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She suys You can get out now Thanks for all your help, and remember not to mention this to anyone for at least an hour"

They nodded and ju a fewi-faced balloon The Cri down not far away; they would be headed up soon The ue balloons, the better If they all left their interface rings in the gondolas when they juht

"We’re all set," Zane said softly "Let’s go"

Tally’s eyes swept the horizon - taking in Garbo Mansion, the party spires, the lights of New Pretty Town - the world she had looked forward to her whole ugly life She wondered if she would ever see the city again

Of course, Tally had to return, if Shay still hadn’t gotten the word Her cutting was really just a struggle to be cured There was no way Tally could leave her behind for good, whether Shay hated her or not

"Okay, let’s go," she said, then whispered, "Sorry, Shay I’ll come back for you"

She reached up and pulled the ascent chain The burner burst into a full-throated roar, blistering heat washing over thean to rise

"Whoa!" Peris cried "We are out of here!"

Fausto let out a whoop and pulled the release cord, the gondola bucking as the tether’s weight fell away

Tally locked eyes with Zane They were rising fast now, passing the top of the party spire, a dozen pretties on its balcony drunkenly hailing the," Zane said softly "Finally"

She grinned There would be no backing out for Zane this time She wouldn’t let hi higher than any building in New Pretty Town Tally could see the silver band of river all around thehts of the burbs in every direction Soon they would be high enough to gli the burner They didn’t want to get too high The balloons weren’t fast enough to escape the wardens’ hovercars; they would need their boards for that Soon, they would have to ju until their hoverboards could pick up the city’swith a bungee jacket, but not too dangerous, she hoped Looking down, Tally shook her head and sighed Sometireater heights

Tally could see that the as carrying theh, strangely, the air felt motionless around the with the air currents, as if she were perfectly still, and the world sliding along beneath her

The Rusty Ruins were slipping away behind them, but there were lots of rivers around the city, their beds filled with mineral deposits that could support a hoverboard The Cri out in lots of directions - everyone kne to get back to the ruins no matter where the wind took theloves to the gondola’s floor War burner, so she didn’t feel too cold She pulled on her heat-resistant gloves, sliding the left one underneath the interface cuff, pulling it up past her elbow and al ready

Now to bring their cuffs within reach of the flaondola by a fraiant htly to the burner fralanced down at the city passing below, hoping the balloon wasn’t going to start rocking in sonal"

He nodded and lit his Roreen and purple flares

Tally watched the signal repeated by nearby Crims, and then spread across the island in a series of colored plumes They were coet these things off"

BURNER

The four nozzles of the burner were barely aheat into the cold night air Tally reached out and tapped one gingerly The wo the truth Tally could feel the burner’s ridges through the heat-resistant fabric, her fingertips sensing a few stray buether But she had no sense of te The feeling was uncanny, as if her hand were immersed in body-temperature water

She looked across at Zane, who had pulled his really work, Zane I can’t feel a thing"

He looked at his own gloved left hand, unconvinced "Two thousand degrees, you said?"

"That’s right" As long as you believed every statistic tossed off by a ht "I’ll go first," she offered

"No way We’ll do it together"

"Don’t be dramatic" Tally looked down at Fausto, whose face was as pale as when Zane’s hand had been in the crusher "Give the burner cord a little tug, as short as you can, on ?"

Tally realized that no one had brought Peris up to speed on the plan He stared at her with a look of total confusion Well, there wasn’t tiloves on," she said, and placed her left hand on the burner

"Gloves?" Peris said

"Yeahspecial gloves Hit it, Fausto!" Tally cried

A wave of heat struck, the pure blue flaht Tally slammed her eyes shut, the inferno like a desert wind on the skin of her face She ducked her head below the burner frame, and heard the cry of horrified surprise that escaped from Peris’s lips

A half-second later, the burner stopped

Tally opened her eyes, yellow afteriers flexing in front of her, still whole

"My hand didn’t feel a thing!" she shouted She blinked away the dancing yellow spots, and saw that thea bit It didn’t look any bigger, though

"What are you doing?" Peris shouted Fausto shushed hi his hand out over the burner "Let’s do it fast Theyby now"