Scarlet

to hear anymore, but he braced himself instead.
    “The attack is not only in the major metropolises,” said Bromstad. “I’ve just been informed that, in addition to Paris, Moscow, and Istanbul, we’ve had one small town attacked as well. Rieux, a farming community in southern France. Population three thousand, eight hundred.”
    “Three thousand, eight hundred!” said Queen Camilla. “Why would she attack such a small town?”
    “To confuse us,” said Governor-General Williams from Australia. “To make us believe there’s no sense to these attacks—to make us afraid that she could strike anywhere, at any time. It is precisely something Levana would do.”
    Chairman Huy burst into Kai’s office without knocking. Kai jumped, for a moment thinking that the chairman was a lunatic come to kill him, before his pulse began to subside again.
    “Any news?”
    Huy nodded. Kai noticed that his face had aged years in the last week. “Linh Cinder has been spotted.”
    Kai swallowed a gasp and shoved himself off the desk.
    “What? Who was that speaking?” said Camilla. “What about Linh Cinder?”
    “I must tend to other matters,” said Kai. “End conference.” Sounds of protests were immediately silenced, and Kai focused on the chairman, every nerve humming. “Well?”
    “Three military officers managed to track her using a positive ID on her deceased stepsister, Linh Peony, just like her guardian said we would. We found her in a small town in southern France, minutes before the attack.”
    “Southern—” Kai glanced at Torin just as his adviser shut his eyes, wearied by the same realization. “Was it a town called Rieux?”
    Huy’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
    Kai groaned and rounded to the back of his desk. “Levana’s men attacked Rieux, the only non-major city they went after. They must have been able to track her too. That’s why they were there.”
    “We must alert the other Union leaders,” said Torin. “At least we know she isn’t attacking at random.”
    “But how did they find her? Her sister’s ID chip was our only lead. How else could she be…” He trailed off, yanking both hands through his hair. “Of course. She knew about the chip. I’m such an idiot. ”
    “Your Majesty?”
    He spun back toward Huy, but it was Torin that caught his eye. “Don’t you say this is paranoia. She is listening. I don’t know how she does it, but she is spying on us. This very office is probably bugged. That’s how she knew about the chip, that’s how she knew when my office was open and she could barge in here unannounced, that’s how she knew when my father died!”
    Torin’s expression darkened, but for once he made no snide comment about Kai and his ridiculous theories.
    “So—we’ve found her then? Cinder?”
    Embarrassment flickered over Huy’s brow. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Once the attack began, she managed to get away in the chaos. We found the ID chip on a farm outside of Rieux, next to signs of a ship’s takeoff. We’re working on rounding up anyone who might have seen her, but unfortunately … all three officers who first identified her were killed in the attack.”
    Kai began to shake, his entire body burning up from the inside out. He cast furious eyes up to the ceiling, half screaming. “Well, see that, Your Majesty ? If it wasn’t for your attack, we would have had her! I hope you’re pleased with yourself!”
    Huffing, he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for his blood pressure to drop again. “Enough of this. Call off the search.”
    “Your Majesty?” said Torin.
    “I want all available military and enforcement officers focused on finding these men who are attacking us and putting an end to this. That’s our new priority.”
    As if relieved by the decision, Huy gave a curt bow and clipped out of the office, leaving the door open in his wake.
    “Your Majesty,” said Torin, “while I don’t disagree with this course of action, we have to consider how Levana will react. We should consider the possibility that this attack, awful as it is, is only an annoyance compared to what she is truly capable of. Perhaps we should attempt to placate her before she can do any further damage.”
    “I know.” Kai faced the screen and the muttering, frightened news anchors. “I haven’t forgotten those pictures that the American Republic had.”
    The memory still sent a chill down his back—hundreds of soldiers standing in formation, each