Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, #3)(81)

Aria let out a slow breath. It was too much to take in. Perry and Reef were gone, and now suddenly Roar and Soren were in danger too?

“What should we do?” she asked.

“Not we,” Loran said sharply. “I brought you soup. While I did so, I gave you information about your friends, but I did not help you. He’d know if I did. As it is, it won’t be long before he becomes suspicious. He’ll know through our tempers that there’s something more between us.”

Aria considered the words something more. She could accept that description of them. It was vague enough. It left her room to decide exactly what kind of more simmered between them.

“If he learned about us, would he come after you?”

“If he believes there’s any chance I’d come between you and him, yes. Without a doubt.”

“There is no me and him.”

“You’re here, Aria. Alone, while everyone else is out there.”

“Why?” she said, her voice rising in pitch. “What does he want with me? Am I just another one of his tools, like Cinder and Perry? Why did you tell me about Roar if you won’t help me?”

“I told you where my allegiance lies, Aria. I’m sworn to him.”

“Why? How do you serve a man like that? He’s insane. He’s a monster!”

Loran leaned close. “Lower your voice,” he hissed. Was he trying to intimidate her with his size?

She leaned in as well, matching him. “You make me sick! You’re pathetic and weak and I hate you.” Rage lit inside her as she spoke, cutting through the numbness and shock. Her thoughts kept tumbling out. “I hate that you left my mother. I hate what you did to me. I hate that I’m made of half of you.”

“I don’t think much of you, either. I thought you had a backbone, but all you seem capable of doing is staring out of windows. I’d never have guessed a child of mine could wallow so much.”

“Take your stupid soup!” She threw the bowl at him.

Cursing, Loran jerked back, gaping at the soup that dripped over the horns on his black coat.

She kicked him while his eyes were down, slamming her boot into his temple.

He should have flinched. Loran was Sable’s highest-ranking soldier. He should have made a move to protect himself, but he took the kick squarely and fell back with a thud.

For an instant, Aria was stunned. Then she shot to her feet and tore down the ramp.

She’d just reached the sand when she heard two words uttered softly behind her.

“Good girl,” said her father.





[page]UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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47


ARIA


She ran.

She sprinted over the hard sand along the water’s edge. A trail of high-powered lights illuminated a path from the Hovers, up the wide beach, to the tree line. There, through a web of branches, she saw a brighter concentration of light. The campsite.

She ran away from it, leaving behind people and Hovers, with no notion of where she was going except toward darkness.

When the lights were well behind her, she snatched a piece of driftwood in case she came across anyone and headed toward the trees.

Her thighs burned as she raced over softer sand. Halfway to the tree line, she noticed something looked different. Something besides the shape of the beach, or the delicate tropical trees.

Then she realized everything looked different.

Aria’s breath caught, and she stopped in her tracks. She hadn’t looked at the sky yet. She’d been so lost, so numbed, that she hadn’t even looked up.

She sank to her knees and lifted her head. She had become so accustomed to the rippling blue tides closing her in, pressing down on her, but this sky was open . . . this night was infinite.

She felt like she might fall upward forever, drifting into space. Floating across the stars. Sable had spoken of embers scattered across the roof of the universe. It was a good description.

Aria shook her head, not wanting his voice in her mind. She didn’t care what Sable thought of the Still Blue.

It was the worst time to think of Perry then, but she couldn’t help it. She imagined him there, grinning, his hand closed over hers.

A sob slipped through her lips. She shot to her feet and broke into a sprint. She reached the tree line at the top of the beach and plunged into the woods, where she slowed down, her breath coming in gasps. The night air smelled loamy and green, and she wondered what Perry would have thought—

No. No. No.

Not now. She pushed him out of her mind. Concentrating on her hearing, she took her time as she wove through the lush woods, creeping back to Sable’s camp. The sound of voices drifted to her ears. She followed them, growing steadier and more focused with each step. She had to find Roar and Soren.

The voices led her to a wide clearing. Aria crouched, her heart pounding.

Dozens of people slept in blankets under the open sky.

The men she’d heard were guards, two of them, who spoke softly to each other. They had positioned themselves on a large overturned tree on the opposite side of the clearing, which gave them an elevated lookout over the camp.

She scanned the people nearby, unsure what to do next. There had to be nearly a hundred people in this group alone. Since they were under guard, she knew they had to be Dwellers or her friends from the Tides, but in the darkness, wrapped in blankets, every one of them looked the same.