Part 26 (1/2)
A strange thought crossed her mind, and Tally said, ”I'd hate it if you got the operation.” She couldn't believe she was saying it. ”Even if they didn't do your brain, I mean.”
”Gee, thanks.” His smile shone in the darkness.
”I don't want you to look like everyone else.”
”I thought that was the point of being pretty.”
”I did too.” She touched his eyebrow where the line of white cut through it. ”So how'd you get that scar?”
”An adventure. A good story. I'll tell you sometime.”
”You promise?”
”I promise.”
”Good.” She leaned forward, her weight pressing into him, and as her feet gradually slipped down the stone, their lips met. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer. His body was warm in the predawn cold, and formed something solid and certain in Tally's shaken reality. She held on tightly, amazed at how intense the kiss became.
A moment later, she pulled away to take a breath, thinking for just a second how odd this was. Uglies did kiss each other, and a lot more, but it always felt as if nothing counted until you were a pretty.
But this counted.
She pulled David toward her again, her fingers digging into the leather of his jacket. The cold, her aching muscles, the awful thing she had just learned, all of it just made this feeling stronger.
Then one of his hands touched the back of her neck, traced the slender chain there, down to the cold, hard metal of the pendant.
She stiffened, and their lips parted.
”What about this?” he said.
She enclosed the metal heart in her fist, her other arm still wrapped around him. There was no way she could tell David about Dr. Cable now. He would pull away, maybe forever. The pendant was still between them.
Suddenly, Tally knew what to do. It was perfect. ”Come with me.”
”Where?”
”To the Smoke. I have to show you something.”
She pulled him up the slope, scrambling until they reached the top of ridge.
”Are you okay?” he asked, panting. ”I didn't mean to-”
”I'm great.” She smiled broadly at him, then peered down on the Smoke. A single campfire burned near the center of town, where the night-watch gathered to warm up every hour or so. ”Come on.”
Suddenly, it seemed important to get there fast, before her certainty faded, before the warm feeling inside her could give way to doubt. She scrambled down between the painted stones of the hoverboard path, David struggling to keep up. When her feet reached level ground, she ran, heedless of the dark and silent huts on either side, seeing only the firelight ahead. Her speed was effortless, like hoverboarding on an open straightaway.
Tally ran until she reached the fire, skidding to a halt against its cus.h.i.+on of heat and smoke. She reached up to unclasp the pendant's chain.
”Tally?” David ran up panting, confusion on his face. He tried breathlessly to say more.
”No,” she said. ”Just watch.”
The pendant swung by its chain in her fist, sparkling red in the firelight. Tally focused all her doubts on it, all her fear of discovery, her terror at Dr. Cable's threats. She clutched the pendant, squeezing the unyielding metal until her muscles ached, as if forcing into her own mind the almost unthinkable fact that she might really remain an ugly for life. But somehow not ugly at all.
She opened her hand and threw the necklace into the center of the fire.
It landed on a crackling log, the metal heart burning black for a moment, then gradually turning yellow and white in the heat. Finally, a smallpop came from it, as if something trapped inside had exploded, and it slid from the log and disappeared among the flames.
She turned to David, her vision spotted with sinuous shapes from staring into the fire. He coughed at the smoke. ”Wow. That was dramatic.”
Tally suddenly felt foolish. ”Yeah, I guess so.”
He moved closer. ”You really meant that. Whoever gave it to you-”
”Doesn't matter anymore.”
”What if they come?”
”No one's coming. I'm sure of it.”
David smiled and gathered Tally into a hug, pulling her away from the edge of the fire. ”Well, Tally Youngblood, you certainly know how to make a point. You know, I would have believed you if you just told me-”
”No, I had to do it like this. I had to burn it. To know for sure.”
He kissed her forehead and laughed. ”You're beautiful.”
”When you say that, I almost...,” she whispered.
Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion struck Tally, as if her last bit of energy had gone into the fire with the pendant. She was tired from the wild run here, from the long night with Maddy and Az, from a hard day's work. And tomorrow she would have to face Shay again, and explain what had happened between her and David. Of course, the moment Shay saw that the pendant was gone from around Tally's neck, she would know.
But at least she'd never know the real truth. The pendant was charred beyond recognition, its true purpose hidden forever. Tally slumped into David's arms, closing her eyes. The image of the glowing heart was burned into her vision.
She was free. Dr. Cable would never come here now, and no one could ever take her away from David or the Smoke, or do to Tally's brain whatever the operation did to pretties'. She was no longer an infiltrator. She finally belonged here.
Tally found herself crying.
David silently walked her to the bunkhouse. At the door, he leaned forward to kiss her, but she pulled away and shook her head. Shay was just inside. Tally would have to talk to her tomorrow. It wouldn't be easy, but Tally knew she could face anything now.
David nodded, kissed his finger, and traced one of the remaining scratches on her cheek. ”See you tomorrow,” he whispered.
”Where are you going?”
”For a walk. I need to think.”
”Don't you ever sleep?”