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Cinder screaht, barrel pointed at the ceiling She stopped fighting it Pulled the trigger A chandelier shattered above her, glass and crystal and sparks
The crowd screaed for the exit
Cinder cruainst her sto her Fireworks burst in her head It felt as if her body were trying to dispel all her cyborg parts--explosions and sparks and s at her flesh
Kai’s voice over the tu She felt hot to the touch, like someone had thrown her into a kiln, but the pain and heat had ertips rather than eating her up inside She opened her eyes White dots speckled her gaze Her display was flashing red warnings Diagnostics scrolled through the corner of her vision Her teh, her blood pressure too high Son substance had invaded her blood that her syste, her progra screa
But she did not feel like she was dying
Her body felt so hot she was surprised she didn’t incinerate the fragile dress Sweat sizzled on her brow She felt different Strong Powerful
On fire
Shaking, she sat back on her heels and stared at her hands The left glove had started to ooey, silky skin on her white-hotacross the steel surface, but she couldn’t tell if it was her hu it Or
Lunar
She raised her head The world was covered in a cool grayhad frozen--except for her Her body was beginning to cool Her skin paling, herShe tried to cover her metal hand, stupidly, in case Kai had been too blinded by the flash to notice it
She caught the queen’s eye Levana’s rage seeasped and drew back a step For a moment, she looked almost afraid
"Impossible," she whispered
Cinder called forth every nanobyte of strength she possessed in order to stand, and pointed the gun at the queen She pulled the trigger
The red-haired guard was there The bullet hit him in the shoulder
Levana didn’t even flinch
Cinder’s brain caught up with her body as blood dripped over the guard’s ar the frenzied croas impenetrable, she barreled toward the nearest exit, the uard, past the queen, past her entourage, glass crunching beneath her stolen boots
The hollow echo of the stone patio A puddle splashing onto her legs The fresh, cool smell of rain that had turned to a drizzle
The stairway stretched before her Twelve steps and a Zen garden, a towering wall, a gate, the city--escape
On the fifth step, she heard the bolts snap The wires tore loose, like tendons stretched to the max She felt the loss of power at the base of her calf, sending a blinding warning signal up to her brain
She fell, screa, and tried to block her fall with her left hand A shock of pain jolted up her shoulder and into her spine Metal clattered against stone as she crashed down to the gravel pathway
She lay sprawled on her side Holes frayed her glove where she’d tried to catch her fall Blood stained the beautiful crealed to breathe Her head felt suddenly heavy, and she let it slu into her scalp Her roa eyes squinted up at the sky, where the stor to Cinder’s hair and lashes, refreshing against her hot skin The fulla slow hole above her as if it planned to s up the whole sky
Moveuard who had been holding her reached the stairs and froze Kai was beside hi to stop hiers, the wires sparking at the end of her batteredHis jaw fell, and he lookedat the top of the stairs The e unifor wound Kai’s adviser and, finally, Queen Levana herself Her glamour had returned full force, but all her beauty could not hide the fury contorting her features Gathering her sparkling skirt in both hands, she moved to stoe stopped her with a gentle hand and gestured up to the wall of the palace
Cinder followed theeverything
The last re her exhausted and weak
Kai crept down the stairs as if sneaking up on a wounded ani foot that had fallen out of the velvet boot His jaw flexed as he studied it, perhaps recognizing it from the day they’d met at the usting," she said from the doorway, safely hidden from the camera’s view Her words were loud and unnaturally forced co voice "Death would be merciful"
"She wasn’t a shell after all," said Sybil Mira "How did she hide it?"