Dr. Williams had her name on an outside door in the hallway as well as a waiting room inside, sort of like a principal’s office. Since Vere didn’t notice anyone lingering near the DR. WILLIAMS, CHIEF OF PSYCHIATRY sign, Vere let herself into the waiting room inside.

Despite Vere’s loveless opinion of the psychiatrist, her space was very cozy. The walls were half maple panels and half navy-blue, contrasting significantly with the rest of VADR’s airy, noble aesthetic. She had two cushiony armchairs and a little reception desk outside two additional office doors, one of which was hers and the other, as far as Vere knew, was just sort of empty.

Someone sat with their head bent, a pair of intimidating antlers the color of rain-soaked branches pointed at her as they thumbed through their phone. She cocked her head. Shifters were very rare in VADR given how often they allied with folks in Tenebrose, making them natural enemies to the valkyries and their efforts.

Knowing she had the tendency to scare the shit out of people with how silently she moved, Vere politely cleared her throat as soon as she was in the room.

The horns reared back, the person in the chair spasming with fright. A squishy yet angular face swung up at Vere, ruddy lips rounding into open-mouthed surprise.

“Sorry,” Vere said quickly with an amicable chuckle. “I’m very light-footed.”

The man jumped to his feet, the phone disappearing into his slacks. He struggled to settle the strap of his briefcase on his shoulder, where it caught on the cap of his blazer and wrinkled the lapel into his burgundy button-down. “I’m so sorry,” he gasped as he shoved his blue-tinted glasses up his nose, “am I not allowed in here? I’m just not—”

Vere lifted her hands in a gesture of goodwill and calm, grinning. She was about the same height as the shifter, but his shoulders were broad and solid in a way that most valkyries trained for years without always being able to achieve. He was soft around the middle, with the button of his blazer straining a bit.

Vere told him soothingly, “You’re not in trouble. I’m looking for the new counseling hire. I was sent by Colonel Agrippa.”

His big shoulders sagged with relief. “That’s me!” he cried, extending an eager hand. He had several rings stacked on every finger as well as the elemental symbols tattooed on his first knuckles behind his metal-stained fingernails. “I’m Orion Pendleton.”

“Ah, you must do metallurgy,” said Vere as she gripped his large hand. She was oddly happy to shake hands with someone who could stand up to her strength, and didn’t crack in half when given a real greeting like this.

He nodded and wiggled his fingers. “I dabble in jewelry. And about a million other things.”

Vere chuckled. “I’m jealous. I don’t have time for hobbies.”

“Yes, I expect as much. Valkyries are expected to stay pretty busy, right?” As his gaze traced the arch of her bronze wings over her shoulders, his tone remained subdued, which Vere appreciated. Sometimes enduring the awestruck gasps and requests to touch her wings was wearying. “What’s your name?”

“Guinevere of House Stromgaard. Call me Vere, please.”

Orion smiled. “Pleasure to meet ya, Vere. So, do you work in psychiatry or social work…?”

“No.” She frowned. “Not at all.”

He glanced at the closed office door. “All right then… Is Dr. Williams going to be in later today?”

Her frown deepened. Why didn’t Agrippa do anything to help this guy out? “Tomorrow.”

Orion stifled a little sigh of disappointment. “I don’t even have any paperwork I can do. This was kind of a last-minute arrangement.”

Empathy crowded out irritation with her colonel. She waved a hand in a gesture filled with false confidence. “Don’t sweat it. We can fill your day with plenty of morsels of valuable information. Dr. Williams will take one look at you tomorrow and be like ‘How many years have you been here?’”

“Sure,” Orion said with a snort of amusement, obviously humoring her. “Well, I know I’m supposed to do groups and intake evaluations. Do you know where those happen?”

Vere hesitated. “Um… somewhere around here!”

“Oh, gods.” Orion slapped his forehead. “I’ll just head home, okay? I’ll come back tomorrow, no harm done, and I’ll let the colonel know you did a super fantastic job—”

“No!” Vere exclaimed, too loud. She was thinking about that little GPS beacon on Agrippa’s screen, supervising Vere’s compliance with her mission. “Nope, sorry, I was given a task, and I have to do it. It’s the valkyrie way.”

Orion’s restraint looked like it physically pained him. He said through gritted teeth, “If you say so.”

“There must be someone near Williams’ office who has some information for you,” said Vere, and gestured for him to follow her toward the door. As soon as she was back in the hall, her gaze naturally found its way toward the doors into the Referrals department. “Oh!” she whooped. “Oh, duh! I know exactly who I can set you up with. Come on, Mr. Pendleton!”

He was easily able to keep up with her long strides. He stayed right on her heels until she remembered her manners and stepped back to walk alongside him. “So, as you know, valkyries live and work at VADR, but most of our ground floor is not staffed by valkyries. We are all in the field six out of seven days a week, and our admin day is spent upstairs in our Command sanctuary.”

Orion nodded silently.

“Of course, I was given instruction in the beginning of my training as to the particulars of the ground floor’s operations,” Vere went on with the restless urgency of having to make up for Orion’s inconvenience, “but unfortunately… that instruction started when I was twelve, so thirteen years has sort of made things fuzzy… I do know a bit about the Referrals department job and the children’s ward because…”

“It’s really okay.”

A glossy pearlescent head whipped around at the sound of Orion’s voice. Vere recognized the dainty build of the person who had been in Edie’s office the day before. He was standing just past the bay of windows on their left and holding out a flyer of information on a local mutual aid food train to two people who Vere assumed were here receiving VADR support services.

“Ah,” cried Vere, “you’re just who I was looking for!”

The dainty man’s turquoise gaze settled on Vere with indifference, but when it slid toward Orion, his porcelain features paled to frosty snow. “Oh, what the—”

Vere sauntered up to him, and the two people he was talking to scattered immediately, awkwardly heading toward the Referral Center. 

“Beckham, right?” said Vere cheerily, clapping him on the shoulder.

His eyes narrowed as he sank under her grip. “Bellamy.” He returned his skeptical glare to Orion. Vere glanced at her new charge, whose expression was carefully neutral, a bland smile glued to his full lips.

Bellamy glared up at Vere. “What do you need?”

“You’re a counseling trainee, right?” Vere asked, trying to ignore the tight pang of guilt in her stomach. She really hadn’t been paying any attention to this guy yesterday, had she?

“Intern,” Bellamy snapped. “And the only person down here doing anything therapeutic most days, by the way. Who’s this? And again, what do you want?”

Some valkyries would bite this guy’s head off for how he was talking to her right now. She wasn’t typically one to pull rank, but this whole frustration with Agrippa’s direct orders, and Orion being on his own and his first encounter with therapy staff being… this guy…

“Oh, well,” Vere said determinedly, puffing up her chest, “it looks like this guy is your new boss, then, Bellamy!”

“What?” Bellamy and Orion exclaimed together.

“No,” began Orion, “that’s not why—”

“You’re licensed, right?” interrupted Vere, patting Orion’s back.

“Yes, but—”

“You’re not,” Vere said to Bellamy, “right?”

Bellamy was like a tightly coiled serpent desperate to strike, the corner of his lip curling ever so slightly as he fixed Vere with a venomous stare. “Right.”

“So,” Vere said, gesturing with both hands to the two of them, “licensed supervisor with unlicensed trainee.”

“Intern,” growled Bellamy. He turned to Orion, lifting his chin. “Okay, boss…” The word was dripping with disdain. Did this guy just hate everyone he met, or was Vere picking up on… some other vibe between the two of them? “What’s on my schedule today?”

Orion gave a wordless groan in response, giving him an expansive shrug.

“Now, Bellamy,” explained Vere patiently, reaching to put her arm around him. Valkyries loved physical intimidation, and Bellamy’s head barely reached Vere’s chin. “You’re a representative of VADR today—”

Bellamy wriggled out of Vere’s hold with his eyes round marbles of horror as he smoothed his sweater vest and shook out his shoulders like she’d shocked him.

Vere continued unwaveringly, “—And it’s your job to give your new boss—”

“Just let me shadow you,” interrupted Orion. He patted Vere’s forearm. It was definitely a show of good faith, but also, Vere noted, a good way to remind her that just because she was bigger than Bellamy, she wasn’t bigger than Orion. With a syrupy-sweet smile at Bellamy, he cocked his head and said obliquely, “I’m sure you have lots of valuable things to say.”