that realization turned her stomach. Made her want to shove the chocolate milk away.
“Are you traveling alone?”
She tilted her head toward him and smiled apologetically. “No. In fact, I should be getting back to him.” She emphasized him more than was necessary, but he didn’t flinch.
“Of course,” he said.
They finished their drinks at the same time and Scarlet swished her wrist over the scanner on the bar before the stranger could object, paying for her own.
“Bartender,” she said, sliding off the stool. “Do you have orders to go? Some sandwiches or anything?”
The bartender jerked his thumb at the screens inset into the bar. “Menus.”
Scarlet frowned. “Never mind, I’ll order something back at the room.”
The bartender showed no sign of having heard her.
“It was nice to meet you, Ran.”
He propped an elbow on the counter, twisting his stool toward her. “Perhaps our paths will cross again. In Paris.”
Hair prickled on her neck as he settled his chin onto his palm. She noticed with a jolt of disgust that each of his fingernails had been filed into a sharp, perfect point.
“Perhaps,” she said, her tone suffused with politeness.
The instinctual alarm hung with her for two whole cars as she made her way back through the train, a warning buzzing in the air. She tried to shake it off. This was her own nerves playing tricks on her, paranoia finally catching up to her after what had happened to her grandmother, and her father. It was amazing she could carry on a conversation at all with all the panic that was residing just beneath the surface of her skin.
He’d been polite. He’d been a gentleman. Maybe talon-like nails were a growing trend in the city.
Just as she’d determined that nothing about Ran had been deserving of the sudden, ardent distrust, she remembered.
She had seen him on the platform in Toulouse, stepping off the escalator in his ratty jeans and no luggage, when Wolf had become so on edge. When it seemed like Wolf had heard something, or recognized someone.
A coincidence?
The speaker overhead crackled. Scarlet barely heard it over the noise of the corridor, until the repeated words gradually silenced the chatter around her. “—experiencing a temporary delay. All passengers are to return to their private quarters immediately and stay clear of the corridors until further notice is given. This is not a test. We are experiencing a temporary delay…”
Eighteen
Scarlet shut the door behind her, relieved that Wolf was still there. Pacing. He swiveled toward her.
“I just heard the announcement,” she said. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“No. I wondered if you might.”
She wrapped her fingers around the portscreen in her pocket. “Some sort of delay. It seems odd to clear the corridors, though.”
He didn’t respond. His scowl became fierce, almost angry. “You smell…”
When he didn’t continue, an offended laugh erupted out of her. “I smell?”
Wolf roughly shook his head, hair whipping across his creased brow. “Not like that. Who did you talk to out there?”
Frowning, she fell back against the door. If Ran had been wearing cologne, it had been too faint for her to pick up.
“Why?” she snapped, annoyed as much with his accusation as with the unexpected sting of guilt it caused. “Is it any of your business?”
His jaw tensed. “No, that’s not what I—” He paused, eyes flickering past her.
A knock startled Scarlet away from the wall. She turned and yanked open the door.
An android rolled into the room, scanner at the end of its wiry arm. “We are performing an identity check for the safety of all passengers. Please show your ID for scanning.”
Scarlet raised her hand on instinct. She didn’t think to question the order until a red light passed over her skin, beeped, and the android turned to Wolf.
“What’s going on?” she said. “We scanned our tickets when we boarded.”
Another beep. “You are not to leave this room until further instructions are given.”
“That wasn’t an answer,” said Scarlet.
A panel opened in the android’s torso and a third limb reached out to greet them, this one fitted with a slender syringe. “I must now conduct a mandatory blood check. Please extend your right arm.”
Scarlet gawked down at the gleaming needle. “You’re running blood tests? That’s ridiculous. We’re just going to Paris.”
“Please extend your right arm,” the android repeated, “or I will be forced to report you for failure to comply with maglev rail safety regulations. Your tickets will be considered invalid and you will be escorted off the train at the next station.”
Scarlet bristled and glanced at Wolf,