them. Croy."
"He was from the Smoke, wasn't he, Tally?"
She nodded, feeling stupid wearing the Smokey sweater with dirt and blood all over it. It was all Valentino Mansion's fault for switching the dress code: There was nothing more bogus than still being in a costume after you'd left a party.
"Do you know what he wanted, Tally? Why he was here?"
She looked at Peris for help. He was hanging on every word, his luminous eyes bugging wide. It made her feel important.
She shrugged. "Just ugly tricks, that's all. Showing off in front of his friends, probably." Which sounded bogus. Croy didn't live in Uglyville, after all. He was a Smokey from out in the wild between cities. The two with him might have been city kids just tricking, but Croy had definitely had a plan.
But the wardens only smiled and nodded, believing her. "Don't worry, it won't happen again.
We'll be keeping an eye on you to make sure it doesn't."
She smiled back at them, and they took her home.
When Tally made it to her room, there was a ping from Peris, who'd gone back to the party.
"Guess what?" he yelled. Crowd sounds and music bled in around the words, making Tally wish she'd gone back to the bash, even with sprayed-on skin all over her forehead.
She frowned and flopped onto her bed as the message continued: "When I got back, the Crims had already voted! They thought it was totally bubbly that real-life Specials were at the party, and our dive off the tower got six hundred milli-Helens from Zane! You are so Crim! See you tomorrow. Oh yeah, and don't get that scar erased until everyone's seen it. Best friends forever!"
As the message ended, Tally felt the bed spin a little. She closed her eyes and let out a long, slow sigh of relief. Finally, she was a full-fledged Crim. Everything she'd ever wanted had come to her at last.
She was beautiful, and she lived in New Pretty Town with Peris and Shay and tons of new friends. All the disasters and terrors of the last year— running away to the Smoke, living there in pre-Rusty squalor, traveling back to the city through the wilds— somehow all of it had worked out.
It was so wonderful, and Tally was so exhausted, that belief took a while to settle over her. She replayed Peris's message a few times, then pulled off the smelly Smokey sweater with shaking hands and threw it into the corner. Tomorrow, she would make the hole in the wall recycle it.
Tally lay back and stared at the ceiling for a while. A ping from Shay came, but she ignored it, setting her interface ring to sleep time. With everything so perfect, reality seemed somehow fragile, as if the slightest interruption could imperil her pretty future. The bed beneath her, Komachi Mansion, and even the city around her—all of it felt as tenuous as a soap bubble, shivering and empty.
It was probably just the knock to her head causing the weird missingness that underlay her joy.
She only needed a good night's sleep—and hopefully no hangover tomorrow—and everything would feel solid again, as perfect as it really was.
Tally fell asleep a few minutes later, happy to be a Crim at last.
But her dreams were totally bogus.
ZANE
So, there was this beautiful princess.
She was locked in a high tower, one with stone walls and cold, empty rooms that couldn't talk.
There was no elevator or even fire stairs, so Tally wondered how the princess had gotten up there.
But there she was, at the top. No bungee jacket and fast asleep.
The tower was guarded by a dragon. It had jeweled eyes and hungry, cruel features, and moved with a brutal suddenness that made Tally's stomach churn. Even dreaming, she recognized exactly what the dragon was. It was a cruel pretty, an agent of Special Circumstances, or maybe a bunch of them all rolled up into one gray and silk-scaled serpent.
And you couldn't have this dream without a prince.
He made it past the dragon, not so much slaying as creeping, finding chinks in the ancient stone wall to slip his fingers into, because
"He was from the Smoke, wasn't he, Tally?"
She nodded, feeling stupid wearing the Smokey sweater with dirt and blood all over it. It was all Valentino Mansion's fault for switching the dress code: There was nothing more bogus than still being in a costume after you'd left a party.
"Do you know what he wanted, Tally? Why he was here?"
She looked at Peris for help. He was hanging on every word, his luminous eyes bugging wide. It made her feel important.
She shrugged. "Just ugly tricks, that's all. Showing off in front of his friends, probably." Which sounded bogus. Croy didn't live in Uglyville, after all. He was a Smokey from out in the wild between cities. The two with him might have been city kids just tricking, but Croy had definitely had a plan.
But the wardens only smiled and nodded, believing her. "Don't worry, it won't happen again.
We'll be keeping an eye on you to make sure it doesn't."
She smiled back at them, and they took her home.
When Tally made it to her room, there was a ping from Peris, who'd gone back to the party.
"Guess what?" he yelled. Crowd sounds and music bled in around the words, making Tally wish she'd gone back to the bash, even with sprayed-on skin all over her forehead.
She frowned and flopped onto her bed as the message continued: "When I got back, the Crims had already voted! They thought it was totally bubbly that real-life Specials were at the party, and our dive off the tower got six hundred milli-Helens from Zane! You are so Crim! See you tomorrow. Oh yeah, and don't get that scar erased until everyone's seen it. Best friends forever!"
As the message ended, Tally felt the bed spin a little. She closed her eyes and let out a long, slow sigh of relief. Finally, she was a full-fledged Crim. Everything she'd ever wanted had come to her at last.
She was beautiful, and she lived in New Pretty Town with Peris and Shay and tons of new friends. All the disasters and terrors of the last year— running away to the Smoke, living there in pre-Rusty squalor, traveling back to the city through the wilds— somehow all of it had worked out.
It was so wonderful, and Tally was so exhausted, that belief took a while to settle over her. She replayed Peris's message a few times, then pulled off the smelly Smokey sweater with shaking hands and threw it into the corner. Tomorrow, she would make the hole in the wall recycle it.
Tally lay back and stared at the ceiling for a while. A ping from Shay came, but she ignored it, setting her interface ring to sleep time. With everything so perfect, reality seemed somehow fragile, as if the slightest interruption could imperil her pretty future. The bed beneath her, Komachi Mansion, and even the city around her—all of it felt as tenuous as a soap bubble, shivering and empty.
It was probably just the knock to her head causing the weird missingness that underlay her joy.
She only needed a good night's sleep—and hopefully no hangover tomorrow—and everything would feel solid again, as perfect as it really was.
Tally fell asleep a few minutes later, happy to be a Crim at last.
But her dreams were totally bogus.
ZANE
So, there was this beautiful princess.
She was locked in a high tower, one with stone walls and cold, empty rooms that couldn't talk.
There was no elevator or even fire stairs, so Tally wondered how the princess had gotten up there.
But there she was, at the top. No bungee jacket and fast asleep.
The tower was guarded by a dragon. It had jeweled eyes and hungry, cruel features, and moved with a brutal suddenness that made Tally's stomach churn. Even dreaming, she recognized exactly what the dragon was. It was a cruel pretty, an agent of Special Circumstances, or maybe a bunch of them all rolled up into one gray and silk-scaled serpent.
And you couldn't have this dream without a prince.
He made it past the dragon, not so much slaying as creeping, finding chinks in the ancient stone wall to slip his fingers into, because
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