Chapter Eight
CHAPTER
EIGHT
As she stared out at the foreign landscape where Brayden had grown up, an undercurrent of excitement raced through Scarlett.
Though the circumstances were dire, butterflies in her stomach fluttered at the idea of finally seeing him.
She ran her fingers through her dirty hair.
It was obvious she hadn’t had more than a sponge bath for weeks.
If only she could’ve met him on a normal day.
She could freshen up in the train bathroom, but she’d have to ask Beni for help getting her toiletries out of her bag, and even if she did make it there on her dad’s cane, it wasn’t like she’d be able to wash her hair.
She’d seen the bathroom on the way in, and it was tiny, with a minuscule sink.
It is what it is.
Tears pricked at her eyes, and she blinked them away in frustration.
Of all the things to cry about, my appearance is at the bottom of the list. We’re alive. Be grateful.
When the trees became so thick they were all she could see, the train slowed and pulled into a small station. After this, it would continue to Evory, Clair de Lune’s eastern neighbor. It would’ve been one of Scarlett’s stops on her trip abroad. Maybe someday she’d make it there.
“Right.” Beni stood. “I’ll put the bags on the platform and come back to help you.”
“Thank you, Beni,” said Manon.
Rising, Scarlett helped Manon out of her seat and into her wheelchair. She leaned heavily on Manon’s chair as they made their way to the door. Tapping her foot impatiently, Scarlett waited with Manon as a staff member lowered the wheelchair ramp onto the platform while Beni stood next to him.
Scarlett searched the platform for border control. “He’ll get through with us, right?” she whispered.
Manon hesitated, then she nodded. Her hesitation was enough to make Scarlett tense.
When the ramp was down, Beni helped them disembark, distracting Scarlett from her momentary anxiety.
Then she was hit with the beautiful scent of the trees.
Soleil smelled like summer year-round. The sometimes sweaty heat could be too much, though she enjoyed it when they were at the beach.
This smell was better, fresher. The damp soil, the dewy raindrops coating all the plants, and the oxygen flooded her lungs.
Scarlett looked around, enthralled.
For a train station, it was quite ornate, built with old stonework.
The arched windows were made of stained glass, and an enormous vintage clock was fixed to the wall, near the platform’s high ceiling.
One clerk at the turnstile glanced at tickets and passports.
Manon handed him all their documents, and to Scarlett’s surprise, he didn’t even ask about Beni, the only one without a Clair de Lune passport.
Scarlett smiled as they exited. “That wasn’t hard at all.” She’d seen the walled-off space for passport checks in the Soleil train station, and it was a lot more intense than what they’d just passed through.
“I told you, getting into Soleil is much harder than getting into any of the other countries on the continent,” said Manon, her tone confident again now they’d gotten Beni through. “No one else is as obsessed with keeping people out.”
They went through the turnstile, and Scarlett’s heart leaped when she spotted Brayden and James waiting for them farther down the platform. She waved, catching James’s attention. He pointed, and Brayden’s head swiveled, finding her. His face came alive at the sight of her, and she beamed at him.
“You’re here!” he said, crossing the platform.
“I’m here.” She hobbled toward him.
The pull to him was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
She’d barely formed the thought when Brayden closed the distance between them and wrapped her in an all-consuming hug.
Scarlett dropped her cane and threw her arms around his neck, breathing him in.
He smelled fresh, like the forest. His hard body pressed against hers, warming her.
The scratchy stubble of his face rubbed against her cheek. She never wanted to let him go.
But then the contact was over.
He set her down, his hands lingering at her waist before dropping to his sides. He picked up her cane and handed it to her, giving her a smile that was familiar and yet devastatingly different.
Scarlett drank him in. There was a little bit of dissonance as her brain replaced some imagined aspects of him with reality. They’d been viewing each other through a mirror for over ten years, and now he was right here in front of her.
“Look at you,” she said.
Brayden was bloody huge in person and at least six feet tall. She realized with a jolt he’d seemed shorter because of the way the mirror was hung in Lachlan’s office. His fitted T-shirt showed off the body he worked so hard to maintain.
She was dying to run her hands over his chest, but that urge was wildly inappropriate. In her mind they’d done everything together, but in real life they were still just friends. For now.
Brayden’s eyes glimmered with amusement as she pored over him until, with an embarrassed grin, she forced herself to turn away and greet James.
“Thank you for coming to get us.” She gave James an arms-only hug.
“Of course,” he said, his voice bright. He resembled Brayden, but his lighter brown hair was shorter.
He had a narrower—albeit still quite handsome—face that was dominated by thick, dark brown eyebrows.
Scarlett had glimpsed him many times in passing over the years, but they hadn’t spoken much.
He had a runner’s build, whereas Brayden, despite all the running Scarlett knew he did, looked like he spent all his time lifting heavy weights, wrestling, and maybe even throwing big rocks around a field for fun.
Scarlett reached for Beni, who hung back. “Beni, you already know Brayden. This is his brother, James.”
James waved. “Welcome to Clair.”
“Nice to meet you, James,” said Beni. Then he approached Brayden. “Thanks for helping me save my sister.”
Brayden squeezed Beni’s shoulder, looking down at him fondly. “You saved her, dude. Thank you.”
“Aww,” said James.
Beni looked between the brothers, seemingly taking them in. He didn’t know many adult men—especially now, Scarlett realized with a pang. Maybe some time with the Maddoxes would be good for him.
“Since we’re introducing ourselves, how’d you get the nickname, Beni?” asked Brayden. “Scarlett told me your real name is Beaufort.”
Beni glared at Scarlett.
She held up her hand. “Sorry!”
Beni turned back to Brayden. “I couldn’t pronounce Beaufort when I was little,” he explained. “Normally, Beaux would be the nickname for Beaufort, but with my last name…”
“You would have been Beaux Heroux,” chortled James.
“Exactly,” said Beni. “A rhyming name is not cool. Scarlett came up with Beni. It’s a little random, but it suits me fine.”
“I named him after a cartoon cat,” Scarlett admitted. “I was young.”
“Love it.” Brayden patted him on the back.
“Beaux Heroux,” chuckled Manon.
“Anyhow, Beaux Heroux, should we get out of here?” asked James.
Beni scrunched his nose, feigning annoyance, but he was laughing.
Scarlett looked eagerly at the exit. “That’d be great. I’m desperate for a shower. Manon, can we stay at your house? Is it far from here?”
Manon frowned. “We could, but there’s no food or anything. And in our current state, we might struggle.”
“Is there a hotel nearby?” Scarlett asked Brayden.
“Don’t be silly,” said Brayden. “You’re staying with me. Us.” He handed Manon’s suitcase to James, who began to wheel it toward the exit. Then he looped his arm around Scarlett’s waist, giving her extra support. “We’re taking you home to the castle.”
“Castle?” she managed, but almost all her attention was on his arm around her.
His grip tightened, warm and strong. “You’ll see.”
Outside the station, Brayden and James led them to a massive forest-green SUV and carefully helped Manon into the front passenger seat. James slid into the driver’s seat, while Beni scrambled into the very back, leaving Brayden and Scarlett together in the middle row.
For a few minutes James drove them through tree-packed forest, until gradually the trees thinned out, though they were still surrounded by plenty of enormous trees.
“It’s good to be home,” Manon said from the front seat.
“What’s that?” Beni pointed to a network of bridges high up.
“There are tree houses up there,” said James. “A lot of folks live in the city center, where you’ll find mostly townhouses and such, but a good number live here in the woods. The houses are all twenty feet off the ground and connected by bridges.”
“Why do you have tree houses instead of regular houses?” asked Beni.
“Erm, there used to be dangerous creatures that roamed at night,” said James.
“They were unfortunately very good at breaking into buildings, but they couldn’t climb.
So tree houses were the solution for the people living further out.
It also allowed us to preserve most of the trees instead of clearing the forest for housing. ”
“Used to be creatures?” asked Scarlett. “Where’d they go?”
“They’ve been banished to the western woods,” said Brayden. “The magical wards that used to protect only the city have been extended to the tree houses now. You don’t have to worry about anything coming for you here. We’ll keep you safe.”
Dangerous creatures capable of breaking into ground-level houses gave her pause, but her worry quickly dissipated. It was impossible to be scared sitting next to Brayden. He’d never let anything hurt her.