Beni headed for the kitchen.
“You go ahead,” Scarlett said to Cass, who was waiting for her reply. “I’m going to call Brayden again.”
This time the officer patched her though to Brayden without argument. She melted at the sound of his deep voice. Scarlettwalked upstairs as she told him everything she could with an officer listening.
“Scarlett, that’s incredible. You’re incredible. I can’t believe what you’ve achieved. But the risks you took—Goddess, I should have been there. Why did you go with Cass? She’s got military training you don’t have.” His voice held a touch of reproach.
Scarlett flopped onto her bed, staring up at her painted ceiling. “You’re right,” she admitted. “I was a liability. But I couldn’t sit at home while others took these massive risks for me. Besides, with Cass out, I would’ve had no security. Beni had to stay with Elestine, and I didn’t want to wait there all night.”
He sighed. “You know, I would have done the same thing in your shoes, if I’m honest. You were really brave. I’m relieved you’re safe. And Beni was at Elestine’s the entire time? Like, all night? Did he hate being left there?”
She smiled softly at his concern for her brother. “Yes, that’s right. Beni was fine. He gamed in their guest room all night.”
“And so, what, you picked him up afterward and went home with Cass last night?” he pressed.
Scarlett’s smile faded as she took in the frown in his voice. “Well, no. We stayed up almost all night at Elestine’s reviewing everything we found. Beni slept while we worked. I napped briefly in his room.”
“So there weren’t any more nasty encounters?” he asked, somewhat appeased. “You slept in the room with Beni, and he left you alone?”
Brayden didn’t have to clarify who “he” was.
Scarlett let out a huff as she rolled onto her side and hugged one of her pillows. “No, therewasa nasty encounter. He tried to get me to snap out of the spell he thinks you put me under. He was definitely a dick.”
“And that’s it?” asked Brayden. “He didn’t do anything else to hurt you?”
Her brow pinched. She understood his concern, but she hated wasting their valuable phone time on Alastair. “What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?Itwas really annoying. And I did put him in his place for it, just for the record.”
Brayden was silent for a long moment. Then he let out a loud sigh. “Sorry. I was just worried.”
“On that note, your time is up,” said the officer.
They said their goodbyes and hung up.
As Scarlett lay in bed without Brayden, the day’s victories felt hollow.
I miss him so much, she thought to Nori.The phone isn’t enough. I can’t see his face. I only get little snippets of how he’s really feeling.
“I know, dear one. You’ll find a way to free him. I know it,” said Nori soothingly.
The next day, Scarlett rubbed her eyes as she sat in her office at Parliament. Most of her parliamentary sessions and meetings for the day had been canceled due to the entire Goldenrod Party—at least the ones not in jail—having to meet at their headquarters to elect a new leader and begin damage control. She was alone, having sent Cass to the peers’ dining room for a long lunch. Exhausted from the events of the past few days, she spent the downtime emailing her lawyer about the four people hurt in the break-ins. Three had already agreed to settle out of court. The fourth—the cop with the injured hand—was the only holdout and had asked to meet Scarlett personally. She typed a quick reply telling the lawyer she’d be free to meet with him over the following week.
After that, Scarlett attempted to scour the news, but all the articles were starting to sound the same, and she couldn’t focus. She refreshed the screen, and a new headline screamed up ather: “EVORY DECLARES WAR ON SIGUR VIÐUR!”
No.Her breaths became shallow. She tensed, unsure what to do.What will this mean for Clair de Lune?
“Nothing good,” said Nori.
Lachlan will want to extradite Brayden right away. He’ll never be able to come back.
A knock sounded at the office door.
“Come in.”
Elestine appeared. It was the first time she and Scarlett had been alone since Laylani’s unhinged display in the garden. Scarlett hadn’t spent any time worrying about the prime minister’s private life, wrapped up as she was in the bigger issues, but she wondered now what things had been like between her and Edward since yesterday afternoon.
Elestine hesitated at the door. “May I sit?”
“Please.” Scarlett gestured to the chair in front of her desk.
