AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She held Gus close, reminding herself what she had been through to get here. There was no reason to start getting scared now.
4
JADE
The train thundered into the station and screeched to a halt in a cloud of smoke.
Gus made a small complaining noise, as if in reply.
“It’s okay,” Jade told him, kissing the top of his head. “We’re going home.”
Somehow, comforting him made her feel better.
“Follow me,” Rafe said in a businesslike way. “I’m going to have to sweep as we go.”
She nodded and wondered again whether he was being over the top, or if they really were in some kind of danger.
It doesn’t matter, she told herself. Even if someone did want to hurt you, are they really going to do anything when you’re with an Invicta warrior?
Of course, that was really only a comfort until they got where they were headed. Then she would be on her own with the baby.
A conductor bot slid out of the middle car to greet them.
“Go, go, go,” Rafe murmured, placing a hand on her elbow and striding off so quickly that she had to trot to keep up.
“What the heck?” she asked.
“I want you in the most protected spot,” he said, offering the bot his wrist. “So, we need to be first in.”
“Very good, sir,” the bot said when his device beeped.
Jade held out her wrist to be scanned.
“Very good, madam,” the bot said, “and child.”
Rafe stepped into the car, scanning left and then right as he inhaled deeply.
“Fine,” he said, after a moment. “All the way to the right, last bank of seats, back to the wall, you on the inside.”
He stepped in and moved to the side, allowing her to head for the seat he had indicated. It was deliciously warm inside the train car, so she was more than happy to dart inside.
She didn’t realize until she was almost to their seats that he wanted her to go first so that he could protect her from anyone boarding behind them.
It’s probably just his training kicking in. This is definitely overkill.
The passenger car was a study in faded glory. The seats were upholstered in rich fabric, which must have been a beautiful scarlet at one time, but they were now faded to a pale, orange-like color. The walls had been papered with vines that surely used to be a vibrant green and gold, and even the wooden trim on the seat back had been painted in gold leaf that was now chipped and dull.
A dusty chandelier hung from the ceiling, fighting back the darkness outside the windows. The carpet that ran down the aisle had faded to a mossy color that was similar to the lichen-covered tundra she’d seen around them all day.
Jade slid off her cloak when she reached their seats, and hung it on the hook by the luggage rack. When she turned back, she saw Rafe hungrily taking her in.
Then she remembered the stupid purple gown she’d been wearing under her cold-weather gear.
For some reason, the adoption agency had insisted she and her two fellow adoptive mothers had to wear these low-cut, purple dresses to pick up the babies. They looked like aspiring lounge singers at best, and the gowns were horribly impractical for traveling in the wild tundra. But they were supposed to be ceremonial in some way, so she hadn’t dared to complain.
Jade slid quickly into her seat, wishing she could put the cloak back on, but knowing she would surely suffocate from the heat if she tried.
Rafe seated himself beside her, his massive, muscular thighs barely fitting on the seat, his right leg pressing to her left.
