Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, #3)(33)

“Shut your mouth,” Roar said through clenched teeth.

“Me? We’re in here because of you.”

“Soren, just drop it,” Aria said.

“You’re defending him?

“We need to stay focused on getting out of here,” she said. “Your father will talk to you. He’ll come. When he does, you need to negotiate with him. Find out where Cinder and Perry are—”

Her voice broke on Perry’s name, so she stopped and pretended she’d finished her thought.

Soren plopped down on the opposite bunk, letting out a frustrated sigh. Guardians had confiscated his Smarteye, and his clothes were caked with dirt from their muddy skirmish with the Dragonwing pilots.

Aria stretched out her legs, staring at her own filthy pants. The rainwater had dried from the lightweight material, but she still felt uncomfortably chilled and out of sorts. Hours had passed since Perry had been dragged away unconscious. She felt his absence everywhere, in her skin and deeper, in her muscles and bones.

“You want me to negotiate with my father.” Soren gave an exaggerated nod. “Right. That’ll work. Remember your little meetings with him? Coffee in Venice? Tea in Japan? You’ve seen him way more than I have. And he isn’t exactly rushing to see me, is he, Aria?”

“He’s your father. He wanted you to leave Reverie with him.”

He snorted. “He also left my friends to die. What do you want me to say to him, anyway? ‘Sorry we hacked your security system, impersonated you, took your Hovercraft, and killed a few of your soldiers, but can you please let us go?’”

“One more word, Dweller, and I will hurt you.” Roar’s voice was low and full of deadly warning.

Soren went still, the smirk fading from his face. He shook his head and lay back with a thump on the cot.

“Miraculous,” Roar said under his breath. He drew his knees up and cradled his head in his hands, tugging at his hair.

Watching him, Aria saw her own frustration. How much longer would they be there? What did Hess and Sable have planned for them? Marron had said that in days, Aether storms might be constant and everywhere. Was that happening now on the outside? Every second they remained trapped in this small room robbed them of their chance for survival.

Her gaze fell to her injured hand, resting on her thigh. There had to be a way out of this. She just needed to figure it out.

“Soren,” she said after a while.

“What,” he said wearily.

“When Hess comes for you, tell him I want to see him too.”


Some time later, she woke curled on her side on the hard mattress. Roar stood in the middle of the room, staring vacantly into space as his hand worked an invisible blade. Aria had seen him do that a hundred times with steel flashing at his fingertips—a habit he had when he was restless. Now there was nothing but air.

Soren was gone.

Roar stilled when he saw her, embarrassment flashing across his handsome face. He sat opposite her and crossed his arms. “You were right. An hour ago, Guardians came to take Soren to Hess.” Roar tipped his head to the door. A plastic bottle and two trays rested on the floor. “They brought food. I was going to wake you, but you looked like you needed sleep. Also, it looks terrible.”

Aria sat up, groggy. “How long was I out?”

“A few hours.”

She hadn’t meant to sleep, but the pain in her arm was exhausting, and it’d been more than a day since she’d rested. Her eyes had slammed closed as soon as she’d laid her head down.

“Did you eat?” she asked. Both trays looked untouched.

Roar shrugged. “I would take a bottle of Luster right now. Nothing else.”

She studied him, gnawing her lip. Roar had always been lean, but lately his cheekbones looked sharper, and deep shadows welled beneath his eyes.

She had no appetite either, but she grabbed the water and joined him on the same bunk. After taking a long drink, she handed it to him.

“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.”