Kai risked a glance at Wolf, but Wolf was still twitching and snarling. He looked ready to snap his enormous jaws around the first throat that passed too close.
“What sort of disturbance?” Levana growled.
“We don’t know how, but the barricades around the rebellious sectors have been lifted, and the people are … they are coming here. Swarming the maglev tunnels. There is word that … that Princess Winter is among them.”
Levana’s face reddened. “That is not possible.”
“I … I do not know, My Queen. That’s only what I was told. And … and also, supposedly, the cyborg is with them as well.”
Kai grinned. He couldn’t help it, and he did nothing to hide it when Levana turned a scowl on him. With a shrug, he told her, “She did warn you.”
Levana’s jaw clenched. She turned back to the woman. “The cyborg is dead and I will not tolerate any rumors to the contrary.”
The woman’s mouth hung.
“Are the barricades holding around Artemisia?”
“Y-yes, My Queen. To my knowledge they’ve been unable to breach—”
“Then we are not under any immediate threat, are we?”
“I … I suppose not, My Queen.”
“Then why are you interrupting this ceremony?” Levana flicked her wrist. “Guards, escort this woman to a prison cell. I will suffer no more interruptions.”
Her eyes were flaming, merciless, as the woman stood and stumbled back. Two of the guards caught her.
The crowd was trying to stifle their enthusiasm, but was failing. Kai saw a number of mocking looks cast toward the woman as she was dragged away, even though surely it had not been her idea to bring news of the insurrection to Levana.
Kai’s own thoughts were teeming. He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, while Levana’s face untwisted, transforming back into pleasant serenity.
“Now then,” she said, raising the Lunar crown over her head. “Let us proceed.”
Seventy-Nine
Cinder stayed at the front of their small army, along with Alpha Strom. The subway tunnels were wide enough to walk in rows of five and Strom had made sure everyone knew this was to be their formation—to deviate in such confined quarters could lead to panic and confusion. They tried to be quiet, but it was impossible. They progressed like a roll of thunder. Thousands of feet pounding against the rocky terrain inside the lava tubes.
The mutant soldiers stayed near the front, the first line of defense, while the people from the outer sectors followed behind.
It had become a numbers game, and their numbers were growing. Every sector they passed through had new civilians joining their cause, many who had been preparing from the moment Cinder’s first message had broadcast.
Cinder kept running the calculations over and over in her head, but there were still too many variables to factor. They needed enough civilians to overthrow the queen and her thaumaturges, and enough un-manipulated fighters left to take on the guards and any wolf soldiers Levana brought to her defense. She was relying on Jacin and Winter to spread the word, and fast. If they failed, it would become a massacre, and not in their favor. If they succeeded …
The tunnels were pitch-black but for the lanterns scavenged by the people in the outer sectors and a handful of flashlights. Cinder wished she had a map in her head telling her how far they’d gone and how much farther they had to go. She’d become accustomed to having infinite data within her grasp, and it was disconcerting now to be without it. After five years of wishing she was like everyone else, now she missed all those conveniences that had come with being cyborg.
Four times they came across stalled trains and shuttles that filled up the confined space of the tunnel. These had at first seemed like insurmountable obstacles, but the soldiers went forward with zeal, prying off the panels, tearing up the interior seats, trampling their way through the other side. They made for an efficient, destructive machine, and their makeshift army was given passage through.
Although the maglev system had been shut down, power was still being sent out on the grid and the platforms they passed were well lit with a holograph of the mandatory-viewing video feed of the coronation. Unable to record the ceremony itself, as the queen would not be donning her veil, a broadcaster was relaying a moment-by-moment breakdown of the event.
As they entered into AR-4, one of the sectors adjacent to Artemisia Central, Cinder heard Kai’s voice and paused. He was reciting the vows to become the king consort of Luna.
Their army divided into four regiments. Each would enter the capital through a different tunnel. As the alphas led their packs and the civilians in opposite directions, Cinder caught sight of Strom, watching her.
“We should keep moving,” he said. “My men are hungry and restless, and you’ve put us in a confined space with a lot of sweet-smelling flesh.”
Cinder raised an eyebrow. “If they need a snack, tell them to chew on each other for a while. I just want to make sure Jacin has enough time to reach as many sectors as possible.”
Strom smirked, as if impressed at Cinder’s inability to be bullied. “It’s time to move,” he repeated. “Our people are almost in position. The queen and her entourage are all in one place. We may be sitting down here for weeks waiting for more civilians that never show up.”
Cinder believed they would come. They had to come. But she also knew he was right.
The coronation was almost over.
They started creeping through the tunnels again. Hands tightened on their weapons. Paces slowed with mounting anxiety. They hadn’t gone much farther when Cinder’s flashlight caught on iron bars in the distance. Strom held up a hand, signaling for everyone to stop.