Chapter Two
CHAPTER
TWO
The next morning Scarlett sat in bed staring at the sunlight sparkling on the water outside her window, mulling over the events of the previous night.
The police raid, the breakup—it all seemed like a dream.
She’d been using magic in secret for years, but that was the first time she’d seen anything like those shifters.
It was definitely the closest she’d come to being caught.
All because of a magical spectator sport.
She nuzzled into her pillow as she wished for the thousandth time her country would change.
Soleil’s magic ban was in place to prevent darker kinds of magic, such as the mind control and possession her country had been subjected to centuries ago.
That, Scarlett understood. But along with all the dark stuff, Soleil had also gotten rid of the good magic and closed itself off from the outside world.
The country had developed incredible technology to make up for its magical disadvantages, but despite interest from foreign buyers eager to merge magic with the advanced tech, Soleil still hadn’t legalized cross-border trade.
Other countries used magic to communicate across far distances.
Soleil had to rely on letters for legal communication beyond the border. It was all so stupid.
Barely anyone foreign-born was allowed into Soleil, and anyone caught using magic in the country was arrested and shamed, though the black market was well-known. She’d never understood how a black market was allowed to exist. After last night, though, she wondered if its days were numbered.
She sighed, looking at the time. Normally, she’d be waking up in Alastair’s bed. It was a relief to be alone in her room instead. The emotional hangover from her breakup had dissipated somewhat overnight, and she was ready to wreak new havoc on her life.
He should be awake by now…
Scarlett slid off her bed and padded into her dressing room.
The expansive adjoining room between her room and her grandmother Manon’s room was quiet when she entered.
She looked to the huge gilt mirror hanging between two bureaus.
The secret mirror that could get her and Manon arrested if it were ever discovered.
The mirror that connected her to the outside world of magic even though she lived in Goddess-damned isolationist Soleil.
Most importantly, it was the mirror that connected her to him.
At first, she simply saw herself at an angle as she approached the mirror. Only when she was standing directly in front of it did the image change to a room full of meticulously ordered bookshelves, a tweed couch, and a grand mahogany desk. The rest of her tension melted, and she smiled.
There he is.
On the other side of the mirror, Brayden Maddox was on the carpeted floor of his father’s study, bent over as he stretched his hamstrings for his morning run.
Though they’d never actually met in person, Brayden had been Scarlett’s friend through the mirror since she moved into the room.
She was eleven when she accidentally found the contraband magical mirror linking her home to his.
Now she was twenty-two, and Brayden was one of the few people in her life who cared for her unconditionally.
Their relationship was so precious to her.
She’d never felt that kind of love from her father and had lost it from her relationship with her ex-boyfriend in recent months.
As he straightened, Brayden noticed her watching. “There she is. Good morning.” He flashed her a charming smile that accentuated his prominent cheekbones. “You look a little keyed up. What has you so bright-eyed this early in the morning?”
Goddess, that deep voice of his. Brayden was from Clair de Lune, the country to the east of Soleil, and his accent always hit her hardest first thing in the morning. Even after all these years. She’d never get enough of the way he pronounced “you.”
Focus.
“I have news,” she said excitedly as she approached the mirror.
“Alastair and I broke up yesterday, and today I’m telling my dad I’m going abroad to tour the embassies instead of working for him this year.
” Telling her dad counted as news, because he fully expected Scarlett to join his staff now that she’d graduated from university, to prepare her to one day inherit his seat in Parliament.
Scarlett scanned Brayden’s face for a reaction. He pushed his messy dark brown hair out of his even darker eyes and blinked a couple of times. He definitely looked surprised. It might have been wishful thinking, but was that a glimmer of happiness in his expression? Tempered happiness?
He stood. “Are we playing that game where only one of those things is true and I have to guess which?”
She beamed at him. “Nope. Both things are true. I’ll have to talk to my dad today if I’m going to get my plans together in time to leave in two weeks. That’s when the Soleil Embassy in Sigur Vieur has agreed to host me.” Scarlett gathered her long hair and twisted it into a bun.
He stared at her. “That’s huge, Scarlett. And you split with Alastair…” He was unnaturally still. “Are you all right? Was it your decision?”
She nodded. “Yes, it was my decision.”
His shoulders relaxed, and Scarlett exhaled.
Somehow they’d both gotten closer to the mirror, and she could see the stubble coating his strong jaw as it often did first thing in the morning.
When Brayden had first started growing facial hair, she’d wanted to reach out and touch it.
She still wanted that. She could admit to that now that she was free of her relationship, even if she couldn’t say it out loud.
He lowered his gaze. Was he looking at her chest, or was he looking at something on his side of the mirror? Scarlett was wearing a stretchy tank top with a built-in bra that was admittedly not the most substantial, but he’d seen her in her pajamas before without seeming fazed.
For a split second she imagined him pulling her shirt down and putting his mouth on her chest. The intensity of the ache that arose in response surprised her. What would it be like to sleep with him? She’d only ever been with Alastair.
The reminder of Alastair lessened the building heat inside her. She took a deep breath, willing herself to get a grip.
Brayden’s eyes flicked back up to her face, and he gave her an expectant look. “And you’re okay. Are you sad?”
She grimaced. “Does it make me coldhearted if I say I’m fine? I think I fell out of love with him a while ago and just didn’t admit it until yesterday.”
A flash of guilt squeezed her heart. But then his parting words rang in her head. “You’ll never find this good of a match again. Do you understand that?” She was sure she’d done the right thing. But she didn’t want to get into the details of that now.
He shook his head. “If it had run its course, then definitely not. If you feel fine, it was probably the right thing to do. Do you think you might change your mind though?” He grinned.
“I don’t want to move into my post-Alastair mindset today and then be in trouble with you tomorrow if you get back with him. ” His smile faltered as he studied her.
She laughed, her nose wrinkling as she imagined patching things up with Alastair when her gut was screaming at her for sweet, sweet freedom. “I ended it, then he burned the bridge and pissed on the ashes. There’s no going back. Let post-Alastair life commence.”
His smile returned. “And you’re leaving Soleil in two weeks?”
“Yes. I’m planning on six weeks in Sigur Vieur and then on to Evory.
If I’m in Clair de Lune around winter solstice, will you be there?
I could try to change my plans if you’ll be gone then.
” They were the best of friends, but insecurity crept in.
What if, after years of being long-distance friends, they missed their first chance to meet in person? What if he didn’t want to meet?
Scoffing, he stretched his triceps, leaving his long torso on full display.
“Of course. The only thing that could stop me from being here when you visit is if I get deployed, which is unlikely.” Brayden was in the army, but thankfully, there hadn’t been war on the continent for two hundred years.
“I can’t wait to see you without the mirror.
We can actually go out together. And hug.
We’re about a thousand hugs overdue at this point. ”
She clapped her hands. “Yay!” Oh Goddess, I can’t wait to touch him.
Please let it turn out to be way more than hugging.
I want to feel him. An image of his body hovering over hers popped into her head and made her shiver.
She spun around in a circle to hide her giant smile. She was totally losing it.
“Did you just do a little dance over there?” he said with a laugh.
“Fuck yes, I did a dance. We’re finally going to meet!”
A flush of color spread across his pale cheeks. “I’m excited too. Stay strong with your dad. Don’t let him change your mind. I need those thousand hugs. And the deficit will only grow the longer you wait to visit.”
“I’ll stay strong. I want it too badly to cave.
” She worried her lip, noticing as she did that his dark eyes found her mouth.
“I might go speak to him now, actually, before we leave for the Remembrance Day ceremony. Will you be around later tonight?” She wanted to see him again as soon as she could, so she could tell him how it went.
“Yeah, sure. I’m grabbing dinner with James, but I’ll wait here for you afterward.” James was his brother—and his best friend.
“Are you sure that’s not inconvenient? I can always catch you tomorrow morning.”
He shook his head. “Nah, I want to hear how it goes. James won’t mind. Try not to burn any bridges or piss on them, if you can help it.”
To her delight, his eyes were bright.
“I won’t. See you tonight.”