‘I should go.’ Naomi pushed her hands back across her head, pressing hard. Her eyes felt gritty, but there were no tears – not anymore.

‘We still have five minutes,’ said Mia. ‘But if you need to go …’

Naomi bent to pick up her handbag. She paused, staring down, looking at nothing, thinking about everything. She took a deep breath and peered at Mia from beneath her too-long fringe.

Mia cocked her head.‘What is it, Naomi?’

‘The name of your practice. The Pleiades. Stars.’ Naomi left her bag on the carpet and sank back into her chair. ‘When I arrived for our first appointment, I didn’t know what to expect; the New Age bullshit name didn’t match with anything I’d read about you. I figured it was worth a try, but I was prepared to leave as soon as you pulled out the crystals.’ Naomi smiled crookedly. ‘I’m glad I was wrong. And I’ve been meaning to ask – why The Pleiades?’

Mia smoothed her black hair, the impact of its old- Hollywood cut enhanced by a white-streaked fringe and Mia’s own pale skin. Her style always impressed Naomi, so different from that of every other therapist she’d ever seen. Different, in fact, from that of most women.

She fixed Naomi with an appraising stare.‘Do you know the story of the Pleiades? I mean, beyond the astronomical side of things, do you know the Greek mythology?’

Naomi laughed. ‘Shit, you’re kidding me.’ She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers. ‘Deep down you are all woo- woo. I almost fell for it.’

‘Hear me out.’ Mia waved Naomi’s teasing aside. ‘The Pleiades are – were – women, and there are two versions of the myth that matter to me. In one they take their own lives out of grief over the loss of the Hyades, who were their sisters. In the other, they get transformed into stars by Zeus to escape the unwanted attentions of the giant Orion, but that bastard keeps chasing them across the sky. You can see why that’s relevant to what I do.’

‘I guess so.’

‘What struck me about those myths was that they’re rubbish.’

Naomi sat up straighter, hearing the fire in Mia’s voice…

Continue reading the extract here…

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