Lines drawn into his face suggested he had spent many years thinking very hard over very difficult problems.

Did you know that she was cyborg?” asked a woman in an unhidden tone of disgust. Kai stared at her, appearing confused, then let his gaze dance over the crowd. He shuffled his feet closer to the podium, a wrinkle forming on the bridge of his nose. Cinder bit the inside of her cheek and braced herself for adamant disgust. Who would ever invite a cyborg to the ball? But instead, Kai said simply, “I don’t see that her being cyborg is relevant. Next question?” Cinder’s metal fingers jolted.

I knew they would kill me when they found out, but…” He struggled for words, releasing a sharp breath. “I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you.

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

No. She will never be queen.” She swayed toward him, and he felt like he was being encircled by a python, smothered and choked.

I have a glitch, too. Sometimes I forget that I’m not human. I don’t think that happens to most androids.

Sybil tells me your little festival is an annual occurrence," she said, the cadence of her voice swooning like a lullaby. "Yes," Kai said, lifting a shrimp wonton between his chopsticks. "It falls on the ninth full moon if each year." "Ah, how lovely for you to base your holidays on the cycles of my planet." Kai wanted to scoff at the word planet but sucked it back down his throat.