Marion narrowed her eyes. Sheila was the perfect vision of professionalism and she had an excellent track record, which was why she had asked her to help Trey. It would be easy to brush this under the carpet and think that Trey was so eaten up with guilt he wouldn’t accept anything else, but she wasn’t fooled. Trey was a good kid and shouldn’t have that blame pushed onto him. He was messed up after the assault and everything that happened after it, but she’d started to get him to see reason. Since speaking with Sheila, he’d taken on all that guilt again. Something else was going on here.
“I’m talking more specifically about the kinds of things you’ve said to him.”
“If you wanted his notes, you didn’t have to ask me to come all the way out here. I could have simply emailed you.”
“I wanted to talk to you face to face. I want to know what you’ve said.”
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific if you have a problem with my work, Marion. You were the one that asked me to come and speak to the boy. I don’t understand what the issue is.”
Marion’s eyes turned stony cold. “The issue is that you are drilling into him that this is all his fault.” She spread her arms wide.
“Be specific, Marion. I don’t have all day and I added Trey to my already full work load as a personal favour to you.” Sheila’s tone was haughty.
“You were supposed to help him.”
“I am helping him. It was a traumatic attack and it will take him some time to get over that.”
“I’m not talking about the bloody attack! I’m talking about Dixon and everything else that’s happened!” Marion shouted. She wanted to keep a hold on her temper, but this woman could have possibly destroyed this boys’ life. How was she supposed to be reasonable?
The room fell silent for a moment and Marion sagged back in her chair. She didn’t want to lose her temper, especially seeing as she had known Sheila for many years. She hoped that she was somehow wrong about this situation, but feared she wasn’t. It broke her heart to think what Trey was going through. It made her feel sick to think of what Sheila could have been drilling into him.
Marion took a deep breath to get her emotions back under control. “You were supposed to help him process, not fill his head with a load of junk.”
Sheila suddenly slammed her hand down on the table, making Marion jump. “It’s not junk!”
“How can you say that? Trey isn’t responsible for what happened. There are so many factors working here.”
“He is responsible! It’s all his fault that Dixon is dead!”
Marion ran a hand through her hair, trying to keep a check on her temper. “Even if you thought that, as a professional, it is not your place to lay that blame.”
“I was doing what was right!”
“That isn’t right! Can’t you see that? If you had an issue with it, you should have come to me. I would have taken you straight off the case.” Marion couldn’t believe this was happening.
“He killed him!” She screamed, getting up so quickly the chair toppled over. The wild look in her eyes showed Marion the truth. This woman had purposely made the boy take the blame for something that wasn’t his fault. How sick was she? “He killed him!”
Marion jumped out of her chair like she had been slapped. She’d never seen Sheila lose control like this before. It was like she was unravelling.
“That wasn’t Trey’s fault.”
“It was all his fucking fault! You’re all pussy-footing around him when he needs to know the truth!”
Marion frowned. This wasn’t the way she thought this would go. Shouting wasn’t going to help. “Sit down, Sheila.”
“I don’t want to sit down! I just want Dixon back!”
“You didn’t even know him!” Marion snapped, getting more confused by the second.
“I loved him! I loved Elias!” Sheila screeched.
Marion could have fallen down in shock. What the hell was she on about now?
Sheila collapsed on the floor in heart breaking sobs, her shoulders shaking violently and her pitiful wails echoing off the walls. It took a few minutes for Marion to get her thoughts together enough to speak.
“Sheila? Can you tell me what happened?”
“I loved him.” She hiccupped.
“I understand that.”
“He was going to leave his wife. We were going to be happy. Until Trey took it all away from me.” The sobbing returned.
Marion fell into a shocked silence. Never in a million years would she have ever believed that Dixon would have cheated on Mira. In all honesty, she wasn’t entirely sure she believed it now. There was something about Sheila that seemed a little unhinged. It may have been the grief, but Marion wasn’t so sure.
“It wasn’t Trey’s fault.”
“Of course it was. When you called me to come and see him, it was the perfect opportunity for me to find out the truth. And I did. It was his fault.”
“But, Sheila...”
“No! This was his fault! He’s to blame! If he hadn’t been fooling around with that bitch shifter, this would never have happened. I would have had Elias and we would have been happy. He has to pay!”
Marion stood open mouthed. This went way deeper than she thought and knew that she would have to tread carefully. Whether Sheila was speaking the truth or not, the woman clearly thought it was the truth.
“I’m so sorry, Sheila.”
“I can’t be without him. We were going to be so happy.” She wailed.
Marion carefully crossed the room and bent down to hand her a box of tissues. “Let me get us some coffee and we can talk about this properly. Would you like that?”
Sheila sniffed pathetically and dabbed at her eyes before nodding. “I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about this.”
“We’ll talk.”
“He has to pay. He has to pay. He has to pay.” She muttered over and over again.
“I’ll go and get the coffee.” Marion backed out of the room, closing the door and leaning her head against it. Taking deep breaths did nothing to help compose her. This was pure madness.
Signalling to one of the warriors, she sent him off to get either Kelton or Verynai. There was no way she could deal with this on her own. It was too big. Way bigger than she first thought.
Luckily, it only took a couple of minutes for Verynai to get there. Jogging straight to her, he asked, “What’s so important?”
Marion pulled him towards her and looked around to make sure that no one could overhear them.
“She took this job purposely to get to Trey. She blames him for Dixon’s death and wants to make him pay.”
Verynai frowned. “Why would she blame him for that?”
“Because she says she was in love with Dixon. She said that they were having an affair and he was going to leave Mira.”
“Shit!”
“Exactly.”
“But he wasn’t like that.”
“I didn’t think he was, but something doesn’t seem right with her.”
“You think she’s nuts?”
“That’s not exactly the professional term I would use, but yes. Possibly.”
Verynai smirked. “Either way, it doesn’t really matter. There is no way anyone else can find out about this. Mira’s going through a tough enough time as it is. She doesn’t need this bullshit on top of her grief.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’ll deal with this. Don’t worry. I’ll sort it.”
“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I brought her in. I thought she could help, but she did the complete opposite of what I asked her.”
He pointed a finger at her. “No more blame. That’s the shit that got us into this mess in the first place.”
Marion smiled sadly. “Do you need me to do anything? I should help.”
“No. Go and check on Trey and try to get him back on track. I’ll deal with this nut-job.” Verynai put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Walking away, Marion knew that the situation was now in good hands, but she couldn’t help worrying. This was the last thing Dixon’s wife would need to hear right now, whether it was the truth or plain delusion. There wasn’t anything else she could do and put her trust in Verynai to handle it. How he was going to do that, she didn’t know, but she knew no harm would come to Sheila. He wasn’t like that. Verynai may have a gruff exterior, but he held women in the highest esteem. Whatever he planned for her would be for the best.
“Marion?”
She turned to see Verynai striding towards her. She’d been bustling around the medical suite, rearranging things that really didn’t need rearranging, but finding anything to do to keep her mind occupied. Trey had been sleeping, so there was nothing she could do to help him yet. “How did it go?”
He pulled her into her empty office where they could speak privately.
“What happened?” she asked again impatiently.
“I don’t think that woman was telling the truth.”
“She was quite convincing.”
“I honestly don’t think she’s in her right mind.”
“Where is she?” Marion asked nervously.
“She won’t be causing us any more problems.” Verynai replied cryptically.
Marion gasped. “You didn’t?”
He laughed. “What? You think she’s dead? That I ‘offed’ her?”
“Well, I don’t know how you usually silence a situation like this.” Marion blushed furiously.
“We don’t take innocent lives.” Verynai roared with laughter. “She’s been secured in one of our hospitals and is awaiting assessment.”
“Oh.” Marion didn’t know what they’d do, but being somewhere like that, at least she’d receive the help she clearly needed.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Marion asked, confused.
“None of this can be easy for you. She was your friend.”
She waved him off dismissively. “I’m fine.”
“Well, I need to get back to work. If you need me for anything, even if it’s just to talk, you know where to find me.”
Marion nodded gratefully and watched him walk off. She was grateful that the warriors worked so hard together in a team. It certainly helped in moments like this. Alone, she didn’t know how she would have dealt with Sheila.
Verynai was really stepping up lately. He’d always been there on the front line, but since Dixon’s death, he’d had more responsibility heaped on his shoulders. And they were very broad shoulders. Marion couldn’t help but admire his taut behind as he strode away from her.
Heading back out of her office, Marion carried on puttering around the suite, waiting for Trey to wake up. They had a lot of work to do to convince him that Sheila had been wrong. She’d already spoken with Verynai and they’d agreed that it would be best not to bring in any outside help. She was going to do this herself. Hopefully she wouldn’t fail. This was a kids’ life in her hands and she didn’t want to ruin him any more than had already happened. It was a big responsibility, but one that she had to rise to. Trey was a good kid and he didn’t deserve this.
Chapter Seventeen
It was getting a little easier every time she came up to the suite. As hard as it was to admit, Cala found it a lot easier going up there when Kelton wasn’t around. It wasn’t as if she didn’t like him, but it was taking time to get used to him. Most of the time she saw him as this gruff, untouchable warrior. It was strange to see the other side of him, especially the side where he was so loving with tiny Elias.
Elias. Now he was one little person she took to straight away and loved him intensely. He was an adorable little thing, always so happy to see her. Every time she went up to see him, something about him had changed. He was growing so quickly and she wanted to cherish her moments with him.
It made her angry to think that her sister could have and would have kept her from all of this. Rhian wouldn’t even think that she missing out on knowing him. Cala had got used to her selfishness over the years, but something like this? It really hit home just how different they were.
She hadn’t heard anything from Rhian or her mother. They truly had cut her out of their lives. Honestly? Cala didn’t even miss them. She’d known that she wasn’t happy, but she’d never quite realised the negative effect they’d had on her life.
It wasn’t easy being out there on her own and it was taking some getting used to. Making friends had never been easy for Cala. She always had to put up with who Rhian decided was best for them, which was never her first choice. Now she could finally choose her own friends.
Being with Kayleigh was actually fun. She’d thought at first that the woman was only being nice to her for Kelton’s sake, and she possibly had been in the beginning, but now they were becoming friends. The conversation was starting to flow easily now and the awkward silences were getting few and far between.
It was amazing how much they had in common and how much they found to talk about. Obviously, Elias was usually the main point of conversation, but Cala would never tire of talking about her little brother. It was something new for her and she was loving every moment of being with him.
Knocking on the door, Kayleigh called out for her to come in. They’d been expecting her. Calling up to see them was now becoming a ritual, and one that Cala enjoyed.
“Hi!” she called out as she walked in. Even though it was taking some time, her confidence was starting to grow. At least in some aspects. Being around Kayleigh and Elias was getting easier, but she still had a hard time of it getting close to the kids her age. All those years of getting talked down to by her mother and sister had really done a job on her, leaving her unsure of herself. As much as she wanted to get close friends, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed.
“Come on in, Cala. We’re in the bathroom.” Kayleigh called back to her.
Cala knew her way around the small suite easily enough and headed straight towards Kayleigh’s voice. She laughed the moment she stood in the open doorway. Elias was in the bath, splashing away and laughing every time he got Kayleigh wet.
“Wow! You’re making a mess, little man.” Cala laughed.
“Don’t just stand there,” Kayleigh chuckled, “Come and hold him while I grab some more towels.” She was dripping wet but didn’t look the least bit angry. She was happy her boy was having so much fun. He was a real water baby.
“Uh oh! Don’t you splash me!” Cala grinned at the baby as she took over from Kayleigh. The second she was close enough to help hold onto him, Elias waved his arms and legs. He was always so excited to see her and this time he showed it by spraying water all over her and laughing a deep belly laugh.
Cala shrieked before bursting out laughing. She wouldn’t have bothered doing her hair if she’d known what she was walking into. Not that she cared. Spending time with Elias often ended up quite messy, usually with food thrown in her direction.
“Come on, little monkey. Let’s get you out.” Kayleigh leant down to pick up the wriggling baby who was gurgling contently. “Here.” She passed a towel to Cala so she could dry herself off.
“Thanks.” Cala laughed as she looked at herself in the mirror. After two minutes of bathing a baby, she looked like a drowned rat.
“Let’s get you some milk, shall we, Elias?” Kayleigh cooed. “Do you want a coffee, Cala?”
“I’d love one thanks.” Cala put the towel down and moved towards the kitchen. “I’ll make it while you feed the baby.”
“You’re a life saver. He’s had me on my feet since the moment he woke up and I’m exhausted.”
Cala made the coffee and quickly returned to the living room where Kayleigh was giving Elias a bottle. He was halfway through and already dropping off to sleep. The exertion in the bath was finally catching up to him.
“How’s your day been?” Kayleigh said in a quiet voice so as not to disturb him.
“I didn’t go to training this morning.” Cala looked away
for a moment. She wasn’t sure whether to mention it when she was on her way up here, but she knew that Kayleigh wouldn’t get mad at her. She’d just want to talk and that was something Cala needed at the moment.
“Why not?”
“I couldn’t do it. I didn’t see the point.” She had been exhausted trying to keep up with the others. Even though she knew about the warrior mark, she’d wanted to keep trying. It was something she could share with Kelton, even if she wasn’t in his training group. She wanted to make him proud.
“Is there something else you’d like to do?” Kayleigh knew all too well how difficult it was for the girl and she’d wondered how long she’d last. It was a tough training schedule and she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up herself.
Without the warrior mark magic giving you the push along, the training schedule would be almost impossible for anyone else to keep up with. It was no wonder Cala had been struggling. How her mother could put her in that situation, Kayleigh didn’t know.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure we could find something else for you to do around here. If the training is too much of a struggle, don’t put yourself through it.” Kayleigh smiled at her to soften the blow, but continuing the training wasn’t going to be an option for Cala for much longer. Each lesson was leaving her exhausted and soon enough she’d get left behind as the others upped their schedule. Graduation was only a few years off and Kayleigh knew as well as anyone else that Cala wouldn’t be able to keep up. She wasn’t saying it to be mean, she was being realistic.
“I don’t know.” Cala didn’t have any talents that she knew of.
“Don’t think that you have to train just to stay here. You’re here because you’re family.”
Cala smiled shyly. “Thank you.”
“Well, it’s true. You don’t have to train to prove something to Kelton. He’s not bothered what you do as long as you’re happy.”
End of an Era: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 4) Page 19