Scarlet

Cinder “sense[s] the thaumaturge” (401), who “urg[es] her to stop running” and to “stand still and be captured” (401). Her human leg obeys, but her cyborg leg is immune to the command. Thorne pulls out a stolen gun, but the thaumaturge forces him to point it at Cinder. Cinder shoots Thorne in the leg with her last tranquilizer dart, and as the thaumaturge tries to control Cinder, he learns that “she [can’t] be controlled as easily as Thorne” (403). Cinder tries to control one of the Lunar operatives, but his mind is like an animal, “scattered and wild and raging with primal instinct” (404). She realizes that the thaumaturge is controlling these men. Suddenly, the Rampion roars to life and flies low enough to knock out some of the soldiers. Cinder and Thorne get Wolf onboard, and as the thaumaturge tries to stop them, Scarlet shoots and kills him. The ship “ris[es] up away from the Earth and whip[s] toward the sky” (409).

Kai watches on the netscreens as the massacre unfolds. Torrin tells him that these men “move fast, rarely stay on a single block for more than a few minutes—just enough time to kill anyone within reach” (411), and the news is reporting “planet-wide mayhem” (411). Kai knows that Levana is responsible for this and that “Levana [did] this because of him” (412). Huy reports that Linh Cinder has been spotted, but she escaped as the attacks began. Kai orders Huy to call off the search for Cinder and instead focus on “finding these men who are attacking [them] and putting an end to this” (415). He knows that Levana will be angry about this, so he decides to give in to her other demand because he “can’t let her kill anyone else” (417). He thinks about Cinder and how much she meant to him, but he still calls Levana, who answers him promptly, as if “she’d been listening in on everything, and already knew precisely what his intentions were” (418). Kai begs her to call off the attack, and although he can’t give her Linh Cinder, he will accept “[her] offer of a marriage alliance” (420). Levana smugly agrees.

Thorne wakes up and wants to know why they rescued Wolf. Scarlet comes to Wolf’s defense and says he’s “not an animal” (422-23) and can be trusted. On the netscreens, the news stations are covering the ongoing attacks across the world. Wolf wakes up, and Scarlet notices that “his eyes [have] returned to their normal vibrant green—no longer filled with animal hunger” (424). Still, Wolf says they shouldn’t have brought him with them, and he will only put them in danger. Suddenly, Emperor Kai makes an announcement on the netscreens: The men responsible for these attacks are “genetically engineered soldiers” (426), and to stop the attacks, Kai has “accepted an alliance of marriage with Queen Levana of Luna” (427). Cinder becomes enraged, believing Kai has doomed everyone on Earth, but Scarlet shoots back that Cinder alone is responsible for stopping Levana. Finally, Cinder admits the truth to everyone aboard the ship: She is Princess Selene. Wolf offers to let Cinder practice her glamour on him so she can be prepared to fight Levana, and Scarlet reminds her that “[her] grandmother died so [Cinder] could have this chance” (433). However, Cinder becomes frustrated with “everyone yapping in [her] ear” (433) and storms off to think.

Back on Luna, Queen Levana watches as her thaumaturges train their next group of Lunar soldiers. She “watch[es] them train, watch[es] them fight,” and “watch[es] them adapt to their new mutations” (434). The group is comprised of children, “not one older than twelve years” (434). As their thaumaturges practice getting them under control, Sybil, Levana’s favorite thaumaturge, reports that all of the special operatives on Earth have “returned to concealment status” (435). She adds that Thaumaturge Jael was killed while trying to apprehend Linh Cinder, and his pack has disbanded. Levana decides that the soldiers she is watching will lead the next attack against Earth. She dismissed Sybil, who wishes her “warmest congratulations on [Levana’s] engagement” (437). Levana thinks about the Lunar soldiers and how “even she [can] not control them all. Not all at once” (438), so they will never love her like the people of Luna love her or how “the people of Earth would soon come to” (438).

Scarlet is inconsolable as the reality of her grandmother’s death sinks in. She goes to the ship’s galley and finds Wolf trying to open a can of tomatoes. Scarlet helps him, and as they eat from the cans, Wolf asks why Scarlet didn’t leave him behind. Scarlet replies that “it didn’t feel right to leave [him] there” (442). Wolf thanks her and insists that he deserved no kindness from her. He says that he “took [Scarlet] away from everything [she] cared about” (443), and he apologizes for everything. Scarlet says that she still trusts Wolf because he saved her from Ran and helped her escape, and she “[doesn’t] believe for a second [he] [was] coming back to kill her” (444). Scarlet believes that his “instincts to protect [her] could be as strong as [his] instincts to kill” (445). Wolf tells Scarlet she is the only alpha female he wants, and Scarlet admits that she likes giving Wolf another chance.

Cinder stares into the Rampion’s engine, thinking about Kai’s alliance with Queen Levana and toying with the Lunar chip she found in Kai’s android. She asks Iko if she is getting used to being the Rampion’s auto-control system. Iko confesses that she feels like she’s “pretending to be much more powerful than [she] really [is]” and worries that she’s “going to let everyone down” (449). Cinder admits that she can relate to this feeling, and as she remembers that Levana plans to kill Kai after their wedding, she decides that she “can’t let him go through with it” (451). Cinder has a plan: she is “going to let Wolf train [her]” so she can defeat Levana, “find Dr. Erland,” and “stop hiding” (452).