Kept Read Online Free Page B

didn’t look as if she’d drained any souls lately. Lilith’s skin, which normally looked pearl-white, seemed a bit grayed and unhealthy. Even her eyes didn’t appear as bright. Her coat, which was too big, had some kind of furry dead animal wrapped around the collar, and the color of her orange fingernail polish didn’t seem like a wise choice with her lavender-and-gray-striped shoes. To each her own, I guess.
    “Good afternoon, everyone. The tension in the room is up a bit but not as bad as our last meeting. Great progress.” Dr. Frank always had encouraging things to say. “How about we relax for a second to get into the mood?”
    Dr. Frank’s magic fluttered through me. Oh, the man knew how to soothe a woman! Every worry I had on my shoulders lifted momentarily.
    “How was everyone’s week? Did anyone have any difficulties dealing with the change in schedule?”
    Lilith spoke first. “A change in the schedule is the least of my problems. I thought I’d be happy, now that I’m dating and soon to be married, but things aren’t going like I planned with Yuri.”
    I’d almost forgotten about my distant werewolf cousin in Russia. Yuri had flown in from St. Petersburg not too long ago to live with Lilith. Since he always sucked out the souls of most of my family members, I thought thetwo of them would be perfect for each other. Evidently not.
    “How have you dealt with your relationship problems?” Dr. Frank asked.
    Lilith played with her fingernails. “I’ve wanted to run away.”
    Now, that was a change. Most of the time you’d find Lilith eagerly feeling up the male members of the group.
    “Keep going,” Dr. Frank encouraged.
    “He calls me all the time. While I’m at work, while I’m on my way home. He’s like this leech I can’t get off my back.”
    I rolled my eyes. This story wasn’t anything new. Yuri had clearly just switched targets.
    “I simply want to be happy with someone,” the succubus said bitterly. “I wanted to attract someone, but not like this.”
    “Maybe you’ve finally realized you don’t always get what you want,” Heidi mumbled.
    “Good to hear you speak, Heidi,” Dr. Frank said. “What would you do in this situation to reduce anxiety?”
    “You’re making things a lot harder than they have to be.” Heidi leaned forward and continued, “Stop being a doormat and take control of the situation. You’re a damn succubus, for goodness’ sake. Tell him to stop calling you so much.”
    “And what happens after I do that? Should I still marry him?” Lilith whined.
    Heidi covered her face with her hands. Maybe to keep herself from saying something crass. I knew I wanted to. Our group therapy sessions often spun into relationship counseling.
    “Maybe you should be happy someone wants to marry you. My new dwarf girlfriend dumped me.” Tyler crossed his arms and gave Lilith a dark look.
    Heidi rolled her eyes. “I’m saying you need to stop crying about it and make a decision on your own, as your own woman. Whether you like the consequences or not.”
    “Good advice. We can’t cling to our typical behavioral patterns if we want to make progress in our recovery.” Dr. Frank turned to me. “How have you been since we last spoke, Natalya?”
    Everyone’s heads swiveled my way. I’d expected him to talk to Tyler next, maybe even Starfire since he rarely contributed to the conversations.
    “Good,” I squeaked. “Nothing new to report.” Sadly, the only positive thing I had to look forward to was Nick and Alex’s new baby. Otherwise, I had plenty of stress-inducers in my life: the impending trials, Thorn’s marriage to Erica, and now I was wondering what bad news my parents were hiding from me.
    But I smiled and nodded with emphasis. Yep, I’m all good here .
    “Well, hopefully you’ll open up at our private session.” That white wizard had a raised eyebrow that told me he’d read through me like a cheap tabloid magazine.
    “Anyone else want to talk?”