“We are all deeply concerned for his welfare,” Alain replied. “I’ve offered House Hawthorne’s support to your healer, but please let me know if you think of any way we can be of further assistance.”
Becka couldn’t imagine what fire elementalists could do to help Vott in this situation. “I’ll leave the healing to the healers.”
“As you say,” he replied.
“It’s nice you came to visit your cousin, Hanna,” Becka said. “I’m sure Alain misses home.”
Hanna laughed, a tinkling sound that reminded her of Vott’s wind chimes. “Oh, I didn’t come to catch up with Alain. I’m here for both of you.”
Becka attempted to drink and breathe simultaneously and instead coughed into her napkin. “Pardon me?”
Hanna smiled so sweetly Becka wondered how these two were even cousins. “House Hawthorne holds the gift of fire, which manifests differently in our members. Alain can control flame and has a keen insight into business dealings. I also have flame control, but I’ve further been gifted with a rare intuition into the passions of the heart.”
It took Becka a moment to process Hanna’s words, and when she did, Becka almost felt like she was back in the city. Her favorite magazine, Boho Today, always had ads for coaches. Style coaches. Depressed pet coaches. Career coaches. Embrace-your-joy coaches. You name it, there was a coach for it.
It felt like the city had come to her in the form of her very own coach. Becka tried but couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up from her solar plexus. “So… wait. You’re a relationship coach?”
Hanna frowned, taken aback at her response. “I am called a passion-seeker.”
Alain sat silent, his jaw clenched. Becka, reminded of her conversation with Maura, suppressed her laughter. She needed to find a way out of this engagement. Pissing off House Hawthorne hadn’t worked so far, therefore Becka needed to take another approach.
“Sorry,” Becka said, taking a deep, slow breath. She curbed her expression, if not her emotions, holding an image of Maura’s disapproving frown in her mind’s eye. “It’s been a trying week and I’m not quite myself yet.”
Alain and Hanna glanced at each other, and Hanna shrugged at him. “She truly isn’t.”
Alain leaned in, setting down his glass. “Hanna has helped many couples I know find their way to joy. You should know I did not send for her. My father had Hanna visit as a gift to us.”
“Duke Eldinrod is a most generous man, but truthfully I wanted to help. I can sense blocks in the heart’s realm and advise how to navigate the obstacles blocking forward progression,” Hanna said, sitting on the edge of her seat and talking quickly.
Considering the fae disdain for human-based psychology, it surprised Becka to hear Hanna’s description. But, she supposed, the fae wouldn’t appreciate the comparison to the endless variety of human coaches. Thinking back to her studies at the Institute, Becka wondered if in the pre-war days, would Hanna’s gift have been developed, or directed, in a more aggressive fashion? She’d read tales of House Hawthorne strategists who’d executed attacks which had terrified the human troops, causing them to break rank and turn on their own, mired in panic.
Now, Hawthorne focused on business strategy. Financial strategy. Obviously, never war. Perhaps, after she got to know Hanna better, Becka might work herself up to asking about the roots of her magic.
Becka helped herself to some slices of apple and cheddar, taking small bites. Gratefully, her stomach didn’t complain this time.
“That’s useful.” But could she use Hanna’s power to somehow prove she and Alain were unsuitable for each other, and would it even matter if she did? “What’s your professional opinion of our issues?”
Hanna smiled, appearing pleased at the question. She looked back and forth between them. Hanna gave a quick shrug.
“I rarely start off like this, but as you’re insisting, my first impression is that you are resistant on almost every level to Alain’s presence.”
Becka paused her chewing and swallowed hard. Comparing Hanna’s gift with human life coaches had been a mistake. Hanna’s insight was sharp as a laser. “That sounds on point. Anything else?” Becka asked, nibbling on another piece of cheddar.
Curiosity lit up Hanna’s eyes. “Quite a bit. I can sense you have a good relationship with the shifter guards you arrived with, but your ties in this house are limited. You have some deep connections in your life, but they are far from here or not within this family. So you can bond, but it takes monumental energy to get past your defenses.” Hanna mumbled that last bit.
Is she even aware she said it out loud?
Hanna refocused on Becka, smiling like a door-to-door cookie salesperson. “Alain told me you haven’t been back at the manor long?”
“If you mean I’ve been back for three months, surrounded by the family that cast me out, and now I’m stuck here because I have a powerful gift that scares everyone off because it’s not well understood or controlled, then yes, I suppose I’ve been back just a short while.”
Hanna’s smile faltered. “Right,” she drawled, and then a moment later her eyes lit up and the smile was back in full bloom. “Of course you are not receptive to Alain. You are unable.”
“Pardon me?” Alain grumbled, his eyes flashing in the candlelight. “What do you mean unable?”
“Becka has experienced a massive trauma, Alain,” Hanna said. “And she has just come to terms with the loss of the life she knew and has not yet accepted her renewed role back within House Rowan. On top of all that, someone just tried to poison her. There’s no path forward for the two of you, until Becka heals the rifts between her heart and her family.”
“Finally.” Becka blew out a long breath. “Someone who gets me.” Becka raised a glass to Hanna, and when neither she nor Alain toasted her back, she drained her glass.
“Are you sure?” Alain asked Hanna.
“I’m afraid
