She nodded, her eyes warm with understanding. “Later.” She turned his hand to see the scars Cinder had given him. Pale and thick as trails of wax, they made a web from his knuckles to his wrist. “Does this still bother you?” she asked, tracing the scars with her fingers.
“No. It reminds me of you … of when you bandaged it.” He lowered his head, bringing his cheek next to hers. “That was the first time you touched me without hating it.” This close, her scent was everywhere, running through him, somehow stirring and mellowing him at the same time.
“Did Roar tell you where I’m going?” she asked.
“He did.” Perry straightened and looked up. He couldn’t see the currents of Aether, but he knew they were there, flowing above the clouds. Each winter, the Aether storms were growing stronger, bringing fire and ruin. Perry knew they would only get worse. His tribe’s survival depended on finding a land rumored to be free of the Aether—the same thing Aria was searching for. “He told me you’re looking for the Still Blue.”
“You saw Bliss.”
He nodded. They had gone to the Pod together in search of her mother and found it destroyed by Aether. Domes the size of hills had collapsed. Walls ten feet thick had been crushed like eggshells.
“It’s only a matter of time before that happens to Reverie,” she continued. “The Still Blue is our only chance. Everything I’ve heard points to the Horns. To Sable.”
Perry’s pulse quickened at the mention of the name. His sister, Liv, should have married the Horns’ Blood Lord last spring, but she’d spooked and run away. Liv still hadn’t appeared. He’d have to deal with Sable soon enough.
“The Horns’ city is still locked in by ice,” he said. “Rim won’t be reachable until the pass to the north thaws. Could be a few weeks before then.”
“I know,” she said. “I thought it would have cleared by now. I’ll go north as soon as it does.”
She stepped away from him abruptly and scanned the woods, her head angling quick and sharp. He’d been there when she’d learned she was an Aud. Every sound had been a discovery. Now he watched as her attention shifted naturally to the noises of the night.
“Someone’s coming,” she said.
“Reef,” Perry said. “He’s one of my men.” No way had it already been an hour. Not even close. “There are more nearby.”
Perry caught the steep dive in her temper, a bracing, cool drift. In the next moment his heartbeat faltered. He hadn’t felt tethered to another’s emotions in months. Since he’d last been with her.
“When are you going back?” she asked.
“Soon. Morning.”
“I understand.” She looked from him to the chain, her expression growing distant. “The Tides need you.”
Perry shook his head. She didn’t understand. “I didn’t come out here to see you for a night, Aria. Come back to the Tides with me. It’s not safe out here, and—”
“I don’t need help, Perry.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He was too skitty to order his thoughts. Before he could say anything more, she took another step away, her hands hovering over the blades at her belt. Seconds later, Reef emerged from the woods, square shoulders hunched as he walked toward them. Perry cursed under his breath. He needed more time with her. Alone.
Reef’s steps caught when he saw Aria alert and armed. Probably not what he’d expected from a Dweller. Perry noticed her wary expression too. With the scar across his face and his challenging stare, Reef looked like someone to avoid.
Perry cleared his throat. “Aria, this is Reef, head of my guard.” It felt strange introducing two people who meant so much to him. Like they should already know each other.
Reef gave a tight nod, aimed at no one, and then shot Perry a hard look. “A word,” he said sharply, before he stalked off.
Anger streaked through Perry at being spoken to that way, but he trusted Reef. He looked at Aria. “I’ll be right back.”
He hadn’t gone far when Reef wheeled around, his braids swinging out. “I don’t have to tell you what your temper’s like right now, do I? It’s the scent of stupidity. You’ve brought us out here chasing after a girl who’s got you so—”
“She’s an Aud,” Perry interrupted. “She can hear you.”
Reef jabbed a finger in the air. “I want you to hear me, Peregrine. You have a tribe to think about. You can’t afford to lose your head over a girl—especially not a Dweller. Have you forgotten what happened? Because I promise you the tribe hasn’t.”
“The kidnappings weren’t her fault. She had nothing to do with them. And she’s only half Dweller.”
“She’s a Mole, Perry! One of them. That’s all anyone’s going to see.”
“They’ll do as I say.”
“Or maybe they’ll turn on you behind your back. How do you think they’ll take to seeing you with her? Vale might have traded with the Dwellers, but he never brought one into his bed.”
Perry shot forward, grabbing Reef by the vest. They stood, locked, inches apart. Reef’s temper brought an icy burn to the back of Perry’s tongue. “You’ve made your point.” Perry let Reef go and stepped back, drawing a few breaths. Silence stretched out between them, too loud after their arguing.
He saw the problem with bringing Aria back to the Tides. The tribe would blame her for the missing children, regardless of her innocence, because she was a Dweller. He knew it wouldn’t be easy—not at first—but he’d find a way to make it work. Whatever needed to be done next, he wanted her with him and it was his decision as Blood Lord.
Perry glanced to where Aria waited, then back at Reef. “You know what?”
“What?” Reef snapped.
“You’re a terrible judge of time.”
Reef smirked. He ran a hand over the back of his head and sighed. “So I am.” When he spoke again, his voice had lost its bite. “Perry, I don’t want to see you make this mistake.” He nodded at the chain. “I know what that cost you. I don’t want to watch you lose it.”
“I know what I’m doing.” Perry gripped the cool metal in his hand. “I’ve got this.”
2
ARIA
Aria stared at the trees, listening to Perry’s footsteps grow louder as he returned. She saw the gleam of the chain at his neck first and then his eyes, flashing in the darkness. They’d come together in such a rush before. Now, as he strode toward her, she took her first good look at him.
He was impressive. Much more than she remembered. He’d grown taller, as she’d first thought, and more muscular through the shoulders, settling into his lanky height. In the dim light she saw a dark coat and pants with fitted, clean lines, not the battered, patched-up clothes of the hunter she’d met in the fall. His blond hair was shorter, falling in layers that framed his face, so different from the long twisting waves she’d known before.
He was nineteen, but he seemed older than her friends in Reverie. How many of her friends had been through what he had? How many had hundreds of people to look after? None. They came from totally different worlds. Aether, she thought. That was the only thing Dwellers and Outsiders had in common. It threatened them both.
Perry stopped a few feet away. Pale light fell on the strong planes of his face, and she noticed shadows under his eyes. He ran a hand over the fine scruff on his jaw. The brushing sound was so familiar, Aria could almost feel the gold bristles beneath her fingertips.
“Sorry about Reef.”
“It’s all right,” she said, but it wasn’t. Reef’s words echoed in her mind. Dweller, he’d called her. Mole. Bitter insults. Words she hadn’t heard in months. At Marron’s, she’d fit in like she belonged.
Her gaze dropped to the ground between them. Three paces for her. Two for him. Moments ago they’d been pressed together. Now they stood apart like strangers. Like everything had just changed.
A mistake. Reef had said that, too. Was he right? “Maybe I should go.”
“No—stay.” Perry stepped forward and took her hand. “Forget what he said. He’s got a temper.... Worse than mine.”