Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) - Marissa Meyer Page 0,138
you know,” the doctor said, with a new edge to his tone.
“I’m sure I—wait, what?”
“I hope she comes to her senses soon, because I see how she looks at you and I do not care for it, not one bit.”
“Who are we talking about?”
Something clattered as the doctor dropped what Thorne assumed were medical tools onto a metal tray. “It doesn’t matter now. Lie down.”
“Pause one second. And be honest.” Thorne held up a finger. “Are you having a mental breakdown right now?”
The doctor huffed. “Carswell Thorne. I may have just made a very important discovery that must be shared with Emperor Kaito and the other Earthen leaders immediately. But that cannot happen until we have finished with this whole charade. Now, by my estimation, we have fewer than five minutes to extract the needed stem cells and divide them for the regenerating solution. I may not like you, but I am aware that we are on the same side, and we are both invested in seeing Cress and Cinder leave this palace today, alive. Now, are you going to trust me or not?”
Thorne considered the question for probably longer than the doctor wanted him to, before he sighed and lay back on the table. “Ready when you are. But first, don’t forget to—”
Thorne heard the soft pad of fingertips on a netscreen, and then a blaring siren screamed through the halls.
Forty-Nine
Cress was getting antsy. The royal nuptials were slated to begin in a mere twenty-seven minutes, and as far as she could tell, all guards and security personnel were still very much at their stations. On top of that, she and Wolf were running out of ways to make themselves inconspicuous without having to relocate to their seats. So far they’d each nibbled at the prawn hors d’oeuvres being waiter-passed (Cress: one, Wolf: six), taken turns excusing themselves to pretend to use the washroom while really trying to discern if any of the guards appeared concerned about a potential security breach, and three times Cress had had to laugh dreamily and hold Wolf’s hand in order to get some loitering female admirer to mosey on. It was the most impressive acting she’d ever done, because touching Wolf made her uneasy and it was difficult to imagine him making any jokes.
“Maybe we should start thinking of a Plan B,” Cress murmured when she noticed that the symphony had begun replaying their set.
“Already done,” said Wolf.
She peered up at him. “Really? What is it?”
“We continue on to the security center as planned. I just have to knock out a lot more guards between here and there.”
She chewed on her lip, not terribly enthusiastic with Plan B.
Then— “There. Look.”
She followed his gesture. Two guards were speaking with their heads lowered. One had badges indicating a significantly higher rank. He pointed down a corridor, in the direction of the research wing.
Well, it was really in the direction of just about anything, but Cress hoped he was talking about a disturbance in the research wing. That would mean that the others had made it inside and raised the alarms.
A second later, the two guards left the ballroom.
“Do you think they’ve done it?” Cress said.
“Time to find out.”
Wolf offered her his elbow and together they meandered out into the main corridor. The remaining guards paid them no attention as they turned down a connecting hallway. Cress kept repeating the instructions that she’d memorized—take the fourth hallway on the right, past the courtyard with the tortoise fountain, then the second left. Her heart began to pound fervently in her chest.
Twice they were stopped by palace staff, and twice they asked for directions like confused, slightly drunk wedding guests and had to backtrack to a safe hiding place before Wolf deemed it safe to move again. But no alarm was raised and no guards came for them. Cress knew they had already been captured on countless cameras set throughout the palace, but she and Wolf wouldn’t be recognizable like Cinder or Thorne or Dr. Erland, and even if they did raise suspicions, she hoped everyone would be too distracted by the emergency in the research labs to care. Still, the farther they got from the ballroom, the less likely it was that anyone would buy their innocence act.
She was grateful when Wolf’s pace picked up. Cinder and Iko would be waiting on them now, and they were running out of time.
They reached a skybridge that locked together two of the palace’s