fed him a vision of the first terrible thing that came to mind: the fight aboard the Rampion between them and Sybil Mira. The day Scarlet had been taken.
Wolf vaulted over the crate. Gunshots blared, bullets pinged, the walls shook.
Iko roared and launched herself past Cinder, tackling a guard who appeared in the corner of Cinder’s vision. His gun fired; the bullet struck the ceiling. Iko punched him and his head cracked against the metal floor. His body stopped flailing, unconscious.
Cinder jumped to her feet, holding her cyborg hand like a gun, and spotted the second guard creeping around to their other side. His face was blank—unafraid. Then, as she watched, it cleared. His eyes focused on Cinder, bewildered.
The thaumaturge had lost control of him.
The moment was fleeting. The guard snarled and aimed his gun at Cinder, but he was too late. Already she had a grip on his bioelectricity. With a thought, she sent him spiraling into unconsciousness. He dropped to his knees and collapsed face-first to the floor with a crunch. Blood spurted from his nose. Cinder recoiled.
A scream echoed through the bay.
Cinder could no longer see Wolf, and terror struck her. In taking control of the guard, she’d forgotten about protecting Wolf’s mind from—
The screaming stopped, followed by a thud.
A second later, Wolf appeared from behind a shelf stacked with suitcases, snarling and shaking out his right fist.
Pulse thrumming, Cinder turned to see Iko with her arm wrapped around an extra-pale Cress.
They ran for the ramp, and Cinder was grateful that it was lowered to face away from the palace entrance. As they crept downward, she scanned their surroundings, with both her eyes and her Lunar gift. In this wide-open space, she could sense a cluster of people in the distance and she could tell there were both Earthens and Lunars in the mix.
Their route to the maglev doors, at least, was unblocked. If they were careful, they could stay hidden behind this row of ships.
At least, until one of those Lunars picked up on Wolf’s sizzling energy and questioned what a modified soldier was doing here.
She waved her arm and they skimmed around the side of the ramp. A breath passed while Cinder waited for a sign they’d been noticed. When none came, they darted to the next ship, and the next. Every thump of their feet pounded in her ears. Every breath sounded like a windstorm.
A shout startled her and together they ducked behind the landing gear of an elaborately painted ship from the African Union. Cinder held her hand at the ready, the bullet still loaded in her finger.
“Over there!” someone yelled.
Cinder peered around the telescoping legs of the spacecraft and spotted a figure bolting between ships. Thorne, running away from them at full speed.
Not yet controlled by a Lunar.
Heart leaping, Cinder reached out for his mind, hoping to get to him before one of the Lunars on the other side of the dock …
Success.
Like with Wolf, she thrust an idea into his head.
Get back here.
Startled, Thorne tripped and fell, rolled a couple times, and sprang again to his feet. Cinder flinched with guilt, but was relieved when Thorne changed directions. He skirted around a couple podships, dodging a volley of bullets from a cluster of guards that had emerged from the main ramp of Kai’s ship.
“I’ve got him,” said Cinder. “Come on.”
Keeping half her focus on Thorne, the rest on her own careful movements, Cinder stayed close to Wolf as they ducked in and out of the safety of the spacecraft, weaving their way to the wide platform that stood shoulder height around the perimeter of the docks. Their exit loomed before them. Enormous double doors carved in mysterious Lunar runes. A sign above them indicated the way to the maglev platform.
They reached the last ship. They’d run out of shelter. Once they were on the platform, they would be on raised, wide-open ground.
Cinder glanced back. Thorne was on his stomach beneath the tail of a solo-pilot pod. He waved at them to go ahead, to hurry.
“Iko, you and Cress go first,” said Cinder. If they were seen, they at least couldn’t be manipulated. “We’ll cover you.”
Iko put herself between Cress and the palace doors and they ran for the short flight of steps. Cinder swung her embedded gun from side to side, searching for threats, but the guards were too focused on finding Thorne to notice them.
A hiss drew her attention back to the platform. Iko and Cress were at the doors,