Chapter Six
CHAPTER
SIX
Scarlett awoke in bed, disoriented. She didn’t know where she was. Without the strength to open her eyes, she fell asleep again without fully waking.
Sometime later she edged back into consciousness and opened her eyes.
The uneasiness of a half-remembered nightmare lingered in her.
As she tried to wake up, she registered she was at home, in her own room.
Tubes were in her nose. Something was lodged down the back of her throat, and as she shifted, she gained awareness of something foreign between her legs too.
Blinking rapidly, she tried to make sense of the heaviness of her body, but her eyelids were weighed down by the need for sleep, and she gave in.
Sunlight was shining through the open curtains the next time she opened her eyes. Beni sat in a chair next to her bed, but she couldn’t speak to him. The dreamless sleep beckoned her once more.
She drifted for hours or days or weeks. Beni’s and Brayden’s voices pulled her to the surface.
Her brother’s voice grew louder in her dream. “Scarlett.” More insistent. “Scarlett.” A hand gripped her shoulder, shaking her lightly.
No one had ever shaken her in a dream.
Her eyes flew open. “Beni.” Her lips were dry, and her voice was croaky with disuse. She glanced at the window as she cleared her throat. It was pitch-black outside.
Beni leaned over her. “Thank the Goddess.” His green eyes were full of concern. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.” He ran to her closet and stuck his head in. “It worked—she’s up.”
She was more awake than she’d been since…
She tried to recall what had happened, but all she could remember was going to the courts and walking with Manon. Nothing to explain her current state. She had the haziest memory of being surprised and a sickly-sweet smell.
Beni returned to her bedside. “I’m going to take the tubes out of your nose.”
He slid the oxygen tubes out gently and threw them to the floor.
Scarlett rubbed her nose, relieved to be breathing freely. “What happened to me?”
“You disappeared. Mum said you were in the hospital, but she wouldn’t tell me where, and none of the press knew about it—it wasn’t in any of the papers.
” As he spoke, he unplugged a machine and slipped a heart-rate monitor off her finger.
“After a couple of days, an ambulance brought you home and put you here, with all these tubes in you.”
Scarlett’s lip trembled. “Wh-where’s Manon?”
“She’s been asleep too. She’s in her room. Hopefully, she’s waking up now.”
She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer of thanks for her grandmother’s life. “How long have I been in bed?”
Beni set down the cords he was holding and looked at her. “It’s been a month since Dad died,” he said, his voice thick.
A month asleep.
An entire month.
Scarlett blinked away her tears and mustered her rage. Anger was better—it helped her wake up.
“Mum told me you’ve both got sleeping sickness like your mum had, because you’re so sad, but we think she’s been lying about all of it,” said Beni.
“Why do you think she’s lying? And what do you mean, ‘we’?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I met Brayden and Lachlan. They helped me figure out how to”—he gestured to the medical apparatus next to her bed—“get you to wake up.”
Scarlett’s mouth fell open as she looked down at her arm. Medical tape was in disarray, and there was bruising where her IV had been. “You pulled an IV out of my arm?” Her twelve-year-old brother. Why hadn’t anyone else been here to help him?
“And a feeding tube out of your throat. Can you sit up and drink this?” He pulled out an energy drink, cracked it open, and then dumped a small sachet of white powder into it. “I’m adding extra caffeine,” he said in response to her questioning stare.
Scarlett pushed herself up to sit. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Brayden.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be silly. I understand why you kept it a secret.
” Beni spoke fast as she took long gulps of the sugary drink, quickly downing it.
“I was walking through your closet to check on Manon, and Brayden was all, ‘Beni, don’t be scared—I’m friends with your sister.
’ He scared the piss out of me, but they knew my name, and they knew you, so I talked to them, even though that mirror is clearly illegal and they could have been evil.
I just knew they weren’t, because they were worried about both of you.
I told them I’d overheard Mum talking to your doctor.
He wanted more money for keeping you and Manon asleep, and she agreed to pay him what he wanted. ”
She tugged Beni into her chest and hugged him tightly before pulling back to look at him. “Thank you, Beni. I’m pretty sure you saved me. Thank the Goddess you’re so brave.”
His eyebrows pinched together, and the shadows under his eyes deepened as he stared down at the floor. “She hasn’t seemed sad at all that you’ve been in bed for weeks. My mum is…”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “She must have given everything good in her to you.” Scarlett’s stomach clenched and her pulse raced as the full impact of his words hit her. Laylani had tried to kill her. “Where is your mum?”
“I checked on her before I came up here, and she was asleep, but we need to leave before she wakes up.”
“Yes, we need to get out of here.” Scarlett pulled the bedsheets off her body and tried to move her legs. She needed to get herself, Beni, and Manon somewhere safe. She needed to fix her body and figure out what was going on.
With Beni’s help, she stood on shaky, weak legs. Her body didn’t feel like her own. She’d lost all her strength.
“Let’s check on Manon,” she said. “Can you help me walk?”
“Yes.” Beni linked his arm through hers.
Scarlett glanced at her bedroom door, her chest tightening as she imagined her stepmother walking in and forcing her back to sleep.
With one hand, she grasped the stand that still held her bag of urine and held on to Beni with the other.
The catheter stand had wheels, so she was able to use it for support as Beni walked her to the dressing room.
He flipped on the light, and Scarlett was flooded with relief as she spotted Brayden in the mirror, with Lachlan beside him.
Brayden scrambled closer to the mirror. “Scarlett! Are you okay?” He had dark circles under his eyes and looked exhausted.
Scarlett had never been so happy to see him, and she smiled as tears sprang to her eyes.
“I feel like shit, but I’m alive.” The last time we spoke wasn’t the last time I’ll see you in this life. She laughed—from sheer joy—and it sounded slightly hysterical to her own ears.
“Alive is all that matters,” said Brayden as he examined her from head to toe. “We can fix everything else.”
Lachlan came forward to stand just behind Brayden. “Thank heavens you’re awake, Scarlett.”
Beni eased her into an armchair. “Talk to them while I get Manon.” He inclined his head to Brayden and Lachlan as he passed the mirror on his way to Manon’s bedroom.
Scarlett wanted to see her grandmother, but her legs were so unsteady she was relieved to be sitting down. Her body was frail.
How can I do what needs to be done when I’m so weak?
She looked past Beni to Manon’s bed and was relieved to see her grandmother stirring, although she wasn’t yet sitting upright.
Scarlett turned her attention back to Brayden and Lachlan. “I don’t remember things clearly, but I think someone may have drugged me on the street when I went to the courts. I somehow ended up back here, which makes no sense.”
Brayden’s eyes were overly bright. “You need to get out of there—right now.”
“If I were stronger, I’d go down there and…” Her rage and frustration boiled over, and she let out an actual growl.
“It’s going to be all right,” said Lachlan. “Save the revenge for later. We’ve helped Beni concoct a plan.”
Beni pushed Manon through the doorway. She was in the wheelchair Beni had used after breaking his leg skateboarding last year. It was smaller than an adult wheelchair, but it worked nicely for her slight frame.
“Are we making a mad dash for it?” she asked in a hoarse voice.
Scarlett’s shoulders sagged with relief at the sight of her grandmother. “Thank the Goddess you’re all right.”
“I found this for you, Scarlett.” Beni held up the cane from their father’s knee surgery several years ago. “Charlie has the boat ready, and he said he can carry Manon and Scarlett downstairs one at a time.”
“I wasn’t thrilled about involving your driver, but Beni swears the man is like family,” said Lachlan.
“He is,” said Manon. “We can trust him. He’s been with the Heroux family for thirty years, and he loves Scarlett and Beni.”
“Good.” Lachlan sounded slightly mollified.
“Where should we go?” asked Scarlett, her eyes on Brayden.
“Clair de Lune.” Brayden took a step closer to the mirror. “Come here.”
“Yes, please come here,” echoed Lachlan.
Manon’s golden eyes flickered. “Going home sounds great right about now.”
Scarlett’s eyes went wide. We’re going to Clair de Lune. After all these years, this was how she was leaving Soleil.
Beni started pulling clothes out of Manon’s wardrobe and throwing them onto her lap.
“I prepared for international travel. Your passports and your folder of important papers are already packed. And so are mine.” He closed the wardrobe door and looked from Manon to Scarlett.
“I’m coming with you,” he said, his expression haunted.
How hard had the last month been for him?
“Of course you’re coming,” said Scarlett. She wanted to take his hand and squeeze it, but he’d moved to her wardrobe and was tossing more clothes onto Manon’s lap.