New Wings

Chapter 10

Cinder, once again, found herself in big trouble. This was nothing new, and seemed to happen almost daily now, but today it was something entirely different. And she, for the first time, was terrified.

Time found her sitting on an overturned crate in Scarlet's cold pantry, watching Kai patch up her steadily bruising arm. He'd found a somewhat clean rag to wipe the blood away, being slow and agonizingly soft. She couldn't keep eye contact with him, though his eyes never left her face. Her cheeks were burning, her other arm twitching in the cloth brace. This was extremely uncomfortable, and Cinder had to keep biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from speaking.

He couldn't hear her voice, the accent. It would ruin the whole sham, but then again there wasn't supposed to be a scam in the first place!!! What was even happening? And he was of some wealth, she could tell by the little things.

His jacket, for example, was pressed, with a kerchief in his pocket. An emblazoned little square peeked from his vest. Even his hair was cut differently, actually looking styled.

Cinder shouldn't be looking at him like that. She glanced down nervously, trying to get a hold of herself.

Who was she kidding? She was nothing compared to him. She'd always been just a nothing, which was maybe why the newsies had accepted her as a leader so quickly. They had seen that she knew what she was and wouldn't try to hide it. They knew they could trust her.

And now she was going back on anything she'd ever promised; pretending to be what they hated the most. But he certainly didn't seem vile or pompous. Kai seemed...sweet. And gentle.

He coughed, making her jump a little.

"So, how did you end up in here? With all the children I mean." She automatically noticed what he referred to the newsies as. Nothing condescending or rude, just plain and simple.

She heightened her pitch considerably before answering, hoping the accent would just fade in time.

"I was having lunch." There. Nothing too obvious or random.

"Oh? So, you have someone you dine with?" He said this while staring hard at her face, searching for contact. This was becoming a struggle.

"N-no. I eat alone." sweat was forming on her brow, and she prayed desperately it wouldn't be a dead giveaway that she was hiding something.

"Why? Someone like you doesn't deserve to be alone!"

"Someone like me?" Her voice rose, already fired up. Cinder was used to that kind of statement being an insult.

"I only meant someone beautiful." She flushed.

"You're mistaken, sir." It was hard to keep her sentences short, she had so much to say and ask him.

Cinder only looked up when his hand left her shoulder. He wasn't looking away, only more intently.

"No, I don't believe I am. You're beautiful, my lady. Forgive me for being forward, but it's become a bit of a habit in my line of work."

"And what would dat-ahem, that be?" A change of subject sounded wonderful.

"Oh, um, I work for the government in the town square. I'm in charge of organizing parties and such for the police." Cinder's blood ran ice cold. This was the man hunting her down. He was the one person capable of completely destroying the life she and Peony had built for themselves. Kai was her enemy.

Why was this so devastating?

He seemed to notice her change.

"Have you some association with the police? You look as if you've been caught." He let out a deep, rumbling laugh at his own "joke."