Soren planted his feet wide and locked his hands behind his back, letting out a self-important sigh as he scanned their faces. He acted as though he were going to address a crowd of thousands instead of the five of them.
“First, I want to say that it’s a real shame none of you are smart enough to appreciate what I’ve done here. To put it in simplistic terms, which you may or may not comprehend, I essentially hit a bull’s-eye.”
Perry shook his head. Every single thing Soren did chafed him, but Aria seemed unruffled.
“What did you find out?” she asked.
“That I’m unstoppable. And indispen—”
“Soren.”
“Oh, you mean about the plan? We’re all set.”
Aria looked at Perry in surprise. Soren had only been at work for two hours, maximum.
“Let’s run through it,” Perry said.
“It’s ready,” Soren insisted. “Let’s get this going. Every minute we spend sitting here, we’re taking a chance they’ll find us out.”
Perry rubbed his chin, studying Soren. Scenting his temper.
Something didn’t feel right. While still in Reverie, Soren had received an experimental treatment to control his moods. Supposedly there was no risk of him becoming violent anymore, but anger lurked behind his obnoxious comments. Perry questioned his frame of mind, and his allegiance, even if Aria didn’t.
Had Hess really betrayed Soren—his son? Given Perry’s own experience with Vale, he knew betrayal was possible within families. But maybe there was something more. Was Soren leading them right into the jaws of the enemy? Into a trap?
Roar spoke from the shadows. “I’m with the Dweller.”
Jupiter shrugged. “I am too?”
“Aria and I decide how this goes,” Perry said.
“Why?” Soren barked. “I hacked the system. I’m the one flying this ship. I’m doing everything. What are you doing? Why aren’t you taking orders from me?”
“Because you’re scared,” Perry said. Might as well put it out there now, before they went any further. As a Scire, he seldom manipulated people, poking at the fears revealed through their tempers. But if Soren was going to break, Perry wanted it to happen here, not during their mission. So he pressed again.
“You don’t know what you want. Do you, Dweller? Are you going to turn your back on us the first chance you get? Are you taking us in to impress your father? To get back on his good side?”
Soren went very still, the veins at his neck swelling. “Just because of your weird mutation, don’t think you know what’s in my head. You don’t know anything.”
“I know what side I’m on. I know I can handle pressure.”
Perry’s words hung in a beat of silence. He’d gone right to Soren’s weakness, but it was the truth: Soren’s control was brittle, and Perry had proved it.
Soren cursed and lunged forward. “Stupid Savage! I should have killed you. You should be dead!”
Perry shot to his feet, yanking Aria behind him. Roar drew his blade, but Brooke was closer. She stepped in and pulled an arrow from the quiver at her back.
“Go ahead,” she said, pressing the steel tip into Soren’s chest. “Take another step, Dweller. I’m already tempted.”
Soren’s glare shifted away from Perry. He raked his eyes down Brooke’s body and said, “I’m tempted too. Anytime, Laurel. Just say the word.”
For a long moment, no one moved. Perry knew he wasn’t the only one grasping for some clarity on what had just happened.
Then Brooke said, “Who the hell is Laurel?”
Behind him, Aria let out a chirp of laughter, and suddenly Perry understood.
Roar sheathed his knife, glancing at her. “And you call me wicked.”
A scarlet blush crawled up Soren’s neck. “You’re all crazy,” he growled. “Every one of you!”
Aria slipped past Perry. “I want to see what you set up, Soren. Show us?” She headed into the cockpit, denying him the opportunity to brood or argue by pulling him with her.
Nicely done, Perry thought. She had gotten them exactly what they needed, a run-through of the plan, and it would give Soren a chance to recover his confidence by showing them the work he had done.
“Brooke,” Perry said as the others filed into the cockpit. “Thank you.”
She paused, setting her bow and quiver against the wall. “You’d have done the same for me.”
Perry nodded. “I might have drawn blood, though,” he said.
Brooke’s smile was a quick flash, but genuine. She glanced into the cockpit. “I miss her, Perry . . . don’t you?”
Liv. “Yes,” he said.
Brooke waited for him to say something more. What was there to say? What did she and Roar and Aria want from him? He couldn’t change his sister’s death. If he let himself feel it, the crack that ran through his heart would widen. It would break him, and he couldn’t break. Not here. Not now.
“Do you think it’s easy for me and Roar?” Brooke asked.
“No.” He tipped his chin toward the cockpit. “We should get in there.”
Brooke shook her head, disappointed. “Fine,” she said, and stepped into the cockpit.
Perry didn’t follow her. He leaned against the wall of the Hover, pressing his thumbs to his eyes until he saw red spots instead of Liv with a crossbow bolt in her heart.
They spent the next hours considering every angle of their plan, talking every scenario through as the night wore on. Roar yawned, then Jupiter, and then they were all yawning, fighting sleep. Everyone knew their role, but Aria wanted them to suit up and walk through their parts—a good idea considering Jupiter’s and Soren’s inexperience.
They found Guardian suits inside the storage lockers. Aria and Brooke grabbed theirs and left, taking turns in the cockpit for privacy.
It took Perry ten seconds to figure out that none of the suits would fit him. He swung open another locker, searching for more, and found a large black vinyl bag. He’d just grabbed the handle, noting its heaviness, when Soren spoke at his back.
“That’s an inflatable boat, Outsider. And if that’s what you’re wearing, I’m out of this operation.” He snorted. “Can’t you read? It says so right there in huge letters. ‘Motorized Ship, Small.’”
Perry stuffed the bag back into the locker. It took all his self-control not to rip the metal door off and slam it across Soren’s face.
“Here you go, Perry,” Jupiter said, his mouth lifting in an apologetic smile. He tossed a folded bundle. “Extra large.”
Perry caught it and pulled his shirt off.
Soren made a sputtering sound behind him. “Is that tattoo permanent?” he asked, gaping. His attention moved to the panther Marking covering Roar’s shoulder. Soren opened his mouth to say something else but reconsidered.
He was scared of Roar, which was wise. Roar could be ruthless and deadly. Perry had seen that side of him plenty of times. Lately, it felt like that was the only side he saw.
Roar looked over at Perry, his gaze cold and dark, though his temper flared crimson.
Normally, Roar would have made a crack about Soren, but things were anything but normal. He shut the locker in front of him and left.
The Guardian uniform felt light and tough as Perry pulled it on, the material cool and faintly reflective. He’d never thought he’d have to dress like a Mole. The men who had taken Talon had worn suits like this, as had the Guardians who’d shot Aria in Reverie. Perry expected to hate the garment for that reason, but he was surprised to find that he liked the way it felt, like he’d donned the protective skin of a snake.
He didn’t miss Aria’s double take as they filed out of the Hover. He grinned, feeling a little self-conscious—and more than a little streaked at himself for caring what she thought when there were more important things to worry about.
Outside, leaves rolled across the clearing in waves, carried on gusts. Rain clouds knitted tightly across the sky, casting the night in a darkness so impenetrable that Brooke and Aria jogged back into the Hover for light sticks.
Though the Aether wasn’t visible, Perry could sense it prickling on his skin. He wondered if the currents were coiling into funnels behind those clouds, and if the red flares had appeared. Would they see a rainstorm and an Aether storm in the morning?
Brooke and Aria returned, and they all took their positions. Soren and Jupiter stayed by the Belswan with Aria. Brooke, Perry, and Roar waited in the woods, ready to surround the Dragonwing as it came to the rescue. When Perry signaled, they moved in and rehearsed how they would overpower the Guardians, down to who would speak and what they’d say.
They spent time coordinating how to take down the Guardians unharmed. A regular Dragonwing crew consisted of four men, trained pilots all, and they’d need every one of them in order to steal Hovers from Sable and Hess.
Four pilots meant four Dragonwings. Added to the one already in their possession, they would have enough capacity to carry all the Tides to the Still Blue.
“No bloodshed,” Perry said, after they’d run through every detail a few times. “We do this just as planned.”
Agreement all around. Nods from everyone.
They’d done all they could do.
They were ready.
11
ARIA
So . . .” Soren waved a shaky hand at the pilot seat. In his other hand, he gripped the Smarteye tightly. “I’m going to sit so we can get started and everything.”
“Go ahead,” Aria said.
“Thanks.” Soren dropped into the chair, and his leg began to bounce.
Last night during rehearsal, he’d been calm. Everything had been calm. But now, rain pelted the windshield of the cockpit. Outside, in the gray early morning, the trees tossed back and forth and the wind howled through the bay doors.
It wasn’t an Aether storm, but it was enough to make Aria’s stomach buzz with nerves.
“Let’s get this going,” Perry said.
Roar and Brooke had taken their positions outside, waiting for the mission to begin.
They weren’t altering their plan because of the storm. Aria had really never understood rain until she’d come to the outside. In the Realms, it was poetic. Ambience for a night with friends in a mountain cabin. For a day studying in a café. But in the real, it streamed into your eyes and chilled your muscles to the bone. It had a biting side, and they hoped the Guardians who came in the Dragonwing would be thrown off because of it.
“I’m ready,” Soren said. “It’s all set. I did this in Reverie once. Remember, Jup?”
In the other pilot seat, Jupiter sat up, almost straightening out of his usual slouch. “Yeah, I remember. You got us out of history exams that one time.”
Soren’s lip curled. “Right . . . exams.”
Aria wondered if he was thinking what she was: how terribly far they had come from school. From hours in the lounges of Reverie, studying and fractioning in the Realms.
“Once I hack into their system,” Soren said, “I’ll be traceable. I’ll throw every obstacle I can at them, but that’s when the clock starts running.”
