Pulse thrumming, Cinder turned to see Iko with her arm wrapped around an extra-pale Cress.
They ran for the ramp, and Cinder was grateful that it was lowered to face away from the palace entrance. As they crept downward, she scanned their surroundings, with both her eyes and her Lunar gift. In this wide-open space, she could sense a cluster of people in the distance and she could tell there were both Earthens and Lunars in the mix.
Their route to the maglev doors, at least, was unblocked. If they were careful, they could stay hidden behind this row of ships.
At least, until one of those Lunars picked up on Wolf’s sizzling energy and questioned what a modified soldier was doing here.
She waved her arm and they skimmed around the side of the ramp. A breath passed while Cinder waited for a sign they’d been noticed. When none came, they darted to the next ship, and the next. Every thump of their feet pounded in her ears. Every breath sounded like a windstorm.
A shout startled her and together they ducked behind the landing gear of an elaborately painted ship from the African Union. Cinder held her hand at the ready, the bullet still loaded in her finger.
“Over there!” someone yelled.
Cinder peered around the telescoping legs of the spacecraft and spotted a figure bolting between ships. Thorne, running away from them at full speed.
Not yet controlled by a Lunar.
Heart leaping, Cinder reached out for his mind, hoping to get to him before one of the Lunars on the other side of the dock …
Success.
Like with Wolf, she thrust an idea into his head.
Get back here.
Startled, Thorne tripped and fell, rolled a couple times, and sprang again to his feet. Cinder flinched with guilt, but was relieved when Thorne changed directions. He skirted around a couple podships, dodging a volley of bullets from a cluster of guards that had emerged from the main ramp of Kai’s ship.
“I’ve got him,” said Cinder. “Come on.”
Keeping half her focus on Thorne, the rest on her own careful movements, Cinder stayed close to Wolf as they ducked in and out of the safety of the spacecraft, weaving their way to the wide platform that stood shoulder height around the perimeter of the docks. Their exit loomed before them. Enormous double doors carved in mysterious Lunar runes. A sign above them indicated the way to the maglev platform.
They reached the last ship. They’d run out of shelter. Once they were on the platform, they would be on raised, wide-open ground.
Cinder glanced back. Thorne was on his stomach beneath the tail of a solo-pilot pod. He waved at them to go ahead, to hurry.
“Iko, you and Cress go first,” said Cinder. If they were seen, they at least couldn’t be manipulated. “We’ll cover you.”
Iko put herself between Cress and the palace doors and they ran for the short flight of steps. Cinder swung her embedded gun from side to side, searching for threats, but the guards were too focused on finding Thorne to notice them.
A hiss drew her attention back to the platform. Iko and Cress were at the doors, but they were still shut.
Cinder’s stomach dropped.
They were supposed to open automatically.
But—no. Levana had been expecting them. Of course she had taken precautions to ensure they wouldn’t be able to escape.
Her face contorted, desperation crashing into her. She struggled to come up with another way out. Would Wolf be strong enough to pry open the doors? Could they fire their way through?
As she racked her brain, a new expression came over Cress, replacing her wide-eyed terror with resolve. Cinder followed her gaze to a circular control booth that stood between the maglev and palace entrances. Before Cinder could guess her plan, Cress had dropped to her hands and knees and started crawling along the wall.
A gun fired. Cress flinched but kept going.
It was followed by another shot, and another, each making Cinder duck down farther. With the third shot there was a shatter of glass.
Cinder spun around, her heart in her throat, and sought out Thorne. He hadn’t moved, but now he was holding a handgun, and had it aimed behind him. He’d shot out a window on Kai’s ship.
He was causing another distraction, trying to draw more attention to himself, to keep it away from Cress.
Throat dry as desert sand, Cinder looked back to see that Cress had made it to the booth. She was clutching her portscreen, the fingers of her other hand dancing over an invisi-screen. Iko was still by the doors, crouched into a ball, ready to spring up and run at the slightest provocation.
Beside Cinder, Wolf was focused on Thorne, ready to rush into the fight the second one broke out.
Footsteps came pounding down the ramp of Kai’s ship and additional Lunar guards swarmed the aisles. It wasn’t the guards that concerned Cinder, though. They wouldn’t be skilled enough to detect Thorne in their midst. It was their thaumaturges that worried her, but she couldn’t find them.
Doors whistled. Wolf grabbed Cinder’s elbow before she could turn around and dragged her up to the platform.