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Perry tensed at his sister’s memory, and his horse shied beneath him. “Whoa. Easy, girl,” he said, settling the mare. He shook his head, streaked at himself for letting his thoughts slip.
He couldn’t let himself think about Liv. Grief would make him weak—something he couldn’t afford with hundreds of lives in his hands. It would be harder to stay focused with Roar back, but he’d do it. He had no choice.
Now, as he took the switchback trail down to the protected cove below, he caught sight of Roar up ahead and told himself not to worry. Roar was his brother in every way except by blood. They’d find a way past a fight. Past wh
at had happened with Liv.
Perry dismounted on the small beach, staying behind as the others disappeared into the dark crevasse that led into the belly of the mountain. The cave was his personal torture, and he wasn’t ready to return to it yet. When he was in there, it took every bit of his concentration to quell the panic that tightened his lungs and stole his breath away.
“You’re claustrophobic,” Marron had told him yesterday. “It’s an irrational fear of being trapped in close spaces. ”
But he was also Blood Lord. He didn’t have time for fear, irrational or otherwise.
He drew a breath, savoring the outside air for a few moments longer. Afternoon ocean breezes had blown away the smoky haze, and for the first time that day, he could see the Aether.
The blue currents rolled across the sky, a tempest of luminescent, twisting waves. They were fiercer than ever—more violent than even yesterday—but something else caught his eye. He saw tinges of red where the Aether churned most intensely, like hot spots. Like the red of sunrise, bleeding through the crest of a wave.
“Do you see that?” Perry said to Hyde, who jogged out to meet him.
One of the best Seers in the Tides, Hyde followed Perry’s gaze, his hawk’s eyes narrowing. “I see it, Per. What do you think it means?”
“Not sure,” Perry said, “but I doubt it’s good. ”
“I wish I could see the Still Blue, you know?” Hyde’s gaze had moved to the horizon, across endless miles of ocean. “It’d be easier to take all of this if I knew it was there, waiting for us. ”
Perry hated the defeat that gathered in Hyde’s temper, a flat, stale scent like dust. “You’ll see it soon,” he said. “You’ll be the second to see it. ”
Hyde took the bait. He grinned. “My eyes are stronger than yours. ”
“I meant Brooke, not me. ”
Hyde shoved him in the shoulder. “That’s not right. I have twice her range. ”
“You’re a blind man compared to her. ”
Their debate continued as they headed into the cave, Hyde’s temper lifting, just as Perry had hoped. He needed to keep morale up, or they’d never get through this.
“Find Marron for me, and get him to the Battle Room,” he told Hyde as they stepped inside. “I need Reef and Molly there as well. ” He nodded to Roar, who stood a few paces away, staring across the cave with his arms crossed. “Get him water and something to eat, and have him join us right away. ”
It was time for a meeting. Roar had information about Cinder, and Sable and Hess. In order to reach the Still Blue, Perry needed Dweller ships—he and Aria had taken one from Reverie, but it wouldn’t carry enough people—and he also needed a precise heading or the Tides wouldn’t go anywhere.
Cinder. Hovers. A heading.
Three things, and Sable and Hess had them all. But that was going to change.
Roar spoke with his back still turned. “Perry seems to have forgotten that I can hear his every word, Hyde. ” He turned to face Perry—and there was that dark stare again. “Whether I want to or not. ”
Anger washed over Perry. Nearby, Hyde and Gren tensed, their tempers spiking red, but Twig, who’d been with Roar for days, moved first.
He dropped the horse lead in his hands and darted to Roar, taking a fistful of his black coat. “Come on,” he said, giving Roar a nudge that was almost a shove. “I’ll show you the way. Easy to get lost around here till you get used to it. ”
When they’d left, Gren shook his head. “What was that?”
Answers flipped through Perry’s mind.
Roar without Liv.
Roar without a reason to live.
