Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2)(63)

Hess watched her for a long moment, eyes narrowing. “Transport to where and for how many?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Sable wants to talk with you directly.”

“When?” he asked.

“Now.”

Hess nodded. “Give him the Eye. I’ll do the rest.”

Aria fractioned out, but she didn’t take the Smarteye off yet. In the real, Sable’s gaze held on her. Keeping her breathing steady, she chose the Phantom mask.

Soren spoke as soon as she joined him at the opera hall. “I’m on it.”

“You’ll record their meeting? I want to know everything they say, Soren. I want to see it myself.”

“I already said I would.” A grin spread across his face. “Not bad, Aria. Not bad.”

Aria fractioned out and took off the Smarteye, holding it in the palm of her hand. Her fingers still shook, and she couldn’t get them to stop. “It’s set up,” she said to Sable. “Hess is waiting for you.”

Sable held out his hand, but she hesitated, suddenly feeling possessive over the device. She’d helped Perry into the Realms willingly last fall, but this felt different. Like she was inviting a stranger into something private. She had no choice. Sable would give Hess the location of the Still Blue in exchange for transport. Her part of the deal would be done. She’d be able to get Talon back and be free of Hess.

She handed it to Sable. “Place it over your left eye, like I did. It’ll pull tight to your skin. Stay calm, breathe slowly, and you’ll adjust. Hess will bring you into a Realm once the device is activated.”

Candlelight reflected on the device as Sable examined it. Satisfied, he applied it over his eye. Aria saw his shoulders stiffen as the biotech worked, and then relax as he adjusted to the gentle pressure. Moments later he grunted softly, his focus growing distant, and she knew he’d fractioned to the Realms. He was with Hess. There was nothing to do now but wait.

Aria relaxed in her chair and imagined the negotiations happening right then between Sable and Hess. Who would hold the upper hand? She’d see everything later, thanks to Soren. She’d never have expected to have him as an ally on the inside.

Minutes passed in silence before Sable jerked upright. He looked around the room, and then removed the Smarteye. “Unbelievable,” he said, staring at the device in his hand.

“What did Hess say?” she asked.

Sable drew a few slow breaths. “I told him what I need. He’s looking into it.”

“So we wait?” Aria asked. “How long?”

“A few hours.”

She gasped. That was soon. She couldn’t believe the plan was working. She felt like she’d just taken her first step back toward the Tides. Toward Perry.

Sable rose from the table. “Let’s go, Olivia,” he said, walking to the door.

Aria shot to her feet. “Wait,” she said. “The Smarteye. I’ll bring it back when it’s time.”

He turned back to her. “No need. I’ll keep it.”

Liv came to her side. “Sable, it’s hers.”

“Not anymore,” he said, and then spoke to the guards by the door. “Keep them here overnight. I might still have need for the Dweller. Then see them out of the city at first light.” Sable’s steel-blue eyes moved to Liv. “You understand, I’m sure, why your friends can’t stay.”

Liv glanced at Roar, who stood a few feet away, frozen. “I understand,” she said. Then she followed Sable from the room without a backward glance.

Hours later, Aria sat at the table with Roar, watching the rust-colored drapes stir in the wind. The dining room was cloaked in darkness, the only light coming through the open balcony doors. Every so often, she heard the muffled voices of the guards posted in the corridor.

She rubbed her arms, feeling numb. Sable had surely met with Hess again by now. He had used her and discarded her. She shook her head. He was just like Hess.

Outside, the rain had stopped, leaving the stones on the balcony slick, reflecting the glow of the sky. From where she sat, she could see currents of Aether. Bright rivers, flowing against the darkness. They’d see another storm soon. It didn’t shock her anymore. Eventually, the storms would come every day, and it would be just like the Unity. Decades of constant funnels crashing across the earth, coating it in destruction. But it wouldn’t spread over everything.

In her mind, she pictured an oasis. A golden place that shimmered in the sunlight. She imagined a long pier, with seagulls wheeling in the blue sky above. She pictured Perry and Talon together, fishing at the end, content and relaxed. Cinder would be there too, watching them, holding his hat to keep it from blowing away. She imagined Liv and Roar nearby, whispering to each other, planning some kind of mischief that would lead, inevitably, to someone being tossed into the water. And she would be there. She’d sing something gentle and pretty. A song that would hold the sway of the waves and the warm feel of the sun. A song that would capture how she felt for all of them.

That was what she wanted. It was her Still Blue, and every breath she took, every second that passed, she could choose to fight for it, or not.

She realized it was no choice at all. She would always fight.

Aria stood and motioned for Roar to follow her to the balcony. As she stepped outside, the ghostly moan of the wind raised the hair on her arms. Below, she saw the Snake River, its black water rippling with Aether light. Smoke lifted up from the chimneys of homes along the banks, and she could see the bridge she and Roar had crossed only yesterday. In the darkness it stood as an arc dotted with points of firelight.