3 
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?”
“If I knew any of those things,” Roar said, “I’d have said so.”
Aria’s head snapped to him. On the surface his appearance verged on boredom, but his eyes held a predatory focus that hadn’t been there moments ago. He gripped the bottle of Luster tightly, the lean muscles in his forearms taut.
She looked around the table, picking up other signs of tension. Reef sat forward, his gaze boring into Roar. Marron darted a nervous glance at the entrance, where Gren and Twig stood, looking very much like guards. Even Soren had picked up on something. He looked from Perry to Roar, like he was trying to figure out what everyone knew that he didn’t.
“Anything else you do know that you’d like to share?” Perry said calmly, like he’d missed Roar’s biting comment completely.
“I saw the fleet of Hovers,” Roar answered. “I counted a dozen like the one outside on the bluff and other kinds of smaller craft too. They’re lined up on the plateau outside this segmented thing that’s coiled up like a snake. It’s massive. . . . Each unit is more a building than a craft.”
Soren snorted. “The segmented, coily thing is called a Komodo X12.”
Roar’s dark eyes slid to him. “That’s helpful, Dweller. I think that cleared it up for all of us.”
Aria looked from Soren to Roar, dread moving like ice through her veins.
“You want to know what the Komodo is?” Soren said. “I’ll tell you. Better yet, how about you take these rugs down and I’ll draw some stick figures on the cave wall for you? Then we could have a séance or a sacrifice or something.” Soren looked at Perry. “Maybe you could supply some drums and half-naked women?”
Aria had some experience handling Soren, and was prepared. She turned from Perry to Marron. “Would drawings help?” she asked, fighting Soren’s sarcasm with directness.
Marron leaned forward. “Oh yes. They’d help immensely. Any specifications you can provide with respect to the Hovers’ speed, range, cargo capacity, weaponry. Onboard supplies . . . Truly, Soren, anything would be very useful. We’d know which craft we need. We could prepare better. Yes, drawings and any other information you can recall. Thank you.”
Perry turned to Gren. “Bring paper, a ruler, pens.”
Soren looked from Marron to Perry to Aria, his mouth gaping. “I’m not drawing anything. I was joking.”
“You think our situation is a joke?” she said.
“What? No. But I’m not helping these Savag—these people.”
“They’ve been taking care of you for days. Do you think you’d be alive if weren’t for these people?”
Soren looked around the table like he wanted to argue, but said nothing.
“You’re the only one who knows the Hovers,” Aria continued. “You’re the expert. You should also tell us everything you know about your father’s plans with Sable. Every one of us needs to know as much as possible.”
Soren scowled. “You’re kidding me.”
“Didn’t we just agree this wasn’t a laughing matter?”
“Why should I trust them?” Soren asked, as if there were no Outsiders there.
“How about because you don’t have a choice?”
Soren’s furious gaze went to Perry, who was actually watching her, his lips pressed together like he was fighting a smile.
“Fine,” Soren said. “I’ll tell you what I know. I intercepted one of the comms between my father and Sable before Reverie . . . fell.”
Reverie hadn’t just fallen. It had been deserted. Thousands of people had been abandoned and left to die—by Soren’s father, Hess. Aria understood why Soren might not want to bring attention to that fact.
“Sable and a few of his top people have the coordinates to the Still Blue memorized,” he continued. “But there’s more to it than just knowing where it is. There’s a barrier of Aether at sea somewhere, and the only way to the Still Blue is by breaching it. Sable said he’d found a way through it, though.”
The chamber fell silent. They all knew that way was Cinder.
Perry rubbed his jaw, the first trace of anger appearing on his face. Across the back of his hand, Aria saw the scars Cinder had given him, pale and roped.
“You’re sure Cinder’s there?” he said, turning to Roar. “You saw him?”
“I’m sure,” said Roar.
Seconds passed.
“Do you have nothing more to add, Roar?” Perry asked.
“You want more?” Roar drew himself up. “Here’s more: Cinder was with the girl named Kirra, who was here at the compound, according to Twig. I saw her take him into the Komodo thing. You know who else is there? Sable. The man who killed your sister. The ships we need are also there, since I’m assuming the one outside isn’t going to carry us all to the Blue. It looks to me like they have everything and we have nothing. There it is, Perry. Now you know the situation. What do you recommend we do? Stay in this miserable pit and talk some more?”
Reef slammed his hand on the table. “Enough!” he bellowed, pushing up from his chair. “You cannot speak to him that way. I won’t allow it.”
“It’s grief,” Marron said softly.
“I don’t care what it is. It doesn’t excuse his behavior.”
“Speaking of excuses,” Roar said, “you’ve been looking for a way to come after me for a while now, Reef.” He stood and spread his hands. “Looks like you’ve got it.”
“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” Soren said, shaking his head. “You people are animals. I feel like a zookeeper.”
“Shut up, Soren.” Aria rose to her feet and took Roar’s arm. “Please, Roar. Sit down.”
He jerked away. Aria flinched as pain ripped through her, and she pulled in a hissing breath. She’d reached for Roar with her good arm, but his sharp movement had given her a jolt, igniting a hot flare in her wounded bicep.
Perry shot out of his chair. “Roar!”
The room fell quiet in an instant.
Aria’s arm trembled, pressed against her stomach. She forced herself to relax. To hide the waves of pain that tore through her.
Roar stared at her in silent mortification. “I forgot,” he said under his breath.
“I did too. It’s all right. I’m fine.”
He hadn’t meant to hurt her. He never would. But still no one moved. No one made a sound.
“I’m fine,” she said again.
Slowly, the attention of the room shifted to Perry, who was glaring at Roar, his gaze burning with rage.