Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, #3)(20)

“Hunting?”

He laughed. “No.” He slid his hands to her hips, feeling muscle and solid bone, and then back up, over the curve of her waist. “Not hunting.” Every part of her drove him mad, and he told her so, whispering in her ear as she rested against him.

When she turned sharply to the woods, he knew she’d heard Roar and Brooke. It was time to go back, but he held on, keeping her there just a little longer.

“What brought you out here, Aria?” he asked.

She looked up, right into his eyes. “I needed to find you.”

“I know,” he said. “The second I left you, I felt the same way.”

[page]
They returned to the cargo hold to listen to Soren’s assessment.

Perry sat with Aria, Brooke, and Jupiter, while Roar stood off in the shadows again.

Soren planted his feet wide and locked his hands behind his back, letting out a self-important sigh as he scanned their faces. He acted as though he were going to address a crowd of thousands instead of the five of them.

“First, I want to say that it’s a real shame none of you are smart enough to appreciate what I’ve done here. To put it in simplistic terms, which you may or may not comprehend, I essentially hit a bull’s-eye.”

Perry shook his head. Every single thing Soren did chafed him, but Aria seemed unruffled.

“What did you find out?” she asked.

“That I’m unstoppable. And indispen—”

“Soren.”

“Oh, you mean about the plan? We’re all set.”

Aria looked at Perry in surprise. Soren had only been at work for two hours, maximum.

“Let’s run through it,” Perry said.

“It’s ready,” Soren insisted. “Let’s get this going. Every minute we spend sitting here, we’re taking a chance they’ll find us out.”

Perry rubbed his chin, studying Soren. Scenting his temper.

Something didn’t feel right. While still in Reverie, Soren had received an experimental treatment to control his moods. Supposedly there was no risk of him becoming violent anymore, but anger lurked behind his obnoxious comments. Perry questioned his frame of mind, and his allegiance, even if Aria didn’t.

Had Hess really betrayed Soren—his son? Given Perry’s own experience with Vale, he knew betrayal was possible within families. But maybe there was something more. Was Soren leading them right into the jaws of the enemy? Into a trap?

Roar spoke from the shadows. “I’m with the Dweller.”

Jupiter shrugged. “I am too?”

“Aria and I decide how this goes,” Perry said.

“Why?” Soren barked. “I hacked the system. I’m the one flying this ship. I’m doing everything. What are you doing? Why aren’t you taking orders from me?”

“Because you’re scared,” Perry said. Might as well put it out there now, before they went any further. As a Scire, he seldom manipulated people, poking at the fears revealed through their tempers. But if Soren was going to break, Perry wanted it to happen here, not during their mission. So he pressed again.

“You don’t know what you want. Do you, Dweller? Are you going to turn your back on us the first chance you get? Are you taking us in to impress your father? To get back on his good side?”

Soren went very still, the veins at his neck swelling. “Just because of your weird mutation, don’t think you know what’s in my head. You don’t know anything.”

“I know what side I’m on. I know I can handle pressure.”

Perry’s words hung in a beat of silence. He’d gone right to Soren’s weakness, but it was the truth: Soren’s control was brittle, and Perry had proved it.

Soren cursed and lunged forward. “Stupid Savage! I should have killed you. You should be dead!”

Perry shot to his feet, yanking Aria behind him. Roar drew his blade, but Brooke was closer. She stepped in and pulled an arrow from the quiver at her back.

“Go ahead,” she said, pressing the steel tip into Soren’s chest. “Take another step, Dweller. I’m already tempted.”

Soren’s glare shifted away from Perry. He raked his eyes down Brooke’s body and said, “I’m tempted too. Anytime, Laurel. Just say the word.”

For a long moment, no one moved. Perry knew he wasn’t the only one grasping for some clarity on what had just happened.

Then Brooke said, “Who the hell is Laurel?”

Behind him, Aria let out a chirp of laughter, and suddenly Perry understood.

Roar sheathed his knife, glancing at her. “And you call me wicked.”

A scarlet blush crawled up Soren’s neck. “You’re all crazy,” he growled. “Every one of you!”

Aria slipped past Perry. “I want to see what you set up, Soren. Show us?” She headed into the cockpit, denying him the opportunity to brood or argue by pulling him with her.

Nicely done, Perry thought. She had gotten them exactly what they needed, a run-through of the plan, and it would give Soren a chance to recover his confidence by showing them the work he had done.

“Brooke,” Perry said as the others filed into the cockpit. “Thank you.”

She paused, setting her bow and quiver against the wall. “You’d have done the same for me.”