Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 3

My eyes were narrowed at Thorne, who stood in front of me with his arms crossed. A drop of lingering shower water slid down his neck, turning the cotton collar of his white undershirt a deeper color.

We had been having this little staring contest for a few moments now.

"So," I said, breaking the silence.

"So," he echoed.

Indignation flared inside me when I spotted my gun still holstered on his hip. "Am I ever going to get that back?"

"Are you ever going to stop trying to shoot us?"

I didn't answer the question.

"What's your name?" Thorne asked.

No response.

My breath hitched when he forced the barrel of the gun into the underside of my jaw and leaned close. "Your name."

I grit my teeth. "Commander y/n l/n of the New Beijing Military Force. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, cadet." It was satisfying to regain a bit of control, even only a miniscule amount, by letting him know my rank exceeded his.

"It's Captain," he grumbled, retracting the weapon.

"Stealing a ship doesn't make you a captain," I countered.

"Well, the title of Commander doesn't make you such a hotshot, either."

"No?" I grinned smugly. "I'm the youngest Commander the military's ever had. I've led missions, trained squadrons, and interrogated and killed men stronger than the likes of you. So." I cocked my head. "I wouldn't disrespect me just yet."

Thorne folded his arms. "And yet you're the one who's tied up."

My face fell. "Yeah, well, I didn't count on the Lunar to be able to utilize her abilities effectively yet," I mumbled.

Thorne hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. "Speaking of, I better go check on her." The footfalls of his rubber soles on the metal floor grew quiet as he made his exit.

As much as they shouldn't have, Thorne's words swirled in my mind. And yet you're the one who's tied up.

It bothered me because there was some truth to his statement. Shame crept into my chest and squeezed my heart. I was the Commander of the New Beijing Military of the Eastern Commonwealth. I shouldn't have been overpowered by this...this scum who had been thrown into solitary confinement because he started a riot in the prison yard over soap.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. There was no time for that. I needed to think of a plan.

"Eww, is that an ID chip?" Thorne's voice echoed from the next room.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," Cinder chastised.

"Why do you have an ID chip? It'd better not be yours, after you made me cut mine out."

"It's my sister's."

Thorne's next words voiced my thoughts. "Don't tell me she's a runaway convict, too. Doesn't she need it?"

Silence stretched. I blinked in confusion once, twice, before it clicked in my mind.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Thorne said lowly. "How long ago?"

"A couple of weeks." More silence. "She was only fourteen."

Fourteen. Her sister had been a child, a baby. Far too young for the situation she'd been thrust into.

Although, we were too young for the situation we were in, as well.

"The plague?" Thorne's voice asked.