And it all Went Wrong

P A R T | 11

CINDER WAS NOT AMUSED. If anything, she was un-amused, if that were a real word. After all, watching an emperor and an ex-guard bicker back and forth was in truth kind of boring. Especially when the topic of the argument was whether they should take the stairs or the elevator.

"It's quicker," said Jacin.

"It's also easier to be spotted in," Kai fired back.

She groaned loudly, pressing a finger to the space in between her brows where a headache was forming. She frowned. "Could you two be any louder?" she asked in a hushed scream.

Kai stopped then, turning to face her with wide eyes. Jacin on the other hand scoffed instead, crossing his arms. "Of course we could, but that would surely get us caught. Don't you think, Princess?"

Cinder glared at him, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I hate you, Jacin Clay. So much."

Winter gasped, placing a hand on Jacin's shoulder. "Selene!" she exclaimed, pressing a hand to her mouth. "You don't mean that."

Jacin raised an eyebrow. "You can't hate me. Just like you can't hate that Thorne guy." This, Cinder saw, got him a disapproving look from Kai.

Cinder clenched and unclenched her fists, biting hard on the inside of her cheek until she felt the taste of blood on her tongue. She took a deep breath and stood directly in front of the Lunar. "You're right. I can't hate someone who is dead." Then she brushed past him and followed the blueprints in her mind, towards the hidden stairs used for emergencies. "We're using the stairs," she mumbled to the three people behind her.

"I told you," Kai whispered, and she rolled her eyes.

"Selene, can I ask where we're going? Because, this part of the palace is surprisingly really unfamiliar and--."

Cinder stopped, and someone bumped into her back with an oof. She turned around to see Kai rubbing his nose, where he had hurt himself after hitting the back of her head. She glanced at each of them, making eye contact. "First, outside. Second, Wolf says he has a plan, so we'll follow him. And third, you're getting kidnapped."

Her honey brown eyes widened and her brows furrowed in confusion. "Kidnapped?"

Jacin stepped closer to her, his eyes locked on Cinder with distrust, and she rolled her eyes. "Not really, Winter. We just--." She sighed, licking her lips. "We're using you as bait," she settled on saying.

Jacin blinked. "Excuse me?"

Cinder pointed to Kai. "His idea."

"Cinder!"

She turned to him with a small smile and a shrug. "What? It's true."

Winter looked behind her. "Selene, I hate to interrupt this, whatever this is, but I think we may have company..."

Cinder turned around, and frowned, adjusting her auditory interface until she heard it. They had to get going. She adjusted her military jacket and turned to the others, motioning for them to follow.

As she led them down the halls in silence, she wrote out a comm to send to Cress.

Get ready, we'll be there in less than ten, as long as we don't run into trouble.

Not one second after, text scrolled through her vision again.

We'll be waiting. Everything's going good so far. Though I find it highly suspicious no one of the Lunar court has come outside yet.

Cinder bit the inside of her cheek and took out the screwdriver from her hand, twisting at the screws on the scanner. The small contraption fell to the ground and she cut the red wire that was sticking out from the hole in the wall. As expected, the door opened revealing the emergency stairs. Cinder looked behind her once more, and then started running down the stairs.