Under the Never Sky (32 page)

“Liv never did. And Vale never acted like it, but I can’t be sure. I can’t scent his tempers just like I can’t scent my own. But maybe he did. I’m the only one who carries her Sense. My father gave up everything to be with her. He built a tribe. He had Vale and Liv. And then I came and stole what he loved most. People said it was the curse of mixing blood. They said it finally caught up to him.”

“You didn’t steal anything. It’s just something that happened.”

“No. It’s not. The same thing happened to my brother. Mila was a Seer too, and she’s . . . she’s gone. Talon’s sick. . . .” He exhaled a shuddering breath. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I shouldn’t be talking about this with you. I’ve been talking so much lately. Maybe I forgot how to stop.”

“You don’t have to stop.”

“You know what I think of words.”

“Words are the best way I have to know you.”

His hand slid under her jaw, his fingers threading into her hair. “The best way?”

His thumb ran back and forth across her chin. It was distracting, and she knew that was what he wanted. Maybe all he’d ever done was move forward. Try to save the people he could. Try to make up for something he’d never done.

“Perry . . . ,” Aria said, covering his hand. “Peregrine . . . you are
kind.
You put your life at risk for Talon and Cinder. For me. You did it when you didn’t even like me. You worry about your tribe. You ache for Roar and your sister. I know you do. I saw it in your face every time Roar spoke of Liv.” Her voice was shaking. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You are
good
, Peregrine.”

He shook his head. “You’ve seen me.”

“I have. And I
know
your heart is good.” She put her hand over it and felt all the life that drummed through him. A sound so strong, so loud, as if she’d rested her ear against his chest.

His thumb stopped. His hand moved to the back of her head. He drew her toward him until their foreheads touched. “I liked those words,” he said.

In his glinting eyes, she saw tears of gratitude and trust. She also saw the shadow of what neither of them would dare say to each other, with only days left together. But for now, for tonight, they were done with words.

Chapter 38
PEREGRINE

A
ria made him forget to eat. It was as real a sign as any that he was in trouble. They’d finished the small provisions they had brought from Marron’s. Today he’d need to hunt. Perry made a few quick arrows in the morning using shoots he’d been collecting, deciding to track for game as they went. It would slow their pace, but he couldn’t ignore the cramping in his stomach any longer.

They were working down into the foothills when he scented a badger in a wide glade that gave to a river. The animal’s odor wafted out of its underground tunnels. Supper, he decided.

Perry found the entry hole and another one, farther back. He set a fire on one end and had Aria wait there with a leafy branch. “Fan the smoke into the hole. It’ll come to me. Animals don’t run toward fire.”

The badger saw Perry as it came up from its hole. It spun and did exactly what he said it wouldn’t do. Perry ran toward Aria. “Your knife! He’s coming to you!”

She was ready, staring down into the opening as Perry reached her. But the badger didn’t come up. Aria straightened from her crouch and began walking. She stopped every few steps, changing directions as she stared at the river-moist soil. Perry had an idea what this was. He’d been wondering since the day they’d seen the wolves. Finally she stood in place and met his eyes.

“He’s right underneath me,” she said, smiling wide, surprised.

Perry slid his bow off his shoulder.

“No. I’ll get him. But I need your knife.”

Perry gave it to her and backed away, afraid to blink.

She waited for a few moments, the long blade clutched in both hands. Then she brought it over her head and thrust it deep into the muddy earth.

Perry heard a faint squeal but Aria, he knew, had heard it clearly.

Later, in the same glade, they sat against a stump. Aria lay back against his chest. A fire trailed a line of smoke up into the trees. There were a few more hours left in the day, but with a full stomach and Aria’s contented temper sating him, Perry let his head fall back. He watched the glow of Aether dance behind his eyelids as Aria described the sounds she heard.

“They aren’t louder . . . I don’t know how to explain it. They’ve just become richer. Sounds that were simple are so intricate now. Like the river. There are hundreds of small sounds coming from the water. And the wind, Perry. It’s constant, moving through the trees, making the bark groan and the leaves rustle. I can tell exactly which way it’s coming. It’s almost like I can
see
it, I hear it so clearly.”

Perry tried in vain to hear what she heard, feeling an odd sense of pride over her newfound ability.

“Do you think it’s being out here—under the Aether—why this has all happened to me? Like the Outsider part of me is waking up?”

Perry heard her, but he was so content that he’d started to drift asleep. She pinched his arm. He startled. “Sorry. The Outsider in me was falling asleep.”

She glared at him, her eyes shining with cleverness. “Do you think I’m related to Roar?”

“Maybe generations back. Not closely. Your scents are too different. Why?”

“I like Roar. I was thinking that if he didn’t find Liv, you know . . . we are both Audiles. Never mind. Roar will never get over Liv.”

Perry sat up. “
What?”

She laughed. “You’re awake now. Did you think I was serious?”

“Yes. No. Aria, there’s truth there. Roar would be better suited for you.” Perry sighed, shoving his hand into his hair. He peered at her. There was another reason too, and he might as well just tell her since he was getting good at telling her everything. “Liv says . . . she says he’s a feast for the eyes.” He tried to say it without sounding envious, but doubted it would help. Surely she’d hear the emotion in his voice.

Aria smiled. She took his scarred hand and ran her thumb over his knuckles. “Roar is very handsome. In Reverie most people look like him. Or close.”

Perry cursed. His fault for bringing it up. “And here you are. Holding hands with a crooked-nosed Savage who’s been burnt and beaten in—how many places did you count?”

“I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you.”

Perry looked down at their hands. How did she do that? How did she make him feel weak and strong? Thrilled and terrified? He couldn’t find a way to return what she’d given him. He didn’t have the gift she did with words. All he could do was take her hand and kiss it, and bring it to his heart, and wish she could scent his temper. He wished it was all easy between them. At least now she’d come to understand. She was learning the power of a Sense.

He pulled her back into his arms, resting her along his chest. “I can tell you one thing about your father,” he said, because he knew she wondered. “He’s probably from a strong line of Auds for you to be as keen as you are.”

She squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

“I mean it. That was no small trick, hearing through dirt that thick.”

Perry kissed the top of her head as they fell into silence. He knew she was listening. Hearing a new world. But her good mood didn’t pull him along anymore.

For days he’d had a shifty, anxious feeling in his gut. A feeling like the instant after a cut, before the pain came. He knew when the hurt would hit him. Three more days and they’d reach Bliss. And she’d go back to her mother. He didn’t know what he’d do if they didn’t find Lumina. Bring her to the Tides? Take her back to Marron’s? He couldn’t imagine doing either. He tightened his arms around her. Brought in her scent, breathing deep, letting it mellow him. She was here now.

“Perry? Say something. I want to hear your voice again.”

He didn’t know what to say but he wasn’t going to disappoint her. He cleared his throat. “I’ve been having this dream since we started sleeping together up in the trees. I’m in this grassy plain. And there’s this blue sky stretching out over me. No Aether in it at all. And the breeze is moving the grass in waves, stirring up bugs. And I’m just walking, my bow sort of combing the tall grass behind me. And there’s not a thing I’m worrying about. It’s a good dream.”

She squeezed him. “Your voice sounds like a midnight fire. All warm and worn in and golden. I could listen to you talk forever.”

“I could never do that.”

She laughed at him. He brought his lips to her ear. “Your scent is like violets in early spring,” he whispered. Then he laughed at himself because though it was true, he sounded like the worst kind of fool.

“Was Vale a good Blood Lord?”

Aria was too eager to learn about her Sense to sleep so they walked into the night.

“Very good. Vale is calm. He thinks things through. He’s patient with people. I think . . . I think if it weren’t a time like this . . . he would be the best man to lead the tribe.”

Maybe that had held him back from making a challenge for Blood Lord, as much as his fear of hurting Talon, Perry realized. He still couldn’t believe his brother had been captured. “He wasn’t going to go after Talon,” he said, remembering the last time they’d been together. “Vale said it meant risking the tribe’s safety. It’s the reason I left.”

“Why do you think Vale changed his mind?”

“I don’t know,” he said. Vale had never put anything above the good of the tribe before, but Talon was his son.

“They’re together. Will you still try to bring them to the outside?”

He looked at her.

“Talon is being cared for,” she said. “You saw him. He has a chance to live in there.”

“I’m not giving up.”

Aria slipped her hand into his. “Even if it’s better for him?”

“Are you saying I should let him go? How could I do that?”

“I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out the same thing.”

Perry stopped. “Aria . . .” He was going to tell her he’d rendered to her. That nothing was the same anymore because of her. But what difference would it make? They only had three more days together. And he knew she had to go home. He knew exactly how much she needed her mother.

She took his other hand. “Yes, Peregrine?” After a moment, she smiled.

He found himself smiling too. “Aria, I don’t understand how you can be so chirky right now.”

“I was just thinking. Soon you’ll be Peregrine, Blood Lord of the Tides.” She swirled a hand in the air as she said it. “I just love how it sounds.”

Perry laughed. “Spoken like a true Aud.”

Chapter 39
ARIA

A
ria heard song everywhere.

Shifting in the trees. Rumbling in the earth. Drifting on the wind. It was the same terrain, but she saw it differently. When she looked into the distance, where she’d seen nothing before, she now imagined the father who might be there. A man who would hear the world as she did, in endless tones. He was an Audile. That was the only thing she knew about him. Strangely, it felt like a lot.

A day after she’d discovered her ability, she noticed her own footfall growing quieter. Somehow, without consciously thinking of it, she’d begun to choose her steps with greater care. When she mentioned it to Perry, he grinned.

“I noticed that too. Easier to hunt,” he said, patting a hare strung over his shoulder. “Most Auds are quiet as shadows. The best end up as spies or scouts for the larger tribes.”

“Seriously? Spies?”

“Seriously.”

She practiced sneaking up on Perry, determined to succeed where she’d failed before. The morning before they were to reach Bliss
,
she pounced on him, throwing her arms around his neck as she planted a kiss on the blond scruff over his jaw. Finally she had accomplished the Spontaneous Kiss. She expected him to laugh and kiss her back. He didn’t do either. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers.

“Should we rest?” she asked, feeling his weight settle onto her shoulders. She could see the hills where Bliss was supposedly nestled on the horizon.

Perry straightened. “No,” he said. His green eyes were tight, like the day was too bright for him. “We have to keep going, Aria. I don’t know what else to do.”

Neither did she, so they walked.

They reached the hills late in the afternoon. They climbed one and another, and then almost suddenly, there stood Bliss, a man-made mountain amid earthen hills. Aria had never seen a Pod from the outside but knew the largest dome at the center would be the Panop. The off-shooting structures were the service domes, like Ag 6. She’d spent seventeen years in Reverie’s Panop. Contained in one place. It seemed unbelievable to her now. With daylight fading, the Pod’s deep charcoal shape was fast blending into the night.

Perry shifted his weight at her side, silent as he took in the scene. “Looks like a rescue. There are Hovers . . . thirty or so, and a bigger craft. At least fifty people out in the open.”

To her, what he described was just a smattering of dots next to Bliss, lit within a circle of light. The soft drone of engines carried to her ears.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Let’s get closer.” They moved quietly across the dry grass, stopping when they reached a rocky perch. Now Aria saw a large square opening in Bliss, a wide-open cavity on the smooth walls of the Pod. The Guardians who came and went wore sterile suits. She knew what that meant. The closed environment was compromised. She’d expected this, but numbness seeped through her limbs.

Perry cursed softly beside her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“There’s a black cart down there,” he said, his expression pained. “Some sort of truck, close to the Pod.” She saw it. It was in miniature, but she saw it. “There are people—bodies on board.”

Her eyes blurred. “Can you see any of their faces?”

“No.” Perry wrapped his arms around her. “Come here,” he whispered. “She could be anywhere. Don’t give up now.”