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And all so she could rule So she could claim the throne So she would be queen

Cinder clenched her fists at her sides, her blood boiling Thorne atching her, his expression equally dark

"We should go talk to Michelle Benoit," he said, setting down the scalpel

Cinder blew a strand of hair out of her face The ghost of her child self lingered in the air here, a victi to stay alive How many people had helped rescue and protect her, had kept her secrets? How many had risked their lives because they believed hers orth row into so at her sto sure to close the hidden door behind theht, the house still towered eerily still and silent above a sarden The Rampion stood enormous and out of place in the fields

Thorne checked his portscreen, and his voice was tight when he spoke "She hasn’tfootsteps across the gravel He pounded on the front door, every strike bouncing around the courtyard They waited for the telltale footsteps within, but only the sound of chickens scratching in the yard greeted the open, unlocked

Stepping into the foyer, Thorne peered up the wood-paneled stairway To their right was a living rooed furniture To their left a kitchen with a couple dirty plates left at the table All the lights were off

"Hello?" Thorne called "Miss Benoit?"

Cinder called up a netlink and traced the signal to Michelle Benoit’s ID chip "The signal is coroaned beneath the weight of herpictures of ared hair Though chubby and covered in freckles as a child, later pictures showed her quite stunning, and Thorne gave a low "Hello, Scarlet" as they passed

"Miss Benoit?" Cinder called again Either the woman was a very deep sleeper, or they were about to stu that Cinder was sure she didn’t want to see Her hand shook as she pushed open the first door off the stairs, preparing herself not to screa body sprawled across the bed

But there was no body

The rooar had been Clothes and shoes, trinkets and blankets, but no hu around the room, Cinder spotted the vanity beside theand her heart fell She paced to it and picked up the small chip and held it up for Thorne to see

"What’s that?" he asked

"Michelle Benoit," she said Sighing, she dismissed the netlink

"You rumbled, and pushed past him into the hallway She planted her fists on her hips and scanned the other closed door, no doubt another bedroom

The house was abandoned Michelle Benoit wasn’t here, and neither was her granddaughter No one with any answers

"Hoe track a person who doesn’t have an ID chip?" Thorne said

"We don’t," she said "That’s the whole point of reht know so to anyone We’re still fugitives, in case you’ve forgotten" She stared at the rotating pictures Michelle Benoit and a young Scarlet kneeling proudly beside a freshly planted vegetable bed

"Co her hands as if she was the one who had been digging in the dirt "Let’s get out of here before the Rampion attracts any attention" The floorboards clapped hollowly beneath her as she tro

The front door swung open

Cinder froze

A pretty girl with honey-blonde curls froze in front of her

Her eyes widened, first with surprise, then recognition They fell to Cinder’s cyborg hand and the color drained froirl glanced up at him Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed onto the tile floor

Thirty-Three

Cinder cursed and glanced back at Thorne, but he only shrugged She turned back to the fainted girl Her head was bent at an aard angle against an entry table, her feet splayed across the doorway

"Is it her granddaughter?" Cinder asked, even as her scanner was connecting the irl’s face to the database in her brain and conized "Never irl’s prone body She nudged the table out of the way and the girl’s head thu over her, Cinder peered out the front door A beat-up hover sat in the courtyard

"What are you doing?" said Thorne

"Looking" Cinder turned around to see Thorne stepping into the foyer, eyeing the girl with rin spread across his face "We should take her with us"

Cinder glared "Are you crazy?"

"Crazy in love She’s gorgeous"