive. Then it was my brother.
I saw how easily we’re all pawns and how in the dark we all are to it.
” I was doing well until that last part, her pride filling her eyes and getting us off track this time.
“With all due respect, I’m older than you, Mr. Rose, and I think I know very well how bad things are?”
I snorted but then raised an eyebrow when steam about came out of her ears. “I’ll make you a bet. If I tell you what I know and you promise to be honest, go verify with your parents that it’s true, then you will seriously consider what I came here to propose.”
“I won’t agree to anything without knowing what it is,” she said firmly.
“Fair,” I accepted. “I’m not looking for you to give therapy, especially not now when you’ve been traumatized by the community.” I held up a finger when she opened her mouth. “I want you to teach how to be a counselor to those who would be willing like my mom.”
She blinked at me for a full minute before slowly pulling over a stool and sitting down, wobbling a bit as she did.
“We both know the wrong counselor or help can do more damage than good. You’re not just a therapist but a medical doctor.
Your resume is impressive. It’s true pride when your parents brag about how amazing you are and the people you help.
I’ve heard them say, ‘People are people and it doesn’t matter they’re humans. We didn’t give her enough credit.’”
“They say that?” she whispered.
“Yes, and now I understand better what they mean when they say it,” I said gently.
She let out a shaky breath before meeting my gaze. “Okay, Kelton, let’s hear what’s so shocking.”
I left out that Bevin really was a goddess witch, but I told her what Conrad had tried to do about naming her one and forcing the ploy with him being her priest, the impressive witch from a top-tier family that fit the prophecy so he could secure a council seat and take over.
“I don’t even have to confer with them. I know he would and I heard part of it on the news.”
“Yes, but the part that will make me win is that six of the thirteen councilmen wanted to go along with it,” I told her, nodding when she went pale so fast I thought she might faint.
“I was there. They thought it would be exactly what the council needed to keep power. Have a pet goddess witch who was from a top-tier family.”
“What… Who…” She looked green and I didn’t make her ask.
“Your parents were on Bevin’s side, and your mother made it clear she would divorce your father if he didn’t punish Conrad,” I told her. “I don’t know the details, but he made it clear that day that he wouldn’t go along with such a sick idea and was on Bevin’s side.”
“Because she really is a goddess witch,” she said, chuckling when I simply raised an eyebrow.
“The council is power-hungry but smart. They wouldn’t risk these moves without having an ace up their sleeve.
She’s the real deal, and they’ll go to war to keep her out of the hands of the big names like Hughes, Teague, and Lynch. I knew when she was here.”
“I know nothing about that.”
“Sure you do when you’re fighting so hard for a woman who already has a lover, and I would guess Professor Wyatt as her priest because there’s no way a power assessor wouldn’t know,” she said with a look not to insult her intelligence.
She held up a hand to stop what I was going to say next. “I’m not getting involved in it.”
“No, but you’re not even guarded, and that’s stupid given your parents are targets and now you know too much, so you need to be gagged,” I told her firmly.
I stared her down and made it clear I wasn’t letting it go.
I stepped closer when she opened her mouth.
“Or is your pride more important than Bevin ending up with Hughes or them?”
She swallowed loudly. “No, that’s a hell I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Sorry, no one wants their mind messed with.”
Coming from a shrink that was kind of hysterical even if she helped.
“You won, so I’m still not promising anything, but I’ll hear you out.” She gestured to the other stool. “What are you proposing?”
“First, enough acting like you’re really out,” I drawled as I grabbed it and sat down, even opening my water.
“Our world is like the mob and you’re never really out.
You’re a pawn to hurt your parents and we’re there.
My brother. The council guards. You don’t even know what they did.
I don’t, but I know that the news won’t know the full story about that guard. ”
She accepted that with a curt nod.
I kept it simple. Taylor’s people needed help besides with magic.
Lots on our side did, and it wasn’t the side of the council really anymore after how corrupt they were.
We needed the help, especially when half of the council was on our side.
And people wanted to help but didn’t have the tools or training.
She was the training they needed and she could. So it was time to not accept new patients and fight for those who couldn’t, even if she wasn’t a fighter. There was more she could do than sticking her head in the sand and pretending she’d left it in the past. She hadn’t.
She couldn’t.
Leigh Moon couldn’t run from who she was by living with humans.
That landed a hit she didn’t like but accepted. She was at least that self-aware. She was quiet a few moments but then gave me a curious look. “What made you get to this place? Not people needing therapy, but me and teaching them?”
“Honestly?”
She snorted. “Yes, I prefer it instead of lies and my time wasted.”
It was my turn to snort. “You’d be surprised how often that isn’t the actual answer.”
She laughed. Leigh Moon actually laughed and it was a good one. “No, I wouldn’t be, Kelton. I listen to people for a living and I’m good at my job even if I fumbled big time with Bevin.”
That was a valid point and I said as much.
“Clare Shaw—Millen,” I admitted. “She’s not a fighter either. I figured you weren’t since Bev says your parents are nice and what she told us about your session. I get that, but the guilt was on your face when—Clare is the same, but she helps when she can.”
“Expound on that,” she pushed.
I blinked at her and she realized why after a moment, both of us chuckling.
But I still answered. “It will sound a bit weird, so hear me out.”
“I’m fairly open.”