Apollo and Val: #5.5 (Luna Lodge Book 0) by Madison Stevens Page A

feeling more comfortable.
    Val twisted a little in her seat and looked down at the jeans she was wearing. They were faded some and had holes in the knees. A black stain ran across her leg, and she assumed that it was from some wires she had been messing with. At least she could say her gray shirt didn’t have holes, but that was about all she could say. It wasn’t really the sort of thing someone wore to see the doctor. And yet there she was.
    She looked up into the penetrating green eyes across from her and knew that Rachel likely hadn’t even noticed what she was wearing at all. The doctor might have a keen mind, but her choice of focus was a different matter. Rachel saw only what was important, and clothes just weren’t all that important.
    “It started a few weeks ago,” Val said and shifted in her seat. It was hard to verbalize something she hadn’t told anyone. “At first it was just strange dreams. Things that didn’t add up. People I’d never seen and things that had never happened.”
    Rachel nodded and took a few notes on a pad of paper. Val took it as a sign she should continue.
    “Then, this last week I’ve been sensing things when I shouldn’t have been,” she said and dug her fingers into the arm of the chair to keep from picking at her nails, an old stress habit.
    Rachel stopped writing and looked up at her. “What do you mean by that?”
    Val nibbled her lip a little as she thought how to put her thoughts into words. “Like I’m alone just working on something, and it comes out of nowhere.”
    Rachel nodded and went back to her pad. “And what sort of feelings are these?”
    Val hesitated. It was almost too much to even name what she was experiencing. It made her feel crazy just thinking it.
    Rachel looked up expectantly.
    “I don’t know.” She sighed and looked down. “Happy. Maybe you might call it giddy.”
    She could feel Rachel’s stare and looked up from her hands. The doctor looked about as surprised as she’d ever seen her.
    “You? Giddy?” Rachel asked and set her pen down.
    Val narrowed her eyes. “What? I’m giddy sometimes.”
    Rachel snorted loudly. “Yeah, and I’m passive and easy-going.” She laughed. “Any other delusions you’d like to cop to while we’re here?”
    Val pressed her lips together and started to stand.
    “I knew this was a bad idea,” she mumbled.
    She stopped when Rachel came around to her side of the desk.
    “Let’s not be hasty here,” she said and leaned back against the desk. “I believe what you’re saying.” She stared directly at Val. “You aren’t someone to just say things.”
    Val nodded. It was nice to know that she had the doctor on her side, even if she could be a pain in the ass.
    “Still,” Rachel continued. “You’re unusual. Aside from Sol and Erica’s daughter, Cassia, you are the only one with this…” Her brow furrowed. “Ability.”
    Ability. That was one way to phrase it. Empathy, the ability to sense the feelings of others. Not quite telepathy, but still very disconcerting at times.
    Val frowned. “Yeah, but we’re related, so that makes sense.”
    Rachel shook her head. “You are, but you aren’t. You and Sol might be siblings, but you’re still different. Cassia is half-human and half-hybrid. You’re an altered human. These are two very different things.”
    Val nodded. She knew she was different. Every day reminded her of that.
    “I don’t want to pry,” Rachel said and leaned forward. “But have you talked to Apollo?”
    Val shook her head. “He just doesn’t understand this stuff, and it would make him worry more. He’s already keeping a pretty close eye on me.”
    Rachel shook her head. “Not about this, but what we talked about last time?”
    Pain lanced through Val. It was the one thing she’d been avoiding.
    “Not yet.”
    She paled at the thought of having to tell him about her last conversation with the doctor. It had taken time for her to digest. Hell, even now it was hard for