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"I ienic and all, it’s just…" He trailed off, hesitated, and then held his hand out toward her "Neverover his arently as she could There was a faint scar there already, presumably from when he’d cut out another ID chip when he’d first been on the run froers twitched at the invasion, but otherwise he was still as stone She extracted the bloodied ID chip and tossed it into a bundle of cords on the floor, before cutting a strip of cloth fro hiaway, she pointed at a grate near the ceiling It was surrounded by tethered wires that snaked out fro the walls "Can you boosthis fingers together

"Air duct" Cinder stepped onto his palrunt as he lifted her She’d expected it, knowing that hermade her a lot heavier than she looked

With the added leverage, she had the grate removed in seconds She set it quietly atop so pipes, then pulled herself into the opening without hesitation

She called up the blueprint of the jail’s interior structure to check the direction while she waited for Thorne to claht, Cinder started to crawl

It was hot and cluainst the alu she heard footsteps somewhere below Would there be an alarm when their escape was discovered? She was surprised there hadn’t been one yet Thirty-two o

The sweat dripping off her nose and the rapidness of her heartbeat made the tiotten stuck Thorne’s presence was already filling her with doubts This was going to be hard enough with just her--hoas she going to sneak both of the and clear

She could brainwash him

She could convince hiet to it, and then she could make him decide that he didn’t want to come with her after all She could send him back He would have no choice but to listen to her

"Everything all right?"

Cinder released the air that had stuck in her throat

No She wouldn’t take advantage of hiift before, she would get on just fine now

"Sorry," shethe blueprint We’re alnored him Minutes later she rounded a corner and saw a square of checkered light on the duct’s ceiling A tinge of relief, of hope, fluttered inside her as she inched her head out over the grate and peered down

She saw an expanse of concrete with a s water beneath her and, not six steps froer and round

A storht where the blueprint said it would be

The drop was a full story, but if they couldto be easy

"Where are we?" Thorne whispered

"Underground loading dock--where they bring in food and supplies" As gracefully as she could, she clirate and maneuvered back around so that she and Thorne could both peer through the grid

"We need to get down there, to that storm drain"

Thorne frowned and pointed "Isn’t that the exit ra

"Why aren’t we trying to get there?"

She peered up at hi peculiar shadows across his face "And just walk to your spaceship? In bright white prison uniforms?"

He frowned, but any response was silenced by the sound of voices They ducked back

"I didn’t see hi with her, my sister did," said a wo door being hoisted up on clunky rails "Her dress was soaking wet and wrinkled as a garbage bag"

"But ould the e?" said a o off and attack the Lunar queen like that … no way Your sister was seeing things I bet the girl was just some crazy person andered in off the streets She was probably bitter over so injustice"

The conversation was cut short by the ru of a delivery ship