Scarlet

“I feel much better.” Tearing a hole in his pants, he dabbed the ointment on the puncture wound from the tranquilizer.
    Pulling her hair out of her face, Scarlet ripped open Wolf’s shirt and slathered the medical salve onto the deep gashes across his abdomen. “Who are you?”
    “Captain Carswell Thorne.” Recapping the salve, he propped himself against the cargo bay’s wall. His hand landed on the shotgun. “Where did this come from?”
    “Scarlet found it in one of the crates,” said Cinder, facing the netscreen on the wall. “Screen, on.”
    The screen showed a shaking image of a bloodied man running full speed toward the camera. There was screaming, and then static. A male anchorman behind a desk replaced the video, his face pale. “This is footage fed to us from the attacks in Manhattan earlier tonight, and sources have confirmed that more than a dozen cities across the Union are also under siege.”
    Scarlet bent over to cut the ID chip from Wolf’s wrist. She noticed he already had a scar there, as though it hadn’t been very long ago when the ID chip had been put in him to begin with.
    The anchorman continued, “Citizens are urged to stay in their homes and lock all doors and windows. We are now going to a live feed from Capitol City where President Vargas will be making an address.”
    A groan drew everyone’s attention to Wolf. From the corner of her eye, Scarlet saw Captain Thorne cock the gun and level the barrel at Wolf’s chest.
    Scarlet set aside the scalpel and both their ID chips and tilted Wolf’s face toward her. “Are you all right?”
    He lifted bleary eyes to her, before suddenly wrenching away and rolling onto his side, vomiting onto the ship’s floor. Scarlet winced.
    “Sorry,” said Cinder. “That’s probably a side effect of the drugs.”
    Thorne gagged. “Aces, I’m glad that didn’t happen to me. How embarrassing.”
    Swiping at his lips, Wolf collapsed again onto his back, cringing with every movement. He furrowed his brow, then squinted up at Scarlet. His eyes had returned to their normal vibrant green—no longer filled with animal hunger. “You’re alive.”
    She tucked a curl behind her ear, baffled at her own relief. This was the man who had handed her over to those monsters. She should have hated him, but all she could think of was his desperation when he’d kissed her on the train, when he’d begged her not to go looking for her grandmother. “Thanks to you.”
    Thorne scoffed. “Thanks to him ?”
    Wolf tried to look at Thorne, but couldn’t twist his neck enough. “Where are we?”
    “You’re aboard a cargo ship orbiting Earth,” said Cinder. “Sorry about the whole tranquilizer thing. I thought you were going to eat her.”
    “I thought I was too.” His expression darkened as he took in Cinder’s metal hand. “I think my queen is looking for you.”
    Thorne quirked an eyebrow. “Was that supposed to make me feel better about having him on board?”
    “He’s better now,” Scarlet said. “Aren’t you?”
    He shook his head. “You shouldn’t have brought me here. I’ll only put you all in danger. You should have left me down there. You should have killed me.”
    Thorne released the safety on the gun.
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” said Scarlet. “They did this to you. It’s not your fault.”
    Wolf eyed her like he was speaking to a stubborn child. “Scarlet … if anything happened to you because of me…”
    “Do you intend to harm anyone aboard this ship or not?” said Cinder, cutting through their conversation.
    Wolf blinked at her, at Thorne, then at Scarlet, his eyes lingering. “No,” he whispered.
    Three heartbeats later, Cinder’s body relaxed. “He’s telling the truth.”
    “What?” said Thorne. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
    “Kai is going to make an announcement!” Iko’s voice blared through the ship, then the volume of the netscreen rose.
    An anchor was speaking again. “—appears that all attacks have ceased. We will keep you posted as news develops. Now, we connect you to the feed from the Eastern Commonwealth where we are expecting an emergency announcement from Emperor Kaito to begin—”
    He was cut off, the screen turning to the EC’s press room, where Kai stood behind a podium. Cinder bunched the material of her pants in both fists.
    “Cinder has a bit of a crush on him,” Thorne stage-whispered.
    “Don’t we all?” said Iko.
    Kai seemed momentarily