She picked it up and turned it in her hand. Her gray eyes were warm as she looked up and said, “It’s my favorite.”
Perry’s gaze moved to her lips. They were alone. This was as close as they’d stood since she’d last been in his arms.
She set the carving down and stepped away. “You’re sure I can stay here?”
“Yes. You can have the room.” From where he stood, he could see the edge of his brother’s bed, covered with a faded red blanket. He’d rather she not stay in there, but saw no better choice. “I sleep up there,” he said, tipping his head to the loft.
Aria dropped her satchel against the wall and glanced at the front door, smiling at a sound beyond the reach of his ears. A second later, Roar blew into the house in a dark flash.
“Finally!” he bellowed. He wrapped Aria into a hug, lifting her off the ground. “What took you two so long? Don’t answer that.” He glanced at Perry. “I think I know.” He set her down and then clasped Perry’s hand. “Good you’re back, Per.”
“What did I miss?” Perry asked, grinning.
Before Roar could answer, Wylan, Bear, and Reef arrived, crowding in as the house fell into a thick silence. They stood for a long moment, all eyes fixed on the only stranger among them. The tempers in the room sharpened, heating up and bleeding red into Perry’s vision. They didn’t want her there. He’d known they’d react this way, but his hands curled into fists anyway.
“This is Aria,” he said, fighting the urge to step toward her. “She’s half Dweller, as Reef’s told you. She’ll be helping us find the Still Blue, in exchange for shelter. While she’s here, she’ll be Marked as an Audile.”
The words felt like gravel rolling from his mouth. They were true, but a partial truth, which felt more like a lie. Perry saw the questioning look in Roar’s eyes.
Bear stepped forward, wringing his big hands. “Excuse my asking, Perry, but how’s a Mole going to help us?”
Wylan muttered something under his breath. Aria’s eyes snapped to him, and Roar tensed. Auds both, they’d heard him clearly.
Perry felt a flash of heat, and had the urge to cuff Wylan. He realized that what he felt—what gripped him—was Aria’s temper. He drew a breath, grasping for control. “You have something to say, Wylan?”
“No,” he answered. “Nothing to say. Just checking if her ears work.” He smirked. “They do.”
Reef dropped a hand on Wylan’s shoulder with enough force that the smaller man winced. “Bear and Wylan were just telling me what happened while we were away,” he said, changing the subject.
Perry prepared himself for their latest argument. “Let’s hear it.”
Bear crossed his arms over his broad chest, his thick eyebrows drawing together. “We had a fire in the storeroom last night. We think it was the boy who came back with Roar. Cinder.”
Perry glanced at Roar and Aria, alarm running through him. They were the only ones who knew about Cinder’s unique ability to channel the Aether. They protected Cinder’s secret by unspoken agreement.
“No one saw him do it,” Roar said, reading his mind. “He ran before anyone could catch him.”
“He’s gone?” Perry asked.
Roar rolled his eyes. “You know how he is. He’ll come back. He always does.”
Perry flexed his scarred hand. If he hadn’t seen Cinder lay waste to a band of Croven with his own eyes, he wouldn’t believe it himself. “The damage?”
Bear tipped his head toward the door. “Might be easier if I show you,” he said, heading outside.
Perry paused at the threshold and looked back at Aria. She gave a small shrug of understanding. They’d been there less than ten minutes, and already he had to leave her. He hated it, but he had no choice.
The storeroom in the back of the cookhouse was a long stone room lined with wooden shelves, which were stacked with containers of grain, jars of spices and herbs, and baskets of early spring vegetables. Usually scents of food hung in the cool air, but as Perry stepped inside, the smell of burnt wood was thick. Beneath it he caught a trace of the sting of Aether—a smell that was also Cinder’s.
The damage was contained to one side of the room. Part of a shelf was gone, burned to nothing.
“He must have dropped a lamp or something,” Bear said, scratching his thick black beard. “We got to it quickly, but we still lost a lot. We had to throw out two bins of grain.”
Perry nodded. It was food they couldn’t afford to lose. The Tides were already on tight rations.
“The kid’s stealing from you,” Wylan said. “He’s stealing from us. Next time I see him, I’ll run him off the territory.”
“No,” Perry said. “Send him to me.”
4
ARIA
You all right?” Roar whispered as the house emptied.
Aria let out her breath and nodded, though she wasn’t quite sure. Aside from him and Perry, everyone who’d stood in this room despised her because of who she was. Because of what she was.
A Dweller. A girl who lived in a domed city. A Mole tramp, as Wylan had whispered under his breath. She’d been preparing herself for that, especially after days of Reef’s cold stares, but she felt shaken anyway. It would be the same if Perry entered Reverie, she realized. Worse. Reverie Guardians would kill an Outsider on sight.
She turned away from the door, her eyes drifting across the cozy, cluttered home. A table with painted chairs to one side. Bowls and pots in every color along the shelves behind it. Two leather chairs before the hearth, worn but comfortable-looking. Along the far wall she saw baskets with books and wooden toys. It was cool and quiet, and smelled faintly of smoke and old wood.
“This is his home, Roar.”
“Yes. It is.”
“I can’t believe I’m here. It’s warmer than I expected.”
“It used to be more so.”
A year ago, this house would’ve been packed with Perry’s family. Now he was the only one left. Aria wondered if that was why the Six slept there. Surely there were other homes they could occupy. Maybe a full house helped keep Perry from missing his family. She doubted it. No one could ever fill the void her mother had left. People couldn’t be replaced.
She pictured her own room in Reverie. A small space, spare and neat, with gray walls and an inset dresser. Her room had been home once. She felt no longing for it. Now it seemed as inviting as the inside of a steel box. What she missed was the way she’d felt there. Safe. Loved. Surrounded by people who accepted her. Who didn’t whisper Mole tramp at her.
She had no place of her own now, she realized. No things like the falcon figurines on the windowsill. No objects to prove she existed. All her belongings were virtual, kept in the Realms. They weren’t real. She didn’t even have a mother anymore.
A feeling of weightlessness came over her. Like a balloon that had slipped free from its tether, she was floating, made of nothing more than air.
“You hungry?” Roar asked behind her, oblivious, his tone light and cheerful as always. “We usually eat in the cookhouse, but I could bring something for us here.”
She turned. Roar rested a hip against the table, his arms crossed. He wore black from head to toe, like she did.
He smiled. “Not as comfortable as Marron’s, is it?”
They’d spent the past months there together while he’d healed from a leg wound. While she’d healed from deeper wounds. Little by little, one day after another, they’d brought each other back.
Roar’s smile widened. “I know. You missed me.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s barely been three weeks since I saw you.”
“Miserable stretch of time,” he said. “So, food?”
Aria glanced at the door. She couldn’t hide if she wanted the Tides to accept her. She had to face them directly. She nodded. “Lead the way.”
“Her skin’s too smooth—like an eel.”
The voice, dripping with malice, carried to Aria’s ears.