The Fire Didn't Stop Her

When Time Runs Low

Cinder sat in the bay of the Rampion as Dr. Erland examined Wolf and his injuries. Because of Wolf's current mental state, the Doctor had to sedate him for the time being. He was so broken up about Scarlet. She supposed he felt just the way Kai did at the moment. Separated from the one they love.

But Scarlet's kidnapping was real. Cinder's kidnapping was faked. And Kaito would never forgive her.

Now, her mind was numbing over it. She hated what she was doing to him, and what she did. Letting him fall in love with her and then breaking his heart by leaving. He would hate her more than Levana when he found out.

At least she was saving his life.

It was a miracle to find Dr. Erland in Farafrah. She hadn't even known that he'd left.

"I came here to escape Levana," he told her. "One of her Thaumaturges was beginning to think I knew something about your kidnapping. So I left."

"How did you know it was faked?" she asked, astonished.

He raised his eyebrow and grinned as he checked over the scars on the man-hybrid's face. "Lot's of sloppy mistakes that I'm surprised none of the Prince's private detectives caught. You turned of all of the cameras and left no trace of it. And no one could have been so thorough unless they knew the system inside and out, and if they had the help of a skilled mechanic that could break the source of the system."

"I'm impressed that a princess, a Lunar one at that, could be so skilled with machines. Or with stealing the heart of the Regent Prince," Erland remarked. "No one has ever made him feel so alive, you know. Never so desperate or emotional or careless. He'd do anything to have you back."

Guilty of her crimes, she inquired, "How was he ... when you left?"

"Last I saw him?" he began. He checked the entry wound made by the tranquilizer dart and padded the mark with gauze. "Well, he's losing his mind." She felt as though she'd been stabbed in the heart. "He blames himself for what happened to you. And he would do anything to get you back. He thinks that criminal is torturing you and he would rather go through that himself than bare the thought of you going through it."

Cinder swallowed, hard. "How could he be losing his mind?"

The doctor shrugged. "He loved you. He's even more broken up about this than he was about his mother's death. I heard him in his sleep once. He thinks you see him as a pathetic waste and that you'd rather spend your days with and adventurous man like Mr. Thorne."

If Cinder hadn't been so shocked, she would have gagged at the idea of Thorne and her being together. I mean, she did like him. But as a friend and sort of that annoying brother you don't want your friends to know you're related to. Not as how she saw Kai.

Her heart burned with the thought that this was truly killing him. If leaving him alone with Levana wasn't bad enough, he was going insane without any help. And though that she'd rather be with someone that wasn't him.

And how on Earth or Luna could he blame himself for this?

He'd done everything he could to help her. He'd taken care of her through good and bad while she was at the palace. He'd shown how much he loved her with every time they met. How could he believe he was responsible for this?

"You're going back at some point, aren't you?" he asked. "Or did you fake the kidnapping to fool your aunt and evade becoming queen?"

"What, no! I-I-I would never do that! I couldn't just leave him- them!" she argued.