1269_UgliesFreeBook

394 Scott Westerfeld
Rebuild the Smoke? Seven of them? With Shay as their
honorary pretty? Tally realized that they hadn’t made plans
beyond tonight. The future hadn’t seemed real until now.
Of course, they still might all be caught.
“You think it’s true?” Shay shouted. “What Maddy said?”
Tally dared a glance back at Shay. Her pretty face looked
worried.
“I mean, Az was fine when I visited a few days ago,”
Shay said. “I thought they were going to make him pretty.
Not kill him.”
“I don’t know.” It was hardly something Maddy would
lie about. But maybe she was mistaken.
Tally leaned forward, skimming the river low and fast,
trying to leave the cold feeling in her stomach behind.
Spray struck their faces as they hit the white water. Shay
had started to ride properly, leaning with the slow arcs of
the river’s bends. “Hey, I remember this!” she shouted.
“Do you remember anything else from before your
operation?” Tally yelled over the roar of water.
Shay ducked behind Tally as they struck a wall of spray.
“Of course, silly.”
“You hated me. Because I stole David from you. Because
I betrayed the Smoke. Remember?”
Shay was silent for a moment, only the roar of white
water and the rushing wind around them. Finally, she
leaned closer, her voice thoughtful in Tally’s ear. “Yeah, I
know what you mean. But that was all ugly stuff. Crazy love