Chapter Twenty-One

Cinder struggled helplessly in her mind as her cybernetics forced her system to reboot, scan, and reboot again. When she finally passed all the system tests, she was groggy and felt like she was back on the Rampion with Thorne just after their prison break. She opened her eyes to instead see Wolf peering over her, lines of nervousness etched on his features.

"Are you okay? Are you alright?"

She tried to sit up and groaned. Wolf steadied her. "I am now. My automatic shut down feature has distinct disadvantages in high stress situations, I'm noticing. This time, it just didn't think the environment was safe, I guess. Which, when you think about it, is terrible because shouldn't I be trying to escape that environment then instead of blacking out and remaining in it?" It was hard not to sound bitter. She was sick of not having control over her own body.

Wolf frowned. "So you're not hurt."

She wiggled the important limbs. "Just sore. Something or someone, more accurately, knocked me out, I think. Someone landed on me and that's the last thing I remember before blacking out."

"That was me," said Wolf sheepishly. "You were about to get bulldozed by rocks."

"Oh. Well thanks, then."

Wolf squeezed her shoulder and offered her his hand to get up, but something else clicked inside her, distracting her. "Wait, who's hurt? Who screamed? Where's...?" She trailed off, finally shifting her focus away from Wolf in front of her. Cress sat on the ground a few feet away, wringing her hands and looking like she was trying to hide the fact that she was sniffling. Cinder looked past her. Looked around. Did another sweep of the room. Froze.

No Thorne.

No Kai.

"Where are they?" She demanded. A small hiccup of a suppressed cry escaped from Cress, and Cinder felt her breathing stop. She turned back to Wolf immediately. "Well?"

Wolf ran his fingers over his brow and dropped his gaze. "Gone."

"Gone?" Cinder thought her heart might collapse. "They...died?" The words escaped before she could stop them. Another noise of despair left Cress, sending Cinder's heart plummeting even further.

Wolf squeezed her shoulder again. "You need to calm down. We can't have you shutting down again."

"But—"

"I didn't mean that they were necessarily dead. It's a possibility, of course—one that we will all have to come to terms with"—his eyes shifted to Cress momentarily—"but all we know right now is that they are gone."

"Wolf," she snarled, "stop trying to sound all diplomatic or whatever it is you're doing. Where have they gone?"

"They're on the other side of the rock pile." Cinder faced Cress, who was the one to deliver the blow. "We can't reach them," she said quietly, wringing her hands again nervously.

Cinder's breathing steadied a little at that news, though. "You guys have tried moving the rocks already, then?"

Cress' eyes became hopeful. "Oh, would you? I tried to convince Wolf but he…"

"We're not doing that," said Wolf firmly.

"Wolf! Those are Thorne and Kai over there! Thorne and Kai. The Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth! The one who has to convince Levana to marry her here on Luna if our master plan is going to work, remember?!"

"I moved the rocks once already," Wolf said quietly. "You saw what happened. I won't endanger us further. If they're alive on the other side, another collapse could hurt them too."

Cinder jumped to her feet. "But we can't just leave them there!" She began to walk towards the makeshift wall.

"That's what I said," said Cress.

"Look," said Wolf. "I'm really sorry. I know Kai is important to you, and Thorne is important to Cress, but—"

"Thorne is important to me too!" said Cinder. "Thorne is…Thorne is…" Cinder didn't know how to shape the words in front of them. But it was easier to focus on Thorne than focus on Kai. Her Kai. Who she'd only just been reunited with. She needed him, and not just for her plan to work.

"Please, Wolf," said Cress, coming to join them. "Please."

"No," he said firmly.

"I—I command you to move those rocks!" said Cinder defiantly. "As your rightful Lunar Queen," she added, in case it wasn't clear.

Wolf snorted. "Your Highness, as your loyal soldier, I cannot put you in more danger in this obviously weak tunnel structure."

His tone was mocking, but only a little, and Cinder bristled before she felt stupid for having tried to use a power play on him. Not that she'd really expected it to work. Some Queen she'd be. She deflated as she tried to push the wall herself. It didn't budge.

She sank against the wall, feeling her back scrape up against the rough texture as her shirt pulled up slightly behind her. She enjoyed how it hurt. It was physical pain, which, in this case, was better than the emotional buildup that was already fostering in her usual throbbing headache in place of tears. "What are we going to do, then?" she whispered.

"We regroup. Make new plans. Figure something out," said Wolf determinedly. "We've still got our most powerful weapon: you. I can help out somewhat as long as there aren't top-tier thaumaturges around, which I expect we won't run into until we get to Artemisia. Cress is still the key player for all our surveillance, hacking, and general net needs."

Cress shook her head. "I'm worthless. I'm totally worthless. That's why you shoved me through the opening, isn't it? Because you knew I wouldn't be able to save myself or anyone else."

"I saved Cinder too," he said gruffly. "You were just right next to me."

"You're not worthless," said Cinder. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be here now."

That didn't seem to comfort Cress at all, because she slumped down onto the ground too.

"I don't mean that this rock collapse is your fault," Cinder corrected. "If it weren't for you we wouldn't even know that Levana was planning to kill Kai, or anything. Thorne and I would have been captured while on the Rampion. You saved our lives, Cress. Not to mention we wouldn't have been able to get to Luna without being detected, or have any idea where Scarlet was."

Wolf straightened. "I'm still going to get Scarlet. I'm not going to give up on defeating Levana, but I'm still getting her. I won't let her suffer any longer, regardless of any of your royal decrees."

Cinder half-smiled, too tired and upset to put any real effort into it. "Of course you are. Scarlet has always been part of the plan, and we're not changing that."

Wolf nodded. "Thank you."

She tried to focus. "You were saying—we need to regroup?"

"We need allies now more than ever. Without Kai it will be more difficult. But we've still got a whole lot of disgruntled Lunars. I say we stick with Plan B and revise our strategy."

"Plan B being that house you mentioned, where someone you used to know lives, and might be trustworthy?" She couldn't hide her skepticism.

"It's my house," he said. "I mean, where I lived before I became a soldier. I think my parents still live there. I think they'll help us after Levana took both of their kids from them."

"Oh, Wolf…"

"I'd rather not talk about it," he said. "But we can't stay here. The longer we dawdle, the less chance we have of making it out alive."

Cress inhaled, and her quiet voice filled the silence that followed Wolf's statement as everyone processed the new information about Wolf's background. "Do your parents…hate Shells?"

Wolf furrowed his brow. "I don't know. I'm sorry."

Cress nodded, but then turned to Cinder with pleading eyes. "But what about Thorne and Kai? What if they're alive and need help?"

Cinder wished Iko were here. Iko's processor would whir with calculations and probabilities. How long they could live if they were still alive and trapped. How long it would take them to escape. Would Iko realize that everything had gone wrong? Would she see news that their podship had perhaps already been discovered in wake of the tunnel collapsing? She tried to think, tried to use her pounding head.

"If they're alive, then they could go back to the podship."

Cress shook her head. "No, not if Thorne is still blind. Kai can't fly. Thorne would think that's stupid."

"Right. Okay…so they're alive, and they take the other tunnel?"

"You mean the one at the clearing, that was like a fork before we took this route?"

"Yes."

"But if they're hurt?"

"They'll help each other," said Cinder.

"They don't like each other, though."

Cinder couldn't help but think the same thing. "No, but they'll take care of each other. Their arguments are mostly banter, I think. They wouldn't jeopardize their lives just because they're not best friends."

"Maybe they'll meet us at the house," said Wolf. "We did say that was the backup plan."

"But they don't have glamour." Cinder knew this was a glaring problem. They all had different strengths, but glamour was one of the most important ones here. How would they fare?

Cress bit her lip. "Thorne is resourceful. He managed to find me in the desert even when he was blind, had no money, and didn't know where I'd gone. If they're alive, he could find a way."

Cinder's thoughts caught on the word "if." If they were alive. If they could get to the other tunnel. Cress looked like she was just trying to reassure herself.

Wolf moved to stand in front of them and extended both his hands. "It's settled then. We'll go to the—my parents'—house and reunite with them there." It was a forced sentence, she could tell, but she had to give him credit for turning his "they're gone" finality into something that at least was a bit more optimistic. Even if she couldn't tell whether he was being serious. It didn't matter. They didn't have anywhere else to go right now.

Cinder took Wolf's hand and stood. She brushed off as much dust off as possible and almost gasped at how raw her back felt from the rock scratches. She would have to take care of that with the medkit later. "We should be able to reach the manufacturing sector easy enough. It's right next to this sector. We'll see where the tunnel comes out and go from there."

They both turned to Cress, but she remained rooted to her spot, all the blood drained from her already pale face, just shaking her head over and over. "I can't leave him," she said.

Cinder's heart broke. She felt the same way about Kai.

"He came for me," Cress continued. "I needed his help and he came for me. Now he needs my help and I need to save him now." Her voice became almost hysterical. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. I can't leave him. I can't leave him."

Cinder could only stand there as Cress came undone. She doubled over, clutching at her stomach as sobs claimed her body. It was as though the life had been sucked out of her, her very being destroyed. Cinder wanted to say something—wanted to comfort her—but Cinder knew that it would be in vain. Cinder crumpled to her knees, the mere sight of Cress in this state nearly taking away any strength Cinder had left to keep her resolve.

It was done. They'd made their decision and had to leave them behind.

If only Cinder could cry too. Then maybe she could express how devastated she was too. Instead, she just looked heartless. Kai. Stars, how she missed him already. He had to be okay, he had to have survived. It just couldn't end like this.

It was Wolf who snapped her back to reality, as usual, when he walked over to Cress and just picked her up despite her struggles. Realizing she was no match for him, Cress finally wrapped her arms around Wolf's neck and buried herself in his massive shoulder. "Tho-orne…" she cried. "Tho-orne…No-o-o…"

He began walking, and motioned for Cinder to follow him. She got up off her knees, and began the dizzying, miserable trek in the wake of Cress' tears.

"I'm sure they're worried about us too," she whispered into the dark tunnel. "I'm sure they're devastated too."

"Someone's coming. Two people, I think." Wolf tried to flatten himself along the tunnel wall, sniffing and straining his ears. The whole concept of Wolf being, well, a wolf still made her uneasy sometimes. Cress, now calmer and standing between the two of them, tried to make herself disappear behind Wolf.

"Construction workers? Police? Thaumaturges?"

Wolf glanced at Cinder and gave her a weird look. "I can't smell their occupation."

"Right, sorry."

"Remember, as soon as you can detect their bioelectricity, they'll be able to detect yours as well. It won't be long before they know other people are in here," he whispered.

"If they're not thaumaturges, you could just knock them out easily, couldn't you?" asked Cress.

He frowned. "Probably not the best idea. Let's leave that as a last resort if Cinder can't manipulate them. It'd be better not to leave a bloody mess in here. It would be too suspicious."

Cinder nodded. "I have my tranquilizer darts too, you know, to avoid, um, a bloody mess. But first I'm going to try to get them to help us. Cress—they won't be able to detect you, so I think it's better if for the time being you go hide farther back in the tunnel."

"I want to help," she said.

"You are helping," said Wolf, "by hiding. You will be like our secret weapon."

Cinder and Wolf exchanged an understanding glance over Cress's head. "Let's do this," she said.

Another two minutes and sure enough, two people could be heard in the distance.

"I can't believe this tunnel collapsed again, Stella," said a male voice briskly. "This is going to set us back weeks."

"What do you think caused it this time?" A female—Stella. "There was no reported debris coming in from the forecasters last night."

"Who knows. This thing's been in shambles for a long time."

"Well lucky us, we get to risk our lives coming in here. I'd feel safer in our hover."

"You know a hover inside this tunnel wouldn't be safe right now, Stella."

The two said something indistinguishable but their footsteps approached. Then: "Hey—is there someone—"

"Now," breathed Wolf.

Cinder connected with their bioelectricity almost immediately. It was harder than she had expected, but not as terrible as she'd worried about. These weren't just mere Earthens, but clearly Lunars with some gifts. They resisted her mental attack from the onslaught, but Cinder held on tightly, some heat rushing up her spine. She hadn't felt it in awhile, but in a way it was comforting to know that she must be doing something right if her body was reacting. Even though there were two of them, it was easier to control them than to deflect Wolf's feral mind in training. After a smaller battle of the minds, Cinder emerged from where they had been pressed against the wall when she was certain she had control of them.

"Everything is taken care of," she said, conjuring up an image of her in an identical construction uniform that those in front of her wore. "I was here when it happened. A team has already been dispatched."

"We weren't informed," said the male.

"Yes you were," said Cinder, twisting their strings of bioelectricity carefully. "You just forgot."

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Unfortunately, two people were hurt," Cinder continued. She could sense Wolf not far away, and she wondered if he was preparing himself to attack in case she couldn't convince them to help her. "They are bleeding and we need to transport them a medical facility quickly. Do you have a hover?"

"Yes," said Stella blankly, "at the entrance, only about a five minute walk from here."

"Excellent," said Cinder. "We'll use that then. Is the pilot at the ready?"

"I'm the pilot," said the man.

"I can fly too," muttered Stella.

"Wonderful," said Cinder. "I'll make sure to report how helpful you were to your superiors."

"Thank you," they chimed.

"Another thing," said Cinder. "Do you have any clothing we can borrow? There have been some injuries, as I mentioned, and we need to stench the blood. A med team hasn't arrived yet."

They looked at each other, considering. "You can have our jackets," said Stella finally. She began to take hers off. Cinder coaxed the man into compliant thoughts, telling him that he wanted to help, that he was being a hero by doing this. His jacket came off soon too. Good. Now at least Cress and Cinder could wear their jacket as a mock uniform when they left the tunnel. Wolf would have to stick out, but it was better than all three of them in their current outfits.

"Thank you," said Cinder, "let's proceed to the hover."

"It's dangerous to bring it in here," said the man.

"I need to inspect the hover to make sure there will be enough room and then contact my team. My colleagues will join us. Now, let's get moving." Cinder let their thoughts linger on their helpfulness and desire to walk to the hover. She was starting to work up a sweat, and hoped they wouldn't notice. Luckily, they turned back to the direction they came. She motioned for Wolf and Cress to walk behind them, all the while telling Stella and the man that they had no interest in discovering who the other two team members were.

Cinder dropped the jacket for Cress on the ground, and wrapped hers around her waist, her pack in the way of putting it on immediately. They arrived at the hover soon enough, and Cinder almost lost all her grasp on their minds as light flooded into her eyes from the windows around the entrance. Stella stopped briefly, and turned to look at Cinder, brow furrowed, and Cinder quickly pushed all of her energy into reclaiming the space in her mind that she had almost vacated moments ago. Stella straightened, and then returned to the hover. The man jumped in and pushed open the door.

Cinder watched as Wolf and Cress slipped in. You don't care about them, she repeated in her mind. You don't care about them. They're just workers here to do their job, like you. It's important that we all work together.

The concentration she was exerting was draining her. She'd never manipulated anyone this long before. She was starting to think about how she'd ever defeat Levana like this, but relished in the fact that she'd likely have many Lunars to practice on before then. She was Princess Selene, and everyone said her glamour was strong. She could do this.

Cinder held on long enough for the man to start the hover and bring it off the ground. Then she tried to convince Stella that she had to go back and get to the injured, because the other workers needed more help. She sensed Stella's rising panic at the thought of those who were hurt, and it lifted Cinder's spirits. Maybe not all Lunars were bad. Maybe she'd only been exposed to the terrible ones thus far. Maybe some of her future citizens actually had a heart. Run, Stella, she encouraged. Stella ran.

Cinder jumped in the hover, already feeling less light-headed now that Stella was no longer under her control. She focused all her energy on the man, barely registering that Cress and Wolf were staring intently at her from the back of the hover.

"This hover isn't big enough," she said to the man. "We'll need to get the supplies ourselves and bring them back. I'm not sure why the med team is taking so long to arrive." The man nodded. Then she turned to Wolf and said, "Where is the closest medical facility?"

Wolf nodded, understanding. Cinder didn't want to give away the directions to their safe house nor indicate that they intended to stay in the manufacturing sector. Once they got rid of Roland, who knew what he might share with other people once he was no longer under the influence of glamour.

Wolf recited an address that the hover seemed to pick up on automatically, and the four of them burst out of the tunnel into the brilliant light of Luna.