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Thorne waved his hand "They already showed the clips And now you’ve achieved the dreae of twenty-five"

"Right, led his eyebrow "Maybe not, but at least dreamy Prince Kai knows your na at him

"Precisely" Thorne cocked his head toward the front of the ship "They’re starting a press conference, to talk about you Thought you wouldn’t want to --"his heavenly, chocolate-brown eyes, and perfectly tousled hair, and--"

Cinder sprang off the bed, shoving Thorne into the door fra his ar the channel now" Iko’s voice followed Cinder through the cargo bay and into the cockpit, where theEmperor Kai at a podium before an audience of journalists "The conference is just starting, and he looks so handso the pilot’s seat

"Hey, that’s my--"

She silenced Thorne with a wave and adjusted the screen’s volu we can to find the escaped convicts," Kai was saying The circles beneath his eyes suggested that it had been a long tiht’s rest Nevertheless, seeing hi and ht of the last few arden steps and lying sprawled on the gravel pathith her wires sparking out of her ankle

He--disgusted, baffled, disappointed

Betrayed

"We’ve deployed our fastest ships with the y and the best pilots in order to track down the fugitives They’ve been lucky in their evasion of us so far, but we don’t expect that luck to last The class of ship they’re inhabiting is not meant for extended periods of orbit Eventually they will have to return to Earth, and we’ll be ready for them"

"What kind of ship are they on?" asked a lady in the front row

Kai checked his notes "It’s a stolen o ship from the A devices have been stripped, which is largely responsible for the difficulties we’ve had in apprehending them"

Thorne proudly poked Cinder in the back

On the screen, Kai nodded at another journalist near the back

"You said ourfor the do you suspect that to be, and are you abandoning the space search in the meantime?"

"Absolutely not Our primary objective is to find them as soon as possible, and we plan to continue the search in space until they’re found However,to Earth anyti on their fuel and power reserves, and ill be prepared for that return if necessary Yes?"

"My sources have told , this Linh Cinder--"

"That’s you," Thorne whispered with another jab She batted hiiven a VIP invitation to the annual ball and was, in fact, an invited guest of yours, Your Majesty Do you refute that claim?"

"A what?" Thorne asked

"VIP invitation?" said Iko

Cinder scrunched up her shoulders, ignoring them both

On the screen, Kai shifted back froive hi the ain "I do not refute the claim I met Linh Cinder teeks prior to the ball As many of you know, she was a renowned mechanic here in the city and I had hired her to fix aandroid And, yes, I did invite her to the ball as a personal guest"

"What?"

Cinder flinched froh the cockpit’s speakers

"When did this happen? It better have happened after Adri dismantled me because if he asked you to the ball and you didn’t tellto listen!" Cinder squirmed in her seat Kai had asked her to the ball before Iko’s body had been taken apart and sold off Cinder had had the chance to tell her, but at the time she’d been determined not to accept the invitation, so it hadn’t seemed that important

When Kai called on another journalist, Cinder realized she’d ?" asked a woust

Kai stared at her, appearing confused, then let his gaze dance over the crowd He shuffled his feet closer to the podiue of his nose

Cinder bit the inside of her cheek and braced herself for ada to the ball?

But instead, Kai said si is relevant Next question?"

Cinder’s ers jolted

"Your Majesty, did you know that she was Lunar when you extended this invitation?"