Scarlet

chest ached as she wondered how many secrets had been kept from her.
    Wolf’s attention darted to the south, one ear cocked to the sky.
    Instantly, Scarlet’s thoughts settled. She listened, but there was only a breeze in the forest, a charming chorus of crickets.
    Though she heard nothing, Wolf whispered, “A train is coming.” He fixated on her again, concern etched across his brow. She could see that he believed he’d said too much, but she thirsted for more.
    With a nod, she planted a hand on the ground and pushed herself to standing. “And these people think my grandmother knows something about the princess because…?”
    Wolf skirted to the edge of the short cliff, peering off down the rails. “They believe Dr. Tanner asked your grandmother for assistance when he brought the princess to Earth.”
    “They believe, but they can’t know that for sure.”
    “Perhaps not, but that’s why they took her,” he said, testing the fallen log with his foot again. “To find out what she knew.”
    “And did they ever consider that maybe she doesn’t know anything?”
    “They’re convinced that she does. Or at least, they were when I left them, though I don’t know what they’ve learned since—”
    “Well, why don’t they find this Dr. Tanner and ask him?”
    Wolf clenched his jaw. “Because he’s dead.” Stooping, he grabbed their forgotten pack and draped it over his elbow. “He killed himself, earlier this year. In an insane asylum in the Eastern Commonwealth.”
    Some of Scarlet’s anger fizzled out, replaced with pity for a man who had not existed to her minutes before. “An asylum?”
    “He was a patient there. Self-admitted.”
    “How? He was Lunar. Why wasn’t he captured and sent back to Luna?”
    “He must have figured out how to blend in with Earthen society.”
    Wolf held out his hand and Scarlet took it instinctively, starting when his hot fingers enclosed hers. After a heartbeat, his hold relaxed as he stepped out onto the tree trunk.
    Scarlet angled her portscreen toward their treacherous footings and struggled to find her train of thought over the pounding in her ears. “There must be someone else he had contact with on Earth. The trail can’t end with my grandma. According to my dad, she hadn’t told them anything, after weeks of … of who knows what they’ve been doing to her. They must realize they’ve got the wrong person!”
    There was a peculiar restraint when Wolf responded. “Are you sure they have?”
    She glared. The Lunar heir was a myth, a conspiracy, a legend … how could her diligent, proud grandmother, living in small-town Rieux, possibly be involved?
    But she couldn’t be entirely sure of anything anymore. Not if her grandmother had kept something so big from her already.
    A faint hum cut through the forest’s whispers. The magnets waking up.
    A squeeze of her fingers sent a shock up Scarlet’s spine.
    “Scarlet,” said Wolf, “it’s in her best interest, and yours, to give them something. Please, think. If you know anything at all, we may be able to use it to our advantage.”
    “About Princess Selene.”
    He nodded.
    “I don’t know anything.” Scarlet shrugged, helpless. “I don’t know anything.”
    She felt captured beneath his stare, until, with a deep frown, he released her. His hand slipped away, hanging at his sides. “It’s all right. We’ll figure out something else.”
    Scarlet knew he was wrong. It wasn’t all right. These monsters were chasing a ghost, and her grandma was caught in the middle of it, all because of some fling that had allegedly happened forty years ago … and there was nothing Scarlet could do.
    She glanced down—her stomach flipped at seeing how high up they were. With the encroaching darkness, it felt like she was standing at the edge of an abyss.
    “We have maybe thirty seconds,” said Wolf. “Once it’s here, we’ll need to act fast. No hesitation. Can you do that?”
    Scarlet tried to wet her parched tongue, but it was as dry as the crackled bark beneath her. She tried to calm her heartbeat. Seconds were counting off in her head. Going by too fast. The magnets were growing louder. She heard the whistle of air down the tracks.
    “You’re going to let me jump on my own this time?” she asked, spotting a bright glow around the nearest bend. Lights blared across the treetops, echoing endlessly through the gathered trunks. The magnets directly beneath them crackled.
    “Do you want to jump on