Dragon Heartstring(11)

I closed my eyes and lit that part of me inside that sought out sickness and injury. The cold burn flared in my chest. Trickling like water through my veins, threads of electric energy spread outward through my hands and into Daniel.

“That’s it. Just one more minute.”

Energy pulsed along the connection to seek the source of the boy’s illness. Finally, I found it. The resulting reverberation that came back to me tasted of bitterness, which always meant a virus. I opened my eyes and smiled at Mrs. Weber who watched in awe.

“Well, the good news is it’s only a stomach virus. Nothing too serious.”

I opened the cabinet behind me and found the medicine that had been shipped from the Icewing clan north of Singing Wind Wood in the Feygreir Mountains. The clan thrived there, still cultivating home remedies of the forest and infusing their healing magic into the medicine. Thankfully, with my father’s influence, they had agreed to ship me medicine each month, such as woundwort paste, an antiseptic, and comfrey juice for joint pain.

“Here. Drink one spoonful diluted in warm water three times a day until the symptoms stop.”

“Oh,” said Mrs. Weber, taking the bottle. “You don’t need to…well, you know.”

“No,” I said with a little laugh. “We can’t heal viruses with cold-fire, I’m afraid. But this medicine comes from my home clan. I can promise you it is the best remedy for this kind of illness.” I opened the door to walk them out. “I’d keep Daniel indoors at least one day more after the symptoms stop. Lots of rest. And keep him hydrated.”

“Yes. Thank you, Ms. Icewing.”

As I escorted them to the lobby, I heard Carra talking to someone. I wanted nothing more than to call it a day, but the patients seemed to keep piling up.

“Here she is now, Mr. Cade.”

My stomach flipped at the sound of his name. Then it looped a second time when he came into view. While Carra straightened her desk, she glanced nervously at the dapper Demetrius Cade. Standing tall and looking like perfection in a dark navy suit, white starched shirt, and a silver tie, he greeted me with a slight nod, his black locks sliding forward over his brow. I pretended my knees weren’t about to buckle and sauntered casually forward.

“Have a good day Mrs. Weber and remember to give him the medicine as directed.”

“Yes, I will,” she said, ushering Daniel out the door.

“Well, hello,” I said, greeting him beside Carra’s desk and clasping my hands in front of me. “What brings you here? You’re not ill, I hope.”

“Not at all,” he said with a tilted smile. The man probably rarely smiled, and so it seemed his mouth was having trouble forming a proper one. “I had hoped to speak with you if I could. Perhaps over lunch?”

Carra knocked over a cylinder, spilling pens across her desk, a few falling off the edge onto the carpet. “I’m sorry,” she said, flustered.

“It’s all right, Carra,” I said before turning back to him. “Sure, I was about to break for lunch anyway. Let me get my bag in the back.”

I walked down the hall past the examination rooms into my office. Carra was on my heels the instant I stepped through the door. “Do you know who that is?” she asked in a yelling whisper, her eyes alight with glee.

“Yes,” I said, pulling open the filing cabinet where I kept my purse. “That’s Demetrius Cade. Jessen’s brother.”

She laughed hysterically. “That is Demetrius Cade. Most eligible and delicious and wealthy and beautiful bachelor in all of Gladium.”

“Good Lord, Carra. He doesn’t have all those titles, does he?”

She shook her head in disbelief. “You have no idea. I’ve never seen him in person. Only in the social event columns. But wow, he’s even lovelier up close. And he smells like heaven.”

“Please don’t faint and hit your head. I’m too tired to do a healing to stitch you up.” I shouldered my bag and walked into the hall.

Carra scooted along behind me. “I can’t believe you’re going on a lunch date with him,” she yell-whispered again.

I spun and stopped. “It is not a date. Just lunch. You heard him. He wants to talk to me about something. Most probably the parliament hearing or a family issue.”

Carra propped a hand on her hip and smirked. “If he just wanted to speak with you, he could do it right here in the clinic. No. Conversation plus food plus two attractive single adults equals a date.”

Carra was doing nothing for my nerves. Her date-labeling this casual lunch amped my anxiety to red alert. I smoothed my skirt and my hair hurriedly.

“You look great,” she said with a grin. “And I want all the details tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I said back in the same girlish whispering, feeling ridiculous. “I’ll give you all the details if you don’t swoon over him and embarrass the both of us.”

She giggled. “I won’t. It’s just that…it’s Demetrius Cade.”

“Yes, we’ve established that.” I lifted my chin and marched out into the lobby as calm as I could. “Ready?”

“Ready.” He held the door open for me. “It was nice meeting you, Carra,” he added with a smile.

“It was nice, too,” she said, giggling neurotically. “For me to meet you, I mean. Also.”