Aria watched her go. She hadn’t forgotten how badly Brooke had behaved, but on top of those memories were better ones. Newer ones. Brooke’s bravery during the mission. Her loyalty to both Perry and Roar. Her quick wit with Soren.
That gave her an idea. Aria jumped up and caught up with her. “Brooke!”
She stopped, suddenly guarded. “What?”
“I could use your help with something,” Aria said. “If you’re willing.”
Brooke shrugged. “Sure.”
Aria took her to the Dweller cavern, explaining on the way. Inside, they found Jupiter, Rune, Caleb, and Soren sitting in a circle, playing a game with tattered cards.
She and Brooke sat down without waiting for an invitation.
Brooke nodded to Jupiter in greeting. Then she raised her hands and wiggled her fingers in the air. “Hi, Soren,” she said.
Soren smiled for the first time since his father had died. It was a tired smile, a little sad, too, but it was a smile. He lifted his hands, wiggling back as he said, “Hi, Laurel.”
They were teasing each other, but for a second Aria thought she saw something gentle pass between them.
Then Brooke looked at Rune and said, “How do you play this game?”
“You want to play?” Rune challenged. Her eyes flicked to Aria. It was clear she knew this was Aria’s idea.
Brooke shook her head. “I don’t want to play; I want to win. But if you give me the rules, I’ll take it from there.”
Her confidence stunned Rune, whose mouth went slack.
Soren sat up, scooting closer into their circle. “I need to see this.”
A grin spread over Jupiter’s face. He dropped an arm around Rune’s shoulders. “Go on, Ru. Teach her.”
Caleb glanced at Aria, smiling in giddy anticipation. She could almost read his thoughts. Rune and Brooke were either going to attack each other, or become fast friends before this was over.
Aria already knew the outcome.
She watched them play, trying her best to keep her thoughts here instead of on Perry and Cinder.
Some time later, Talon and Willow came running. “Aria! He’s out!”
She shot to her feet and hurried back to the main cave. Her friends followed her. Other Dwellers came too. With every step Aria took, her anxiety increased.
The Tides were somber and tense as they crowded around the stage. She searched every face standing around the stage twice but she didn’t see Perry.
Marron climbed up to the platform, smoothing the front of his shirt as he waited for people to give him their attention. His blue eyes found Aria. The look he sent her—sorry, worried—made her knees soften.
“Peregrine is with Cinder,” Marron said. “He’ll be along soon, but since time is of the essence, he asked me to make this announcement on his behalf.”
He addressed the Tides calmly, without changing the tone or volume of his voice. Drawing a breath, he continued. “An agreement has been reached with the Horns. We’re leaving. We’re joining them on the journey to the Still Blue.”
The crowd thrummed with surprise and cries of celebration. Amid the happy sounds were others, angry voices and harsh words.
“That can’t be right,” Roar said. “Perry would never join up with Sable.”
“Not unless he’s lost his mind,” said Soren.
Reef’s and Twig’s reactions were less coherent. A stream of curses poured from their mouths.
Marron waited for quiet to return before he spoke again. “He did indeed reach an agreement with Sable. There is passage to the Still Blue for anyone who desires it. Certainly, though, none of you are forced to come. Let there be no mistake: the journey there will be far from safe, and the destination itself is something of a question. What we know is this: Here, your life is certain to be over shortly. Our food stores are down to days. We have no wood to warm this cave beyond the end of the week. . . . We have exhausted everything. Whether you decide to take a chance on something else, be it better or worse than this, is up to you.”
A murmur moved through the crowd. Jokes about who was mad enough to stay. Aria heard them through a haze.
Marron continued to speak. He gave instructions on the preparations that were needed. Aria watched Bear and Molly and the Six leave to coordinate the groups. The logistics of their exodus.
Exodus.
The word fixed in her mind, grave-sounding. Unbelievable, despite how many months she’d anticipated this moment.
They were leaving.
The crowd thinned once again as people rushed off to gather their belongings.
Aria didn’t move. Roar and Soren had stayed behind with her. They were both watching her like they expected her to say something, so she did.
“Why is he still in there, Roar?”
“Because he knows what this means, and he doesn’t want to do it.”
“Which he?” she asked. “Cinder or Perry?”
“My guess?” Roar said. “Both.”
Within minutes, the cave bustled with activity as the Tides began packing and organizing their supplies for the journey. Food and blankets. Medicines and weapons. Everything was culled down to the most essential items and loaded in storage crates.
Sable sent two dozen of his own soldiers to assist them. Unsurprisingly, they were led by her father.
Loran barely glanced at Aria as he entered the cave. She, on the other hand, couldn’t stop watching him.
She was relieved to see him. Thrilled and terrified. For nineteen years they hadn’t seen each other, but now fate had brought them together several times.
Right away he and the Horns set a tone of dominance. Their assistance took the shape of tersely issued commands and berating comments. The Tides quickly grew tight-lipped and anxious. Only a few pushed back, refusing to be ordered. Reef and the Six held their ground, as did Bear and Molly. When Twig got into a shoving match with one of the Horns that nearly turned bloody, Aria had seen enough.
She pulled Loran aside. Her heart was racing. “Your men are too harsh. You don’t have to treat them this way.”
Loran crossed his arms, covering the horn emblem on his chest. He was shorter than Perry, narrower in the shoulders. Fit for a man his age.
Aria scowled at him. “What, now you’ve got nothing to say?”
His dark eyebrows lifted. “Actually, I’m interested in hearing your idea of how I should treat people.”
She reeled back, stung, though he hadn’t spoken harshly. If anything, he’d sounded amused.
Loran looked away from her, surveying the activity around the cave.
Aria waited for him to leave. She should leave after a comment like that, but she couldn’t. Something kept her feet planted.
Her gaze fell to the horns on his uniform. She wanted him to be someone different. Someone who would see the scene around her the same way. Someone who never would have left her, or her mother.
Loran’s gray eyes came back to hers, his expression both frustrated and hopeful. It occurred to her that she might be looking at him the same way.
“The Hovers don’t have endless supplies of fuel. The Horns are out there—exposed—and the storm in the south is not south anymore. It is bearing down on us. East and north are no better. West is all that’s left. The only way we can go is toward water, but that won’t be an option for much longer.
“My men and I aren’t interested in almost surviving, Aria. Perhaps that desire looks like harshness to you, but I would rather be alive and cruel than dead and kind.”
“Did you mean what you said about wanting a chance to know me?”
The question passed through her lips before she knew it. Loran blinked at her, as surprised as she was.
“Yes,” he said.
“Even if you learn that there’s a part of me that hates you?”
He nodded, a smile lighting in his eyes. “I think I’ve glimpsed that part already.”
He was teasing her, letting warmth come through. If she wanted to know him, she’d have to return it. She couldn’t, and she didn’t know why, because she wanted to.
As the seconds passed, the lines around Loran’s eyes deepened with disappointment.
One of his men called to him, drawing his attention away. Loran turned to leave, but then he paused, looking back at her. “You’re assigned to Sable’s Hover—his orders. Nothing I can change, but I tried to put all your friends on the same craft as well.”
Aria watched him walk away, waiting until he was out of hearing range before she let herself say, “Thank you.”
Two hours later, she stepped out of the cave with her satchel over one shoulder and Perry’s over the other.
Talon had helped her sort through the trunks in Perry’s tent, though he had warned her repeatedly that his uncle Perry didn’t really care very much about those old things. She’d known that too. Perry cared about his bow and his knife. He cared about his land and about hunting, and most of all about people. But books? Shirts and socks? Not important to him.
She’d packed a few of her favorite items anyway, taking special care with the collection of falcon figures he’d carved with Talon. Perry’s belongings were more than what she had—which was nothing. If he didn’t want them, she’d claim them herself. His things already felt like they were hers, and his shirts were more than mere shirts. Maybe she was losing her mind, but they meant something to her just because they were his.
Now she carried her leather satchel and his, along with his bow and quiver, the weight of his belongings a poor substitute for him. For the arm she wished were resting across her shoulders instead.
Aria stopped just before leaving the cave. Most everyone was outside already, and only a few people were gathered at the stage. Perry wasn’t one of them.
She was beginning to think he was avoiding her.
She shifted the satchels higher on her shoulders, taking one final look. “Good-bye, cave. I never want to see you again.”
She stepped outside onto the sand and made her way up the switchback trail that climbed the bluff. Roar and Talon walked ahead of her with Willow and Flea. Behind her were Soren and Caleb. All she heard was the wind and their steps, and the crash of the waves growing more faint.
She felt like her head wasn’t attached to the rest of her body. Like she wasn’t attached to the earth or even to the air around her.
They were leaving. It was what she’d wanted. What was necessary. But it felt too sudden. Too wrong, with Sable. And too empty, without Perry.
As she crested the bluff, she saw the Hovers, spread in lines over the rough terrain. Giants perched on the edge of the earth. The fleet was a sight that had amazed her once. Now her eyes moved right past the massive craft, scanning the people milling around in search of a tall figure with blond hair.
Aria spotted him at the same moment he saw her. Perry stood with Cinder and Marron, the three of them huddled close. Roar, Soren, and the others flowed past her, but she couldn’t move.
Perry came to her.
He walked over, and stood before her with swollen, red eyes. He’d been crying. She hated that he had hurt so much and she hadn’t been there.
“You’ve been gone,” she said stupidly.
“I couldn’t leave Cinder.” He looked down, his gaze falling to the falcon carving in her hand. She didn’t realize she’d been holding it. She didn’t even know when she’d taken it out of his pack.
