Cress

Chapter 54

    They abandoned  their  entourage    of   guards in   the elevator on the  top
  floor. No  one   cared    that   it    would    be too   easy   to deduce   where  they
  were  heading. Hopefully  by  the  time  anyone  snapped  out  of  Cinder's brainwashing,
  they'd  be  long gone.
  The research   wing's  emergency  service  elevator was kept   on    its own,
    in   an alcove  tucked   away   from   the  rest   of    wing. It   was their   final
     obstacle, and   Cress  had  taken  care  to   ensure   it   would   be   functioning
     properly when they arrived. She stumbled ahead of them to punch  in  the  code,
   emotionally   drained.   It    felt as  if     her     brain    were     churning through
   sludge  and  it took  her  a moment  to  remember the code at all.
         The elevator opened and they crowded inside.
         No one spoke—whether out of respect for  Dr.  Erland, or  out  of   a   tenuous 
       hope that they were so close, so very close ...
The doors opened onto  the  rooftop. Dusk was climbing over the   city,
      glistening off the   palace windows and coating the landing pad  in purple
      shadows.
             And the Rampion was there, its ramp lowered toward them.
             Cress laughed—an abrupt, delirious laugh  that  felt   like it   was being
      ripped  out of her throat.
            Iko let out a victorious whoop and ran for the ramp, screaming, "We
       did it!"

     Thorne's grip tightened on Cress's arm. "He's here?"
   "He's here," she whispered back.
    Wolf alone slowed  down,  baring  his  teeth. Kai  was  still  draped over 
           his  shoulder.
                 "Jacin—ready  for    takeoff—now!" Cinder   yelled toward   the   ship.
                "We're—" Her words  fell  short  and  she  slowed  then stopped altogether.
     Cress   gasped   and locked her hands around Thorne's   arm,  holding him
          back.
                 A figure appeared at the top of  the  cargo bay  ramp her  white coat 
            and  long sleeves made  her  look  like  a ghost   haunting their   ship,  blocking 
            their  way  to freedom.
      Cress's  instincts screamed at her to run, to hide, to get  as far  away 
            from  Mistress Sybil as she could.
                   But   when  she   glanced  behind her   she saw that the   thaumaturge
            wasn't  alone.  Half   a dozen  Lunar  guards  had crowded   in  behind them,
           blocking off  their  path to the  elevator. The  elevator   that   wouldn't   have
            worked  anyway—she'd programmed it to shut   down  once  they reached
      the rooftop so   that no  one could follow  them. It  wouldn't  work  again 
           until  the  timer   she'd   set  on  the security mainframe ticked down and the
          system rebooted itself.
      Which meant they had no place to run. No   place  to hide. They  were
            forty  steps from their ship, and they were trapped.

Cinder's  momentary  elation  evaporated  as  she  looked up  at   the thaumaturge.
        She   should    have    sensed    her    immediately,    her and   the    guards,
              before  she'd even stepped off the elevator, but she'd   been so distracted 
              with the    sensation   of   success.  She'd gotten cocky, and now they were
            surrounded.
"What a lovely   reunion,"  said  Sybil, her sleeves  snapping  in the
             rooftop wind. "Had I known you were all going to  come  to  me,  I  wouldn't
     have  wasted  half  as much energy attempting to find you."
    Cinder tried to keep her focus on Sybil as she took stock of  her allies.
     Wolf  was slightly in front of her, snarling  as   he  set  Kai on  the   ground.