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“Me?” Perry ran his fingers over the bruise Sable had left on her forehead. It would fade, and the cut Sable had given him on the ribs would heal. Perry hardly felt it now. What he felt was the girl he loved, tucked to his side. “I’m doing amazing. ”
She smiled, recognizing her answer to the same question a few days ago. “Really?”
He nodded. When they found some time alone, he’d tell her about all the triumph and sorrow that stretched at the walls of his heart. For now, he just said, “Really. ”
A conversation across the fire caught his attention. Marron was talking to Molly and a few Dwellers about forming a leadership council. They planned to begin recruiting members in the morning.
Perry gave Aria’s shoulder a squeeze, tipping his chin. “You should be part of that council. ”
“I want to be,” she said, and then fell quiet for a moment. “Maybe I’ll ask Loran if he wants to be in it, too. ”
It was a great idea. Perry couldn’t think of a better way for Aria to build a relationship with her father, and he knew how much she wanted that.
Aria’s gaze went to his neck, where the chain no longer rested. “What about you?”
“You’ll do a better job than I ever did. You already have. And I have important plans for tomorrow. ”
“Important plans?”
“That’s right. ” He winked at Talon, who was drifting to sleep next to Molly. “I’m going fishing. ”
Aria’s gray eyes brightened. “Using what kind of bait? Earthworms? Night crawlers?”
“Are you ever going to forget that?”
“No. Never. ”
“Fine. Then I love you, my little Night Crawler. ” He leaned in and kissed her, because he could. Lingered over her lips, because he couldn’t stop himself.
Aria drew away first, leaving him out of his mind with desire. He’d been about two seconds from whisking her away somewhere, and she seemed to know it. She smiled at him, her eyes full of heat and promises; then she turned to Soren.
“Nothing to say?” she asked him. “No retching noises or snide remarks?”
“What—no. ” The words came out together. Soren crossed his arms and lifted his shoulders. “Nothing. ”
Beside him, Brooke shook her head. “That’s a first. ”
Soren glanced at her, trying—and failing—to hold back a smile. “Can’t I just sit here, relishing the fire?”
“You’re relishing the fire?” Brooke laughed.
Soren frowned, looking confused. “What? Why is that funny?”
Perry noticed they sat a little closer than they needed to, and Brooke seemed happy.
Roar stood unexpectedly and headed into the darkness. Perry wondered if he’d seen the same, the beginnings of a pair, and been reminded of Liv.
But Roar only rounded the fire and grabbed the guitar from Jupiter. He came back and looked at Aria, smiling as he plucked the strings. Perry recognized the opening of the Hunter’s Song.
Aria straightened, rubbing her hands together in exaggerated eagerness. “My favorite. ”
“Me too,” said Roar.
Perry grinned. It was his favorite—not theirs.
“Light of dawn in the hunter’s eyes,” Aria sang. “Home unfurls inside his mind. ”
Roar joined in, their voices harmonizing perfectly, and it was a good thing—the best thing—hearing the two people who knew him best sing to him. The lyrics told the story of a hunter’s return, and they’d always swept Perry up; he’d hummed them a thousand times while walking Tide Valley. He would never go back there, but tonight was still a return—to the life he wanted again.
