She took a breath of the cold air. He didn't look any better. 'Zane …'
'Listen, I'll be fine. And no matter what happens, I'm glad we took the pills.'
Tally took a deep breath to steady herself. 'What do you mean, 'no matter what happens?'
'I don't mean tonight. Just whenever. You know.'
Tally looked into his gold-flecked eyes, and saw in them the pain he was silently carrying. Whatever was happening to Zane, staying bubbly wasn't worth losing him. She shook her head. 'No, I don't know.'
He sighed. 'I guess that was a stupid way to put it. I'm fine.'
'I'm worried about you.'
'Just go back to the party.'
Tally sighed softly. There was no point in arguing. She held up one arm, indicating the scarf wrapped around her wrist. 'Okay. But if you feel worse, ping me.'
He smiled bitterly. 'At least those things are good for something.'
She kissed him softly, then watched him trudge up to the door of the mansion and inside.
On the lonely trip back down to the party, the air seemed to grow colder. Tally almost wished she could be pretty-minded again, just for one night, instead of having to keep watch on the Crims. From the very first kiss, being with Zane had made things complicated.
She sighed. Maybe that was the way it always worked.
Zane would never go to a doctor, Tally knew. If his headaches turned into something worse, could she make him go? Of course, Zane was right: Any doctor who could fix his problem could probably figure out what had caused it, and that was someone who could make Zane pretty-minded again.
If only Croy hadn't disappeared. Tally wondered how long it would take for the New Smokies to get in touch with them now. After the breakthrough, they had to realize the cure had worked. Even if wherever they were hiding didn't have newsfeeds, every ugly in the world would be chattering about the rink collapse, talking about Tally Youngblood looking innocent on their wallscreens.
Of course, she and Zane still had to escape the city. Tally had no idea how to get the cuffs off. As they grew thinner, it seemed like the rings of steel were closer to coming off, but how long was it going to take? Tally didn't much like being in a race between her own starvation and Zane's brain melting.
And when they escaped, she didn't want to go without the other Crims. Peris and Shay, at least. The Crims were so bubbly tonight, they'd probably all jump on hoverboards and head out if she said the word. But how bubbly would they be tomorrow?
Suddenly, Tally felt exhausted. There were too many things to juggle. Too many worries all falling on her alone. All she'd wanted was to become a Crim, to feel safe inside a clique of friends, and now she'd found herself in charge of a rebellion.
'Your friend have too much champagne?'
Tally froze. The words had come out of the darkness, cutting her ears like fingernails scraping metal.
'Hello?'
A figure emerged from the shadows in a hooded winter coat, moving with total silence through the fallen leaves. The woman stood in a shaft of moonlight, ten centimeters taller than Tally, taller even than Zane. She had to be a Special.
Tally forced herself to relax, trying to conquer her nerves and make her face melt into the soft expression of a brand-new pretty. 'Shay? Is that you being all scary-making?' she said angrily The figure took another step forward into the light of a walkway torch. 'No, Tally. It's me.' The woman pulled off her hood.
It was Dr. Cable.
'Do I know you?'
Dr. Cable smiled coldly. 'I'm sure you remember me, Tally.'
Tally took a step back, letting some of her fear show; even the most innocent new pretty would be frightened by the sight of Dr. Cable. Her cruel features, exaggerated by the moonlight, made her look like a beautiful woman half transformed into a werewolf.
Memories flooded into Tally's mind. Being trapped in Dr. Cable's office that awful first time they'd met, learning of the existence of Special Circumstances, and then again when she had agreed to find and betray Shay, the price for becoming pretty. Then, in the Smoke, after Cable had followed Tally with an army of Specials to burn her new home to the ground.
'Yeah,' Tally said. 'I think I remember. I used to know you, right?'
'Indeed, you did.' Cable's sharp teeth glowed in the moonlight. 'But what's more important, Tally, is that I know you.'
Tally managed a vacant smile. Dr. Cable no doubt remembered their last meeting — Tally and David's rescue of the Smokies — when it had been necessary to crack her on the head.
Dr. Cable gestured at the black scarf that bound Tally's cuff tightly under her glove and winter coat. 'Interesting way to wear a scarf.'
'What, are you fashion-missing? Everybody does this.'
'But I imagine you started the trend. You always were tricky.'
Tally beamed prettily. 'I guess. I used to play all kinds of tricks back when I was ugly.'
'Nothing like today, though.'
'Oh, you saw the feeds? Wasn't that totally bogus? The ice just falling out from under us like that!'
'Yes…just like that.' Dr. Cable's eyes narrowed. 'I must admit, at first you had me fooled. That floating rink was a typical architectural folly designed to amuse new pretties. An accident waiting to happen. But then 1 thought about the timing — the stadium full, a hundred cameras ready.'
Tally blinked, shrugged. 'I bet it was those fireworks. You could feel them right through the ice. Who's missing idea was that?'
Dr. Cable nodded slowly. 'An almost believable accident. And then I saw your face on the newsfeeds, Tally. All wide-eyed and innocent and telling your bubbly little tale.' Cable's upper lip curled into something that was not a smile. 'And I realized that you were still playing tricks.'
Tally felt something punch into her stomach, something from ugly days: the old feeling of being caught. She tried to turn her fear into a look of surprise. 'Me?'
'That's right, Tally: you. Somehow.'
Under Dr. Cable's gaze, Tally imagined herself being hauled into the depths of Special Circumstances, the cure reversed, her memories erased again. Or maybe this time they wouldn't bother returning her to New Pretty Town at all. She tried to swallow, but her mouth felt full of cotton. 'Yeah, right. Like everything's my fault,' she managed.
Dr. Cable stepped closer, and Tally fought to hold her ground, though her whole body screamed run. The woman gazed at her coldly, as if peering at a specimen cut open on a table. 'I certainly hope that it was your fault.'
Tally frowned. 'You hope what?'
'Let's speak frankly, Tally Youngblood. I've had enough of your pretty act. I'm not here to take you away to my dungeon.'
'You're not?'
'Do you really think I care if you break things in New Pretty Town?'
'Um…kind of?'
Dr. Cable snorted. 'Maintenance is not my department. Special Circumstances is only interested in outside threats. The city can take care of itself, Tally. There are so many safety backups, it's hardly worth worrying about. Why do you think skaters on that rink had to wear bungee jackets?'
Tally blinked. It hadn't crossed her mind to wonder about the jackets; everything was always ultra-safe in New Pretty Town, otherwise new pretties would kill themselves left and right. She shrugged. 'In case the lifters failed? Like in a power blackout?'
Cable let out a razor-sharp laugh that lasted less than a second. 'There hasn't been a blackout in a hundred and fifty years.' She shook her head at the thought and continued. 'Knock down anything you want, Tally. I don't care about your little tricks…except for what they reveal about you.'
The woman's gaze focused on her once more, and Tally again had to fight the urge to run. She wondered if
