Jaymin gave a tittering, cruel laugh. “Elves cannot take care ofthemselves. They’re inferior beings, who will always resort to crime if they are not controlled. They’re happier if their lives are run by someone else. This is the way of things in nature— weaker beings serve the higher ones. It is the order of the universe.”
“That was the same premise the Hawkei Civil War was fought on,” I said. “My parents fought against the idea that the weak have to serve the strong, and it shouldn’t apply here.”
“The Hawkei are different,” Jaymin said, as if she was insulted I’d compare an Elementai to an Elf.
“It doesn’t matter. Slavery in the supernatural world is illegal. It was outlawed after the Great Supernatural War,” Marcus said nervously.
Jaymin lifted an eyebrow and said coolly, “For now.”
I heard Charlie’s knuckles crack as he tightened his hands into fists. He was going to explode any moment. I had to do something, before Charlie lost his shit and said something that put us all in jeopardy.
This was a therapy session. She had to talk about our mental health if we asked for help, right? It had to be a legal requirement of the job orsomething.Anything to get us off the topic of the Elves.
“My bipolar is getting unmanageable,” I blurted. Kallie and Marcus glanced at me, and Charlie went still.
“Really. How so?” Jaymin crossed her legs and stared at me.
I swallowed. “I’m not happy. My condition is contributing to that.”
“That’s odd,” Jaymin said. “When I looked at your file, it said you were on a new medication, and that you haven’t experienced any major mood swings or psychotic episodes since the previous semester.”
“Yes, my moods are stable. I haven’t experienced any highs or bad lows in the last few months. The medication is helping with that. I’m not on the rollercoaster anymore.”
I took a breath. “But I am still struggling. I haven’t been eating. And I’ve been more depressed than usual, though I hate to admit it. It’s not that I don’twantto, I just… I don’t understand how to make it stop. I need help to understand it. And get it under control.”
Everything I said hadn’t been a lie, either. Ididwant help. I was tired of starving myself and feeling sad. I wanted a change, and I’d do anything to make the nightmares in my head stop.
“Well, you’re just going to have to get over it,” Jaymin replied snidely. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Ava. It’s something we all have to realize one day. I know you’re a chronic liar, but you don’t need to keep making up stories to get attention.”
My stomach dropped to the floor. I’d had a lot of therapists in my day, and some shitty ones, but none of them had been so cruel as to saythatto me.
I wished Professor Takahashi was here. He cared. He would’ve helped me figure out how to eat, how to look at things a different way, and how to feel better.
But he was gone. And in his place was this dirtbag.
I started to tear up. I got really quiet, but where I was silenced, Charlie was more than willing to be my voice. His chair clattered backward as he got up, and Oberi let out a snarl.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You think she’smaking it up?” Charlie sneered.
“Do not use that kind of language with me, Charlie. In Ava’s file, it is stated that she’s been known to over-exaggerate,” Jaymin replied. “I am simply not willing to indulge in her fantasies, as all her enablers have. I’m sure with some positive thinking, she could learn to control her mind. She just doesn’t want to.”
What kind of a therapist didn’t believe in mental illness? It was insane.
Kallie went to say something, but her words turned into a scream as Charlie threw his chair across the room. It went sailing in Jaymin’s direction before it smashed through a window. Jaymin’s mouth dropped open, looking at the window Charlie had broken.
“Charlie!” I jumped up and grabbed his arm. I held on to it tightly. It was the first time I’d touched him in… ancestors, I didn’t know how long. The physical contact made Fire and Water pulse through my veins, and was so intoxicating. But I couldn’t let myself be distracted, because we were in big trouble, if more wasn’t coming. Oberi jumped to all fours, ready to pounce on Jaymin at Charlie’s say-so.
“I’m giving you an infraction for attacking a professor!” Jaymin screeched. “If you don’t want to be taken to Cellblock 9 this instant, I suggest youback down.”
“Don’t,” I whimpered. Charlie’s body slackened as my grip tightened on his arm. Marcus got up and grabbed his other elbow. Charlie let us lead him away, although I could feel his body shake under my hand.
Jaymin rose, her lip in a snarl. “It’s clear our session is over for today. You children obviously don’t want to divulge your nasty little secrets, but we’ll try again next time. I pray next week you’ll be more cooperative.”
I didn’t know what she would do if we weren’t. The four of us hurried to the staircase, our animals following behind.
Charlie’s face was still stone-cold. I was sure if some asshole decided to try his patience, he wouldn’t hesitate to pummel their face in, and now that he had one infraction on his record, he couldn’t get another.
“We need to go somewhere private,” I said.
