Page 57 of The Towering Sky
It was for the best, Leda told herself. Confronting the monster within herself was a task that could only be done alone.
CALLIOPE
CALLIOPE SAT CONTENTEDLYon the floor of her mom’s closet, watching through half-lidded eyes as Elise packed for her honeymoon.
She had always found it oddly soothing, watching her mom pack a suitcase. It might have been the way Elise picked up various items—a flowy crepe de chine skirt, a pair of cropped jeans, a dangly pair of earrings—and sorted them into careful piles. The way she wrapped them, in delicate no-wrinkle paper, each shoe lovingly tucked into a padded bag. There was something comforting and ritualistic about it all, especially since packing a bag usually meant their con was drawing to a close. It was the last mile marker before they left town for good.
Calliope yawned and stretched her legs out before her. There was a linen-tufted bench that ran the length of the closet, but she didn’t want to sit on it; the oyster-colored carpet was so soft and fluffy. She found herself surprisingly glad that Elise and Nadavhad decided to wait a few days before leaving on their honeymoon. It was nice to have a moment alone with her mom.
Calliope just wasn’t used to watching her mom actuallyget married. Although she’d been engaged fourteen times, Elise usually skipped town long before the actual ceremony, with the ring and any other gifts she could take with her. Only once before had she actually gone through with the wedding—to a Polish lord, with real papers of nobility—and Calliope felt certain that Elise had done it because she wanted to secretly call herself a lady for the rest of her life. It was the ultimate f-you to her old boss, Mrs. Houghton.
“Don’t forget swimsuits,” Calliope reminded her mom, trying to be helpful.
“I won’t need a swimsuit, sweetie.”
“There isn’t even a hot tub in the Gobi Desert?”
“It’s northern Mongolia,” Elise corrected. “To visit the woolly mammoth reculturation center. We’ll be volunteering on the steppe, helping dig up the permafrost that obstructs their grazing sites.”
God, her poor mom had given that speech so many times, she practically believed her own con. “Sorry you couldn’t convince Nadav to take you to Bali, or the Maldives.” If her mom was going to actually be married to this guy, at least she should get a beach vacation out of it.
“Oh, I don’t mind. And we’re going to Japan for a few days afterward to relax.”
“Japan, torelax? You hate it there!”
“Japan can be relaxing. All those zen gardens and tea ceremonies.”
Calliope was surprised how hurt she felt at the idea of her mom having tea without her. “You made us leave Japan early the one time we went,” she reminded Elise. “You said it wasloud and chaotic, and impossible to navigate unless you speak Japanese.”
“Nadav speaks Japanese.”
It was the weirdest thing, but her mom actually seemedexcitedabout this honeymoon. Maybe she was just ready to get away from all the madness of the wedding, and her ice queen of a mother-in-law. Calliope didn’t blame her.
She felt guilty all over again for the sacrifice she had asked her mom to make: agreeing to stay here in New York, to trade their nomadic existence for a settled family life. Surely by now Elise was getting restless. Wasn’t she counting down the days till it was all over?
Wasn’t Calliope?
She thought briefly, longingly, of Brice—but then she remembered Livya, and that ominous threat she’d made at the wedding. There was no way Calliope would ever really get to date Brice, not with her new stepsister breathing down her neck.
It doesn’t matter, she told herself, trying not to feel disappointed. Her flirtation with Brice had been just that—a flirtation. It hadn’t meant anything.
Calliope stood up and wandered over to the marble-topped dresser where her mom was sorting a stack of ivory pajamas. She cleared her throat. “Mom, I don’t know if this is worth it anymore.”
“What do you mean, sweetie?”
“It’s my fault that we’re here. I’m the one who wanted to stay and actually live somewhere for once, play out this con for another year. But it’s getting ridiculous. New York isn’t worth this.Nowhereis worth this. We aren’t even having any fun here—we’re stuck pretending to be prim and proper and boring, just to maintain your meaningless relationship with Nadav!”
“It isn’t meaningless,” Elise said quietly, though Calliope didn’t hear her at first.
“You shouldn’t have to suffer through that awful honeymoon. Why don’t we just leave? Besides, it’s getting too risky. I think Livya—”
Elise took Calliope’s hands in hers. “I don’t want to leave,” she said quietly.
Calliope blinked, stunned, as the truth hurtled inescapably toward her. It couldn’t be.
“Surely you don’t— I mean—” she stammered.
“I love him.”
