Iko beamed. “That, we have. Plus, we’re in a mansion. They have tons of technology here. We just need to find you the parts and tools and you can talk me through fixing you. Right?”
Cinder pursed her lips. There were dark circles beneath her eyes and an unhealthy pallor to her skin. Cress had never seen her so worn down.
Iko c.o.c.ked her head. She must have noticed it too, because she spent a moment studying Cinder, then everyone in their group. “You all look awful. Maybe you should rest for a while. I can keep watch.”
They mulled over the idea for a minute, before Thorne said, “That’s actually not a bad idea.”
Iko shrugged. “Someone has to stay clearheaded in an emergency situation.” Frowning, she added, “Although I never thought it would have to be me.”
Thorne turned to Cinder. “You’ll think more clearly after a nap.”
She ignored him, staring at the counter. There was a dejected slump to her shoulders, a hollowness in her gaze.
“I don’t think a nap is going to fix this,” she said, lifting her cyborg hand. It hung limply from her wrist, a hole where one finger had been removed. “I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t fight like this, or start a revolution, or be a queen. I can’t do anything like this. I’m broken. I’m literally broken.”
Iko settled a hand on Cinder’s shoulder. “Yeah, but broken isn’t the same as unfixable.”
Fifty-Five
“This was a bad decision,” said Scarlet.
Winter peered over at her. There was discomfort in Scarlet’s face, a deep-etched line between her eyebrows.
Reaching over, Winter tugged at one of Scarlet’s curls. “You have not turned back yet.”
Scarlet batted her away. “Yeah, because I no longer have any idea where we are.” Scarlet glanced over her shoulder. “We’ve been wandering around these caves for hours.”
Winter followed her look, but the cave was so dim they couldn’t see very far before it disappeared into shadows lit only by the occasional glowing orb on the ceiling. Winter couldn’t tell how far she and Scarlet had come through the underground lava tubes in search of the wolf soldiers—in search of an army—and she still didn’t know how much farther they would have to go. Whenever she thought of turning back, though, she would imagine she heard a faint howl in the distance, compelling her to go on. Her dream of Ryu and Levana clung to her thoughts like sticky pollen, inciting her resolve again and again.
Levana believed she could control everyone on this moon. The people, the soldiers, Winter herself.
But she was wrong. Winter was sick of being manipulated, and she knew she couldn’t be the only one. She would find soldiers to fight for her and together they would rid themselves of her stepmother and her cruelty.
They rounded another bend. The dark, gritty walls never changed. The ceiling was jagged, but the ground was worn smooth from years of foot traffic. And marching. Did the soldiers march? Winter wasn’t sure. She had not paid much attention to her stepmother’s army. She wished she’d taken more of an interest in what Levana was doing with these boys-made-soldiers. What she had been planning all along.
Otherwise, the cave looked like it had since it had first been carved out by molten lava billions of years ago. Back then, Luna had been a place of heat and transformation. It was difficult to fathom now in these cold, barren caverns, left to exist in quiet darkness.
When Earthens had first built their colony, they had made temporary homes of the vast interconnected lava tubes while the domes were under construction, and afterward converted them into storage and shuttle rails.
Only recently had they been used for something violent and grotesque.
“Secret barracks for a secret army,” she whispered to herself.
“All right, time out.” Scarlet stopped and settled her hands on her hips. “Do you even know where we’re going?”
Winter tugged on a lock of her own hair this time, like a spring curled against her cheek. There was still a b.u.mp on her scalp where she’d hit her head, though the headache was mostly gone. “Many of the lava tubes that were not used for the shuttles were converted into underground training facilities. That is where the soldiers will be. At least, those who have not been sent to Earth.”
Scarlet blinked, slowly. “And how many lava tubes are there under Luna’s surface?”
Winter blinked, slowly, back. “I do not know. But did you know Luna started its life as a giant ball of magma, liquid and burning?”
Scarlet knotted her lips to one side. “How many wolf regiments are left on Luna?”
This time, Winter did not answer at all.
Exhaling, Scarlet rubbed at her brow. “I knew better. I knew better than to listen to you. Winter. We could be wandering down here for days and not see a single person. And even if we do find one of these regiments, or packs, or whatever they call themselves, they are most likely going to eat us. This is suicide!” She pointed back the direction they’d come. “We should be looking for allies, not enemies.”
“You go back then.” Winter continued down the endless tunnel.
Scarlet let out a bedraggled groan and stomped after her. “Thirty minutes,” she said. “We are going to walk for thirty more minutes and if we haven’t seen any evidence that we’re getting closer, then we are turning around and going back, and I am not taking no for an answer. I’ll club you over the head and drag you back if I have to.”