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Aria recognized them as the two men who had come to escort
her to Hess—the same men whose suspicion Loran had deftly evaded.
“What are you doing? Where are you taking her?” they asked, voices raised in alarm.
The Horn soldiers drew their guns before Aria knew what was happening. They fired at the Guardians, the sound sending a stab of pain through Aria’s ears. The Guardians reacted, diving for cover around the bend in the corridor.
The shorter Horn soldier yelled, “Go! Go! Go!” The two soldiers rushed ahead, pursuing the Guardians.
Aria bolted in the other direction.
“Stop!”
She froze, peering behind her.
The shorter man stood at the end of the corridor, aiming his gun at her. “Stay right here, and don’t move!”
As soon as he disappeared, she sprinted away.
When she’d left them far enough behind, she forced herself to slow down and walk calmly. Footsteps thundered closer. Her heart seized as a pair of Guardians came running with drawn guns. Panic blazed through her, but they shot right past, their frantic exchange pricking to her ears.
“What was that? Did Hess order an early move?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got no comm. ”
“Whose orders are we supposed to be following?”
“I said I don’t know!”
She backtracked to her chamber, her pulse hammering. Instinct told her that Sable had moved first—just as Perry had predicted. Why else would the Horns have fired at the Dwellers back there? Sable must have learned about Hess’s plan and preempted him.
The corridors bustled with activity the closer she came to her chamber. Horn soldiers jogged past, shaking the Komodo, so focused they barely gave her a passing glance. By contrast, the Guardians who streamed through the halls looked stunned and confused.
Her composure returning, she broke her objectives down. Get Roar and Soren. Find Perry and Cinder. Leave the Komodo as far behind as she could.
She’d almost reached the chamber when Loran appeared at the end of the corridor, rushing her way. His eyes locked sharply with hers, like she’d shouted his name. He slowed. “I’ll meet you outside,” he told the men accompanying him.
Aria tried to catch her breath as he walked up. She wanted to run away. Or ask him the millions of questions that swirled in her mind. She didn’t do either. Her legs wouldn’t move. Her lips wouldn’t form a single word.
In the pause that spread between them, she realized the Komodo had stopped. Any doubt that Sable had staged a coup of his own vanished.
“I sent my men for you,” Loran said.
“I didn’t like them. They were shooting Guardians. ”
“I was trying to help you,” he returned, frustration adding a rough edge to his voice. “The Hovers are leaving. Peregrine and Cinder are already outside. You need to come with me right now. ”
“What about Roar? What about Soren?”
“My allegiance is to Sable, Aria. ”
“Yes, I know, Father. Mine is not. ”
Loran shifted his weight, shadows falling over his gray eyes. Aria wished she could read the emotion in them. She wished she hadn’t just spat father at him, like it was an insult. “Are you going to force me to come with you?” she asked.
“No—I’m not. ” He glanced down the hall and then shifted closer. “I want a chance to know you, Aria,” he said, low and urgent. “I’m trying to prove I deserve it. ”
“And I’m trying to believe you!” Her voice rose, sounding shrill and unfamiliar to her own ears. She backed down the hall, suddenly desperate to retreat.
