“Reef was only trying to protect the Tides.”
“Which I also want, now that they’re mine.”
“Why are you here, Sable? Why are you trying to convince me that you’ve done the right thing? I’ll never believe you.”
“You respected Peregrine. That means you’re capable of good judgment.”
“What are you saying? You want me to respect you?”
He stood very still for long moments. She saw the answer in his piercing gaze. “Given enough time, you will.”
Again, she could think of nothing to say in reply. If he believed that, then he was well and truly insane.
Sable began his campaign to win her over with an invitation to supper. He had set up an area outside, up the beach, with a fire for himself and his most trusted circle. He asked her to join him.
“Fish soup,” he said. “The Tides’ specialty, I’m told. Nothing to rave about, in all honesty, but it is fresh, unlike the horror of the Dwellers’ prepackaged meals. And the stars, Aria . . . I cannot begin to describe them to you. It’s as though the heavens themselves—the very roof of the universe—have been scattered with embers. An incredible sight. I want to show it to you, but if you choose not to come, I understand.”
He was an expert manipulator, offering her the heavens. The stars! How could she refuse?
She remembered how he’d manipulated Liv, too. Sable had told Liv, his purchased bride, that he would grant her freedom if she wanted it. He could be kind, when kindness lured a person to take a sip of poison. He could be charming and considerate. He could fool a person into believing he had a heart.
Did Scires only come in two kinds? As forthright as Liv and Perry, or as dishonest as Sable?
She shook her head. She didn’t want to eat. She didn’t want to see stars. She wanted to see Roar and Talon. But Sable wasn’t offering her that.
“I don’t want to see the universe,” she said. “I don’t want to see you one second longer than I have to.”
Sable inclined his head. “Another time, then.”
Instead of disappointment, Aria saw determination in his eyes.
After he left, she tried to make herself comfortable as the night deepened. When the wind blew the right way, and when the waves were gentle enough, she heard Sable’s voice drift into the Hover, mingling with the campfire smoke.
He spoke with his soldiers about plans for the coming weeks. Priorities.
Shelter. Food and water. Control of the Tides.
She tried to focus. She might learn something helpful. But the words blew right through her mind; she couldn’t hold on to anything.
Soon she grew cold and began to shiver. More likely, she realized, shock was what shook her uncontrollably. The temperature had hardly dropped since sunset, and she only felt cool when a breeze carried inside. She curled up on her side, but that didn’t help. Eventually, her captors noticed.
“I’ll get her a blanket,” one of the men said. She watched him reach into the storage lockers. She watched him return.
“Is Sable going to cut your throat open for giving me this?” she asked as he stood over her.
The man startled, surprised to hear her speak. Then he dropped the blanket on her. “You’re welcome,” he said gruffly, but she saw fear flicker in his eyes. Sable’s own men were terrified of him.
As he left, returning to his post by the ramp, the strangest sensation swept over her, like she wasn’t just missing Perry, aching for him, bleeding for him. She was grieving for the loss of herself. This was changing her. She would never be the same.
At some point, her father arrived.
Loran came carrying a bowl of soup. He moved with effortless grace, smooth and swift and without spilling. He had excellent balance, like all Auds. Like her. Whether she admitted it to herself or not, a connection existed between them.
Aria met his eyes, and saw that connection in his gaze. The openness and understanding in his eyes rocked her. She suddenly found herself blinking back tears.
She would not cry. If she did, then it would be real, and none of this could be real.
Not Perry’s death, or Sable’s control of everything, or her solitary imprisonment here in a Hover.
Loran set the bowl down, sending the men who’d been guarding her away. He listened for a while, staring outside, no doubt ensuring they had privacy before he spoke. Or maybe giving her time to regain her composure. She had to fight for it, drawing a few breaths against the ache in her chest, and focusing on the sounds of the night until the raw feeling in her throat receded.
It had grown quiet and still. No trace of Sable or his advisers anymore. Not even a breeze. Time felt as though it had stopped, until Loran turned to her and spoke.
“He divides people to break morale, as you’ve probably guessed, and it’s working. The Tides are confused and angry, but they’re unharmed—except your friend.”
“Roar?”
Loran nodded. “He attacked one of my men earlier. Hess’s son was involved as well. They were trying to get to you. I tried to inform them that you weren’t being harmed, but they wouldn’t believe me.
“They’re alive for now, but when Sable hears of it, which he soon will, they won’t be. He will snuff out any spark he sees—you saw that earlier. He will put down any threat at once, especially now. This is the most critical time for him. He’s firming up his rule before the Tides can organize or react.”
Aria let out a slow breath. It was too much to take in. Perry and Reef were gone, and now suddenly Roar and Soren were in danger too?
“What should we do?” she asked.
“Not we,” Loran said sharply. “I brought you soup. While I did so, I gave you information about your friends, but I did not help you. He’d know if I did. As it is, it won’t be long before he becomes suspicious. He’ll know through our tempers that there’s something more between us.”
Aria considered the words something more. She could accept that description of them. It was vague enough. It left her room to decide exactly what kind of more simmered between them.
“If he learned about us, would he come after you?”
“If he believes there’s any chance I’d come between you and him, yes. Without a doubt.”
“There is no me and him.”
“You’re here, Aria. Alone, while everyone else is out there.”
“Why?” she said, her voice rising in pitch. “What does he want with me? Am I just another one of his tools, like Cinder and Perry? Why did you tell me about Roar if you won’t help me?”
“I told you where my allegiance lies, Aria. I’m sworn to him.”
“Why? How do you serve a man like that? He’s insane. He’s a monster!”
Loran leaned close. “Lower your voice,” he hissed. Was he trying to intimidate her with his size?
She leaned in as well, matching him. “You make me sick! You’re pathetic and weak and I hate you.” Rage lit inside her as she spoke, cutting through the numbness and shock. Her thoughts kept tumbling out. “I hate that you left my mother. I hate what you did to me. I hate that I’m made of half of you.”
“I don’t think much of you, either. I thought you had a backbone, but all you seem capable of doing is staring out of windows. I’d never have guessed a child of mine could wallow so much.”
“Take your stupid soup!” She threw the bowl at him.
Cursing, Loran jerked back, gaping at the soup that dripped over the horns on his black coat.
She kicked him while his eyes were down, slamming her boot into his temple.
He should have flinched. Loran was Sable’s highest-ranking soldier. He should have made a move to protect himself, but he took the kick squarely and fell back with a thud.
For an instant, Aria was stunned. Then she shot to her feet and tore down the ramp.
She’d just reached the sand when she heard two words uttered softly behind her.
“Good girl,” said her father.
47
ARIA
She ran.
She sprinted over the hard sand along the water’s edge. A trail of high-powered lights illuminated a path from the Hovers, up the wide beach, to the tree line. There, through a web of branches, she saw a brighter concentration of light. The campsite.
She ran away from it, leaving behind people and Hovers, with no notion of where she was going except toward darkness.
When the lights were well behind her, she snatched a piece of driftwood in case she came across anyone and headed toward the trees.
Her thighs burned as she raced over softer sand. Halfway to the tree line, she noticed something looked different. Something besides the shape of the beach, or the delicate tropical trees.
Then she realized everything looked different.
Aria’s breath caught, and she stopped in her tracks. She hadn’t looked at the sky yet. She’d been so lost, so numbed, that she hadn’t even looked up.
She sank to her knees and lifted her head. She had become so accustomed to the rippling blue tides closing her in, pressing down on her, but this sky was open . . . this night was infinite.
She felt like she might fall upward forever, drifting into space. Floating across the stars. Sable had spoken of embers scattered across the roof of the universe. It was a good description.
Aria shook her head, not wanting his voice in her mind. She didn’t care what Sable thought of the Still Blue.
It was the worst time to think of Perry then, but she couldn’t help it. She imagined him there, grinning, his hand closed over hers.
A sob slipped through her lips. She shot to her feet and broke into a sprint. She reached the tree line at the top of the beach and plunged into the woods, where she slowed down, her breath coming in gasps. The night air smelled loamy and green, and she wondered what Perry would have thought—
No. No. No.
Not now. She pushed him out of her mind. Concentrating on her hearing, she took her time as she wove through the lush woods, creeping back to Sable’s camp. The sound of voices drifted to her ears. She followed them, growing steadier and more focused with each step. She had to find Roar and Soren.
The voices led her to a wide clearing. Aria crouched, her heart pounding.
Dozens of people slept in blankets under the open sky.
The men she’d heard were guards, two of them, who spoke softly to each other. They had positioned themselves on a large overturned tree on the opposite side of the clearing, which gave them an elevated lookout over the camp.
She scanned the people nearby, unsure what to do next. There had to be nearly a hundred people in this group alone. Since they were under guard, she knew they had to be Dwellers or her friends from the Tides, but in the darkness, wrapped in blankets, every one of them looked the same.
How was she going to find Roar and Soren?
She pulled herself up and utilized all the power of her Sense to move with absolute silence as she rounded the clearing. Twenty yards of open land stretched between the sleeping people and the tree line where she hid, but near the guards that distance was much smaller. If she drew closer to them, she’d have a better chance of spotting the people she hoped to find.
As she crept toward the guards, her eyes went to one of the larger sleeping figures, drawn by the shine of blond hair. Hyde. But she didn’t see Hayden or Straggler. It was the first time she’d seen Hyde without one his brothers. Not far off, she also spotted Molly with Talon curled between her and Bear.
