He dropped the horse lead in his hands and darted to Roar, taking a fistful of his black coat. “Come on,” he said, giving Roar a nudge that was almost a shove. “I’ll show you the way. Easy to get lost around here till you get used to it.”
When they’d left, Gren shook his head. “What was that?”
Answers flipped through Perry’s mind.
Roar without Liv.
Roar without a reason to live.
Roar in hell.
“Nothing,” he said, too rattled to explain. “He’ll cool off.”
He headed for the Battle Room as Gren went to tend to the horses. Anxiety built inside him with every step he took, pressing on his lungs, but he fought against it. At least the darkness of the cave didn’t bother him, as it did most everyone. By some twist of fate, his Seer eyes saw even better in low light.
Halfway there, Willow’s dog, Flea, charged up, jumping and barking like he hadn’t seen Perry in weeks. Talon and Willow arrived right behind him.
“Did you find Roar?” Talon asked. “Was it him?”
Perry grabbed Talon, holding him upside down, and was rewarded with a belly laugh. “It sure was, Squeak.” Roar had shown up—in appearance, at least.
“And Cinder, too?” Willow asked, her eyes wide with hope. She had grown close to Cinder. She was just as desperate to get him back as Perry.
“No. Just Roar and Twig so far, but we’ll get him, Willow. I promise.”
Despite his assurance, Willow let loose with an impressive stream of curses. Talon giggled and Perry laughed too, but he felt sorry for her. He scented the way she hurt.
Perry set Talon down. “Do me a favor, Squeak? Check on Aria for me?” She’d been drifting on pain medication since they’d arrived at the cave, the wound in her arm refusing to heal. He went to see her whenever he could, and spent every night with her in his arms, but he still missed her. He couldn’t wait until she woke.
“Sure!” Talon chirped. “Come on, Willow.”
Perry watched them dash away, Flea loping after them. He had expected the cave to frighten his nephew, but Talon had adapted—all the kids had. The darkness inspired them to play endless games of hide-and-seek, and they spent hours on adventures exploring the caverns. More than once, Perry had heard kids in hysterics over the echoing of sounds— some best left unheard.
He only wished the adults had the same spirit.
Perry stepped into the Battle Room, nodding to Marron. The ceiling was low and uneven, forcing him to duck as he made his way around the long trestle table. He fought to keep his breathing steady, telling himself the walls weren’t caving in; it only felt like they were.
Roar had arrived before him. He leaned back in his chair, his boots kicked up on the table. He held a bottle of Luster, and he didn’t look up as Perry entered. Bad signs.
Bear and Reef nodded at Perry, in the midst of a conversation about the red flares that had appeared in the Aether. Bear’s walking stick rested lengthwise on the table, spanning the distance occupied by the three men. Whenever he saw that cane, Perry remembered dragging Bear from the rubble of his house.
“Any idea why the color is changing?” Perry asked. He took his usual seat, with Marron on his right and Reef on his left. He felt strange sitting across from Roar, like they were adversaries.
Candles burned at the center of the table, the flames steady and perfect; there were no drafts back here to make them flicker. Marron had ordered rugs hung along the perimeter to create false walls and the illusion of a real room. Perry wondered if it helped the others.
“Yes,” Marron said. He began twisting a gold ring around his finger. “The same phenomenon happened during the Unity. It signaled the onset of constant storms. They held for thirty years in those days. We’ll see the color continue to change until it’s entirely red. When that happens, it will be impossible to go outside.” He pursed his lips, shaking his head. “We’ll be confined here, I’m afraid.”
“How long do we have?” Perry asked.
“The accounts from those days vary, so it’s difficult to say precisely. It could be as long as a few weeks, if we’re lucky.”
“And if we’re not?”
“Days.”
“Skies,” Bear said, propping his heavy arms on the table. He let out a loud breath, setting the candle flame trembling in front of him. “Only days?”
Perry tried to digest that information. He had brought the Tides there as a temporary shelter. Promised them it wouldn’t be forever—and it couldn’t be. The cave wasn’t a Pod like Reverie, with the capability to sustain itself. He needed to get them out of there.
He looked at Reef, for once craving his advice.
But then Aria stepped into the chamber.
Perry lurched to his feet so fast that his chair fell backward. He took the ten paces to her in a flash, bumping his head on the low ceiling, knocking his leg into the table, moving with less coordination than he had in his entire life.
He pulled her close, holding her as tight as he could while being careful about her arm.
She smelled incredible. Like violets and open fields under the sun. Her scent set his pulse racing. It was freedom. It was everything the cave wasn’t.
“You’re awake,” he said, and almost laughed at himself. He’d been waiting to talk to her for days; he could have done better.
“Talon said you’d be here,” she said, smiling at him.
He ran his hand over the bandage on her arm. “How do you feel?”
She shrugged. “Better.”
He wished it were really true, but the dark circles under her eyes and the pallor of her skin told him otherwise. Still, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Easily.
The room had fallen quiet. They had an audience, but Perry didn’t care. They’d spent a winter apart while she’d been at Marron’s, and then another month when she’d gone to Rim with Roar. The week they’d spent together at the Tides had been made up of stolen moments. He’d learned his lesson. He wouldn’t waste another second with her.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. Aria made a small sound of surprise, and then he felt her relax. Her arms came around his neck, and what had started as a brush of their lips became deeper. He gathered her close and forgot everything, everyone except her, until he heard Reef’s gruff voice behind him.
“Sometimes I forget he’s nineteen.”
“Oh, yes. Easy to do.” The gentle reply could only be from Marron.
“Not now.”
“No . . . certainly not now.”
3
ARIA
Aria blinked at Perry, a little overwhelmed.
Their relationship had just made a definitive shift to public, and she was unprepared for the wave of pride that swept through her. He was hers, and he was incredible, and they didn’t have to hide, or explain, or be apart anymore.
“We probably should get started with the meeting,” he said, smiling down at her.
She mumbled her agreement and forced herself away from him, trying not to look as staggered as she felt. She spotted Roar standing on the other side of the table, relief snapping her back to the present.
“Roar!” Aria rushed to his side, wrapping him in a half hug.
“Easy, there,” he said, frowning at her arm. “What happened?”
“Oh, this? I got myself shot.”
“What did you go and do that for?”
“I wanted some sympathy, I guess.”
It was their usual way with each other, teasing and light, but Aria studied him as they spoke, and what she saw brought a twist to her heart.
Though he sounded like himself, Roar’s eyes had lost all their humor. They were heavy with sadness now—a sadness he carried everywhere. In his smile. In the drape of his shoulders. Even in the way he stood, weight to one side, like his entire life was out of balance. He looked as he had a week ago, when they’d floated down the Snake River together: heartbroken.
Her attention moved past him to Marron, who made his way toward them and smiled expectantly, his blue eyes alert and lively, his cheeks ruddy and round—the very opposite of Roar’s hardened planes.
“It’s so good to see you,” Marron said, pulling her close. “We’ve all been worried.”
“It’s good to see you too.” He was soft, and he smelled so good, like rosewater and woodsmoke. She held on to him a moment longer, remembering the months she’d spent in his home over the winter after learning that her mother had died. She’d have been lost without his help.
“Aren’t we in the middle of a crisis, Aria?” Soren walked in with his shoulders back and his chin tipped up. “I swear that’s what you said five minutes ago.”
The expression on his face—arrogant, annoyed, disgusted—had been hers six months ago when she’d first met Perry.
“I’ll get rid of him,” Reef said, rising from his chair.
“No,” Aria said. Soren was Hess’s son. Whether he deserved it or not, the Dwellers would look to him as a leader, along with her. “He’s with me. I asked him to be here.”
“Then he stays,” Perry said smoothly. “Let’s get started.”
That surprised her. She’d worried about Perry’s reaction to Soren—the two had despised each other at first sight.
As they settled around the table, Aria didn’t miss the dark look Reef cast her way. He expected Soren to disrupt the meeting. She wasn’t going to let that happen.
She sat next to Roar, which felt both right and not, but Perry already had Reef and Marron at his sides. Roar slouched in his chair and took a long pull from a bottle of Luster. The action struck her as angry and determined. She wanted to lift the bottle from his hands, but he’d had enough taken away from him.
“Hess and Sable have almost every advantage, as you all know,” Perry said. “Time is against us too. We have to move on them quickly. Tomorrow morning, I’ll lead a team to their camp with the aim of rescuing Cinder, securing Hovers, and getting the exact heading for the Still Blue. In order to plan the mission, I need information. I need to know what you saw,” he said to Roar, “and what you know,” he said to Soren.
As he spoke, the Blood Lord chain winked at his neck and candlelight glinted on his hair, which was pulled back but coming loose in pieces. A dark shirt stretched across his shoulders and arms, but Aria could easily recall the Markings it concealed.
The rough-edged hunter with the fierce glare she’d met half a year ago was almost gone. He was confident now, steadier. Still fearsome, but controlled. He was everything she’d expected him to become.
His green eyes flicked to her, holding for an instant like he knew her thoughts, before moving to Roar beside her.
“Whenever you’re ready, Roar,” he said.
Roar answered without bothering to sit up or project his voice. “Hess and Sable joined up. They’re on the plateau between Lone Pine and the Snake River, right out in the open. It’s a big camp. More like a small city.”
“Why there?” Perry asked. “Why gather forces inland if the Still Blue is across the sea? What are they waiting for?”