Page 87 of Ash Storm

“I do a bit of work with schools, but most of the time I work with adults. Most of my sessions take place online. It might seem counter-intuitive, but there’s something about the distance the screen provides that allows people to open up more easily.”

Rogue made a noncommittal sound. Ash almost laughed. He didn’t imagine any of them would score highly on emotional well-being.

“So, how do people find you?” Slate asked over a giant mouthful.

“Mainly word-of-mouth, or because they’ve read something I’ve published,” Reka said.

The others kept asking questions, which Reka answered with ease. And it made sense, to Ash, that somebody like Rogue or Griffin—who both probably had IQs in the hundred and fifty range and had multiple degrees—would be so interested in the conversation.

He, on the other hand, hadn’t even been to college.

He sighed.

It was just one more thing separating him and Reka. Not that they needed more things. His past alone was a large enough elephant in the room.

“Where’s Thorne, by the way?” Reka asked, suddenly.

Dark shrugged, looking annoyed. “No idea. He left yesterday, didn’t say where he was going.”

“Does he do that often?” Reka asked.

“Thorne’s a bit of a mystery,” Dark said. “He’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

Suddenly, Carrie ran onto the terrace, looking disheveled and totally unlike her usual neat self.

“We need you in the conference room right now. Pascale and I found something,” she said breathlessly.