Page 100 of The Towering Sky
They retreated toward the farthest edge of the party, where a pair of Chiavari chairs were tucked behind a towering display of flowers. Neither of them sat down.
“What’s going on?” Leda demanded shakily.
Watt took a deep breath. “I hacked the police station tonight.”
“What were you thinking? That’s so dangerous!” Leda reached for him, grabbed him roughly by the lapels of his jacket, and shook him a little in panic.
“That tonight was a good distraction, since most of the police are atthisparty,” he answered. “Also, I may not have been thinking clearly, since I went in for questioning this morning.”
“What?”
He frowned. “I thought Avery must have told you. I was called in for questioning about Mariel. So were Avery and Rylin.”
Leda could guess why Avery hadn’t told her. Avery was trying, in her own sweet and misguided way, toprotecther. But Leda expected more from Watt.
“You should have flickered me the instant that it happened. And you should have talked to me before you tried hacking thepolice!” Leda realized that her hands were still clutching tight to Watt’s jacket, and she lowered them slowly.
“Don’t worry, they’ll never even know I was there. But we have a bigger problem.” Watt averted his eyes from hers. “Thepolice have figured out the connection between Mariel’s death and Eris’s.”
Leda stumbled back a step, her whole body trembling. “You mean they know that I killed Eris?”
“Not yet,” Watt hurried to say. “I think they just know that those nights are connected. Don’t worry, Leda. I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it.”
Dozens of emotions shot through her at once, horror and grief and regret. “Oh my god,” she said slowly, and then again, more raggedly, “Oh mygod.”
“It’ll be okay. We can figure this thing out—”
“Don’t say it will be okay when we both know that it’s not true!” Leda snapped, so fiercely that Watt fell silent. She sank helplessly into one of the chairs. “It won’t be okay,” she said, much more softly. “And it’s all my fault.”
Watt took the chair next to her and reached for her hand in silent support.
As Leda sat there, the scene around her was stamped on her brain with brutal clarity. The scent of the flowers, soft and delicate. The lurid laughter, the clinking of glassware, the music emanating from the dance floor. The warm feel of Watt’s hands around hers. She felt that she would remember every detail of this moment for the rest of her life, however much longer her life lasted, because this was the moment it all changed.
She had put her friends at risk.
Leda had thought that they were all safe—that the police didn’t have anything on them, and that therefore this nightmare would soon be over. That she could pick up the shattered shards of her grief and make a fresh start.
What a fool she’d been. It was clearly only a matter of time before the police figured out what Leda had done. Which wouldlead them to her friends’ secrets. Rylin’s drug dealing, and Watt’s illegal computer, and Avery’s relationship with Atlas.
Leda couldn’t live with herself if those secrets came to light.
She felt like a tugboat in the middle of a hurricane, wave upon wave of regret smacking unrepentantly over her. She lowered her head into her hands and closed her eyes.
“We’ll find a way out of this,” Watt kept saying. “You and me, together, we can face anything.”
Leda forced herself to look up. The light of the holographic banners overhead was reflected in Watt’s eyes, gave a new bronzed luster to his skin. She let her eyes trace over him for a moment, memorizing him.
Then she stood up, pulling Watt to his feet with her, and kissed him. He seemed startled at first, but soon wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
She kissed him for as long as she dared, not caring if anyone saw. She prayed that Watt wouldn’t sense the frantic, desperate beating of her heart. This was her last kiss, her final farewell on death row, and Leda was determined to make it count. So she focused on Watt—on the feel of him, the quiet strength of him, the way his mouth fit so perfectly over hers.
She was saying, deep inside herself, good-bye.
When she finally pulled away, Watt was studying her with a puzzled expression. Leda pretended not to see. If Watt guessed what she was planning, he would never let her go through with it.
“I’m going home,” she said, and her voice betrayed her a little, because it was rough as sandpaper.
“Leda,” Watt protested, reaching for her; and Leda wavered for a moment, because it would be so easy to lean into his embrace. To lay her head on his chest and let him tell her that everything would be okay.
