Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) - Marissa Meyer Page 0,29
would hate to give you an opportunity to free yourselves and call for assistance. Instead, I will be merciful.” Finished, she straightened her long sleeves. “Consider yourself lucky that it will be quick.”
“I always consider myself lucky.”
Her gaze became hard as sterling and Thorne found himself marching toward the open door that led to the washroom. As he got closer, he saw the girl tied up with a sheet around her hands, knees, and ankles, and a cloth gag in her mouth. Remnants of tears streaked down her blotchy face. Her hair was a tangled mess on the ground all around her, many of the locks caught up in her bindings.
Thorne’s gut tightened. He’d been sure that she had betrayed them, but her trembling body and horrified expression said otherwise.
His knees gave way and he landed on the floor with a grunt. The girl winced.
Drawing a sharp breath through his nostrils, Thorne glared up at the thaumaturge. “Is this all necessary? You’re scaring the poor girl.”
“Crescent has no reason to be upset. It was her betrayal that brought us to this moment.”
“Right. The five-foot-tall girl tied up and gagged in the bathroom is always the one to blame.”
“Besides,” the thaumaturge continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I’m granting Crescent her greatest wish. I’m sending her to Earth.” She held up a small shimmering chip, identical to the D-COMM Cinder had been carrying around with her. “I’m sure Crescent won’t mind if I keep this. It is, after all, property of Her Majesty.”
Her sleeves whipped behind her as she left. Thorne heard her heels clipping down the docking hatch and the doors shut behind her. His podship’s engine was muffled, but he felt the slight jolt when they disconnected.
It was only then that he felt the first pang of helplessness.
She’d taken his ship.
That witch had taken his ship.
But the Rampion had a second shuttle. His crew could still come for them. Would come for them.
But then he sensed something new—a slight pull, a gentle shift—and the girl whimpered.
The satellite’s trajectory had been altered. Gravity was claiming them, drawing them out of their orbit.
The satellite was falling toward Earth.
Ten
“He’s attached,” said Scarlet, watching Thorne’s podship through the cockpit viewing window. “That wasn’t too embarrassing.”
Cinder propped herself against the door frame. “I hope he’s quick about it. We have no way of knowing that this girl isn’t being monitored.”
“You don’t trust her?” said Wolf.
“I don’t trust who she works for.”
“Wait. Is that another ship?” Scarlet jerked forward, pulling up a radar search on the screen beside her. “Our scanners aren’t seeing it.”
Wolf and Cinder clustered behind her, peering down at the podship, only slightly larger than Thorne’s, as it neared the satellite. Cinder’s heart began to pound. “Lunar.”
“It has to be,” said Scarlet. “If they’re blocking the signals—”
“No, look. The insignia.”
Wolf cursed. “It’s a royal ship. Probably a thaumaturge.”
“She betrayed us,” Cinder murmured, shaking her head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it.”
“Do we run?” asked Scarlet.
“And abandon Thorne?”
In the window, the Lunar podship had connected with the satellite’s second clamp. Cinder raked her fingers through her hair, her thoughts stumbling through her head. “Comm them. Establish the D-COMM link. We need to know what’s going on—”
“No,” said Wolf. “It’s possible they don’t know we’re here. Maybe she didn’t betray us. If they didn’t pick up our ship on radar, there’s still a chance they haven’t had visual of us.”
“They would know Thorne’s podship came from somewhere!”
“Maybe he’ll be able to get away,” Iko chimed in, but there wasn’t the normal enthusiasm to her tone.
“Against a thaumaturge? You saw how well that worked out in Paris.”
“So what do we do?” said Scarlet. “We can’t comm them, we can’t dock…”
“We should run,” said Wolf. “They’ll come for us next.”
They both looked at Cinder and she realized with a jolt that they expected her to take charge. But it wasn’t a simple decision. Thorne was down there. He’d walked right into a trap, and this had all been Cinder’s idea in the first place. She couldn’t leave him.
Her hands began to shake from gripping the chair. Every second of indecision was wasted time.
“Cinder.” Scarlet placed a hand on her arm. It only made her squeeze the chair tighter. “We have to—”
“Run. We have to run.”
Scarlet nodded. She spun back to the controls. “Iko, prep thrusters for—”
“Wait,” said Wolf. “Look.”
Beyond the cockpit window, a podship was disconnecting from the satellite. Thorne’s podship.
“What’s happening?” Iko asked.
Cinder hissed. “Thorne’s ship is coming back. Comm him.”