Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 15

As the ship entered neutral orbit, Scarlet exhaled and slumped in the pilot's seat, then turned around to face the ship's bay.

I was sitting on the floor with my legs splayed out before me, Cinder sitting to my left. Scarlet's friend, now known as Wolf, was still unconscious and spread-eagle on his back. A streak of blood followed him from the ramp where he'd been dragged. Thorne was flopped on his stomach.

"You're a pilot," said Cinder.

"My grandma taught me. She was a pilot in..." Scarlet trailed off. "But your ship does pretty well on its own."

"So glad to be of service," the bubbly voice said over the loudspeakers. "I'm Iko. Is anyone hurt?"

"Everyone's hurt," Cinder groaned.

I laughed bitterly.

Scarlet hobbled over to Wolf's body and sank down beside him. "Are they going to be alright?"

"I hope so," said Cinder, "but I've never stuck around long enough to see the aftereffects of these darts."

I leaned my head back against the wall, sighing deeply with exhaustion.

Scarlet unzipped her shredded hoodie and tied it over the open wound on Wolf's arm. "You said you had bandages?"

I could see Cinder's dread at being forced into action again, but soon Cinder pushed herself up and disappeared through a door on the far side of the cargo bay.

A loud moan drew my attention. Thorne rolled onto his back, cringing.

"You okay there?" I asked.

"Never better." He winced and grabbed his torso. "Where are we?" he murmured.

"Oh, you're awake already," said Cinder, returning with salve and gauze. "I was hoping you'd stay knocked out awhile longer. The peace and quiet was a pleasant change."

Despite Cinder's tone, I could sense the relief rolling off of her as she dropped a tube of salve onto Thorne's stomach. She passed the gauze to Scarlet along with another tube of salve and a scalpel. "We need to cut out your ID chips and destroy them, before they track you."

Thorne eased to a seated position and gave Scarlet a hazy, suspicious look before his attention dropped down to Wolf. "Managed to get the loon on board, huh? Maybe I can find a cage for him in one of these bins. I'd hate for him to kill us in our sleep after all that."

Scarlet scowled, unraveling a strip of gauze. "He's not an animal," she said, focusing on the claw marks on the side of Wolf's face.

"Are you sure?" I asked skeptically.

"She's right," Cinder said. "We don't know that he's on our side."

Scarlet pressed her lips and pulled out another strip of tape. "You'll see when he wakes up. He's not..." She hesitated.

"Well," said Thorne. "I feel much better." Tearing a hole in his pants, he dabbed the ointment on the puncture wound from the tranquilizer.

Pulling her hair out of her face, Scarlet ripped open Wolf's shirt and slathered the medical salve onto the deep gashes across his abdomen. "Who are you?"

"Captain Carswell Thorne." Recapping the salve, he propped himself against the cargo bay's wall.

Scarlet's gaze flicked to mine. "And you?"

"Commander y/n l/n," I replied hollowly.

Thorne spotted a shotgun on the floor and held it up. "Where did this come from?"

"Scarlet found it in one of the crates," said Cinder.

(E/c) met brown as my gaze locked with Scarlet's.

"What?"

"It was you who shot the thaumaturge," I said, alarmingly calm.

She swallowed thickly. "Yes."

I stared at her for the space of one heartbeat. Two. "And you didn't realize how that would affect the rest of us?"

Scarlet furrowed her brow. "You're kidding, right? He was a Lunar thaumaturge. He was going to kill you."

I hummed. It quickly morphed into a broken chuckle. Cinder and Thorne exchanged uneasy looks.

"You don't understand what you've done." My laugh turned crazed. I staggered to my feet. "You stupid, stupid girl."

I suddenly lunged at her, but strong arms wrapping around my shoulders held me back. "That was my last chance!" I screamed, now overflowing with rage.

Scarlet gasped and recoiled.

I struggled against the iron-like hold. "That was my last chance to find out about my brother!" My vision blurred.

Scarlet's eyes bulged. Her jaw dropped.

The arms around me began dragging me backwards. "No!" I protested. "She killed him!" I shrieked, even as I was yanked through the doorway to the medbay.

"That was my last chance!" I shouted again.

The medbay doors closed with an electronic hiss.

Another scream clawed its way up my throat, but it came out as a sob. "That was—that was my last—"

The energy was abruptly sucked out of me. I collapsed backward, and the arms holding me captive before changed to a gentle embrace. Tears rolled down my face and landed in soft plips on the leather collar of my jacket.

The weight of a thousand Lunar soldiers slammed into my ribcage, suffocating. I was feeling everything at once—Michelle's passing, our close brush with death, the thaumaturge's connection to my brother.

"Isaac," I whimpered, before my chest convulsed in another sob.

Thorne said nothing, just tightened his grip.