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Her internal clock told her they’d been walking for only twelveinto her foot with each step Her wet pants were plastered to her calves and sweat dripped down the back of her neck, so it was a spider fallen down her ju Thorne a hard tih they didn’t see any rats, she could hear theht, down countless tunnels that fanned out beneath the city

Thorne talked to hied memory His ship was definitely near Beihai Park In the industrial district Not six blocks south of the ht blocks

"We’re about a block away fro at a ht drifted doard theoes up to West Yunxin"

"Yunxin sounds familiar Sort of"

She pleaded for patience and started to clis bit into her foot, but the air was blissfully fresh as she neared the top The sound of the rushing water was replaced with the hu the ns of hulided overhead

Cinder ducked, heart racing Daring to inch her head up, she spotted silent lights atop the white vehicle It was an eency hover Visions of androids ar tasers sent a shudder through her, before the hover turned a corner and she saw a red cross on one side It was a medical hover, not law enforcement Cinder nearly collapsed from relief

They were in the old warehouse district, near the plague quarantines Medical hovers were to be expected

She glanced both ways down the deserted street Though it was still early, the day was already hot and whiotten the drenching suhts before

"Clear" She hauled herself up onto the road and sucked in a deep breath of the city’s huht in the sun, except for the legs, which were stillhis eyes with his forears and rotated in a full circle Faced north Scratched his neck

Cinder’s opti"

"Yeah, yeah, I do," he said, waving her away "I just haven’t been here in a while"

"Think faster We aren’t exactly blending in with our surroundings out here"

With a nod, Thorne started down the street "This way"

Five steps later he paused, pondered, turned around "No, no, this way"

"We’re dead"

"No, I’ve got it now It’s this way"

"Don’t you have an address?"

"A captain always knohere his ship is It’s like a psychic bond"

"If only we had a captain here"

He ignored her,down the street with spectacular confidence Cinder followed three steps behind hi across the road, a hover crossing an intersection two streets away The sun glistened off the dusty warehouse s

Three empty blocks later, Thorne slowed his pace and peered up at the facade of each building they passed, rubbing his chin

Cinder began desperately searching her brain for Plan B

"There!" Thorne jotted across the street to a warehouse that was identical to every other warehouse, with giant rolling doors and years of colorful graffiti Rounding the building’s corner, he tested thethe ID scanner beside the door, Cinder cursed "Figures" Kneeling down, she pried the plastic face off the scanner "I ht be able to disable it Do you think there’s an alar rent all this ti to sit in an unprotected warehouse"

Cinder had just downloaded the progra manual for the scanner’s product nu open and a pluht Cinder froze

"Carswell!" theup here"

"Alak, how are you?" A grin broke across Thorne’s face "A, Alak swerved his attention toward Cinder His friendliness froze over, buried beneath a trace of disco, Cinder shut the scanner’s panel and stood Her netlink was already connecting to the newsfeed she’d abandoned during their escape, and sure enough, there was a strea across her own picture, the one they’d taken when she’d been admitted into the prison ESCAPED CONVICT CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS IF SEEN, COMM THIS LINK IMMEDIATELY

"Seen you on the news too," Alak said, glancing at her steel foot

"Alak, I’m here to pick up my ship We’re in a bit of a hurry"

As sympathetic wrinkles creased the corners of Alak’s mouth, he shook his head "I can’t help you, Carswell The feds watch , I can always clai a convicted felon … and assisting … one of them" His nose wrinkled at Cinder, but he simultaneously took a step back as if afraid of her retaliation "If they track you here and find out I helped, it’slow for a time I won’t tell I saw you But I won’t let you take your ship Not now Not until all this blows over You understand, right?"