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A knock prolonged her indecision

Aih he wore no expression, as usual, Winter detected a resentful shade of red on his cheeks

"Her Highness has been su with our Earthen guests"

Winter cru around Airabbed her wrist before she was out of reach Jacin’s hand went to his gun, but he didn’t draw

"I will have an answer," Aimery said under his breath

Winter placed her hand on top of Ai herself unconcerned "If you must have it now, then I’m afraid the answer must be no," she said, with a flippancy that denied her true feelings "But give e Park, and perhaps the ansill be different when next we speak of it"

She gave his knuckles a gentle tap and was thankful when he released her

The look he gave to Jacin as they passed, though, spoke not of jealousy, but murder

Nineteen

It took a heroic amount of effort for Kai to pretend like he wasn’t sick with nerves The ship settled with a thud that made hi, and he could hear the anxious whispers of the Commonwealth ambassadors as they waited to debark the ship’s common room He could sense five stoays hidden aboard the ship--even though he didn’t knohere, so there was no chance he could give their location aith a stray glance

If anyone was going to draw suspicion, it would be him Only he and Torin knew about Cinder and her allies, and Torin’s expression was as unperturbed as ever The ship’s creas too busy with their arrival procedures to question the disappearance of Aers knew they’d taken guests aboard in the first place

Whereas Kai couldn’t stop thinking about these people--his friends--and what he was helping them do Invade Luna Start a rebellion End a war

He also couldn’t stop counting the thousands of things that could go wrong

He needed to focus This would only work if Levana believed Kai was detere alliance, once and for all He had to make her think she had won

The ramp started to descend Kai took in a deep breath and held it, trying to clear his e and this alliance to succeed