Claire smiled. “Weren't you looking for Hale's student?"
Dane's eyes narrowed as he watched her. "Wait, are you one of Hale's students?"
It actually made sense. Claire had mentioned that Pandora and Hale were neighbors. If she had any kind of talent, it wouldn't be a stretch for Hale to take her on as a student.
Even Pandora didn't seem surprised. It was like she'd always thought Claire was capable of that kind of thing.
Claire didn't bother playing coy. "I studied traditional medicine with my teacher for a while. I might not be an expert... but I know enough."
She was setting his expectations, just in case.
Then she added, “But don't worry. I have a good memory, so making a tonic for rheumatism shouldn't be a problem."
Dane hesitated, a little thrown off. "Alright... thank you so much."
Claire couldn't help but think he was getting ahead of himself. "I'll need to take the patient's pulse first. Only then can I make something that actually helps."
Dane nodded right away. "Are you free tomorrow?"
Baldrick was staying at the hotel, so they could just pick her up and take her over.
Claire glanced at Pandora, who gave her a nod. "There's nothing going on here. You should go."
That settled it. Claire confirmed with Dane that she'd head back to the city with him the next day.
She noticed Dane rubbing his temples now and then.
"Is your head hurting?" she asked.
Dane frowned. "A little."
He'd dealt with headaches for years. They always put him in a bad mood, and when
it got bad, he preferred to be left alone. Otherwise, people around him usually paid
the price. It was the kind of thing he'd rather keep hidden.
"It's probably just because I haven't been sleeping well," he said, then turned to Pandora. “Pandora, is it alright if we stay here tonight?"
"We can all head back to the city together in the morning."
If it were anyone else, Pandora wouldn't have gone to the trouble. But this was the
grandson of an old friend, so she couldn't just turn him away.
"Alright, I'll get a room ready for you."
Of course, Pandora's house was too small for everyone. The bodyguard and the butler, Jack, ended up
staying at the Pearce family's place next door
Claire tried to help Pandora make up the beds, but she quickly realized she wasn't very good at it. Dane was actually way better than her.
Eventually, Pandora and Claire just stood there, watching him finish making up his own bed.
When he was done, they left him to settle in.
"Claire, that Green boy doesn't look so good. There's some American ginseng in the cupboard. Make him a cup of tea and bring it over, okay?"
"Sure thing, Grandma."
Claire was already getting used to where everything was. She found the ginseng and brewed a cup for Dane.
When she knocked on his door,
Dane had already washed up and was lying in bed. His head was pounding, and he was sitting against the headboard barely able to move his long fingers gripping the edge of the bed so tightly that the veins stood out.
“Dane, are you asleep?" Claire's voice came through the door.
Dane frowned. "Claire? What's up?"
"Grandma noticed you looked a little pale, so she asked me to bring you some ginseng tea."
"If it's not a good time, just say so," Claire added. She wasn't exactly the patient type.
Dane pushed himself out of bed, slipped on his slippers, and went to open the door.
Claire heard the lock click and rolled her eyes.
So careful. It was just her and her grandma in the house. Did he really think someone was going to barge
in and hurt him? And he'd lacked the door right away, too.
“Claire?” Dane opened the door and caught her expression before she could hide it.