Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 94

We both froze.

Jaw tightening, Thorne whispered, "To be continued?"

Peering around his elbow, I caught sight of a palace guard outlined in the hallway's light.

The guard was scowling as he raised a device to his mouth. "It's just a couple of guests," he said, his voice gruff. He nudged his chin toward Thorne and me. "I need to ask you to move along. All corridors and public spaces need to be cleared prior to the start of the ceremony."

Clearing his throat, Thorne tugged down his jacket and adjusted his bow tie. "So sorry. I guess we just ... got carried away."

I plucked a fern leaf off Thorne's sleeve. Heat singed my cheeks, but it was only part from mortification, and mostly from the lingering feel of his arms, his kisses, the hazy reality of the past few minutes.

"We'll just be moving along, then." Thorne helped me back down to the floor.

My shaking hands fumbled, brushing against my hip to make sure the knives were still there.

"Thanks for letting us borrow the place," Thorne said to the guard, winking, as we scooted into the hallway. Only once the guard was behind us did he show the slightest crack in his composure, releasing a slow breath. "Try to act natural."

The words echoed in my head for a long moment before I could make sense of them. Act natural? Act natural? When my heart was about to pound right out of my chest and he'd said that he loved me, at least, in a sense. What did it even mean to act natural in the first place? When had I ever in my life known how to act natural?

But then Thorne's hand found purchase on my lower back, bringing me back. The plan. I needed to think about the plan.

"We need to find Cress," I whispered. "She'll most likely be in the ballroom still, or maybe at the bar. Either way, I hope she's gotten away from the guard."

"We need to hurry, then," Thorne said. "We can't risk anyone finding out who she is. Or us, for that matter. We're lucky that guard didn't recognize us, but if he—"

"Hey! Stop!"

"Nevermind," Thorne groaned. "Run!"

I did, gripping Thorne's hand. Around one corner, then another. And another.

Until I crashed into a tiny orange thing with antennae bobbing above her head.

"Cress!"

She stumbled, but I caught her elbows.

Her eyes were wide. "I'm sorry, I tried to find you, but—"

"No time for apologies," Thorne said hurriedly. He led us to an inconspicuous alcove with a small door and shoved us through—into the servants' halls.

"Left!" he ordered, yanking the door shut and grabbing a service tray that had been left in the corridor. He wedged it into place while we ran, past pallets of supplies and maintenance equipment, storage cabinets and broken sculptures. Thorne caught up to us easily. He had pulled the handgun from inside his jacket. "Still have that chip?"

Cress pressed a hand against her bodice. She nodded, running too hard to speak.

"Good," I said.

Without warning, I slammed into Cress and looped my arm with Thorne's, sending us behind an enormous wheel of electrical cording. Cress hit the wall hard, panting.

"Two corridors back there was an elevator," I said. "Find a place to hide, then get to the security center. We'll draw them off and circle back around to find you."

"Go with her," Thorne said.

"What?" I whisper-yelled. "No. I'm not leaving you again."

Thorne and I stared each other down, before he broke his gaze and sighed.

Cress was shaking her head. "I can't do this without either of you."

"Sure you can. It won't be as much fun, but you'll figure it out."

Footsteps thundered in the distance. Cress squeaked.

"Here." Thorne pressed his gun into her palm. "Be heroic."

We took off running again, just as the footsteps caught up.

"There!" someone yelled as we turned the corner.

"Just like Africa all over again, huh?" Thorne panted.

"I really don't like thinking about that Khufran hotel."

Thorne chuckled and pushed me to the side. I stumbled through another set of doors into a smaller room.

"What—"

His hands landed on my shoulders.

"Stay here until they pass. Then find Cinder."

I shook my head rapidly. "No, I'm not getting separated from you again."

"This is our best chance, Y/n."

"I just got you back," I whispered, suddenly terrified of never seeing him again.

"I'll find you," he vowed, pressing a hasty kiss against my mouth. "I promise."

Then he disappeared through the doors.

The footsteps of two guards running past echoed in the hall outside, moving right past the door to the room I was currently in.

I considered staying where I was, but even as the thought crossed my mind, I knew it was a stupid plan. They would come back. They would send reinforcements. I would be found.

Distant gunshots made me jump. The shots were followed by grunts and the sounds of a struggle.

Then, silence.

Until—

"Stop!"

Another gunshot, this one followed by an instantaneous grunt and a body crashing onto the floor. It sounded close. I squeezed my eyes shut. Not Thorne. Please not Thorne.

But when I peered through the crack underneath the door and spotted his black military boots, my heart dropped.

Thorne was here. And he had unintentionally run in a circle, throwing himself right back into the guards' forces.

A heavy sigh was followed by a soothing male voice. "All this over a pesky Earthen? You guards are pathetic."

I sat up and pressed my hands against my mouth to keep any sounds from escaping.

Someone groaned. Not far away from the door.

"He is definitely one of the cyborg's allies. The question is, what are you doing in the palace?"

A beat, then Thorne's voice. "Just kissing my girl," he said, wheezing a little. "I didn't realize that was a ... a capital offense around here."

The man sounded unamused. "Where is the girl you were with?"

"I think you scared her off."

Another sigh. "We don't have time for this. Put him in a holding cell—we'll deal with him after the coronation. I'm sure he'll make a delightful Earthen pet for one of the families. And keep looking for that girl—alert me the moment you find her. Increase security around the great hall. They're plotting something, and Her Majesty will kill us all if the ceremony is interrupted."

There was a thud and another grunt. I grit my teeth, head filling with all the things they could have done to Thorne to cause that grunt—all the things they could still do to him.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood, the pain alone keeping me from jumping out, knives drawn, as I listened to them drag him away.