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“That’s not Luster. ”
“Just drink it. ”
Roar took it and drank.
“Why did they take him? Why Perry and not us?”
“You know why, Aria. ”
She didn’t like his dismissive tone. Worse, she didn’t like the confirmation of her worries.
Hess and Sable had taken Perry because of his connection to Cinder. They planned to use him.
Roar said nothing more. As the moments passed, she felt him retreat. Aria picked at the crusted mud on her uniform, hating the silence that stretched and stretched, with nothing but the sound of their breathing.
Quiet was right on Perry. Not on Roar.
But she didn’t break their silence either. She didn’t want to blame him for their capture, like Soren, and if she spoke, she might.
Roar set the water jug on the floor. “Have I ever told you about the time Liv and Perry and I went to look at some horses for Vale?” he said, sitting back again.
“No,” she said, a lump rising in her throat. He was talking, which she wanted. Sharing a story about Liv and Perry as he’d done countless other times. But those times, Liv had been alive. “You haven’t told me that story. ”
Roar nodded. “It was a few years ago. Some traders came down to the Shield Valley with horses from the north. Vale sent us to have a look. Liv and I were seventeen, Perry a year younger. ”
He paused, scratching the dark stubble on his chin. Aria didn’t know how he managed to sound so normal. Nothing about this story, or this place, or their situation felt normal.
“We never actually saw the horses. We hadn’t been at the traders’ camp for an hour when a band of dispersed showed up. A group like the Six. Hard men who’d cut you down just for looking at them the wrong way. We tried to steer clear of them, but it turned out we were all waiting to see the horse master.
“These men recognized Liv right off. They knew she was Vale’s sister, and they started taunting her and saying these lewd things . . . awful things. It wasn’t like Liv to keep quiet, or Perry for that matter. It especially wasn’t like me, but they outnumbered us three to one. Perry and Liv held their tongues, but after about ten seconds I’d heard enough. I felt like I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t do something.
“So I went after one of them, and pretty soon it was me against nine. Perry and Liv jumped in, of course, and for a little while there we were all in a nice knot until it got broken up. Liv and I came out of it with a few scratches, but Perry’s nose was gushing blood and he’d broken a finger or two. So we thought. They were too swollen to tell. He’d also sprained an ankle and suffered a gash on his forearm. ”
The muscles in Roar’s neck rolled as he swallowed. “Seeing him roughed up like that was as bad as hearing those things about Liv. Worse, because it was my fault. He got hurt because of me. ”
Finally, Aria saw the point of the story. Roar was scared. He feared Perry would be hurt because of him. Because he’d chosen to hunt Sable down instead of escape when they had the chance.
She wanted to tell him that Perry would be all right, but she couldn’t. She was too nervous. Too scared herself that Perry wasn’t all right.
Instead she said, “I feel like every story you tell me, he gets his nose broken. ”
Roar raised an eyebrow. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”
“I have. ” Aria hugged her legs, ignoring the pain that pulsed in her right arm. She pictured Perry’s expression as he’d put his hand to his heart. “I should thank you. I like his nose the way it is. ” In fact, she loved it.
“You can thank me if we get out of this. ”
“When we get out of this. ”
Roar frowned. “Right . . . when. ”
The door hissed open. They shot to their feet.
Three of Sable’s men stepped inside. Two had the Horns symbol emblazoned in red on their black uniforms, but the third man, who carried himself like a leader, wore a uniform with silver horns. All three carried Dweller pistols in holsters at their belts.
“Turn around and put your hands behind your backs,” said one.
Aria didn’t budge. She couldn’t look away from the oldest soldier—the silver-horned one. She recognized him as the man who’d been sparring with Liv in the courtyard in Rim when they’d first arrived.
