Luka woke to the insistent buzzing of his phone. Without opening his eyes, he felt for it on the nightstand and pressed it to his ear. “Yeah, whaddya need?” His words sounded heavy and sleep-slurred, but he didn’t care. People shouldn’t be calling him so early in the—
“Luka? It’s Rhys. Where the hell are you? The intake meeting on Damon started fifteen minutes ago.”
He was fine until the name Damon combined with the word intake kicked a bolt of apprehension-laced lightning through his gut.
Damon — Shiv — was coming here.
Bastard must have put on an award-winning act for Processing.
“Fuck… I musta slept too long… Be there in ten. Sorry, man.” He cut the call before Rhys could say anything else. The clock said it was nearly lunchtime.
He rubbed his eyes and hauled himself out of bed. Dawn had been brightening the sky before he’d finally fallen asleep last night. Every time he closed his eyes, he was back in Rufio’s apartment, facing Shiv at his worst.
Luka normally hated drugs. He’d been fed far too many of them against his will back in Riga, but he was sorely tempted to run by the infirmary after the meeting and ask Eleni for something to help him sleep without dreaming. He hadn’t had a decent night since they’d found Shiv in that damned psych hospital.
He skipped the shower, pulled on yesterday’s clothes, and ran a wet comb through his hair. Wasn’t much he could do about the dark circles under his eyes. If he kept his head down, maybe no one would notice.
There was no way to sneak into Cam’s office while a meeting was in progress, so he knocked on the door and walked in. The conference table was more crowded than usual for an intake meeting. Besides Cam, Trevor and Rhys, there was Jaana, representing Psych Services, and Cam’s sister Eleni, representing Medical Services.
All eyes turned to him as he stepped into the room and flashed a faint grin. “Sorry,” he mumbled, heading for the coffee. “Overslept.”
He filled a cup and didn’t bother diluting it. Normally, he wouldn’t touch the stuff black, but after a nearly-sleepless night, he needed the kick. He slipped into the only empty seat, between Eleni and Jaana, took a long swallow of coffee, and tried not to make a face.
“Thank you for joining us, Luka,” Cam said. “Rhys and Trevor have already given us a run-down of the mission, and everyone here has read your report.” Cam looked around the table. “Does anyone have any questions about the report before we begin?”
There wasn’t even a hint of censure in Cam’s voice. Luka thinned his shield a little, but sensed only anxiety and concern coming from the Institute’s director. He glanced over at Rhys, thankful that his training partner hadn’t mentioned his slip during the mission.
“I have some questions,” Jaana said, fixing worried, jet-black eyes on Luka. “I want to know more about the attack when you picked him up at St. Anne’s. You mentioned in your report that you saw it coming. How? What did it look like?”
“It was like a red haze surrounding him. Sort of like an aura, I guess. I didn’t really have time to think about it… I’m not even sure how I knew that it meant he was about to attack, but I got my full shielding pattern in place before he did.” He frowned at Jaana. “I still don’t get how he was able to hurt Rhys, though. Rhys was shielded the whole time; I was the one who was scanning, so I was only partly shielded.”
“The preliminary psionic evaluation suggests his abilities are empathy and healing,” Jaana said. “From what Rhys described, I think he was using his healing ability to attack. A normal psionic shield wouldn’t block that. Eleni can heal a psion whether or not they’re shielded, so it’s actually far more surprising that you were able to block it out than that Rhys wasn’t.”
The apprehension churning in his stomach ratcheted up a notch. Shiv was a healer? Luka might have laughed if he hadn’t been so tense. The idea of Shiv being able to heal was almost too fucking funny. And one more thing to add to his growing pile of evidence regarding the universe’s sick, twisted sense of humor.
“That’s an unusual combination,” Cam said. “And we don’t have anyone on staff who can teach him both at the same time.”
“The empathy is the most important thing to get under control,” Jaana said. “Eleni can help him get a handle on the healing part later on. Shielding first. If he can’t learn that, the rest is moot.”
An uneasy prickle shivered its way up Luka’s spine as he thought back to Riga and some of the things he’d experienced at Shiv’s hands. “Eleni… that thing he did to Rhys… is that something any healer can do? Make someone feel pain without causing any permanent damage or leaving any marks?”
“Yes, a healer can certainly do that,” Eleni said. “Frankly, I’m not sure how he managed to avoid doing any damage to Rhys, but I’ve examined Rhys thoroughly and I see no sign of any activity that could account for the kind of pain he described.”
“Probably because he ain’t untrained,” Luka said, feeling sick. “The guy I remember was the gang’s interrogator. He was damn good at getting information out of people. He could work them over for hours without killing them. There wouldn’t be any blood or bruises, but there’d be screams like you wouldn’t believe. And he always got what he was after.”
Eleni’s eyes widened and she gave her brother a sharp look. “Cam, do we really want someone like that here?”
“Damon has no memory of it,” Cam said. “And no memory of how to use those skills.”
“For having no memory of how to use them, he did a pretty good job on me,” Rhys said.
“No conscious memory,” Cam corrected. “What he did to you may well have been an instinctive defense mechanism, like you suggested in your report. Processing questioned him under Veritane. I watched the vid of the interview last night, and I read through the psych evaluation. I’m convinced the memory loss is real. Which brings us to the question of who we’re going to ask to train him.”
When Luka glanced up, Cam was looking straight at him.
“Ideally,” Cam said, “we need an instructor he can’t hurt if things get out of hand. And Luka’s already shown that he can not only see it coming, but block it out. He’s also demonstrated that he has both the strength and the control to put Damon down without hurting him, if necessary.”
Luka managed to meet his gaze. Barely. “You… you’re talking like you’ve already decided that we’re going to train him.”
“We have no grounds to refuse,” Cam said. “He has no criminal record, and the psych tests indicate he’s a low risk for violent behavior. The attack Rhys described was likely defensive, and he didn’t actually damage anyone. I believe you when you say you know him, and I’m not discounting what you said in your report. But we have no legal grounds for refusing to train him.”
“Except for him being a fucking sociopath.” Luka didn’t even try to hide the bitterness and disgust in his tone.
Cam leaned back in his chair. He didn’t look anywhere near as upset as Luka thought he ought to. “The reason we exist is to keep the public safe from untrained psions. Especially those who might use their abilities to do harm.”
“Which he already has,” Luka muttered.
Cam shot him a sharp look, but continued, “If he should do something to indicate that he can’t be trusted, or if he should misuse his abilities while he’s here, then I’ll have grounds to refuse him training and to recommend mind-wiping, but at this point… I don’t have anything.”
“Except my word,” Luka said. “I’m telling you, Cam, he don’t belong here.”
“I believe you, Luka. I’m not trying to trivialize your opinion or question your judgment, but I can’t argue with an interview done under Veritane. If I refuse to accept him for training, I have to justify it to the Command Council, and since there’s nothing on file…” Cam leaned forward, eyes still fixed on Luka. “The Institute’s existence is precarious enough as it is. I’d rather not bring ourselves to the attention of the Command Council on something that we can handle internally.”
Luka swallowed the lump in his throat and reminded himself that he was a professional now, and this was his job. If Shiv was coming here and if Luka was the only safe choice for this assignment, then it was his responsibility to own that and volunteer. He’d been planning to ask for an off-world assignment until Shiv was trained and gone, but after hearing it all laid out like this, he couldn’t imagine leaving someone else to do the training.
“I’ll do it,” he said in a small voice.
No one said a word.
“What?” Luka raised his eyes, peering around the table from behind long black bangs. “I know how to train empaths, and anybody else you ask is going to be at risk.”
Jaana shot Cam a poisonous look before saying, “Cameron, given Luka’s past experiences with Damon, we can’t possibly ask—”
“You ain’t asking,” Luka said flatly. “I’m volunteering. You guys took a chance on me when I first came here.” He stared down at the table, not wanting to think about the price Kyn had paid for taking that chance. “Now it’s my turn. Pay it forward. That’s what Kyn asked me to do, and maybe it’s time I did that.” He looked around the table, meeting the eyes of each of his colleagues in turn. “I’ll train him.”
“Thank you, Luka,” Cam said. “You’ll have all the support we can give you.”
Luka felt Cam’s eyes on him for a few moments longer before the director turned his attention to Jaana. “Jaana, you’ve gone over Damon’s psych profile, and you were present during some of the testing over at Processing. What does Psych Services recommend?”
Jaana glanced at Luka again, and he guessed Cam would be getting an earful as soon as the meeting was over. When she finally focused on Cam, her tone was cool and clipped. “His symptoms and behavior are consistent with trauma-induced memory repression. I was assigned as his advocate for the Veritane questioning, and the content of those interviews agrees with the information in his records. What we have of his records, anyway.
“He’s lost all memory of the last twelve years. Everything after the car accident that killed his mother is gone, and the records we have only continue for another two years beyond that. After his mother died, Anatoly Korsov, his biological father, was given custody. Anatoly moved Damon from Majan in the Colonial Alliance to Torron. Once he had the boy on Torron, he applied for Federation citizenship for Damon, and at the same time, had his last name changed from Chevaux to Korsov. Two years later, Anatoly died of a heart attack, and that’s when the gap in Damon’s records starts. Three-and-a-half years ago, Damon showed up at Riga General, beaten nearly to death.”
“Are we sure it was a heart attack?” Cam asked.
“No,” Eleni said. “As I’ve said, anyone who has the power to heal can also hurt, and Damon demonstrated that ability pretty clearly when Rhys and Luka picked him up.”
“Was there anything in the records to indicate a history of abuse?” Cam asked.
“Nothing,” Jaana said, “although medical records would only tell us about physical abuse.”
“I can take a look once we get him here,” Eleni said. “I can see more detail than a bio-scan will give us.”
Cam nodded approval. “Good idea.”
Jaana waited to see if anyone else had anything to add, then continued, “At any rate, he remained comatose for three-and-a-half years, regained consciousness about six weeks ago, and was promptly transferred to St. Anne’s. Given the nature of the injuries that put him in the hospital in the first place and the symptoms reported by the staff at St. Anne’s, I think we can infer a trauma-induced awakening of psionic abilities. Or at least, the empathic ability. The healing ability had clearly already manifested.”
Everyone around the table nodded agreement. Luka struggled to keep his own mind on the here and now. He knew all about trauma-induced psionic awakening, having been through it himself. If anyone deserved that kind of hell, it was Shiv.
No. He had to stop thinking that way. He’d agreed to train the bastard, and he was going to have to treat him the same way he’d treat any other student.
However difficult that turned out to be.
“What do you think triggered the memory loss?” Cam asked. “The beating or the psionic awakening?”
“There’s no way to tell from these reports,” Jaana said, “though it’s possible we might figure it out during therapy.”
“It’s also possible that it’s chemical,” Eleni added. “The blood chemistry reports from Riga General showed quite the cocktail of illicit drugs in his system, including azura.”
“Is he an addict?” Cam asked quickly.
“No. Those tests were done when he was first admitted to Riga General. According to the medical report from Processing, there was no trace of anything besides Anarin, tranquilizers, and cryo-drug metabolites in his blood. The presence of azura when he was first admitted to the hospital worries me. Over the past year or so, I’ve seen several reports of memory loss in heavy users.”
“Reversible?” was Cam’s next question.
“Not that I recall, but I’ll see what I can dig up.”
Luka sat up a little straighter. Now that he knew he’d be training the guy, he had to start thinking more like a professional and less like a scared kid. “How likely is it that he’ll get his memory back?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Jaana said. “It depends on the cause. If it’s repression, it might only take a trigger — something familiar — a voice or a face, or even an object. Or his memories might never come back. If it’s due to drug use or a drug interaction, it’ll depend on how much brain damage has been done. A bio-scan might give us some idea.” She glanced at Eleni questioningly.
Eleni stared down at her slate. “Processing had him scheduled for one this morning,” she said. “I don’t have the results yet, but I’ll let you know if there’s any evidence of brain damage.”
“Thank you,” Jaana gave Eleni a nod and continued, “Regardless of the cause of the memory loss, I’d like to start working with him immediately. He’s got to be feeling completely adrift, and there’s a lot we can do to help smooth the transition for him.”
“I take it you want the assignment,” Cam said.
“I think I’m the logical choice.” Jaana lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. “If it’s a case of memory repression, I’ve had more experience with that than anyone else on staff. If it turns out to be chemical, there are some psionic techniques we might be able to use to restore at least some of his memory, and if there’s any chance of us having to go that route, it’ll be easier for me to work with him if we’ve already established a rapport. Either way, trust in the therapist is crucial for the kind of work I may need to do with him.”
“Very well.” Cam made a note on his slate. “Start therapy immediately. Today, if you have time in your schedule. Rhys is heading out to pick him up from Processing in a couple of hours.”
Today.
Luka stared down at the table. Shiv was coming here today.
And Luka had volunteered to train him.
He tried not to think about all the ways this could go horribly wrong. He’d thought he was safe here. Thought he’d escaped that world and those people forever. But no, Shiv had fucking followed him. If Shiv did remember…
He clenched his teeth, struggling to hold in the fear and pretend it was just another job.
Jaana wasn’t fooled. “Come down to my office after lunch, Luka,” she said quietly. “I want to talk to you a little bit about what to expect. Memory loss isn’t something you’ve dealt with in a student before, and you and I are going to need to work closely on this one.”
“Yeah,” he said, barely managing to keep his voice steady. “Thanks. I’ll be there.”
“Luka, are you sure about this?” Cam said. “Nobody’s forcing you to do this.”
“It’s fine,” Luka said in a tight voice. “There ain’t no one else who can do it. Not safely. It’s okay. I got this.”
Cam didn’t look convinced.
Luka dared not tell him that he wasn’t convinced, either.
* * *
If he hadn’t seen the signs on the way in, Damon wouldn’t have believed he was sitting in an office in the Institute’s Psych Services department. It looked more like a cozy sitting room than a counselor’s office. Three comfortable armchairs sat before a fireplace, in which a cheerful fire crackled, and across the room from him was a window that looked out over the wooded grounds.
It was fall in Aurora’s northern hemisphere, and the trees were losing their leaves. The view of the heavily forested land that surrounded the Institute for Psionic Research reminded him of his grandfather’s estate on Majan, and he fought down a pang of homesickness.
It didn’t feel like twelve years had passed since he’d left Majan, but he’d seen the records, and the face he saw in the mirror confirmed the passage of time.
Outside the door, he heard the quiet murmur of voices. One belonged to Rhys, who had picked him up at the Processing facility only a couple of hours ago. The other belonged to Jaana Brekke, the counselor who would be helping him adjust to his new situation, and might be able to help him access his lost memories.
Rhys had told him he’d been on Aurora for four days now, but between the drugs, tests, and interviews at the Processing Center, Damon had lost all track of time.
The interviews had been the worst. A lot of the questions he simply couldn’t answer. He remembered nothing beyond the accident that had killed his mother, although he’d read through his records and seen pictures of the father who had apparently taken him in soon after.
None of it had been familiar; he might as well have been reading about a stranger. That thought gave Damon the shakes. What could have happened to make him a stranger to himself?
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Damon,” Jaana said as she entered the office and closed the door behind her. “I wanted to have a word with Rhys before we got started.”
The only response he could give her was a brief nod. His mind had been whirling on information overload ever since he’d woken up. Every time he opened his eyes, he found himself someplace different. There had been so much to process over the past few days that he’d given up trying to keep it all straight in his head.
As if sensing his disquiet, Jaana said, “Now that you’re here, things will start to settle down. Can I get you anything? Coffee or tea? Soda?”
“No… I mean, no, thank you.”
Jaana settled herself in the armchair across from him. She was an attractive woman in her thirties, with dark skin, long, curly black hair, and dark eyes. There was a calm, quietness about her that set him at ease immediately.
“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” she said.
“It feels like I’ve been treading water for the last few days. Just trying to keep my head up so I can keep on breathing.”
“It’ll probably continue to feel like that for a while,” Jaana said. “But things should start to feel a little more solid after today. We’ll get you settled in an apartment, and we’ll get a schedule set up for you so you know exactly what to expect every day. You’ll feel a lot better once you’re waking up in the same place every morning.”
“I keep thinking I should be home. With my mother, but…” He paused for a moment, still struggling to wrap his mind around the situation he’d found himself in. “They tell me that was twelve years ago.”
“Yes.”
Damon glanced at Jaana, saw her eyes soften as she gave him an encouraging smile. “Rhys said… he said you might be able to help me remember.”
“I’m going to try,” she said. “But you need to understand that there are no guarantees, and that even if you do recover some of your memories, others may remain lost.”
“Anything would be better than what I have now. There’s nothing there, and I feel completely disconnected. I know a lot of time has passed… but I don’t feel it.”
“Then we’ll see what we can do. We’ll be meeting every day for a while, but I want to give you some time to start feeling comfortable with the Institute and with me before we begin working on the memories in earnest. Has anyone talked to you about the Institute at all?”
“Rhys did, a little, but… there’s been so much information over the past few days…” Damon smiled apologetically. “It’s all a blur.”
“And the medications you’ve been on don’t help. They tend to muddle your mind and make it difficult to focus.”
There was a knock on the door and Jaana called, “Come in.”
The door opened and Damon turned to see a young man in his early twenties walk in. He was wearing jeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt, and he was far prettier than any man had a right to be. His hair was black and cut in ragged spikes, and his eyes were an intriguing shade of pale green. Something about his sweet, heart-shaped face struck a chord that resonated deep within Damon.
He couldn’t quite interpret the feeling — memory? longing? need? — but he was gripped by an absolute certainty that he knew this man from somewhere.
The young man stared back at him, eyes wide, expression unreadable, and the color slowly drained from his face. Their gazes locked and held for what seemed like an eternity, and Damon froze, breath clogging in his throat. When those pale green eyes finally shifted away from him and focused on Jaana, Damon’s heart was racing, and his palms were sweaty.
“You wanted to see me?” the man asked.
Damon couldn’t suppress the shiver that went through him as that voice struck another, different chord of familiarity.
“I did.” Jaana gestured to the empty armchair next to her. “Have a seat. Damon, this is Luka Valdari. He’s going to be your instructor while you’re here, and he’ll be guiding you through our orientation program. Luka, this is Damon Korsov.” She glanced at Damon. “Or do you prefer Chevaux?”
“I’m used to Chevaux.” Damon dragged his gaze away from Luka. “I don’t know. I guess I must not have objected to Korsov, if I kept it for all those years.”
“It can be changed if you choose,” Jaana said. “Just talk to someone in Legal Services, and they’ll walk you through it. Luka will make sure you know how to access the contact list for all the services you might need here at the Institute.” She shifted her gaze to Luka, who was still standing. “Did you want to sit down? I thought we could give Damon an introduction to the Institute.”
Luka looked pale and sick, and his eyes darted from Jaana to Damon and then back to Jaana. “I can’t… not right now. Maybe later. I think I need to… go…” He took a few steps toward the door. “I… we’ll start tomorrow, yeah?” And then he was gone, the door shutting quietly behind him.
Jaana watched him go, a slight frown marring her features, but she said only, “I’m sorry about that. I’ll have a word with him.”
“Should I know him? I don’t remember meeting him, but he looks familiar.”
“He was on the search-and-rescue team that found you,” Jaana said.
Damon thought back to that night. He remembered Rhys clearly enough; the man had been by his side for most of the past three days. But the rest of his memories of that night were a jumble of vague sensory impressions. “Yes… I mean, I don’t remember seeing him, but… if he was there, then that must be it.”
But it wasn’t.
Something inside him that he couldn’t quite reach said that wasn’t it at all. Damon decided right then that Jaana wasn’t the only one who needed to have a word with Luka.
He had a twelve-year hole in his memory, and a scattering of vague impressions and odd feelings that he couldn’t quite pull together into a coherent picture. And something deep in his gut told him that Luka Valdari might be the key to figuring out just how those scattered pieces were supposed to fit together.
* * *
Luka stared down at the faint, silvery lines on his forearms. Cutting had saved his sanity once, the pain grounding him in reality.
Now it was reality he wanted to escape, and pain wasn’t going to do a damn thing for that.
He shouldn’t have bolted from Jaana’s office. It had been unprofessional, and it wasn’t the way he’d wanted to start this assignment. But he’d had to get out of there. He’d hardly been able to breathe, not with those icy grey eyes raking over him in a way that was too damned familiar.
Processing might have reported that Shiv had a huge hole in his memory, but Luka wasn’t so sure. Not after the way the guy had looked at him. The memory might not be right at his fingertips, but Luka had seen the flicker of recognition in those pale, icy eyes, and he was convinced that on some level, Shiv did remember him.
Now, he stood in the center of his living room, arms wrapped tightly about himself.
Shiv.
With psi.
It wasn’t right, wasn’t fair. He’d been studying and training his ass off ever since he’d come here, and right when he was getting ready to start the new career he been working toward, Shiv had to show up and send him spiraling back to downside Riga like he’d never even left. The years he’d been here hadn’t been nearly enough to wipe away the dark memories.
The chime at his apartment door sounded, and Luka adjusted his shielding pattern just enough to identify his visitor.
Jaana.
Probably come to reprimand him for running from her office this afternoon, though he sensed concern rather than anger coming from her, which meant he was probably in for therapy rather than the chewing out he deserved. Given the choice, Luka would have preferred the chewing out. He dragged his feet going to the door.
“Hi, Luka.” Jaana’s smile was bright, white teeth flashing against dark skin. “Can I come in?”
He stepped aside so she could enter the apartment. “Guess this’ll take a while, huh? I should probably invite you to sit.”
“There are a few things I’d like to discuss with you, and, yes, it’ll take more than five minutes.”
She didn’t sound mad. “Okay.” Luka didn’t bother trying to hide his uncertainty. Not with an empath as skilled as Jaana, and especially not with one who knew enough psych stuff that she probably understood what his feelings meant even better than he did. He licked his lips. “You want anything? Coffee or tea or something?”
“Not right now, thanks.” Jaana’s eyes met his, soft with concern. “I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“I’m fine,” he muttered, and led the way to his living room. Jaana took a seat on the couch, and Luka perched on the arm of the chair facing her. He stared down at his hands, not wanting to face those sharp, bright eyes that could see right into his soul.
“Cam and I had a long talk about you after the meeting. We both want you to know that if you don’t feel up to taking on Damon’s training, no one is going to think any the less of you.”
“There isn’t anyone else.”
“There are plenty of other instructors on campus. We can shift schedules and—”
“Other instructors who can see it coming if he decides to attack? Or who can put him down before he hurts them?”
Jaana was silent.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I can do this, Jaana. And I think… I think I need to. It’s like… a chance to prove to myself that I can face the past down without running away. I always run, and… and we talked about that, about how I need to build up my confidence and stop doing that.”
“This isn’t exactly the sort of thing I had in mind when we talked about confidence building.”
Luka shrugged, and when he didn’t say any more, she continued, “You don’t think that returning to Torron counts as confidence building? I know exactly how apprehensive you were about the mission, but you did it anyway.”
“It ain’t the same. We didn’t go anyplace I knew. I need to face him. To prove to myself that he don’t have no power over me. Not anymore.”
Jaana regarded him with a sober expression, searching his face for a long time before speaking. “I won’t lie to you. Cam doesn’t know who else we could ask to train him. And the fact that we don’t know for certain what happened to his father worries us even more.”
“Yeah. I got that. Just because he didn’t do any damage to Rhys don’t mean he couldn’t.”
“Yes. So you do appear to be our safest option for training him. But it’ll just be the training. I’ve spoken to Rhys, and since he and Damon have already struck up a rapport, he’s going to handle the rest of the orientation procedures and act as Damon’s mentor.”
Luka tried to keep his sigh of relief quiet, but from the quirk of Jaana’s lips, she’d heard it. Or more likely, sensed it washing through him, so powerful that if he’d been standing, his knees might have given out.
“I thought that might make a difference,” she said. “Unfortunately, I can’t give you a lot of time to come to terms with the idea. It would be best for Damon if we can get started on the training sooner rather than later. He needs something to focus on besides chasing after his lost memories.”
“Yeah, I figured that. Tomorrow, then. Like we planned.” The thought of it still made him feel sick, but knowing that he was only expected to handle the psionic training and not the whole orientation and mentoring job made it a lot easier. He’d only be spending a few hours a day with Damon, not every waking moment like Rhys would. He’d have to thank Rhys, maybe take him and Alek out to dinner.
“I’ll sit in on the first few sessions.”
She made it sound like she was doing him a favor, but Luka knew better. “What, you don’t trust me?” he asked, unable to completely hide the bitter edge in his voice. Not that it mattered. Jaana was an empath. She knew exactly how he felt.
“I trust you to do the best job you can,” she told him. “But I was your therapist for two years, and I know exactly how hard this is going to be for you. I want to make sure it doesn’t send you into a tailspin. You’ve come such a long way, and I’d hate to see all your hard work undone. So I think I’m going to make working on this case contingent with returning to therapy.”
He should have seen that coming. Luka managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Barely. “For how long?”
“Certainly for as long as you’re working with him. And for as long as you need it afterward.”
“Okay,” he said with a scowl. Sometimes he hated the way Jaana could see right through him, right past whatever brave front he managed to put up and into the soft underbelly of his fear.