Page 15 of Moonlight Hearts

“Thanks,” I managed.

Her smile brightened and she nodded, standing back while I followed Soyer onto the train.

I didn’t know much about the Orient Express, but this train reminded me of it right off the bat.I’d only seen movies about the original—that eponymous murder mystery and others.The interior of this train certainly captured my fiction-bred imagination and added flair to it.It took the old and almost stuffy design from over a century ago and made it new and shiny.I saw tables, alternatingly set to the left and right in a zigzag broken by dividers that curved from seat level almost to the ceiling, allowing privacy.

Another person in a uniform approached Soyer, and this one was strange.She looked female in terms of body shape, but her eyes were shimmery and lacked pupils.She didn’t have hair, exactly, more like a soft plumage.The strangest thing was her wings though, moth wings, brown and black with blue and red markings.

She bowed to Soyer.“Welcome to the Small Express.May I show you to a table?”

“Something private,” Soyer said.

She bowed once more.“Of course.If you’ll follow me toward the end of the train, please?”

We did.Most tables were occupied, and people stopped their low conversations, looking up from fancy finger food as we passed.The food came with good liquor in the form of colorful cocktails with fruity decorations, though some people had gone with wine or neat drinks on ice instead.

The server-conductor led us through three sets of automatic doors.In this final car, the space between tables increased and the partitions were taller and looked sturdier.

“Please,” she said eventually, indicating for us to sit at what looked like the last table in this car.

Soyer turned to me.“Let me take your jacket.We’re good here,” he said to the server, who promptly made herself scarce.

“This place is something,” I said as I handed him my jacket.

He held out the chair with its back to the rest of the car for me.Once I was seated, he draped my jacket over his chair, then put his own half coat over it.

I frowned.“I could’ve kept mine over here, you know.”

He sat and folded his hands on the table.“Then how would you get comfortable, hmm?”

With the softest of jerks, the train started moving away from the station.I spotted a small group of people heading toward the exit, smiling and chatting with one another.They were a colorful group, some human-looking, some not.It made me smile.

“It’s just a jacket, Soyer.So, where are we going?”

“Just round and round.I told you.”

“And why is this place better than the Dazzle?”

“Because the Dazzle is crammed and crowded at this hour, and you get random people walking in off the street in there.”

I chuckled.“Right.We’re not random.”

He lifted his chin.“Obviously not.”

The server came back with water in an elegant glass pitcher, ice cubes floating on the surface.Along with two glasses, she put a little plate with lemon, lime, and cucumber slices on the table.

“Are you ready to order or would you like to see our menu?”

“Menu first,” Soyer said.

She nodded and was off again.

“This is fancy.”I eyed the sliced fruit and cucumber.

“Of course it’s fancy.That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to you, my heart.The Dazzle is just your average bar.This is much better.Much less chance of being disturbed or interrupted.”

The server, as if to undermine him, left two menus on the table right then, but she was subtle about it, doing her best to fade into the background before leaving again.

“You know, nothing can really distract me from you.”