Into the Still Blue (36 page)

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.

47

S
he 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.

How was she going to find Roar and Soren?

She pulled herself up and utilized all the power of her Sense to move with absolute silence as she rounded the clearing. Twenty yards of open land stretched between the sleeping people and the tree line where she hid, but near the guards that distance was much smaller. If she drew closer to them, she’d have a better chance of spotting the people she hoped to find.

As she crept toward the guards, her eyes went to one of the larger sleeping figures, drawn by the shine of blond hair. Hyde. But she didn’t see Hayden or Straggler. It was the first time she’d seen Hyde without one his brothers. Not far off, she also spotted Molly with Talon curled between her and Bear.

Should she try to free them all? Where would they go? Roar and Soren had a chance of disappearing. They could run into the woods and hide, but could Molly, whose joints bothered her doing the simplest things? And what about Talon? Sable had all the soldiers and weapons. He’d hunt them down and punish them for escaping.

She
couldn’t
help everyone, but only Roar and Soren were in imminent danger. Quietly, Aria stole closer to the guards. Soren and Roar had caused problems for the Horns already. Most likely they’d be directly under watch.

She drew nearer—as close as she could without risking exposure—but she still couldn’t distinguish between the sleeping lumps. Too many of the huddled forms were turned away, or had blankets pulled over their faces, or it was just too dark to make them out.

The guards’ conversation drew her attention.

“How much longer, do you think?” said one.

“Of this? Who knows. I don’t see how the Tides will ever come around.”

“He’ll sway them. Sable always finds a way.”

“Yeah . . . he does.”

There it was again. The fear the Horns had of Sable, their own leader. Aria heard it in their voices.

Panic clawed at her stomach as she stared at the final stretch between her and the men. Half an hour had passed since she’d escaped from the Hover, she guessed. How much longer until Sable’s people started searching for her? Were they already?

An image of Liv lying on the balcony in Rim flashed before her eyes, pushing her into action. She hurried, almost to the guards when she stepped on a twig and heard it snap. The sole of her boot muffled the sound, but she froze, silently cursing herself. Haste had made her careless. There was little cover where she stood, and any Aud within fifty feet would’ve heard her—the guards were less than half that. She waited, adrenaline coursing through her, making her feel weightless.

The two men didn’t look her way. They didn’t even pause in their conversation. But amid the sleeping people in front them, a dark head lifted, turning slowly toward her before lying back down.

She couldn’t see Roar’s features in the darkness, but she knew it was him. She knew his shape and the way he moved.

Aria sank to the ground, setting the heavy piece of driftwood down. She picked up the twig under her foot. Her right hand was weak, but she could still do this.

Please work, she prayed. This was either a perfect test, or suicide.

She snapped the branch again.

Neither of the guards turned. Not Auds, then. Unlike Roar, who responded to the sound by raising both arms up high, his fingers interlaced like he was stretching.

She shook her head. A little obvious, but Roar did everything with a bit of flash.

Time to move. She was as sure as she could be. The guards weren’t Auds. Roar knew she was there. She picked up the driftwood and moved again, drawing as close as she dared. Then she stopped and firmed her grip on the driftwood, licking her lips.

“In five seconds, cough loudly,” she whispered, knowing Roar would hear her.

She counted off the seconds. When Roar coughed, she sprinted the last steps to the Horns.

The men looked at Roar, oblivious to her as she charged them from behind.

She swung the driftwood into the closest man’s head, putting all her weight behind the strike. She did it with so much force that she felt the muscles in her back pull. The sound of the impact was horrid and made her gasp despite herself.

He toppled over the log, falling limply behind it.

She turned, searching for the second man. Roar had him on the ground already, trapped in a headlock. She heard the guard’s feet buck and scrape on the dirt. A soft gurgle, and then nothing.

Roar sprang up. He held his hands in front of him oddly. Then she saw why.

“Your hands are
tied
?” she whispered.

“Yes. I
showed
you.”

“Just get Soren.”

Roar bent by one the sleeping figures. A second later, Soren popped up.

Their noise had woken Twig—another Aud. Aria saw him assess the situation and come to the same conclusion she had. If they all tried to leave, they’d wake Sable’s guards elsewhere—who would be armed and likely wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.

“Later,” she said to him. Later, she’d figure out how to help the rest of them.

Twig nodded. “Get them out of here.”

Aria melted back into the woods. She caught up with Roar and Soren—who sounded like a rhinoceros crashing through the undergrowth, but she could do nothing to help that.

They ran for half an hour until Roar stopped them.

“We’re good,” he said. “There’s no one behind us.”

Sweat ran down Aria’s back, and her legs trembled. Waves broke gently in the distance, and the trees rustled with a breeze.

She looked at Roar, noticing the dark shadow pooled under his left eye. A black eye. From fighting Sable’s men, she realized.

“What’s wrong with you, Roar?” she yelled, unleashing the fury and fear she’d been holding back. “You
attacked
Sable’s guards?”

He jerked back in surprise. “Yes! You were alone in that Hover and I thought . . . I was worried, all right?” Roar looked at Soren, who put his hands up.

“I wasn’t worried,” Soren said. “I just felt like hitting somebody when he did.”

Aria shook her head, still furious, but she couldn’t waste any more time. “You have to go. Both of you. Go somewhere. I need to get back.”

Roar scowled. “
What?
Aria, you’re coming with us.”

“I can’t, Roar! I promised Perry I’d watch Talon. I have to go back.”

“I made him the same promise.”

“But you can’t keep it anymore, can you? You should have
thought
before you made yourself a target.”

“I was already a target!”

“Well, you made it worse!” she yelled, her eyes filling.

“He
killed
Liv and
beat
Perry. I had to try to get you!” Roar tugged at his hair in anger, then dropped his hands. “How is what I did different from this—from what you just did?”

“It’s different because my plan
worked
.”