This time when Cress awoke, it was not sand
engulfing her—although there was plenty of that—
but arms.
Thorne had pulled her against him so close that she
could feel the rise and fall of his chest and his breath on
the back of her neck.
She gorged peeled her eyelids open.
Night had fallen.
The moon had returned, larger than the night before and
surrounded by a sea of stars that winked and glittered at them.
She was deathly Christy and couldn't find any saliva to wet
her parched tongue.
She started to shiver, despite the layers of sheets and blankets
and the parachute and the heat rising off her scorched skin.
Despite Thorne's protective warmth.
Teeth rattling, she nestled against him as much as she could.
His embrace tightened around her.
She looked up.
The stars were moving, swirling over her head like a whirlpool
trying to suck the whole planet into its depths.
The stars were taunting her.
Laughing.
She shut her eyes tight, and was met with visions of Sybil's
cruel smile.
News headlines echoed in her head, spoken in a child's
nasally voice.
14 CITIES ATTACKED ... LARGEST MASSACRE IN THIRD
ERA ... 16,000 DEATHS ...
"Cress. Cress, wake up."
She jolted. still shaking.
Thorne was hovering above her, his eyes bright with
moonlight.
He found her face, pressed his palm to her forehead,
and cursed.
"You're running a fever."
"I'm cold."
He rubbed her arms.
"I'm sorry.
I know you're not going to like this, but we
need to get up.
We need to keep moving."
They were the cruelest words he could have said.
She felt impossibly weak.
Her whole body seemed to be made of sand that
would blow apart with the slightest breeze.
"Cress, are you still with me?"
he cupped her cheeks in both hands.
His skin was cool, soothing."
YOU ARE READING
Cress
Teen FictionTheir best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being force to work for Queen Levana, and she...
