Shay would always wonder how Tally became a part of Special Circumstances. True, she'd been fast to put cutting behind her, becoming icy without any pain-making help, but she was not special. She hadn't even wanted to be part of Special Circumstances.

The hoverboard's lifting fans screamed with power as Shay sped through the woods, following the tracker's signal to the next location. The tracker was slow, its technology not icy or even bubbly. It didn't even have a timer. It gave the coordinates of the next location the second you reached the one ahead of it. The very second, which made the process of boarding fast work.

Shay had left Tally behind in a fit of anger and now she regretted it. Tally would be lonely without her, more careless around the Pretties because she had to be around someone to function properly. Tally needed people in a way Shay didn't. Right now, she needed Zane. Before, way before the Smoke and David, and everything, Shay had thought Tally might need her. But first it had been Peris, then David, David who Shay had been dating, who Shay had loved, and who Tally had stolen. She'd been spying and she'd done it wrong. David had been Shay's and Tally had stolen him!

"You're sure you're not upset because she didn't choose you?"

"Fausto?"

Shay jumped, her crash bracelets yanking her back down to her board with a painful tug. Her specialness kept her from decimating the nearest tree by slamming through it. She felt a pang of guilt at the sharp beauty she could have destroyed.

She switched her focus back to the cause of the almost disaster. She had heard Fausto over her skintenna, loud and clear. Shay pinched herself hard, tearing skin with her diamond hard nails, causing her arm to bleed heavily. The pain built and built until it burst into a white haze, throwing her into icy awareness. Her skintenna's range was better than any of the other Cutter's, a special adaptation of Dr. Cable's, but Fausto's wasn't.

"Fausto? Fausto!" she hissed, the harsh whisper carrying clearly through the chip in her chin. Shay fished in her belt for the medspray. She applied it, the blood trailing down her arm coagulating and dispersing in a fine mist.

"Boss."

"Fausto, where are you? Where's the New Smoke?"

There was a pause. Shay concentrated on her skintenna, slowing her hoverboard. She feared the signal had been lost. Could the New Smokies have developed dampers strong enough to impair a Cutter's skintenna range?

"Boss, the New Smoke…it's bigger than we ever expected."

"So we call Dr. Cable. What of it?"

"Shay-la, there's something you need to know. The New Smoke…"

"Yes? The New Smoke what?"

"The New Smoke," Shay heard Fausto swallow hard. "It's a city."

Shay frowned. She pulled her cutting knife out and made a quick, deep slice. She closed her eyes and breathed in, waiting for the pain to reach its summit. Iciness came over her.

Of course. The sneak suits hadn't been stolen. The New Smoke had given them to David and the other Smokies.

Shay was glad Tally had stayed behind to follow Zane and the Pretties. Shay needed a plan, a good one. It would have to be brutal, more than Tally-wa could handle. Shay needed to be icy, without distractions.

Especially romantic ones.