Modern Magick

Alchemy and Argent: 2

Possibly too good.

Rob was scrutinising me in that doctorly way of his. Looking for signs of ill-health, probably; Milady had given me stern instructions to rest. 'Do I need a check-up?' I asked him.

'I don't know,' he said easily. 'Are you feeling well?'

'Completely.' I flashed him my sunniest smile.

He was visibly unconvinced. 'Look,' he said, putting his magazine aside. 'If you want to talk to someone, I've given Grace notice to give you an appointment anytime. She'll see you whenever you want.'

'Grace?' I blurted. 'Why?'

He shrugged. 'Just in case.'

'Did Milady put you up to this?'

'She might have mentioned it.'

I said nothing more, fuming quietly. It wasn't that I had anything against Grace personally. It was just the fact that Grace Clement is our resident psychologist. When Rob spoke of an appointment, he meant an intake interview. Or in other words, Milady thought I might be losing my marbles.

I don't know quite why I felt offended by that, but I did.

Rob was waiting for an answer.

'I'll bear it in mind,' I said.

His dark eyes twinkled at me. 'You're annoyed.'

'Wouldn't you be?'

He thought about that for a moment. 'Only if I thought Milady might be right.'

'About what? That I'm a sandwich short of a picnic?'

'No, nothing like that. But, Ves, you've been through a lot lately. Things nobody knew were even possible. It would not be surprising if you were feeling a little... stressed.'

'I've had plenty of rest,' I said. 'I'm fine.'

Rob nodded. 'You should know that Jay saw her, before he left with Melissa.'

'Jay? What? Is he all right?'

'He's fine. He just needed a little help processing a few things.'

Small wonder. Jay had joined us only in April, and as luck would have it he'd arrived just in time to be dropped in at the deep end. Way at the deep end. He didn't have my ten-year experience of mad Society missions to help buffer the impact; he was fresh off the farm, so to speak. It was probably a good thing that he'd got some help.

I pushed aside some few, small, unworthy feelings — if Jay had been struggling, why hadn't he talked to me? — and focused on feeling glad that he was okay.

'Just think about it,' said Rob. 'Nobody's going to push you, so don't get mulish about it.'

'Mulish? Me? Never.' I stood up. 'You don't happen to know when Jay will be back, by any chance?'

'I don't think anyone does. He'll be back when they've finished whatever they're doing.'

I permitted myself a tiny sigh. 'Thanks, Rob.' I trailed off towards the door.

'Ves?' Rob said.

I stopped. 'Yes?'

'You can also just talk to me, if you feel more comfortable with that.'

I mulled that over. Maybe I would. I'd known Rob much longer than I'd known Grace, and we had been on several missions together. He had a solid, calm air about him that I found soothing, at least when he had his doctor hat on; not so much when he was in Scary Rob mode.