Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, #3)(32)

“I don’t think your father thought much of me, though,” Sable continued casually, as though they were old friends. “We met years ago, when we still had tribal gatherings. Jodan was reserved and quiet around strangers, not unlike yourself, but Vale and I got on much better.

[page]“Your older brother was cunning and ambitious. I enjoyed the time we spent together when he came to negotiate for your sister’s hand. We had many long conversations during his stay in Rim. . . . Quite a few of those were about you.”

Perry gritted his teeth until they hurt. He didn’t want to hear this.

“Vale expressed serious concerns about you. He feared you’d try for the Tides’ chain, so he asked me to take you into my house as part of the arrangement we were making for Olivia. He wanted you gone, Peregrine. And I accepted. People who inspire fear are my very favorite kind. I was eager to meet you. But later, Vale wrote and said he’d made other arrangements for you. We both know where that led.”

Sable looked up to the ceiling and drew a deep breath through his nose. The chain at his neck sparkled with gemstones—nothing like the crude metal of the Tides’ chain. Of his chain.

“I would have done the same to Vale had I been in your circumstance,” Sable continued. “Betrayal is unacceptable. In fact, I have done the same thing, which brings me to your sister. Olivia.”

Before he could stop it, a gurgle bubbled in Perry’s throat.

Sable’s eyebrows rose. “Fresh wound? It is for me, too.” He nodded, quiet for a moment as his eyes took on a distant look. “Liv was sublime. Ferocious. Being around her was like breathing fire. I want you to know that I treated her well. I wanted only the best for her. . . .”

He shifted in his seat and leaned closer. “You’re very easy to talk to. I don’t just mean because you’re a good listener.”

At first Perry thought he was joking, but Sable’s expression was pensive and relaxed.

“You’re a Scire, and a Blood Lord,” he continued. “You understand my position like no one else can. You know how hard it is to find trustworthy people. How impossible it is. People will turn on each other for the smallest reasons. For a meal, they will toss a friendship aside. For a warm coat, they will stab each other in the back. They steal. They lie and betray. They lust for what they can’t have. What they do have isn’t enough. We are weak, wanting creatures. We are never satisfied.”

Sable’s gaze narrowed. “Do you scent it as often as I do? The hypocrisy? The lack of basic decency? It’s unbearable. I get so tired of it. I know you agree.”

“I don’t,” Perry said. He couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “People are imperfect, but it doesn’t mean they spoil like milk.” His voice came out hoarse and quiet, nearly inaudible.

Sable studied him for long moments. “You’re a hatchling still, Peregrine. You’ll agree with me in time.” He pressed a hand to the gold horns at his chest. “I don’t lie. When I told Liv I would give her the world, it was the truth. I had planned to do it. And then I came to know her better and I wanted to do it. I would have given her anything she asked for, if only she’d been loyal.

“I knew about your friend. Roar. Your brother told me about them when we made the deal. When Olivia came to me months late, months after the time Vale and I had agreed upon, I knew why. I have Auds listening for me everywhere. I have Seers hidden in every patch of forest, acting as my eyes. But Liv came to me nonetheless. She chose me and she told me so. I told her she needed to be absolutely certain. I told her she couldn’t go back once she decided. She swore she wouldn’t. She promised herself to me.”

Sable leaned closer, lowering his voice. “I am an honest man. I’ve been told you are as well. I expect the same from others. Don’t you? Is that too much to ask?”

Don’t answer, Perry told himself. Don’t argue. Don’t speak. Don’t give him what he wants.

Sable sat back and unfolded his legs, a satisfied smile spreading over his face. “I enjoyed this very much. I’m already looking forward to our next conversation—which we’ll have soon.”

Standing, he moved to the door, his smile vanishing and his eyes as cold as death. “You know, Peregrine, you weren’t the only one double-crossed by Vale. Your brother promised me a bride, but he sold me a whore.”





[page]UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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17


ARIA


I want to see my father!” Soren yelled at the door. “Tell him I want to see him!”

He’d been doing the same thing, on and off, for over an hour.

They were locked in a small room with two iron bunk beds bolted to the floor, outfitted with nothing more than thin mattresses. On the far end was a closet barely large enough to house a toilet and sink.

Sitting beside her, Roar looked like he was seconds away from attacking Soren. A purple welt had risen over his eye, where he’d struck the wall earlier.

Finally, Soren turned to face them. “No one’s listening,” he said.

“He’s only figuring that out now?” Roar muttered.

“Who are you to talk, Outsider? You’re the one who—”