The Sky Has Fallen

| Chapter 24

He was an asshole, but he had a way with words.

Something I could never do.

It was why I remained on the rooftop with Vera and the other Pylons. The ships that had broken through our atmosphere remained, but they lifted higher to relieve the fear of the people. I was mesmerized as I looked up at them, watching their engines move effortlessly.

"Hey." Vera sat down beside me, just like she'd done in the train station. When I looked at her, she had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Tears were still in her eyes. But she'd calmed enough to come back to me, because there was a moment when we were first saved where she wouldn't even look at me. Or talk to me.

Now, she smiled and opened her arms, widening the blanket, and invited me in.

I declined. "I'm covered in sweat, Vera," I said to her, my voice scratchy from all the screaming I'd done. "Not to mention blood, dirt..."

"You think I'm not?" Vera lifted her brows. "The lakefront is a cold bitch and I know you need this. So, come on."

Vera waved her arm again until I gave in. I shifted closer towards her, leaned into the blanket, and let her put it around me. I gripped the tiny corner of it at my side as I looked into her eyes. "Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Just dirty," she said, laughing quietly. "Nothing a little soap and water can't fix."

Chuckling, I shook my head. "That's good." No it isn't good. She's deflecting. "But how are you really?" I made sure to emphasize what I really wanted to ask.

Vera looked down at the streets below. Fire trucks had arrived. Their long hoses tried to reach the ship's crashed wreckage, blowing water over the flames. I watched them, too. I wondered if it was enough. It had to be.

"Define 'how are you,' hm?" Vera bumped me with her shoulder to get me to look at her. "It could go a lot of ways."

"I'm only looking for one," I answered her as honestly as possible. And tried to smile. "The one that matters."

Vera didn't return the smile. She looked down at the street. "Sorry we can't give you the Sapphire that's onboard," she said quietly. "The one's we found were potent, high with Rosepon. It was..."

The effects Sapphire had on humans, even in a good dose, had negative reactions. Just like what happened on the ship. Holmes took too much. Holmes lost his mind. Granted, it was obvious he'd lost it long ago, but on that ship, he was far from gone. I saw it in his eyes—there was nothing there.

"It's okay." I pressed my hand over my knee. My leg swelled, turning purple, black, and blue. My finger slid over the open wounds caused by the wrench. Hissing, I shrugged and said, "I think you helped me the most. Your kiss, your light," I looked at her face, "helped me more than Sapphire ever could."

Vera's head snapped in my direction.

I smiled again. "I mean it. And look, we're here. We made it."

She nodded slowly, biting her lip. Specks of light returned to her eyes.

"And I need to know," it was my turn to bump her with my shoulder, "are you okay?"

"I'm alive." That was the easiest answer I'd heard from her all day. In fact, since I met her. She always bounced around what she could've said, should've said. Her honesty was pure and very much needed. "And that's what's important."

"It is." I nodded, agreeing.

"I don't think I'll ever forget this. I never thought my life would change like this." She showed me a glimmer of her pain and I wanted to make it better. I wanted to hold her, console her, kiss it away. But when she turned to look at her, her smile didn't share the same emotions that rushed through me.