Winter swiveled her attention from her to Jacin. “She disabled them?”
“This girl used to be the queen’s best-kept secret. She can find her way around any computer system.” He crossed his arms, his stern expression softening into an almost smile. “You’re the one who’s been messing with the shuttles too.”
The girl’s lips thinned into a line.
“What’s your name?” asked Winter.
When the girl still didn’t respond, Jacin answered, “Her name is Cress. She’s a shell and one of Linh Cinder’s allies.” He scratched his temple. “I don’t suppose you have a plan as to what we’re supposed to do with her?”
“We could sneak her up to the guest wing? I’m sure the Earthen emperor would watch over her. He did help them get here, after all.”
Jacin shook his head. “He’s under too much security. We’d never get her close. Besides, the fewer people who know you helped her, the less chance of Levana finding out.”
The girl—Cress—seemed to be relaxing as it became apparent Winter and Jacin weren’t going to have her executed. Winter smiled at her. “I’ve never met a shell before. What a marvelous gift. I can’t sense you at all, like you’re not even there, even though you’re standing right in front of me.” Her grin broadened. “That would drive my stepmother mad.”
“It was a shell who killed the last king and queen,” said Jacin. “Maybe we can turn her into an assassin.”
Winter turned to him, aghast. “Does she look like an assassin?”
He shrugged. “Does she look like she’s capable of disabling our entire maglev system?”
“I didn’t disable it.” Cress’s voice was meek, but Winter was so surprised to hear her speak, she might as well have shouted. “I changed the access parameters so the queen couldn’t shut it down.”
Jacin stared at her. “But you could disable it, if you wanted to.”
After a beat, the girl dropped her gaze to the floor.
“We have to find someplace to keep her,” said Winter, tugging on a curl of hair. “Somewhere safe.”
“Why?” said Cress. “Why are you helping me?”
Winter didn’t know if she was asking her or Jacin, but Jacin answered first with a grumbled “Good question.”
Winter shoved him hard in the shoulder. He barely shifted.
“Because it’s the right thing to do. We’re going to protect you. Aren’t we, Jacin?”
When Jacin said nothing, Winter shoved him again. “Aren’t we?”
Jacin sighed. “I think we can sneak her into the guard quarters. It’s not far and we won’t have to go into the main part of the castle.”
With obvious disbelief, Cress said, “You’re going to protect me?”
“Rather against my will,” said Jacin, “but it looks like it.”
“For as long as we can,” said Winter. “And, if the opportunity arises, we’ll do our best to reunite you with your friends.”
For the first time, Cress’s defenses began to slip. “They got away?”
“It would seem so. They haven’t been found yet, as far as I can tell.”
“But the queen won’t stop looking,” added Jacin, as if either of them weren’t aware.
Cress had stopped trembling. Her expression became thoughtful as she stared at Jacin. Finally, she asked, “I don’t suppose the guard quarters have access to the royal broadcasting network?”
Twenty-Four
Their progress through Luna’s outer sectors was slow and tedious. Sometimes taking maglev shuttles, sometimes walking through the tunnels, sometimes using Wolf’s identity to send a shuttle on without them before skipping to a different platform and heading in the opposite direction. Sometimes they split up and rejoined one another a couple of sectors over, to confuse any security personnel looking for a group of two men and two women traveling together.
They kept their heads down. Iko kept her hair hidden beneath her cap. Cinder fidgeted with her gloves to be sure her metal hand wouldn’t be seen on any of the cameras. Though they avoided what surveillance cameras they could, she knew they couldn’t miss them all. She hoped there were so many surveillance feeds on Luna they couldn’t possibly all be monitored.
Though they occasionally ventured up to the surface in order to switch to a different shuttle line, they avoided it when they could. Wolf warned them that most of the outer sectors were manned by armed guards. Though they were meant to be there for the security of the people, it seemed they spent more time punishing anyone who dared to speak out against the crown. The few times they did sneak up into the surface domes, they managed to go unassaulted in their disguises and cowed postures, but Cinder knew it wouldn’t be long before security measures were increased all over Luna.
They barely talked. Cinder spent the hours mulling over the battle in the docks, folding every misstep over in her head again and again, trying to determine a way she could have gotten them all away safely, trying to rescue Cress, trying to keep Kai out of Levana’s clutches.