Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 12

"I'm keeping it."

"You can't. Technically, you're still our hostage."

"Technically, I could knock you out right here if you wanted to."

"But you won't, because that would hurt my feelings. Give it here."

Cinder brushed past the two of us, tightening her ponytail. "Thorne, let her keep the gun."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, then faced Thorne again. "Do you know how stupid it would be to let me walk into a situation like this without a weapon?"

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I heard what she said."

We followed Cinder to the cargo bay, where she was gripping her weapon so tightly I feared it would crumple in her cyborg hand.

She swallowed. "Iko, lower hatch."

The ramp descended, revealing a quiet cobblestone street. The ally we had parked in was one on the side of the main square, across from the opera house. The night was tame. Silent.

It gave me chills.

"Let's go," Cinder hushed.

I tried not to think about the details of my dream too much, but it was inevitable. Every stone I stepped on, every ivy-clad wall we passed, reminded me that we were that much closer to those crazed Lunar men.

We rounded the next corner and froze.

Across the square, one of the beasts had its prey pinned to the floor in front of the opera house. Fiery red hair peeked out from underneath him.

"Cinder," I breathed.

"On it." One of the fingers in her metal hand clicked open and she sent the dart flying.

The man went rigid. He looked up, eyes wide and already brightening with bloodlust, but then they grew bleary. A strangled gurgle left his throat, and he collapsed on the girl beneath him.

We sprinted across the square.

"Wolf!" the girl was yelling. She craned her neck to spot us, but hastily focused back on the beast atop her. She yanked the dart out of his neck. "Wolf!"

"Are you all right?" Cinder shouted as we got closer.

I took in the girl's appearance. The flaming curls that spilled over her shoulder. "Scarlet?" I asked. "Scarlet Benoit?"

She glanced up as we slowed and frowned when she spotted Cinder. "Who are you?" she asked. When we tried to pull the Lunar off of her, she locked her arms around his middle. "What did you do to him?"

"Come on," Thorne exhaled. He tried to pry the man away but she held tight. "We have to get out of here."

"Stop it, don't touch him!" She scrambled out from underneath the Lunar and gripped the sides of his face, tilting him back so his head rested in her lap. If it hadn't been for his fangs and the blood on his jaw, he would have looked peaceful. "What did you do to him?"

"Scarlet, where is your grandmother?" Cinder pressed. "Is she with you?"

Scarlet looked at Cinder. "My grandmother?"

I knelt beside her. "Michelle Benoit." My voice had taken on a tone of pleading. Answers were close, so very close.

"Do you know where she is?" Cinder's words tripped over themselves in her rush to speak.

Scarlet blinked, and her gaze traced the metal hand across from her. "Linh Cinder," she whispered.

"Don't worry," said Thorne. "We're the good guys."