Sophia pointed to one of the open seats. “Sit. I’ll be right back.”
Evan scoffed, but took the seat dutifully anyway. “So demanding. How does Wilder put up with you?”
“With a smile,” she retorted as she strode up to the receptionist. Sophia didn’t want to spell the woman into letting them in to see the doctor, but she might have to. What she apparently couldn’t do was spell Dr. Freud into marrying Evan because then it wouldn’t be official and she couldn’t enter Roya Lane. So many obstacles, it seemed.
“So you come here often?” Sophia heard Evan ask the only normal-appearing person in the waiting room.
She made a note that she should have told him not to talk to strangers, but that probably would have just made things worse.
Clearing her throat, Sophia offered the receptionist a polite smile. “Hi there. We need to see Dr. Freud. It’s important and—”
“You don’t have an appointment,” the woman interrupted.
“That’s right, but we’re—”
“Without an appointment, I can’t help you.”
Sophia kept the pleasant smile on her face. “Right. I understand. But you see, we’re with the Dragon Elite and—”
The woman gave Sophia a sympathetic expression as she nodded. “Of course you are. And a fine dragonrider you are, but without an appointment, I can’t help you.”
Sophia had to walk into a room full of crazies and state she was a dragonrider to the one person who was probably told all sorts of strange things all day. The receptionist didn’t believe her.
She sighed and discreetly twirled her finger while silently creating a spell on the woman. A moment later, the receptionist robotically picked up the telephone. “I’ll clear Dr. Freud’s schedule. She’ll be out to see you in a minute. Please have a seat and wait.”
Sophia nodded and strode back over to where Evan was chatting with the woman in the blazer. When she sat, he slid low in his seat. “This lady scares me.”
Sophia leaned forward and looked the seemingly normal person over. “Hey,” she said, when the woman noticed her.
“Hay is for horses,” the woman grumbled as she moved back and forth, her brow pinched. “You a horse? If so, that would also make you an alien. You know that your kind are from the planet Ronin, right?”
“I didn’t.” Sophia tried to keep the surprise out of her expression.
“See what I mean,” Evan whispered.
“This is how everyone always feels when around you,” Sophia stated.
“If you need a ride home, I’ll give you a lift on my spaceship,” the woman went on to say, butting into their conversation. “We’ll have to stop at one of the space stations to refill, but it only takes a few hundred light years and we’re eternal beings.”
“Thanks for the offer,” Sophia said carefully.
“You’re welcome,” the woman chirped. “Bring gas money. I’m almost out of plutonium and spaceships don’t fly themselves.” She laughed abruptly. “Well, not yet they don’t. Give it a few centuries.”
The door to the office opened and a woman with long brown hair and a confused expression poked her head through. “I’m ready to see Sophia and Evan now.”
Evan bolted upright and hurried away from the crazy woman. Sophia rose, waved to her, and felt sorry that she was so out of it. Or maybe she wasn’t and they were the crazy ones who didn’t know the truth about alien horses and spaceship travel. Anything was possible in her world.
Chapter Forty-Nine
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Dr. Tiffannee Freud said to them when they filed through the door into her office. She stood inside a large warm study, her hands on her hips and an angry expression on her face. To Sophia’s surprise, she was quite young, around her mid-thirties.
“Oh good, she’s not a dog,” Evan said with relief.
This did little to improve the angry expression on Dr. Freud’s face. “I had a fully booked schedule of clients. Then suddenly, Miranda tells me that all my appointments have been cleared and I’m to see you two. What’s that about?”
Evan laughed. “She totally looked like a Miranda.”
Sophia snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Focus, would you?”
He shook his head like a dog after a bath. “I’m trying, but wedding day jitters.”
Dr. Freud narrowed her eyes. “You two are getting married today? Is that why you’re here? You’re magicians, aren’t you, and you spelled Miranda?”
“No. To rock your world and yes,” Evan replied to all her questions. “But I’m not sure there’s a spell to fix Miranda. She could try a hat maybe. Something with a veil, possibly…”
Sophia almost slapped her friend. “I’m sorry, but we need your help so I had to spell your receptionist into allowing you to see us.”
Softening, but barely, Dr. Freud looked them over. “You’re one of those dragon people, aren’t you?”
“Dragon Elite,” Sophia corrected.
Evan shuddered. “Dragon people makes us sound weird.”
“You need no help in that arena,” Sophia quipped before she turned her attention back to the doctor. “I know this is going to sound weird, but we need your help with a friend of ours. He’s losing his mind off and on. I thought I fixed him a few times or that he’d snap out of it, but the problem appears to be much deeper and without his wits about him, well, there are bigger issues that could arise.”
Dr. Freud nodded. “Mental health is of supreme importance and can have devastating effects on families.” She looked Evan over. “How long has he been suffering?”
A laugh burst out of Sophia’s mouth. “Oh, that one is crazy all right, but he’s not the one we need help with. And the problem won’t affect just a family if it continues.”
“It won’t?” Dr. Freud asked.
“Well, when you think of family, think of everyone you’ve ever known,” Evan offered. “Like the whole world family.”
Deciding it was probably best to be direct, Sophia explained all about Subner. When she was done, Dr. Freud looked as bewildered as one of her patients in the waiting room. “So you want me to do mental counseling for Father Time’s assistant?”
“Well, and he’s also the Protector of Weapons, which is what we need him for,” Sophia stated.
Evan shook his head and elbowed Sophia. “You just use people, don’t you?”
“Okay, well, I guess this does seem important,” Dr. Freud said. “I’m okay with the fact that you interrupted my entire day for this, and I’ll agree to help.”
“Just you wait until you hear how much we’re going to interrupt your life,” Evan said with a laugh.
Chapter Fifty
“You want me to what?” Dr. Tiffannee Freud exclaimed, her eyes wide.
Telling the mortal that they needed their help to repair a schism in the personality of Father Time’s assistant went over pretty smoothly. However, when Sophia informed her that she’d have to marry Evan to get to the place where Subner was located, all of a sudden she was in shock.