Tanner seemed to benefit from talking about what the doctors had done to him, too. Even though he had been turned into a hybrid months before Minka, in a whole different part of the world and with a different source of DNA, he experienced the same rage she did. But it seemed like he'd learned how to contain it. Minka hoped he would be able to teach her how to do it, too.
"How did you finally learn to control the beast?" Minka asked when he'd finished.
"At first, I depended on Zarina a lot-probably the same way you depend on Angelo," Tanner said. "Her voice, her scent, her presence-they were the only things that could keep me from losing it, and the only things that could bring me back if I did. Now, other techniques work for me, too. I could teach them to you, if you want?"
She nodded. "I'd like that. I want to get rid of the beast once and for all."
Tanner exchanged looks with Layla before turning his blue eyes back on her. "The beast won't ever go away, not completely. It's part of you now. But you can coexist with it and learn to keep it in the background except for those rare occasions when you need it to come out."
Minka's heart sank. She thought she'd be free of the beast entirely eventually-and she couldn't imagine why she'd ever want it to come out.
"Can you teach me how to do that now?" she asked Tanner.
Layla switched places with Tanner, letting him sit beside Minka.
"Can you feel the beast right now?" he asked.
"Yes," Minka said. "It's always there, waiting to come out."
Tanner nodded. "First, I want you to close your eyes and relax." He waited until she did, then continued. "Now, imagine that you're in a dark room, standing in front of a door. It can be any kind of door you want. Just make sure it's something you can hold firmly in your mind."
Minka pictured a solid wood door like the kind in Landon's apartment.
"Do you see the door?" Tanner asked.
"Yes."
"Good. On your side of the door, you have a handle that you can open or close. On the other side, there is no handle. That's where the beast is. It can't get through the door unless you open it."
When Minka realized the door would lead to a room where the beast was held captive, she immediately changed the door to a set of metal bars, like the ones that had been on the cell she'd been held prisoner in. It seemed the best way to keep the beast contained.
As Tanner continued to talk in his calm, steady voice about keeping the door securely locked at all times, Minka could feel the metal bars between her and the beast solidify. She imagined the beast pushing at the bars, trying to escape, but the door wouldn't open and the beast couldn't come out.
"Now, I want you to open the door just a little," Tanner said, "just enough for the beast to put one foot out."
She frowned but didn't open her eyes. "I'm not sure I should do that. What if it comes out all the way?"
"Then you'll think of Angelo and the beast will go back in," Tanner said. "Trust me, Minka. You can do this."
She wasn't as convinced. But in her mind, she pictured herself unlocking the door of the cage and opening it just enough for the beast to put one paw out. She immediately felt the beast's presence moving through her and tightened her mental grip on the cage, refusing to let it out all the way.
"Does the beast have one foot out?" Tanner asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Good. Now I'm going to teach you how to make your claws come out-and just your claws."
Minka tensed but nodded. If she wanted to control the beast, she was going to have to learn to take charge of it. Ivy's soft voice joined Tanner's, and together, they taught her how to make the claws on her right hand come out. Then Tanner had her close the door on the beast, and the claws retracted.
She opened her eyes with a laugh. "That was amazing! The beast came out and I was able to make it go back into its cage."
She could still feel it there, behind the metal bars, watching and waiting. But it didn't try to get out.
She smiled at Tanner, then at Ivy and Layla. "Thank you so much. All of you."
Tanner grinned. "You're welcome. But you did all the work."
She wasn't sure about that. "Can we do it again?"
Layla laughed. "Maybe after lunch. You've been working with Tanner for almost two hours already. We can get together afterward, if everyone is okay with that?"
Minka couldn't believe it was lunchtime already. But now that she thought about it, she was hungry. And when Ivy suggested meeting up with Angelo and Landon in the cafeteria, she eagerly agreed.
"You aren't coming to lunch with us?" Minka asked Layla as the rest of them made their way to the door.
Layla shook her head. "I wish I could, but I have to go see someone. All this talk about secrets and the damage they do has reminded me that I've been keeping some secrets of my own I need to come clean about. I'll see you guys after lunch."
Minka was disappointed Layla wasn't joining them, but she could tell it was important to the psychologist. She gave Layla a wave, then joined Ivy and Tanner. She couldn't wait to see Angelo and tell him how well she had controlled the beast.
* * *
Jayson was doing one of his physical therapy workouts, sweating and grunting through his core and ab exercises when the doorbell rang. He fell back on the floor and stared up at the ceiling, breathing hard. If he ignored whoever it was, maybe they'd go away.
The doorbell rang again.
"Jayson?" Layla called. "Are you home?"
Where the hell else would he be? He muttered a curse. Okay, that was uncalled for. Layla of all people didn't deserve it.
"I'll be right there!" he called back.
He rolled to his knees, then slowly pushed himself to his feet. His back had been feeling pretty good today, at least until he'd started doing the core-strengthening exercises. Now there were sharp tingles running down both legs. That usually meant he was in for some pain later. Then again, he was always in some level of pain. Why should today be any different?
He grabbed the towel he'd put on the arm of the couch and wiped his face, then opened the door. Layla stood there looking seriously hot in a slim skirt, silk blouse, and pumps.
"Hey," he said. "You get the rest of the day off or something?"
She smiled. "No. I just thought I'd stop by for lunch. Can't a girl take a break during the day to spend time with her guy?"
Jayson might have been nodding his head as he stepped back to let her in, but inside, his mind was spinning at a hundred miles an hour. Layla got an hour and a half for lunch as one of the perks of a cushy government job, but her office wasn't exactly a hop, skip, and a jump from his apartment. If she'd driven all that way, it was for a specific reason, and something told him it wasn't gonna be good.
But he went through the motions of helping her make sandwiches as she chatted.
Jayson chewed his ham and cheese sandwich mechanically, but it was impossible not to notice she had something on her mind. It also wasn't hard to figure out what it was. Layla had finally realized this thing going on between them was never going to work. She was moving upward at warp speed while he was lying around this damn apartment like lost luggage.
He swallowed hard, ignoring the stab of pain. It had been obvious from the beginning that a relationship with her was never going to work. Still, it hurt like hell.
Layla took a sip of iced tea, set down her glass, and took a deep breath. "I have something to tell you."
Shit. Here it comes. "Okay."
Jayson braced himself, waiting for her to politely kick his ass to the curb, but she just stared down at her half-eaten sandwich.
"It's okay," he said. "I know what you're going to say."
She lifted her head to look at him, her dark eyes filled with confusion. "You do?"
"Yeah. And I get it." Man, did he ever. "I knew we were heading here for weeks, and I don't blame you."
She frowned. "What the heck are you talking about?"
Now it was his turn to be confused. "You're here to tell me you're breaking up with me, right?" he asked.
Her eyes widened, then narrowed in irritation. Now not only was she going to dump him, but she was pissed at him, too. Fucking great.
"Are you stupid?" she demanded. "I'm not here to break up with you! Do you think I would come to your apartment and have a ham and cheese sandwich, then break up with you?"
Apparently, Layla wasn't here to dump his ass. He had to admit, part of him was relieved. The other part was confused.