I shove up from the chair. Olayra and Skogrin are rejoicing with everyone else and the lab is buzzing with conversation and excitement now; I’ve started an impromptu party.
My boss nods at me from outside my lab area, reading the unspoken question on my face,Can I dip out early?
“Yeah, Dad.” I wipe my damp cheek on my sleeve. “I’m on my way to propose to that boy right now.”
Dad hangs up, promising not to let Thio know yet and saying that he’s going to call Orok. We were already planning on getting together tonight, guilty verdict or not; me, Thio, and Orok. He’s only been back in Philly for about two months since the Hellhounds snatched him from the Vegas Chimeras, and having him physically in the same city as me again, particularly on a day like today, almost makes me believe gods like his give a shit about us.
But we’ll celebrate tonight. I’ll let myselffeelthis verdict tonight when I see Orok in person and we can both take a breath.
For now, I have a boyfriend to turn into a fiancé.
Exuberant, so light I could float across town, I board a bus and text my coconspirators—a few of Thio’s coworkers—in Operation: Proposal and give them the all clear to set everything into motion. They respond with thumbs-ups and I grin at my screen like a fool, eyes teary. I get a few odd looks for the way I sniff and laugh randomly, but hey, we’ve all seen weirder shit on the bus.
It’s happening. It’s really happening. All these months of tormenting each other with planning lavish proposals, and I’mfinallygoing to see my ring on his finger.
That confidence lasts until I get two stops from Thio’s work, and he texts me.
THIO
Did you hear from your dad?
Which isn’t suspicious. He knows today’s the day.
Whatissuspicious is the winky face emoji he sends after.
I shift upright, my work khakis slipping on the plastic bus seat, and glare at that emoji.
Why…
Why would hewinkabout that question?
Dad said he wouldn’t call Thio. Could Thio have found out some other way? My coworkers all know. Did Skogrin text him? That fucker—
By the time the bus lets me off, my dad hasn’t responded to my accusatory text and neither has anyone at Clawstar. Even Orok’s gone silent, and I know he’s glued to his phone today, too.
My eyes narrow, suspicion hot and demanding.
Fucking winky face.
I purse my lips and check that I still have his ring in my bag.
Thio is gettingproposed to todayif I have to do it in the middle of the street.
I power walk the block between the bus stop and Thio’s work, flipping the ring box over and over in my bag’s front pocket. The city emanates late summer heat like an oven, rippling rays making me sweat, but I’m blasted by the welcome chill of the AC as I duck inside the Harbor.
Orok used his pro rawball money to help us keep Thio’s mom at Blooming Grove for a few months after graduation, but taking money from a friend stressed Thio out as much as taking money from his family. With help from Dr. Chrosk, we found the Harbor, and while in some ways it’s a far cry from Blooming Grove—we have to provide the potted plants in Dr. Holmes’s room ourselves, the horror—the staff here are every bit as caring. They welcomedDr. Holmes like she’s their mother, too, and they welcomedThiowith just as much love, shepherding him through first a desk job here, then encouraging him to become an RN.
During the employee evaluation I had after Thio started nursing school, I told Dr. Zuarashi straight-out why I was suddenly so focused on healing spells.That’s all my boyfriend’s studying now, too, and if I can figure out ways to make his life easier by creating new healing spells or streamlining old ones? I will.
The attendant at the front desk is on the phone but flaps her hand excitedly at me and tips the handset aside. “It’s all set,” she whispers. “And he’s on rounds, so you can sneak right on up.”
I beam at her as I sign in. “You’re the best. Send him up in ten?”
She bounces back and forth in a shimmy-dance. “This is so excit—yes, sir, I’m still here.” And she’s drawn back into her phone call, but she throws me one last grin.
As I slip into the elevator, I dig components out of my bag, the remaining pieces to activate everything I have planned.
There’s no roof access via the elevator, but I take it as high as I can, head to the stairwell, and climb the remaining two flights to the roof.
