Scarlet

When Scarlet returns to her quarters, Wolf smells an unusual scent on her. He asks if she talked to anyone while she was out. Scarlet feels a “sting of guilt” (178) at his accusation, but they are interrupted by the arrival of an android demanding to scan their ID chips and take blood samples. Wolf hesitates but complies, and as the android leaves, Scarlet wonders what this is all about. The train slows down, and another announcement comes over the speaker: There has been a “medical emergency” (180), and Scarlet hears someone crying. She guesses there has been a plague outbreak, and they will probably “put the whole train on lockdown” (180) and slow down her rescue mission. Scarlet and Wolf jump out of the train’s window and head into the surrounding forest. Suddenly, they hear wolves howling in the woods, and Wolf encourages Scarlet to “keep [her gun] out [...] just in case” (185) as they walk along the train tracks.

Back on the Rampion, Iko reports that she is doing her best to avoid detection, but “[they] can still be detected on radar” (188). Cinder remembers Dr. Erland telling her that “[Lunars] [have] a way of getting to Earth without the government taking notice” (188). Their power cell will run out soon, and the clock is ticking before they will have to land on Earth again. Cinder thinks about her identity as the missing Lunar princess, and she has “no desire to be queen” (191).

She decides to ignore Dr. Erland’s request to go to Africa. Instead, she wants to go to Europe to find Michelle Benoit, an “ex-military pilot” (193) who might have taken care of her when she was rescued from Levana’s murder attempt as a child. Cinder hasn’t told Iko or Thorne that she is Princess Selene, but she wants to “figure out where she had been during all those lost years” (195). Cinder practices her glamour, and she manages to cover up her metal cyborg hand with the illusion of a human hand. She imagines presenting this version of herself to the world but then remembers that Levana also lies about her appearance. Cinder decides that “she [will] never be like Queen Levana” (197).

Scarlet and Wolf make their way through the forest, following the train tracks. They find the train stopped on the tracks, and Wolf guesses that the maglev androids have “noticed [they’re] missing” (199) by now. As they head deeper into the woods and try to avoid being spotted, Scarlet notices that Wolf’s teeth are “sharp, elongated canines” (203), and although he is embarrassed, she teases him gently, and he lowers his defenses. They catch and roast a duck, and Scarlet tells Wolf about her childhood. She grew up in Paris with her father for a while, but she was “miserable there,” and she “used to throw fits and tantrums” (206) to get her father’s attention. When she went to live with her grandmother, she “never did any of that” (206) because her grandmother made her feel seen and loved. Wolf reluctantly admits that he has a family, although he doesn’t know what became of his parents because the Wolves demanded that he “cut all ties with people from [his] past [...]. Especially [his] family” (208). Suddenly, they are interrupted by the arrival of Ran, who invites himself to share their meal.

Tensions rise as Ran joins Scarlet and Wolf. They share their meal with him, and Scarlet realizes that Ran and Wolf know each other. She orders Ran to “roll up [his] sleeve” (212), and he reveals a tattoo on his arm that reads “LSOP1126” (212). Ran is one of the men keeping Scarlet’s grandmother, so she points her gun at him and demands answers. Ran is concerned only with “[retrieving] [his] brother” Wolf, and he tells him the “special assignment” they were both given “has been canceled” (214). Wolf refuses and declares that he is finished with the Wolves. Wolf attacks Ran, and during their struggle, Scarlet cries out that “[Ran] might be able to tell [them] something” (215) about her grandmother’s whereabouts. Wolf ignores her, and Scarlet shoots him in the arm to stop him from killing Ran. As Scarlet patches up Wolf’s wounds, Wolf admits that Ran is his brother. Wolf says that Ran won’t tell them anything about her grandmother and that “dealing with him is a waste of time” (219). Instead, he insists they keep moving toward Paris and leave the unconscious Ran behind to fend for himself.

Scarlet and Wolf continue their trek along the train tracks. Scarlet apologizes for shooting Wolf and hurting his arm, but she asks him how long it has been since he left the Wolves. He admits that it’s only been three weeks, “about the time [Scarlet’s] grandmother disappeared” (223). She remembers that Ran called Wolf an alpha, and Scarlet realizes that Wolf hasn’t told her the truth about why her grandmother was taken. He comes clean and tells Scarlet that he and Ran were “sent to retrieve [her] grandmother,” but Wolf “saw [his] chance to escape” (225) and played no part in the mission. Scarlet asks why the Wolves want her grandmother, and Wolf confesses that “they’re trying to find Princess Selene” (226). Because Scarlet’s grandmother was a military pilot who went to Luna 40 years ago, the Wolves believe that she might have information about the whereabouts of the Lunar princess. Scarlet’s grandmother “never told [her]” (229) about the trip to Luna, and Wolf adds that the trip took place “nine months before [Scarlet’s] father was born” (229). He says that Scarlet’s grandmother may be in grave danger if the mission to find Princess Selene has been called off.

As Scarlet tries to process this news, Wolf tells her more about the theories surrounding the Lunar princess. The Wolves believe that a man named Logan Tanner “had a liaison with Michelle Benoit” (230), and together they conspired to get Princess Selene off of Luna. Scarlet is disturbed that her grandmother kept this from her, and she starts to wonder if she really knew her grandmother. As Scarlet and Wolf try to jump onto a passing maglev train, Scarlet nearly falls, and Wolf barely manages to catch her. He fixates on protecting her and keeping her safe, and romantic tension grows between them. Scarlet knows that she should hate Wolf for lying and “[keeping] these enormous secrets” (235) from her, but she can’t bring herself to feel anything but warmth for him. Scarlet scolds herself for letting her emotions carry her away, but “her feelings [don’t] change” (240). As they settle into a storage car, Scarlet traces her fingers along the various scars on Wolf’s arms and face from his years of fighting, and they kiss.