Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)

by Marissa Meyer

He was the fantasy of every girl in the country. He was so far out of her realm, her world, that she should have stopped thinking about him the second the door had closed. Should stop thinking about him immediately. Should never think about him again, except maybe as a client—and her prince. And yet, the memory of his fingers against her skin refused to fade.

“Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.”

“I was imagining going to the ball and dancing with the prince.” Cinder rubbed her jaw with one hand and mindlessly tapped the table with the other. “Funny. I’ve found myself imagining that exact thing lately.” “I knew you liked him. You pretend to be immune to his charms, but I could see the way you looked at him at the market.” Iko rubbed at the lipstick, smearing it across her blank white chin. “Yeah, well.” Cinder pinched her metal fingers with the pliers’ nose. “We all have our weaknesses.” “I know,” said Iko. “Mine is shoes.”

Iko was not a normal servant android, but she did retain one prominent trait—uselessness was the worst emotion they knew.

“Maybe her programming was overwhelmed by Prince Kai’s uncanny hotness.” Cinder flinched. “Can we please not talk about the prince?” “I don’t think that will be possible. You’re working on his android, after all. Just think about the things she knows, the things she’s seen and—” Iko’s voice sputtered. “Do you think she’s seen him in the nude?” “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Cinder yanked off her gloves and tossed them onto the table. “You’re not helping.” “I’m just making conversation.” “Well stop.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Cinder pushed her chair back from the worktable and swung both legs up to rest on top of it.

I love Iko!

The queen’s eyes smoldered. “I know my own when I see them, and right now there is one in these city walls.” She pointed a finger toward the balcony. “I want her found and brought to me.” “Right,” said Kai, “that’ll be no problem in a city of two and a half million people. Let me just go dig out my special Lunar detector, and I’ll get right on that.” Levana tilted her head back so she could peer down her nose at Kai, even though he was taller than she was. “You do not wish to try my patience with your sarcasm, young prince.” He flexed his jaw.

Levana narrowed her eyes at Kai. “Do you intend to always let your adviser make your decisions for you?” “No,” said Kai, allowing a cold smile. “Eventually, I’ll have an empress for that.” Queen Levana’s gaze softened, and Kai barely bit back his next words. And it won’t be you

I LOVE PRINCE KAI

“You have much to learn about politics. I think you will soon discover that it is all about give and take, my dear handsome prince.”

His head pounded. He despised her—for everything she was, for everything she’d done, for how she’d turned Earth’s suffering into a game of politics. But she was wrong if she expected him to become her puppet. He would defy her for as long as he could, in any way that he could.

“Listen,” she said. “I’m sorry. I really am. But I can’t go to the ball with you. You just have to trust me on that.” He gazed down at the gloved hand splayed across his chest. Cinder pulled away, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why? Why don’t you want to go with me?” She huffed. “It’s not that I don’t want to go with you, it’s that I’m not going at all.” “So you do want to go with me.” Cinder locked her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. Because I can’t.” “But I need you.” “Need me?” “Yes. Don’t you see? If I’m spending all my time with you, then Queen Levana can’t rope me in to any conversations or…” He shuddered. “Dancing.” Cinder reeled back, her gaze losing focus. Queen Levana. Of course this was about Queen Levana. What had Peony told her, ages ago? Rumors of a marriage alliance? “Not that I have anything against dancing. I can dance. If you want to dance.” She squinted at him. “What?” “Or not, if you don’t want to. Or if you don’t know how. Which is nothing to be ashamed of.” She started to rub her forehead, a headache developing, but stopped when she realized her gloves were filthy. “I really, really can’t go,” she said.

He raised his eyes to the ceiling. “I shouldn’t be telling you all this, anyway. It isn’t your problem to worry about. It’s just…you’re easy to talk to.” She shuffled her feet. “It is kind of my problem. I mean, we all have to live here.” “You could move to Europe.” “You know, I’ve actually been considering that lately.”

I hope you noticed that I am capable of choosing my battles.” Her lips curved, her beauty returning full force. “If that’s what it takes to win the war.”

But if there was one thing she knew from years as a mechanic, it was that some stains never came out.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was storming after Kai. She grabbed his elbow and spun him back around to face her. Without hesitating, Cinder wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Kai froze, his body as tense as an android’s against her, but his lips were soft and warm. Though Cinder had intended for it to be a short kiss, she found herself lingering. Hot tingles coursed through her body, surprising and scary but not unpleasant, surging like electricity through her wires. This time, they did not overwhelm her. This time, they did not threaten to burn her from the inside out. The desperation melted and, for the briefest of moments, the ulterior motives were gone. She found herself kissing him for no other reason than she wanted to. She wanted him to know that she wanted to. She didn’t realize how badly she wanted Kai to kiss her back until it became quite clear that he wouldn’t. Cinder pried herself away. Her hands lingered on his shoulders, still shaking from the raw energy inside her.

Soon, the whole world would be searching for her—Linh Cinder. A deformed cyborg with a missing foot. A Lunar with a stolen identity. A mechanic with no one to run to, nowhere to go. But they would be looking for a ghost.