Page 13 of The Towering Sky

“I’m sure he’s buying his way in, the same way he bought Avery....”

Avery tried not to listen as the girls brushed past, but her grip on the railing tightened imperceptibly. She should be used to thegossip by now; it had been going on her entire life.

Everyone in New York knew the story of Avery’s creation: that her parents had custom-built her from the pool of their combined DNA in a very expensive genetic mining procedure. The year of her birth, her baby photo had even been on the cover ofTimedigital magazine, under the headline “Engineering Perfection.” Avery hated it.

“Want me to kick them out?”

Avery looked over in surprise. Anger was stormclouding over Leda’s features, fracturing her formerly cool surface.

She felt the strangest urge to laugh in relief. The old Leda was still in there after all.

“We’re at a party. No need to stir up unnecessary drama,” Avery said quickly.

“Where else does unnecessary drama belong, if not at a party?” Leda asked and then smiled. It came out a little rigid, as if she hadn’t smiled in a while and had half forgotten how to do it, but it was a smile all the same.

Unnecessary drama.Suddenly, Avery couldn’t help thinking of this time last year, when she and Leda had been standing at the top of these very stairs, both hiding the same monumental secret—that they were in love with Atlas.

“Where is he, anyway?” Leda asked.

“Who?” Surely Leda hadn’t been thinking about—

“This Klaus von Schnitzel of yours.”

Oh, right. “It’s Max von Strauss,” Avery corrected, hoping Leda hadn’t heard the beat of hesitation. “And I’m not sure. He disappeared earlier this afternoon, saying that he had to do something urgent. He promised to meet me here, though.”

“How mysterious,” Leda said, and it was almost teasing.

Avery swallowed and decided to ask the same question she’d posed earlier. “Leda. What’s going on?”

Leda opened her mouth as if to reassure Avery with a lie, only to pause. “I didn’t have the easiest year,” she admitted. “I needed to work through some things.”

Avery knew precisely what Leda was wrestling with: the fact that she had killed Eris. “She wouldn’t want you to beat yourself up like this.” She didn’t bother clarifying who she meant. They both knew.

“It’s complicated,” Leda said evasively.

“I wish you’d told me.” Avery felt her chest clench with sorrow. Had Leda been like this all year long, avoiding their friends, hiding from the world in that hollowed-out bedroom?

“You couldn’t have helped,” Leda assured her. “But I’m glad you’re back. I missed you, Avery.”

“I missed you too.”

Avery glanced down at the living room, and her eyes lit up at the sight of Max, threading his way through the crowd below. He looked tall and imposing and woefully lost. The world felt instantly lighter.

“Max is here!” she exclaimed, and reached for Leda’s hand to tug her down the stairs. “Come on, I’m so excited for you guys to finally meet!”

“In a minute,” Leda said, gently untangling herself from Avery’s grip. “I need a breath of fresh air. Then I promise I’ll come find you both.”

Avery started to argue, then paused at the sight of Leda’s eyes, liquid and serious. “Okay,” she said at last, and then headed down the stairs alone.

When Max saw her, his entire face—his entire body, really—broke into a grin.

“You made it,” Avery breathed. Not that she had ever doubted he would. Max always showed up exactly where he’d promised to be, at the exact time he’d promised. Ruthless German efficiency,she supposed, even if he did usually look like a college professor who was running late to class. “You didn’t have any trouble finding the apartment?”

“Not at all. I chose the one with the girl throwing up outside,” Max replied. “Don’t worry, I put her into a hovertaxi home,” he hastened to add.

Avery shook her head in amusement. She watch Max glance around the room at all her classmates, dressed in wild assortments of sequins and neon spandex, their hair temporarily colored or lengthened thanks to the styler’s many custom settings. Compared to college parties, she realized, it probably felt silly and a bit affected.

“I’m sorry. I forgot to warn you that it’s a costume party.”