Shay's eyes opened, blinking a few times. "That you, Tally-wa?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Quit pulling my hair." Shay coughed again.

"Oh, sorry." Tally untangled her fingers from the wet strands. When the hoverboard nudged her from behind, she slung an arm over it, wrapping the other around Shay. A long shiver traveled through them both.

"Waters cold…," Shay said. Her lips were almost blue in Tally's infrared.

"No kidding. But it woke you up, at least." She managed to lift Shay onto the board, getting her upright. She sat there, huddled miserably against the breeze while Tally stayed in the river, staring up into her glassy eyes. "Shay-la? Do you know where you are?"

"You woke me up, so I was…asleep?" Shay shook her head, closing her eyes in concentration. "Crap. That means they got me with one of those stupid arrows."

"Not an arrow; David had a shock-stick in his hand."

Shay spat into the river. "He cheated. Throwing Tachs at me." She frowned, opening her eyes again. "Is Tachs okay?"

"Yeah. I caught him before he hit the ground. Then David tried to take you away. But I got you back."

Shay managed a thin smile. "Good job, Tally-wa."

Tally felt a thin, shivery grin on her face.

"What about Fausto?"

Tally sighed again as she pulled herself up onto the board, its fans spinning into motion under her weight. "They took him, too." She glanced up the river, seeing nothing but darkness. "And they're long gone by now, I guess."

Shay wrapped a shivering, wet arm around Tally. "Don't worry. We'll get him back." She glanced down, confused. "So how did I get in the river?"

"They flew you out here, used you as bait. They wanted to capture me, too. But I was too fast for them, so David pushed you in to distract me, I suppose. Or maybe he was trying to give the other Smokies time to get away, the ones with Fausto."



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