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"That is enough Kill her"

At first, the guards did not move, and the brief hesitation was all the information Cinder needed Levana, in her hysteria, had lost her es could realize it had happened, Cinder slipped into their uards Twelve men ere, as Jacin had once told her, like brainless mannequins Puppets for the queen to shuffle around as it pleased her Twelve armed protectors, ready to obey her every whim

Cinder’s retina display flared with information--her accelerated heart rate, the offset of bioelectricalher veins Time slowed Her brain synapses fired faster than she could recognize the noted and translated and stored away before she could interpret it Seven thaues: two in black stood behind the queen, the four who had taken Cinder frouard stood 08 meters to her left Six wolf soldiers: the nearest 31 meters away; the farthest, 64 meters Forty-five Lunars in the audience Kai and his adviser and five Earthen leaders along with seventeen additional representatives fro like statues, trying to sneak glances at the girl who claiuns and twelve knives, all belonging to her

Threats eighed, balanced, h a ed froer

Every Earthen dived off their seats to take cover, including Kai Only afterward did she realize she’d forced theuards to open fire

Eleven guns went off, all aiuard closest to Cinder drew his knife and hacked through the binds around her wrists In her hurry, she felt the blade clang against her metal palm

Her hands burst free Her body and ht her Her brain ticked down the list of threats

The wolf soldiers lunged for the guards as another round of bullets exploded around theed at Cinder, as if to tackle her

Cinder grabbed hie They collided with a series of grunts, collapsing to the floor

"Kill her!" Levana’s voice cracked

More gunshots throbbed against Cinder’s eardrums Bodies scrambled and chairs screeched and Cinder lost track of where the guards were and if any wolf soldiers had fallen and two aristocrats were running at her frouards to focus on the thaues, now There was another volley of bullets and the aristocrats cried out and crumpled and tried to scurry out of the fray as soon as they were released

A wolf soldier grabbed Cinder froh her shoulder, his canine teeth tearing at her flesh She screa hand, she stabbed wildly and the blade connected with flesh The soldier released her with a roar and she spun, kicking hiht to reclaiuards, but in that second of distraction the roouards’ bioelectric waves Ten of them were dead, ripped to shreds by the soldiers, who had turned on the ferocity, despite the bullet holes puncturing their chests and sto at her, jaw hanging open

She tore her eyes away and found the queen, still screa to cast around her orders, but the two reed to her and the wolves did not care who they were attacking and the thaues … dead All dead Cinder had killed them all Except maybe Aimery, who she couldn’t find in the chaos She wanted him, but she wanted someone else un fro her teeth against the searing pain in her shoulder, and aimed for the spot between the queen’s eyes

For a split second, Levana looked terrified

Then Kai was between them, face slack fro the world around her

The heavy doors crashed open, followed by the sound of boots pounding in the hallway