Page 50 of Savage Knight
Chapter Nineteen
Walking next to Evren, Lowen was a little overwhelmed by the different laptops.So many brands.Which was the best one?
“I have no clue what I’m looking at,” she said.“Or what I’m looking for.”
“Want me to help?”
Relief washed through her.“Yes, please.I don’t need anything fancy.I just want to get my ideas down.”
“Is your book gonna be fiction or nonfiction?”
“Oh, I don’t even know if a book is in my future,” she admitted.“But I think it’s great therapy.I’m constantly writing down things as they come to me.Some of the stuff ...it’s like I’ve been in a fog and it’s dissipating slowly.”
“It’s because you feel safe now,” he said.“Keeping things hidden in your psyche is a defense mechanism.It was a way to cope.Almost all people who are abused tend to bury it deep down in order to survive.”
She raised an eyebrow.“You sound like a psychologist.”
“Well, that’s because I studied psychology in college.”
Surprised, Lowen stopped walking.“You’re a therapist?”
“No,” he replied.“My major was business with an emphasis on cybersecurity.I always knew I was going to work for Jeremiah, but I also was interested in learning how our minds worked.Growing up, I couldn’t understand why our parents were different than the other kids’ parents.I’d see moms and dads picking them up from school—hugging them, laughing with them, attending school plays—and wanted desperately to understand mine.Took me a while to realize just how selfish they were.”
“Was that your therapy?Learning why they were like they were?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”He shook his head.“The six of us had our own way of coping.Georgie and Cricket got lost in drugs, just like our parents.Jeremiah cut off his emotions.Saxon uses pain—his and other people’s.Aera almost lost it to drugs and alcohol, but he pulled himself together and ran away.”
“And you studied psychology.”
He shrugged.“I also went to a therapist for a couple of years.If you want to pursue that avenue, I can make that happen.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.“We’ll see.”
He held out his hand and she took hold, entwining their fingers.Amazed at his inner strength, she hoped one day she’d be just as strong.
****
“Okay, fists up,” Evrensaid as she faced him.“Widen your stance, keep your elbows closer to protect your head.”
Lowen followed his instruction.They’d been at the cabin for a month, and it had been the most wonderful time of her life.She typed every day, recording her rambling thoughts and feelings.The more her mind felt comfortable to face the memories, the more she remembered.Self-empowerment bloomed when he started teaching her some basic defense moves.
Bouncing on her feet, Lowen shook her arms out.Ready to kick some ass.
“The best defense is a good offense,” he said.“The first thing is learning how to duck and weave.”
“I thought I was supposed to kick you in the balls.”
He blinked.“Excuse me?”
“I’m trying to hurt the assailant,” she said, batting her eyes at him.“So, isn’t that the most obvious place?”
“Are you flirting by way of emasculating violence?”
She laughed, feeling light and free.Each day better and better as the tendrils from her previous life began to break and fade away.
