Specials

"Look at you," Shay said. "You're shaking. That's not very icy."

Tally looked down at her hands. Made fists to control them.

She kicked a hefty log onto the fire, scattering sparks. Watching as the flames wrapped around it, she opened her hands to the heat. Somehow, the freezing river had given her a chill that wouldn't leave, no matter how close she sat to the blaze.

She just needed to see Zane again, and this weird feeling in her bones would go away.

"Are you shivering because you saw David?"

"David?" Tally snorted. "What gave you that idea?"

"Don't be embarrassed, Tally-wa. No one can be icy all the time. Maybe you just need a cut." Shay drew her knife.

Tally wanted to, but she snorted and spat into the fire. Shay wasn't going to make her feel weak this way. "I handled David just fine…better than you did, I seem to remember."

Shay laughed and punched Tally on the shoulder playfully, except it actually hurt.

"Ouch, Boss," Tally said. Apparently, Shay was still unhappy about being beaten in hand-to-hand combat by a random the night before.

Shay looked down at her fist. "Sorry. Didn't mean that, really."

"Whatever. So are we even now? Can I go see Zane with you?"

Shay groaned. "Not while he's still a bubblehead, Tally-wa. It'll only freak you out. Why don't you go help look for Fausto instead?"

"You don't really think they'll find anything, do you?"

Shay shrugged, then flicked off her skinte

Later, the others were going to head out on their hoverboards and scan the wild. The Smokies couldn't remove Fausto's skinte

Tally snorted. "Doesn't mean you have to waste my time too."

"How many times do I have to explain this, Tally-wa? You're special now. You shouldn't be mooning over some bubblehead. You're a Cutter, Zane's not—it's as simple as that."

"If it's so simple, then why do I feel this way?"

Shay let out a groan. "Because, Tally, you're up to your usual trick: making things complicated."

Tally sighed and kicked at the fire, sending a stream of sparks into the air. She remembered a lot of times when she'd been contented—as a bubblehead, even as a Smokey But somehow her satisfaction never lasted very long. She always found herself changing, pushing against the limits, and ruining things for everyone around her.

"It's not always my fault," she said softly. "Things just get complicated, sometimes."

"Well, trust me on this one, Tally. Seeing Zane is going to make things really complicated. Just give him time to find his own way here. Aren't you happy with us?"

Tally nodded slowly—she was happy. Her special senses made the whole world icy, and every moment spent in this new body was better than a year of being pretty. But now that she knew Zane was healthy, his absence muddled everything. Suddenly, she felt unfinished and unreal.

"I'm happy, Shay-la. But remember when Zane and I escaped the city last time? And we left you behind? Well, I can't do that again."

Shay shook her head. "Sometimes you have to let people go, Tally-wa."

"So I should have let you go last night, Shay? Just let you drown?"

Shay groaned. "Great example, Tally. Look, this is for your own good. Believe me, you don't want this complication."

"Then let's make it simple, Shay-la." Tally put the tip of her thumb between her razor teeth and bit down. With a prick of pain, the iron taste of blood spread across her tongue, and her mind cleared a little.

"Once Zane is special, I'll stop. I'll never make things complicated again." She held out her hand. "I promise, blood for blood."

Shay stared at the little drop of blood. "You swear to that?"

"Yes. I'll be a good little Cutter and do whatever you and Dr. Cable tell me. Just give me Zane."

Shay paused for a moment, then flicked her own thumb across her knife, watching thoughtfully as the blood welled up. "All I ever wanted was for us to be on the same side, Tally."

"Me too. I just want Zane here with us."

"Anything to make you happy." Shay smiled and took Tally's hand, squeezing their thumbs together…hard. "Blood for blood."

As the pain pushed through her, Tally felt her mind grow icy for the first time all day. She could see her future now, a clear path with no more reversals or confusions. She'd fought being ugly and she'd fought being pretty, but that was all over—she just wanted to be special from now on.

"Thank you, Shay-la," Tally said softly. "I'll keep this promise."

Shay released her, cleaning the knife with a few quick swipes across her thigh. "I'll make sure that you do."

Tally swallowed, then licked her still-throbbing thumb. "So can I come with you tonight, Boss? Please?"

"I suppose you have to now," Shay said, smiling sadly. "But you might not like what you see."

New Pretty Town

After the others headed into the wild, Shay and Tally banked the bonfire, jumped on their boards, and flew toward the city.

New Pretty Town was lit with colorful explosions in the sky, just like every other night. Tethered hot-air balloons floated above the party spires, and gas torches lit the pleasure gardens, like bright snakes ascending the island's sloping sides. The tallest buildings cast jittering shadows in the fireworks' momentary light, reshaping the city's silhouette with every burst.

As they approached New Pretty Town, the ragged cheers of drunken bubbleheads scattered down to meet them. For a moment, the joyous sound made Tally feel like an envious ugly watching from across the river, waiting to turn sixteen. This was her first trip back to New Pretty Town since becoming a Special.

"Do you ever miss pretty days, Shay-la?" she said. They'd only spent a couple of months together in bubblehead paradise before everything had gotten complicated. "It was kind of fun."

"It was bogus," Shay said. "I'd rather have a brain."

Tally sighed. She couldn't disagree—but having a brain hurt so much sometimes. She licked her thumb, where a red spot still marked her promise.

Climbing the island's slope through a pleasure garden, the two of them kept to the shadows, heading for the center of town. They glided right above a few entangled couples, but no one spotted them overhead.

"Told you we didn't need to switch on our sneak suits, Tally-wa." Shay chuckled softly, letting the skinte

Tally didn't answer, just looked down at the new pretties passing below. They looked so clueless, so completely unaware of all the dangers they had to be protected from. Their lives might be full of pleasure, but they seemed so meaningless to her now. She couldn't let Zane live like this.

Suddenly, laughter and screams came through the trees, approaching fast … at hoverboard speed. Flicking her sneak suit on, Tally angled into the thick pine needles of the nearest treetops. A line of boarders came slaloming through the garden, laughing like hysterical demons. She crouched lower, feeling her suit sprout dappled camouflage and wondering how so many uglies had snuck over to New Pretty Town all at once. Not a bad trick…