Page 8 (1/2)

Cinder dared to peer through the grate again and saw a ship wheeling its way beneath the directly between Cinder and Thorne and the stor, Ryu-jūn," said the reetings were drowned out by the hydraulics hissing on an adjustable platfore of the noise, Cinder used her screwdriver to reave Thorne a nod, he carefully eased it up

Sweat trickled down Cinder’s neck and her heart was palpitating so hard she thought ither head, she peered around the dock, checking for any other signs of life and spotted, not ar ca in her ears Luckily the ca the other direction, but still, there was no way they would both make it down undetected Then there were the three workers unloading the delivery to deal with, and everytheir e where the ca her ar--the calance--but then her fingers found it She grasped the lens and squeezed The plastic was crushed as easy as a plu sound that seely loud

She listened, relieved as the sa continued below

Their time was up It wouldn’t be more than a minute now before so her head, she nodded at Thorne and pulled herself forward over the opening

She dropped onto the roof of the delivery ship and it clanged and shuddered beneath her Thorne followed, landing with asilenced

Cinder spun around as three figures e bay, their faces contorted in confusion

They spotted her and Thorne standing atop the ship and froze Cinder could see the hand

One of theher jaw, Cinder held her hand out to hiet to his port, could not send out an alar of his hand petrified in space just centi motionless

His eyes filled with terror

"Don’tat her throat She knew she was every bit as panicked as the three people standing before her, and yet the fear on their faces was un at the top of her neck and spreading down through her spine, her shoulders and hips, stinging where it met her prostheses It wasn’t painful or sudden like it had been when Dr Erland had first unlocked her Lunar gift Rather, it was al--al on the platfor in the air, ready to be controlled

Turn around

In unison, the three workers turned around, their bodies stiff and aard

Close your eyes Cover your ears She hesitated before adding, Hu filled what had becoh to keep therate open in the concrete floor Her only hope was that they would assuled the, slack jahen Cinder turned back to hi," she said heavily, hating herself forthe huift that was too unnatural, too powerful, too unfair

But the thought to release her control over the, half sliding off the ship She crawled beneath it and found the grate between the landing wheels Though her hands were shaking, she rate a quarter turn and pull it up

A shallow pool of standing water glistened up at her in the darkness

The fall wasn’t far, but her bare feet landing in the oily waterthe grate over the hole

There was a round concrete tunnel set into the wall, barely reaching Cinder’s stoe andher nose, Cinder crouched and crawled into it

Seven

The cluster of icons on E denser by the hour, not only because there were so n, but because he wasn’t putting ers buried in his hair, he gazed blankly at the inset netscreen panel currently elevated out of his desk and watched the iconssense of dread

He should have been sleeping, but after countless hours of staring at the shadows above his bed, he’d finally given up and decided to co productive He was dying for a distraction Any distraction