Jacin settled the podship beside the farmhouse and they stepped out onto a patch of land still soggy from heavy summer rains. The world was silent around them and the air perfumed with fall grasses and wildflowers.
“I hope the girl was right,” said Jacin, moving toward the house. Despite its boarded-up windows, it appeared well maintained. Cinder suspected that a crew was responsible for checking on it a couple times a year, to patch roof tiles and ensure that the power generator wasn’t malfunctioning, so that if a catastrophe ever did occur, it would still be a safe place for the emperor to retire to.
It was probably monitored, too, but she hoped that today, of all days, the country’s security team would have their hands full elsewhere.
“One way to find out,” she said, walking around to the side of the house, where iron doors rested over a cellar entryway. If Cress was right, these doors didn’t lead to a dank storage cellar at all, but to a tunnel that would run beneath the cliffs and lead them straight into the palace sublevels.
Cinder pried open the doors and whipped her built-in flashlight around the stairs. The light caught on cobwebs and concrete and an old-fashioned switch that would light up the tunnel beneath, at least for a little distance.
“This seems to be it,” she said, glancing back at the group. Thorne, blindfolded, was resting his elbow on a scowling Dr. Erland.
It was going to be a long walk.
“All right,” she said. “Jacin, come back with the Rampion and circle the city until you get my comm.”
“I know.”
“And keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If you detect anything at all, keep flying and wait for us to contact you again.”
“I know.”
“If everything goes as planned, we’ll be at the palace landing pad by 18:00 but if something goes wrong, we might have to come back here, or through one of the escape tunnels to the other safe—”
“Cinder,” said Thorne. “He knows.”
She glared at him and wanted to argue, but going over their escape plan one more time wasn’t going to do anything but remind her of all the things that could go wrong. Jacin did know—they’d discussed the matter into the ground, and everyone was all too aware of how easily this plan could fall apart without him. Without any of them.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Forty-Six
Cress studied herself in the full-length dressing room mirror and almost began to cry.
She had somehow, someway, become a character in an opera.
Her skin had sloughed off the last of the sunburn, leaving the tiniest kiss of sun on her complexion.
Iko had cropped her hair so that it framed her face in pretty, golden waves, and though they’d had no makeup aboard the ship, Iko had also taught her to pinch her cheeks and nibble on her lips until they flushed a nice pinkish color.
She was, against her better judgment, beginning to warm to Iko. At least she wasn’t as bad as that Darla had been.
And though Cress herself had been the one to place the rush purchase at the designer boutique, using a hacked financial account, she hadn’t entirely believed this was all happening before this moment.
She was going to a royal wedding, in a gown of raw silk and chiffon, dyed deep royal blue to match her eyes (Iko’s suggestion). The bodice was snug and the skirt so full she wasn’t entirely sure she could walk without tripping. The shoes were simple form-fitting flats. Though she and Iko had discussed an array of fancy heels at length, Cinder had reminded them that Cress may have to run for her life at some point during the day’s events, and practicality had won out.
“Bristol-mèi, what do you think?” asked the attendant as she finished with the last button on Cress’s back.
“It’s perfect. Thank you.”
The girl preened. “We are thrilled that you chose us for your royal wedding debut. We could not be more honored.” She scooped Cress’s hair away from her ears. “Do you have your jewelry with you, to see how it looks all put together?”
Cress tugged awkwardly at her earlobe. “Oh, no, that’s all right. I—uh—have to pick it up on the way. To the palace.”
Though a flicker of confusion crossed the girl’s face, she merely bowed her head and shuffled out of the dressing room. “Are you ready for your husband to see you?”
Cress flinched. “I suppose.”
She followed the attendant out of the dressing room and into a luxuriously furnished sitting area, where she spotted her new “husband.”
Wolf was scowling at a mirror and trying to pat down his unkempt hair. He wore an impeccably fitted tuxedo with a classic white bow tie and pressed lapels.
He caught Cress’s eye in the reflection, and she couldn’t help but stand a little straighter, but though his gaze skimmed over her, he had no reaction whatsoever.
Deflated, Cress clasped her hands. “You look great … sweetheart.”
He did, in fact, look like a romance hero, all muscles and edges and chiseled bone structure. He also looked miserable.
Suddenly nervous, Cress gave a little twirl, displaying her full regalia.
Wolf only gave her a crisp nod. “The hover is waiting.”
She let her hands drop to her sides, resigned to the fact that Wolf would dress for his role, but he would not play it. “Right. You have the invitations?”
He patted his breast pocket. “Let’s get this over with.”
* * *
In the delivery ship, traveling from the warehouse to the caterer, Iko had found it all too easy to command another android to switch clothes so that she could fit in with the rest of them in their staff uniforms—as long as no one was too put off by her blue hair braids, which had now been pulled into a neat bun.
She had departed the ship with the first group of rental androids at the catering office, so that when her body double was later discovered wearing the wrong clothes at the florist, Iko would be long gone.
And who would ever suspect her? She was just another brainless, obedient android.
But that was the hard part.
Standing in perfect unison with the others. Blinking precisely ten times a minute. Keeping quiet while the human catering staff chatted excitedly about maybe seeing the emperor himself and ruminated over how terrifying it would be if Queen Levana wasn’t pleased with the food. Iko was forced to bite her tongue, allowing her programmed instincts, the instincts she’d spent her life trying to keep buried while she learned about humor and sarcasm and affection, to keep her expressionless.
From there, they had been herded into a large hover. Though it wasn’t a far distance, the trip was made longer as the hover rounded to the back of the palace, near the research and laboratory facilities and, of course, the staff entrance.
Iko sensed the chatter of the catering staff grow more nervous as the hover began to slow.
She heard some gates being opened and then the hover came to a gradual stop and the staff began to file into a commercial loading dock. It was not the fancy entryway that Iko had always envisioned entering the palace through, but she tried not to let her disappointment show as she fell into line behind her stiff cohorts.
Two women were standing by the delivery entrance. One, wearing a jewel-toned sari, was notating something on her portscreen, while the other scanned ID chips, ensuring that the staff had been preapproved to work at this crucial event. When she’d finished with the humans, she ordered the escort-droids into two single-file lines. Iko slipped into the back as they were ushered inside.
They were marched through to the drab service halls, their shoes clicking in perfect synchronization. Iko kept careful track of their progress, counting doors and comparing it with the blueprint that had been downloaded to her memory. The kitchen was precisely where she expected it and even more massive in person than it had appeared on-screen, with eight industrial-size ovens, countless burners, and three counters that ran the length of the room where dozens of chefs were chopping, kneading, whisking, and measuring as they prepare
d to feed twelve hundred of the galaxy’s most-honored guests.
The woman in the sari pulled a man in a chef’s coat aside. “The androids,” she yelled over the din, gesturing to Iko and the others. “Where do you want them?”
He scanned the line, his attention briefly snagging on Iko’s blue hair. Evidently he determined that it wasn’t in his job description to care, and he let his gaze slide past her. “Leave them there for now. We’ll send them out with the regular staff during the first course. All they have to do is carry a tray and smile. Think they can handle it?”
“We’ve been ensured that their programming is immaculate. It would be best if they could focus on our Lunar guests. I want them alert in case anything … untoward happens.”
He shrugged. “No one on my staff wants anything to do with the Lunars.”
The man returned to his work, organizing gold trays at different workstations, and the woman left without another look at the androids.
Iko stood very, very still, and she was very, very well behaved, and she waited. And waited. And tried to imagine what was happening with Cinder and Cress and the others. None of the kitchen staff paid them any attention other than to shoot them the occasional glare for taking up too much space in the overcrowded kitchens.
Iko waited until she was confident no one was looking, before she inched her hand behind the escort beside her. The android didn’t even twitch as Iko sought out the latch on her neck, opened it, and ran her fingers over the control panel. She pushed up a switch.
“Now accepting input commands,” said the android in a voice that was not quite human, not quite robot.
Iko dropped her hand to the side, and scanned the nearby chefs.
The kitchen was too loud. No one had heard.
“Follow me.”
Then, when she was again sure no one was watching, she ducked into the nearest corridor.
The android followed like a trained pet. Iko took them down two hallways, listening for voices or footsteps but finding these lesser-used areas abandoned. As expected, all available staff was preparing for the ceremony and the reception, no doubt measuring the distance between plates and soup spoons at that very moment.
When they reached a maintenance closet, Iko ushered the escort-droid inside.
“I want you to know that I hold nothing against you,” she said, by way of introduction. “I understand that it isn’t your fault your programmer had so little imagination.”
The escort-droid held her gaze with empty eyes.
“In another life, we could have been sisters, and I feel it’s important to acknowledge that.”
A blank stare. A blink, every six seconds.
“But as it stands, I’m a part of an important mission right now, and I cannot be swayed from my goal by my sympathy for androids who are less advanced than myself.”
Nothing.
“All right then.” Iko held out her hands. “I need your clothes.”
Forty-Seven
Cress dug her fingers into the hover’s seat, leaning into the window until her breath fogged against the glass. She couldn’t open her eyes wide enough, not when there was so much to see, not when she could barely take it all in. The city of New Beijing was endless. To the east, a cluster of skyscrapers rose up out of the earth, silver and glass and sparkling orange under the late afternoon sun. Beyond the city center were warehouses and arenas, parks and suburbs, rolling on and on. Cress was glad for the distraction of all the new sights, the buildings, the people … Otherwise she thought she would be sick.
She gasped as the palace came into view atop its cliff, recognizing it from countless pictures and vids. Still, it was so different in real life. Even more magnificent and imposing. She splayed her fingers on the window, framing it in her vision. She could make out a line of vehicles and a mass of people outside the gates, winding down the cliff side and into the city below.
Wolf also had his fierce eyes focused on the approaching palace, but she could sense no amount of awe from him, only impatience. His knee wouldn’t stop bouncing and his fingers kept flexing and tightening. Watching him was making her nervous. He’d been so subdued back at the Rampion, so impossibly motionless. She wondered if this burst of energy was the first sign that the bomb inside him had started to tick.
Or maybe he was just anxious, like she was. Maybe he was tracing over their plan in his mind. Or maybe he was thinking about that girl. Scarlet.
Cress was sad that she hadn’t met her. It was as if the crew of the Rampion were missing a vital piece, and Cress didn’t understand how she fit. She tried to think of the things she knew about Scarlet Benoit. She’d researched her a little when Cinder and Thorne had landed the ship on her grandmother’s farm, but not very much. At the time, she’d had no idea that Scarlet had joined them.
And Cress had only spoken with her once, when the whole crew had contacted her and asked for her help. She’d seemed nice enough, but Cress had been so focused on Thorne she could hardly remember anything other than curly red hair.
Fidgeting with the straps of her dress, she glanced at Wolf again, catching him in an attempt to loosen his bow tie.
“Can I ask you a question?”
His eyes swept over to her. “It’s not about hacking security systems, is it?”
She blinked. “Of course not.”
“Then fine.”
She smoothed her skirt around her knees. “This Scarlet … you’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
He froze, becoming stone still. As the hover climbed the hill to the palace, his shoulders sank, and he returned his gaze to the window. “She’s my alpha,” he murmured, with a haunting sadness in his voice.
Alpha.
Cress leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “Like the star?”
“What star?”
She stiffened, instantly embarrassed, and scooted back from him again. “Oh. Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha. I thought maybe you meant that she’s … like … your brightest star.” Looking away, she knotted her hands in her lap, aware that she was blushing furiously now and this beast of a man was about to realize what an over-romantic sap she was.
But instead of sneering or laughing, Wolf sighed. “Yes,” he said, his gaze climbing up to the full moon that had emerged over the city. “Exactly like that.”
With a quick twist to her heart, Cress’s fear of him began to subside. She’d been right back at the boutique. He was like the hero of a romance story, and he was trying to rescue his beloved. His alpha.
Cress had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her imagination from skittering away with her. This wasn’t some silly story. Scarlet Benoit was a prisoner on Luna. It was very likely that she was already dead.
It was a thought that settled heavy in Cress’s gut as the hover pulled in front of the palace gates.
A greeter opened the door, and thousands of voices crowded in around them. With a shudder, Cress gave the greeter her hand as she’d seen girls do on the net dramas. Her heel hit the tiled drive and she was suddenly surrounded. Crowds of journalists and onlookers—both peaceful and angry—flocked around the courtyard, snapping photos, calling out questions, holding up signs that urged the emperor not to go through with this.
Cress ducked her head, wanting to crawl back into the hover and hide from the piercing lights and throbbing chatter. The world began to spin.
Oh, spades. She was going to faint.
“Miss? Miss, are you well?”
Her throat went dry. Blood rushed through her ears and she was drowning. Suffocating.
Then a firm grip was on her elbow, drawing her away from the courtier. She stumbled, but Wolf put his iron-solid arm around her waist and squeezed her against him, forcing her to match his strides. Beside him, she felt as small and frail as a bird, but there was also a sense of protection. She focused on that, and within moments, a comforting dream slipped around her.
She was a famous net-drama actress making a big de
but, and Wolf was her bodyguard. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She simply had to hold her head high and be brave and be graceful and be confident. Her fine ball gown became a costume. The media became her adoring fans. Her spine straightened, millimeter by trembling millimeter, as the tingling darkness began to recede from her vision.
“All right?” Wolf murmured.
“I am a famous actress,” she whispered back.
She dared not look up at him, afraid it would ruin the spell her imagination had cast.
After a moment, his grip loosened.
The noise of the crowd behind them faded away, replaced with the calm serenity of bubbling streams and the whisper of bamboo in the palace gardens. Cress stared straight ahead at the looming entrance, flanked by crimson pergolas. Two more courtiers waited at the top of the steps.
Wolf produced the two embossed invitations. Cress was perfectly still as the scanner light flickered over the tiny chip that was embedded in the paper. She and Wolf wouldn’t have fit the roles of Linh Adri and her daughter, but it had been child’s play to change the ID profiles coded on each chip. According to the portscreen, Wolf was now Mr. Samhain Bristol, parliament representative from Toronto, East Canada Province, UK, and she was his young wife. The actual Mr. Bristol was, to Cress’s knowledge, still safe at home and unaware that he had a body double negating the political point he was trying to make by not attending the royal wedding. Cress hoped it would stay that way.
She released a breath as the courtier returned the invitations to Wolf without a hint of hesitation. “We are so pleased you could join us after all, Bristol-dàren,” he said. “Please proceed to the ballroom, where you will be escorted to your seats.” By the time he finished, he was already reaching for the invitations of the couple behind them.
Wolf guided her forward, and if he was sharing any of her anxiety, he didn’t show it.
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