“You two are giving me a stomachache,” Thorne griped.
“I’m pretty sure that’s the meat,” said Cinder, ripping a piece of dried mystery meat with her teeth.
The food wasn’t appetizing, but it was no worse than what she’d gotten in the menagerie, and Scarlet ate her small share with relish. Winter emerged from the washroom, her dark ringlets still dripping and the too-short pants and ill-fitted blouse doing nothing to lessen her beauty. A hush fell over the group as she joined them, kneeling on the floor around the small table and scanning the food with sad, distant eyes.
Scarlet spoke first, pushing a couple of crackers across the table. “I know it’s not what you’re used to,” she said, “but you have to eat something.”
Offense flashed across Winter’s face. “I’m not particular.” Her expression softened as she stared at the crackers. “I just hadn’t realized how much I’d been given. I knew conditions were bad in the outer sectors, but not as bad as this. Others have gone hungry so my stomach might be full each night.” Sighing, she sat back on her heels and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m not hungry, anyway. Someone else can have mine.”
“Winter—”
“I’m not hungry.” Her voice was sterner than Scarlet had ever heard it. “I couldn’t eat it if I tried.”
Scarlet frowned, but let it go. Wolf eventually ate the crackers, looking guilty about it.
“You said Jacin told you where to find us?” said Cinder. Her shoulders were tense, and it had been clear from the moment Scarlet had explained what she could about their escape that Jacin wasn’t popular with her friends. “How did he know?”
“I would imagine,” said Winter, “that your miniature friend told him.”
“Our miniature friend?” asked Cinder.
Winter nodded. “Cress, isn’t it?”
Silence expanded over them, drawing all the oxygen from the room.
Thorne leaned forward first. “Cress? You’ve seen Cress?”
“I haven’t seen her in days, but Jacin was keeping her safe.”
“Oh! That reminds me.” Scarlet dug out the small cylinder. “Jacin gave this to me and said it had a message from a friend in it. Maybe he meant her—Cress?”
Thorne snatched it away before she’d finished talking and flipped the cylinder over in his palm. “What is it? How do we work it?”
Cinder grabbed it away from him and inserted it into the holograph node on the wall. A holograph flickered to life in the center of the room.
Scarlet wouldn’t have recognized the queen’s hacker, having only seen her once through a comm link. The girl’s long, unruly hair had been chopped short and her skin, though still pale, had at least seen the sun in the recent past.
Thorne launched himself from his seat, circling the room to put himself in front of the holograph as she began to speak.
“Hello, everyone. If you’re seeing this, our good friends from the palace must have found you. I wish I could have joined them. My current guardian gave me the option of leaving, but I had to stay behind to assist with their travels. I know you’ll understand. I wanted you to know I’m all right, though. I’m safe and unhurt, and I know you’ll come for me. When you do, I’ll be ready. Until then, I promise to be careful and stay hidden.” She paused. A fleeting smile crossed her lips, like proof of her courage, though her eyes stayed anxious. After a deep breath, she continued, “My absence has probably changed some things for you, and I know you were relying on me for help with some of your plans. I’ve built a program into this file. Insert this cylinder into the universal port in the dome’s broadcast receiver and follow the prompts I’ve set up for you. On the chance this could fall into the wrong hands, I have locked the program with the same passcode we used on the ship.” Her lashes dipped, and there was that weak smile again. “I hope this message reaches you safely. I … I miss you.” She opened her mouth to say more, but hesitated and shut it again. A second later, the message ended.
They stared at the empty air where Cress had been. Scarlet fidgeted with her hoodie’s zipper, knowing for sure now that the girl had been the one watching over her and Winter during their escape. She had saved them, and sacrificed her own safety to do it.
“Brave, stupid girl,” Thorne muttered. He sank back down to the floor, his expression torn between relief and increased distress.
“She’s still with Jacin, then,” said Cinder. “I guess … I’m grateful for what he’s done, but … I don’t like him knowing where we are, or being responsible for Cress. I don’t trust him.”
Winter stared at her, aghast. “Jacin is a good person. He would never betray you, or Cress.”
“Too late,” said Thorne. “He already did once.”
Winter laced her fingers together. “He regrets betraying you. It was never his intention. He only … he had to come back to Luna. For me.”
Iko made a noise that was probably meant to be a snort. Scarlet cocked her head to inspect the android. What had been endearing tics when she had been the Rampion’s control system were a little disconcerting in her humanoid body.
“It’s true,” Winter insisted, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I understand why you don’t trust him, but he’s trying to make amends. He wants to see you back on your throne as much as anyone.”
“He did save my life,” added Scarlet. Then, after a pause, she shrugged. “Probably just because he needed me to save her life, but still, it has to count for something.”