“You have no idea how to dance, do you?” Cinder fixed her gaze on him, mind still reeling. “I’m a mechanic.”

“Cinder twisted up her lips. "Do you think it could have a virus?""Maybe her programming was overwhelmed by Prince Kai's uncanny hotness.”

“Hey, I liked my idea of bringer her along, but you already vetoed that idea, so now I'm resorting to Plan B, which is to interrogate her. And I am really looking forward to it. I used to play a game called interrogation with one of my old girlfriends where we-""That's enough." Cinder raised her hand, silencing him.”

“Oh, my stars! Think about Prince Kai! You could dance with Prince Kai!”This made Cinder pause and squint into Iko’s blinding light. “Why would the prince dance with me?”Iko’s fan hummed as she sought an answer. “Because you won’t have grease on your face this time.”

“...but I’m trying to be inconspicuous.”Cinder considered telling him it wasn't working but thought better of it. The lack of a throng of screaming girls surrounding her booth was probably evidence that it was working better than she suspected. Instead of looking like a royal heartthrob, he just looked crazy.”

“Thorne blinked at her, then down at the sewage he could barely make out in the darkness. "Don't you have some tool in that fancy hand of yours that can get us across?"Cinder glared, light-headed from her body's instinctively short breaths. "Oh, wow, how could I have forgotten about my grappling hook?”

“When Kai fell silent, she risked a glance at him. He was staring at her hands [which she always holds mechanic gloves over to hide her...you know, cyborg hands]..."Do you ever take those off?" he asked."No."Kai tilted his head, peering at her as if he could see right through to the metal plate in her head..."I think you should go to the ball with me."She clutched her fingers..."Stars," she muttered. "Didn't you already asked me that?""I'm hoping for a more favorable answer this time and I seem to be getting more desperate by the minute.""How charming."Kai's lips twitched. "Please?""Why?""Why not?""I mean, why me?"Kai hooked his thumbs on his pockets. "So if my escape hover breaks down, I'll have someone to fix it?”