Dedication

For Gui and Pedro

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Excerpt from Through the Ever Night

    1 - Peregrine

    2 - Aria

Also by Veronica Rossi

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Copyright

About the Publisher

 1 

I make my move when the tribe is asleep. Footsteps light, I skim across the dirt clearing, the chirp of crickets the only sound in the calm spring night. When I reach Perry’s house, I climb onto the window ledge and stretch up, grasping the rusted flashing that borders the roof.

Here goes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Swinging my legs out and up, I flip myself onto the roof. My landing is almost silent—just the brush of my knees on the stone tiles as I ease my weight down and the slosh of the jug of Luster that’s tied to my belt. People say I’m quiet as a cat. If they could hear as well as me, they’d know that cats are actually pretty loud.

Standing, I dust off my pants and scan the shadowed homes that circle the clearing. I hear a distant snore. The quiet creak of a door somewhere. Otherwise, nothing.

I head for the warm thread of light that seeps through a hole in the roof. It comes from a small gap where a tile cracked a few years ago during an Aether storm. I tread lightly and avoid the noisy spots. Perry and Liv are asleep in the house, but I’m not skulking up because of them. It wouldn’t matter if they heard me coming, but their brother, Vale, is inside as well—home only hours ago from his trip to the north—and I won’t chance waking him.

Kneeling by the sliver in the tiles, I bend down and peer through it, blinking as my eyes adjust to the light . . . and see a falcon with its wings spread wide. The tattoo on Perry’s back. He’s sprawled on his stomach in the loft, which is right below me. I try to look for Liv, knowing that if Perry is here, she’s curled up in front of the hearth, but I have a poor angle. There’s only one way to see her tonight.

I bring my mouth to the hole and raise my voice just enough. “Perry! Wake up!” He doesn’t move, so I try a little louder. “Wake up, you oaf!”

Perry rolls onto his back and starts to snore.

There’s a saying that warns people against waking sleeping giants. I should listen to it, but I want to see Liv too badly. I pull the jug of Luster from my belt and unstop the cork, muffling the pop with my hands. It’s a shame to waste it, but I don’t see any other way—and this could be entertaining. I bring the jug to the gap and pour the Luster through it.

I hear a solid thump as the roof shakes beneath my feet. The warm light from inside disappears as three fingers poke through the hole. Scrabbling, wrathy fingers full of murderous intent. After a moment, they’re replaced by a green eye that’s shiny like a cat’s—really like a cat’s.

Perry mutters a few curses and then asks, “What’s wrong with you?” His voice is muffled, but I hear him perfectly.

“Get Liv and meet me on the northern trail,” I say.

The cat eye moves left and right as Perry shakes his head. “No. Beach trail. Someone poured Luster on me and I have to wash it off.”

“Right. Beach trail in five minutes. Don’t take too long.”

Only one finger appears this time. The obscene gesture makes me grin.

I recork the Luster and climb down. There’s one more thing to take care of before I meet Perry and Liv. I cross the clearing again, guided by the light of the Aether, the rugged cottages of the Tide compound spreading around me.

At Brooke’s house, I rap softly on the door.

She eases it open a few moments later and smiles. “The cave?” she whispers.

Brooke is Liv’s closest friend, and for the past year she and Perry have been together. Half that time Perry has been trying to end it. Perry will probably be streaked at me for bringing her along, but so what? I like things the way they are.

I nod and lift the bottle of Luster. “You coming?” I ask, though I already know she is. Brooke is always up for anything when Perry is involved.

“I’ll get my bow.” She disappears into the house.

I look around the compound as I wait. When it’s quiet this way, it’s easy to remember the night I came here with my grandmother twelve years ago. I was barely seven then. Gram and I walked up out of the darkness on a spring night just like this. We’d been traveling for weeks and the soles on my shoes had worn through. Gram knocked on the first door we came to, and when Perry’s father answered, I thought he was the biggest man I’d ever seen. He invited us inside and had bread and fennel soup brought to us. Three kids watched us from the loft above as we ate, but it was the girl I couldn’t take my eyes off.

The next day Gram and I were given a room behind Bear and Molly’s house, which was really a storage shed with wooden walls that made clicking sounds as they expanded during the rainy months. My gaze moves to their house now. Gram is gone and the walls stopped clicking a few years ago, but I still sleep there.

Brooke returns with a bow and quiver over her shoulder and we make our way out of the compound without a word. Where we’re going, the northern cave, is an hour away. It’s still part of the Tides’ territory, but there’s always a risk when you travel that far away—especially at night—of being attacked by the dispersed. The danger is part of the fun.

As we approach the beach trail, I spot two tall figures with pale hair up ahead and frown. It ruffles me a bit, not being able to tell apart my best friend from my girlfriend from this distance. But then one of the figures dashes across the sandy trail and jumps into my arms and I’m reasonably sure it’s Liv and not Perry.

“Can’t you be away from me even a few hours?” Liv whispers in my ear.

I pull her closer. The way she feels against me makes my heart stop. “Of course not.”

“Me either.” She plants a kiss on my cheek and darts away before I can kiss her back, leaving me smiling at the darkness.

We walk the beach trail, winding our way to the ocean. When we reach the water, Perry launches himself into the dark waves as Liv, Brooke, and I wait along the shore.

I drop my arm over Liv’s shoulders. “He’s overreacting, isn’t he? I didn’t spill that much on him.”

Liv taps the bridge of her nose. “It was enough,” she says, and I understand. Like Liv, Perry is a Scire and has a sense of smell as strong as my hearing. It wasn’t being wet or sticky that was bothering him, it was the sweet scent of the Luster.

When he’s done swimming, we pick up the northern trail, which will take us all the way to the cave. The Aether does a slow dance above us, flowing in veils that give enough light to keep us from stumbling in the darkness. Even so, Perry takes the lead because of his night vision. Because Perry is out in front, Brooke is out in front.

“Well?” I ask Liv as we settle into a comfortable pace. Her long blond hair shines in the darkness, and the line of her nose is painted in blue Aether light. “How was he?”

He is Vale, Liv and Perry’s older brother. He’s also the bastard who leads the Tides as Blood Lord and who has never approved of my relationship with Liv.

“He’s fine,” Liv replies. “He was tired from the trip. I could tell he was anxious to get home.” Vale arrived earlier, after supper. For the past month, he’s been away negotiating with a northern Blood Lord, Sable of the Horns. The Tides’ food situation is getting desperate. Aether storms for the last winters have been brutally strong, torching stretches of farmland, so our crop yields have dropped lower than ever. Vale told us that when he returned from seeing Sable, he’d have solutions. He promised us we wouldn’t go hungry.

“He was in good spirits, seeing Mila and Talon,” Liv continues. Vale’s wife and son are both ill. It’s been hard for Perry and Liv, and I can’t imagine how that must make Vale feel. I try not to think about it. I’d rather not waste my sympathy on him.

Liv kicks a stone. I hear it skitter over the dirt trail. “I think he was relieved to see they’re doing well. I mean . . . as well as can be expected. He spent most of the night telling Talon about his travels through Ranger’s Edge. He said it was the hardest journey he’s ever taken. That he didn’t know what cold was until this past month.”

I nod. The Edge is known for its harsh winds and icy slopes. “Anything else?” I ask. Like everyone, I want to know what solutions Vale has come up with.

Liv is quiet for so long that I begin to wonder if she heard me. Finally she looks over and says, “He asked me to go hunting with him in the morning.”

My knees lock up. “He did?”

Liv turns when she realizes I’ve stopped. She nods. “Perry was there too, but Vale was clear. He only wants me to go with him.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah,” Liv says. “Huh.”

As we resume our walk, I can’t stop thinking that this request—command?—is strange. Vale seldom hunts; he’s usually too busy attending to his duties as Blood Lord. When he does hunt, he rarely includes Perry or Liv. My guess is that he doesn’t like competition and wants to be the only Scire.

There’s little warmth between the siblings now, but it wasn’t always this way. When their father was still Blood Lord, they were close. We all knew what happened to Perry in their house when Jodan drank, and I think the terror of those nights kept the three of them bonded. I can still remember Liv and Vale sitting on either side of Perry in the cookhouse, pressed against him like a human shield after he’d taken a beating. But when Vale became Blood Lord after Jodan died, things changed. Vale keeps Liv and Perry at a distance now. The day he put the Blood Lord chain around his neck, he became their lord first and their brother second.

Liv’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “What do you think he wants?”

“Maybe he just wants to hunt,” I say, but we both know that can’t be true.

Vale always has hidden motives.

After an hour, the trail brings us to a bluff overlooking a small cove. Perry and Brooke have already climbed down to the beach. I see the flash of sparks below—a blade striking flint. Perry is at work starting a bonfire.

Liv and I descend the slope, a climb we’ve done a hundred times. When I hear her foot slide on the loose dirt behind me, I offer her my hand. “Here, love.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, I’m not. I’m scared. Take my hand?”

She humors me—I never fall—but I get what I want: her hand in mine. An excuse to feel a bit of her strength as we make our way down the hill. And a window into her thoughts.

We climb a little farther down before I hear her.

Still scared, or are you better now?

Her voice is clear in my mind. As clear as if she’d spoken into my ear. I don’t know any other Auds who can hear people through contact. Like Perry’s night vision, my Sense came in a different shade than is usual.

“Terrified,” I answer. “I may need you to hold me later.”

Liv pulls her hand free and shoves me softly. “Then move faster.”

By the time our feet find the sand, Perry has the fire burning well. He sits before the dancing flames with Brooke nestled against him. Her hand is resting on his thigh. His arm is around her waist. Probably, they’re not splitting up tonight.

When Perry isn’t around, Brooke asks Liv and me why he doesn’t like her more. “Why am I always the one chasing him?” she says, and gestures to herself. “What more can he possibly want?” Self-confidence is not a problem for Brooke. Perry’s never going to be the one chasing her, but that’s not how I answer. I tell her that he just needs time and that she should keep trying to seduce him. I’m a good friend to Perry like that.

I sit on the opposite side of the fire and Liv sits between my legs, leaning back against my chest. We’ve perfected this position. I love the way her long legs look stretched out in front of me. The top of her head is only inches from my lips. I press a kiss there, and then take a drink from the jug of Luster. It goes down like liquid coals, spreading heat through my stomach and out to the rest of me. I pass the jug to Liv, and sit back on my hands.

Brooke and Liv talk about something Talon said earlier, a puppy crush he has on Willow, who at thirteen is nearly double his age of seven. Perry smiles, as he always does when talk turns to his nephew. I suck the taste of spiced honey from my lips, my focus shifting to the sound of their voices as the Luster wraps me in a mellow fog. I draw a deep breath, feeling Liv’s weight against my chest, smelling salt and water and fire in the air. After a little while, I hear what I’ve been waiting for. Husky and pure, Liv’s laugh is the best sound in the world. I close my eyes and savor it.

This is what I wanted tonight. Time away from the tribe with Liv and Perry, and even with Brooke. With no responsibilities and nothing to do except be. It hasn’t turned out the way I expected, though. I have everything I need right here, but I can’t shake the anxious feeling in my gut. Why does Vale want to talk to Liv alone? And why so soon after his return from the north?

Some time later, Perry stands. “Let’s leave these two alone,” he says as he pulls Brooke to her feet.

Right. I’m sure that’s exactly what’s motivating him. They head off together into the darkness, toward the cave just up the beach. Definitely not splitting up tonight.

When they’re gone, Liv turns in my arms. “I guess we’re alone,” she says, giving me an innocent look that’s anything but.

“Mm hmm. I guess we are.” I slide my hand beneath her chin and bring my lips to hers. Her skin is warm and she tastes like Luster. Somehow there is a bit of sand in our kiss. With Liv, there is always something unexpected, but not the way she makes me feel. That never changes. One kiss and I’m hungry—starved for more of her—but she surprises me by drawing away. Leaning back, she studies me through narrowed eyes.

“What is it, Livy?” My hand is wrapped around her hip. I slide it to her back so I can think clearly. Somewhat clearly. So I have a chance at holding a coherent thought in my head.

In the firelight Liv’s long lashes look like gold threads. Her gaze shifts from my left eye to the right and back, like she’s searching for the one that will open to my soul. The truth is either one will.

“I shouldn’t have said anything earlier,” she says.

I shake my head. “No. Of course you should have.” As a Scire, Liv can scent my temper. She reads my moods, no matter what I do. I can’t protect her from my worry. “Don’t ever keep things from me. You always know how I feel, and I want the same. No secrets . . . all right?”

Liv nods. She stares into the darkness, her eyebrows drawn in thought. “Do you think it’s about us?” she asks after a moment.

“Yes.”

“You do?”

I shrug. “You’re part of me, Olivia. Anything that involves you is always about us.”

Liv’s mouth curves into a smile. She brushes her thumb over my bottom lip. Maybe the sand came from me? I don’t know, and the way she’s staring at me, it’s all I can do to keep my breathing even.

“I like it when you call me love,” she says.

“What? I’ve never called you that.” Lie. I do it all the time. “Oh, you mean earlier? I said Liv. You just have terrible hearing.”

She jabs me in the ribs.

“Ouch!”

“What was that?” Liv says. “I couldn’t hear you.” She digs her fingers into my side again.

“You asked for it now.” I twist away, pulling her with me, and the battle begins. We roll over each other, tumbling, wrestling, tangling in the sand until my hands find her hands and my lips find her lips and then we slow. We slow and slow and slow until we move together as one.

 2 

What do you think they’re talking about?” I ask as I circle back to Perry.

We’re on sentry duty on the eastern post. Our lookout spot is under the shade of an oak tree at the top of a knoll. The warm spring morning has given way to a hot afternoon. I’ve created a small track of trampled grass around the tree, where Perry sits. My gaze moves to the woodland to the south. Liv and Vale are out there somewhere.

Perry plucks a blade of grass from his mouth. “You know that’s the twentieth time you’ve asked me that.”

“I didn’t know that. Should I stop?”

“Not if you’re trying to drive me mad.” Perry puts the blade of grass between his teeth and gives me a wide grin. “You’re close.”

“It would help if you said something besides I don’t know. Give me something, Per. Anything at all.” I point to the ground. “What do you think they’re saying this very second?”

“This very second?”

“Yes. Right now.”

Perry’s gaze moves across the green hills to the south. “I think it’s the second before one of them says something. Maybe they’re taking a moment to think. Maybe they’re breathing—I hope they’re doing that.”

I lift my hands. “Never mind.” I go back to pacing circles around the oak tree until my thoughts overflow again. “But maybe he isn’t going to do what we all think he’s going to do.”

I frown, noticing that Perry has a feather in his mouth now. I’m about to ask why so many things are suddenly ending up in his mouth when I see that he’s replacing damaged fletching on his arrows. He plucks the feather from his lips and threads it onto the wooden shaft.

“I’m going to need more than that, Roar. Who isn’t doing what we all think?”

“Your brother,” I say. “People have been wondering what kind of deal he made with the Horns. Bear and Molly think he’s selling off part of the territory in exchange for food. And I’ve even heard a few rumors that he went to pledge the Tides to Sable, but they’re just guesses.” I take a step closer to him. “What if Vale’s plan is something completely different? Something no one’s even thought of?”

Perry brings the arrow to eye level and inspects the goose feather he’s just slotted into place. “It’s possible. He was vague about his plans before he left.”

“That’s right,” I say. “And it would be just like him to do something surprising. Something underhanded.”

Perry cuts a dark glance my way. “That’s not what I said.”

“But it has crossed your mind. He’s devious, Perry. And he’s a hypocrite, too. He marries Mila, a Seer, but he has a problem with Liv and me being together because I’m not a Scire? How can he do that? It should be our choice, not his. Traditions are for the faint of heart. Are you going to refuse to be with anyone who isn’t a Scire?”

Perry sweeps the leftover feathers into his leather satchel. “I’m going to forget you said those things about my brother,” he says without looking at me, “and I won’t waste my time talking about something that’s years away from happening to me, if at all.”

I have no idea what kind of answer that is. “Do you mean you would refuse?”

Perry looks up, his eyes darting past me to the slope below. He jumps to his feet and yanks his bow across his shoulder. I see what he’s spotted. Our replacements, Collins and Wylan, are walking up the hill. Our sentry shift is over.

“Let’s move. Vale and Liv should be back by now,” Perry says, his words clipped. He rushes down the hill, bow in hand, his feet tearing down the grassy slope.

It’s only now, in this very second, that I realize he’s anxious, too.

As Perry and I approach the eastern entrance to the compound, I hear a sound that turns my blood to ice.

Liv is yelling.

I sprint across the clearing to her house, leaving Perry behind, and barrel through the door past Mila, who is leading Talon outside. Vale’s broad form fills up the small common room. His dark hair is pulled back by a leather strap, enhancing the sharp lines of his profile. With his coloring and muscled build, and especially with the heavy links of the Blood Lord chain around his neck, he looks just like his father.

Liv stands by the hearth. As far away from Vale as she can be. She turns to me, her blond hair whipping out. She’s out of breath and her eyes flash with rage. I have never seen her this furious. It stops me dead in my tracks.

Vale sees me and purses his lips. “Leave,” he says, pointing to the door. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“How can you say that?” Liv yells. Her voice is hoarse from screaming. “You know it does!”

“For the last time, Olivia, I will not tolerate that tone of voice.”

“You’re not my father, Vale!”

“But I am your lord. Lower your voice or you’ll be sorry.”

I don’t understand what’s happening. Usually Vale and Perry are the ones at the point of going to blows. Usually Liv is trying to stop them.

“You want to tell me how to talk now? Well, you can’t anymore! You gave me away. You lost that right when you sold me!”

“What?” It’s only one word, but my voice breaks on it.

Liv turns to me. “He wants me to marry into the Horns. He sold me to them! Tell him, Vale! Tell him what you did.”

“I don’t want you to do this, Olivia. I need you to.”

Sounds splinter like a mirror breaking. Vale is still talking, but I don’t hear him any longer. I hear Liv’s words in fragments.

Marry

Horns

Sold me

My hands are shaking. I squeeze them into fists. My mind isn’t working fast enough. I can’t believe what I’ve just heard. It makes no sense. I’m yelling before I’ve caught up with my thoughts. “No! You can’t do this!”

“Get him out of here,” Vale commands Perry, who stands at the threshold.

The timbre in his voice—impatient, irritated, like I’m a nuisance, a stray dog that has wandered in—snaps my control.

I lunge for Vale, swinging.

I’m quicker than anyone in the Tides, but he’s ready for me and turns away. My fist barely grazes his mouth. Vale answers my punch with a blow to the back of my head, catching me behind my right ear. My vision goes black. I pitch forward and my elbows crash against the floorboards. Vale’s foot—it must be his foot—slams into my back, sending me onto my chest.

My right ear rings, the sound disorienting, consuming me. I blink hard. A sideways room appears but it’s blurred and rocking and won’t stay still. I hear Perry curse behind me. My teeth slam together as he wrenches me upright, and then yanks me toward the door. The room won’t stop tilting; Vale’s blow has thrown off my balance. I stumble after Perry, struggling to keep my feet beneath me. We squeeze through the doorway, our shoulders jamming together, and burst out into the open.

“Fool!” Perry says under his breath. He’s still gripping my arms and good thing, too. If he lets go, I know I’ll kiss the ground again.

It’s dusk and almost everyone is here, gathered in groups around the clearing, gaping at us. Soon it will be supper, but that’s not why the tribe is milling around. Not anymore.

“Where’s Liv?” I ask, looking over my shoulder. I don’t see her behind me.

“Shut up and walk,” Perry growls.

We make it halfway to the eastern gate when a voice lashes out behind us. It’s deep and commanding, but sharp as a whip crack.

“Peregrine, stop.”

 3 

Just keep your mouth shut,” Perry says through his clenched teeth. He releases my arm and we turn to Vale, who creates a wake as he strides through the gathered crowd.

“Let him cool off, Vale,” Perry says. “Let him walk away.”

That’s not going to happen. Vale’s lip is gushing. Blood rolls down his jaw and drips off his chin, speckling his pale shirt. I didn’t hit him squarely, but even a light punch will push the tender skin against a tooth and break it open.

Seeing the blood makes me realize what I’ve done. I could punch anyone in the tribe and the punishment would be extra work. Maybe a day without food. But Vale is our Blood Lord. I’ve made a direct challenge to his authority. What I’ve done could get me thrown out of the tribe—or worse. For sure, it’ll get me a beating.

“Leave him out of this, Vale!” It’s Liv. She rushes up, the hilt of her half-sword peeking over her shoulder.

Vale’s mouth pulls into a smirk when he sees her. “Well, which is it, Olivia? One moment you tell me he is involved and the next he isn’t.”

Liv answers by reaching up and drawing the weapon at her back in a brisk, powerful swipe.

There’s a ripple of movement. Hissing sounds carry to my ears from across the clearing as swords slide from their sheaths. The Tides warriors have taken oaths swearing to protect Vale at all costs. I’m one of them. I swore to do that myself.

What have I started? Suddenly everything feels out of control.

Vale lifts a hand. “Stand down,” he says, annoyed. “Put away your weapons.” Around me, knives and swords lower and disappear.

Satisfied that he has the tribe under control, Vale draws two fingers over his chin and then holds them up. The blood on them is bright red even in the fading daylight. “Just so we’re clear,” he says to me, “you’re involved now.”

He steps closer, the crunch of his boots on the dirt carrying to my ears, though the ringing hasn’t stopped. Vale draws near enough that I see the dark green of his eyes. Close enough that I see Perry and Liv in his strong nose and the slight tilt of his head. In the way he measures me, like he’s gauging the heat coming off a fire.

“Because you mean something to my brother and sister,” he says calmly, “I’ll give you a choice I ordinarily wouldn’t. Leave?” he asks. He shifts his weight, tilting his head to the other side. “Or stay and pay the price?”

Banishment or a beating. It’s an easy choice. “Stay,” I answer.

Vale’s eyebrows climb. He smiles. “You might regret that.” He looks to Perry, who’s still beside me. “Hold him, Peregrine. And keep him still unless you want to take his place.”

The hair on my arms lifts. It sounds like an offhand comment—but it isn’t. Nothing is coincidental with Vale. He calculates everything.

“No, Perry!” I won’t let him take my punishment. I step in front of him, but he shoves past me.

“Since you offered,” he says, “I will take his place.”

Vale’s eyes widen, but his surprise is false. He shakes his head, like he’s disappointed, but he’s gotten exactly what he hoped for. “If that’s what you want.”

“I do,” Perry says, still as death. “And I’ll try not to hit you back.”

A murmur moves through the crowd. Perry has taunted Vale in front of everyone. There’s no turning back now.

I move to Liv’s side and whisper, “I’m sorry.” It’s a weak offering, but there’s nothing I can do. This isn’t about me or Liv any longer. I don’t know how this became a battle between Perry and Vale, but that’s how everything seems to end up.

Perry and Vale.

Liv doesn’t answer. She doesn’t even look at me. Her eyes are fixed on her brothers. Brooke appears at her other side and glares at me.

I look away and scan the people around us, finding Bear and Molly, Gray and Old Will. I know what they’re thinking. We’re all remembering the shadow of bruises on Perry’s face. On his arms and back. Only the youngest in the tribe escaped those memories—those too young to have known Jodan. The rest of us carry the guilt of those beatings inside us. We were afraid of Perry’s father. We did nothing to stop him. And here we are. In the same situation again.

A small figure darts out from the crowd. Talon looks from his father to Perry. “What’s wrong? What are you doing, Dad?”

Uncertainty flickers in Vale’s eyes. “Get home, son,” he says. When Talon doesn’t move, Vale says, “Mila, take him inside.”

Talon dodges out of his mother’s reach. “No! I don’t want to go!”

“Talon,” Perry says, “it’s all right. Go inside.”

When Talon stops to listen to Perry, Wylan grabs his arm and drags him away. For long moments after I can’t see him, I hear Talon arguing, his voice raised, crying, as he’s hauled to his house.

At the solid thud of a door shutting, Vale walks up to Perry. They stand eye to eye, both well over six feet tall. Vale is older by seven years. It has always been a significant gap, but I don’t see a day between them now. They are so different—one dark and the other light—but the look in their eyes is the same. Unbending.

This is the challenge we’ve all been waiting for. It will be, if Perry does what he’s threatened and fights back.

He holds his arms out wide. “I’m ready, Vale.”

I see that he is ready. Perry has taught me everything I know about fistfights. I take in his broad stance and the loose set of his shoulders, and hear his voice telling me, “It hurts less when you’re relaxed.” I see his expression grow distant and hear him say, “Never show emotion. It only feeds them.” If anyone knows how to stand and take a hit, he does. Perry won’t even flinch. I know he won’t.

Talon is shut inside his house, but through mortar and tile and across a hundred paces I still hear him crying. Outside the tribe is silent.

Bracing.

Vale drives his fist into Perry’s stomach. He moves surprisingly fast for someone his size, and he’s merciless, using the full power of his substantial strength.

It’s a hammer of a blow. I know because Perry doubles over and my breath is gone and Liv is trembling beside me. I know because Perry gasps as he hugs his waist and Vale is flexing his hand, opened and closed. The blow hurt him, but not nearly as much as it hurt Perry.

When Perry straightens, his face is red. His eyes are half open and unfocused like he’s somewhere else, maybe in a memory. If he is, I don’t want to know what it is.

“That was for Roar,” Vale says. He speaks quietly, for Perry’s ears only, but I hear him. Every Aud in the clearing hears him. “This one is just for you, little brother. Try not to hit me back.”

He punches Perry again in the same spot. Even harder.

This time Perry buckles and falls, thudding down to one knee. I watch him muffle ragged coughs against his forearm. I watch his shoulders shake as he struggles for control over the pain we all know he’s feeling. I see it through a blur. He was quick to recover after the first punch, but not this time. Every second that passes, my ear rings louder. Every second, I’m closer to drawing Liv’s half-sword and going after Vale.

Liv tenses beside me. I grab her hand, keeping her at my side. Neither one of us can step in right now. Perry has to stand on his own. If he doesn’t, Vale wins.

Finally Perry climbs to his feet, but he’s hunched over, unable to straighten all the way. I notice that he’s failing at one of his own lessons; there is hatred in his eyes.

“Are you finished?” he asks, his voice strained.

Vale isn’t done. I know he isn’t. But Liv breaks away from me and hooks her arm through Perry’s. “Yes, he’s finished,” she snarls at Vale. “You’ve brought enough happiness to our family today, haven’t you?” Then she looks at me as she tows Perry away, her gaze willing me to follow.

She didn’t need to tell me. Wherever they go, so do I.

No one says a word in the half hour it takes us to walk to the sea. I’m stuck listening to the shallow breaths my best friend is taking because of me.

I should have known Vale would do this. Perry is fiercely protective of Liv and Talon and me. Over everyone in the Tides. Vale took advantage of that trait. He twisted the situation so he could show his dominance over Perry—the main threat to his power as Blood Lord. He even calculated the blows he delivered, punching Perry in the stomach so the result of his punishment would be hidden from the tribe. Tomorrow, instead of remembering brutality, the Tides will remember justice.

I know he planned it that way. It’s all clear now. All the strategy I just witnessed.

It makes me sick.

When we’ve left the compound behind us and reached the pressed sand by the water, Liv stops. It’s almost dark and a thick blanket of fog is rolling in from the ocean. It tumbles toward us, swirling through the air in waves.

“I want to see, Perry,” Liv says.

I shove my fingers into my hair, tugging until my scalp hurts. I know where this is going. There is more torture to come.

Perry shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Show me anyway.”

“Liv—”

“I don’t care! Let me see.”

I hate this. They did this when they were younger, too. Liv always had to inspect him afterward. It’s like she wants to feel each and every bruise herself.

Perry mutters a string of curses. Liv crosses her arms and waits. She never backs down. At nearly six feet, she’s only a few inches shorter than him and every bit as stubborn. At times like this I wonder if they’re twins who were somehow born a year apart.

Perry shakes his head and finally relents. He looks away, his neck corded, his arms flexed so tight as he lifts up his shirt that I half expect the material to tear. A bruise has already bloomed on his stomach—I see it even in the twilight—but the worst part is the look on his face. I bite down until my jaw aches, willing this moment to end. Shame doesn’t belong on Perry. It’s the last thing he should ever feel.

After a moment, he tugs his shirt down. “Enough, Liv. I’m fine,” he says, but Liv still doesn’t move away. I know she’s searching for his temper to see if he really is fine.

“You are?” she asks.

Perry nods. “Yes,” he says. He sounds spent. Liv’s concern has worn him down. Force has never been the way to break him. I wonder if Vale knows that.

Liv steps back, satisfied at last. She looks at me and I can’t ignore how this started any longer. “What did Vale say to you, Liv?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not doing it,” she says dismissively. She strides toward me. “Have you lost your mind, Roar? How could you do that?”

“I need to know what he said.”

“Vale could’ve had you killed! Did you even consider that?”

“Olivia, tell me.”

She shoves me in the chest. “Did you even think?”

I grab her wrists, trapping her hands against me. She tugs away, but I hold her fast and stare into her eyes. I want her to tell me I’m imagining everything. That none of this is really happening. “Please, Liv . . . I need to know what he said.”

I release her hands and she takes a step back. She looks to Perry and back to me. I don’t recognize the expression on her face. “He told me he made an arrangement. All the food we need? Vale sold me for it. I’m supposed to marry Sable.” Her mouth quivers into a humorless smile and she glances at Perry again. “He fetched a good price for me. Enough food to keep the Tides fed through next winter. I guess I’m expensive.”

She tries to laugh but it’s strained and thin. Nothing like the sound I know. And then her eyes fill and she turns her back to me and everything inside of me rips and tears. Every muscle. Every bone in my body. I can’t move. I can’t move and the ringing that had just begun to fade in my ear is drowned by the roar of blood.

She’s mine. The words rage through my mind.

Liv is mine.

I must have spoken them aloud because Liv’s shoulders jolt and she darts away. I follow her and collide with Perry, who’s saying something to me. There’s a gap that feels like an hour before his words sink in.

“Let her go. Give her some time, Roar. She wants to be alone.”

I watch as she disappears into the curling fog. Liv flees when she’s unsure. Like Perry, she thinks on the run. I know this, but my stomach still twists as I watch her leave. I want her to need me right now. She doesn’t. Somehow, I both hate her and love her for it.

For what feels like a lifetime, I stare at the spot where she vanishes. Then I look at Perry. “What do I do now?” My head pounds from Vale’s punch.

Perry rubs a hand over his jaw. “Stay here,” he says. “I’ll be back.”

Pressing a hand to his stomach, he jogs back to the compound.

 4 

When Perry is gone, I look around me. The fog has moved inland and I can’t see more than a hundred paces in any direction. The surf is rougher than it was last night, the waves foaming as they pound against the beach. I picture bruises spreading across the sand and shake my head, trying to get the image to go away.

Pulling my knife from the sheath at my belt, I spin the blade around my wrist, tossing it, flipping it fast, fast, faster, concentrating on just this. On the focus I need in order to do these tricks and keep my fingers intact.

Without Perry and Liv, I feel unhinged and I shouldn’t. I should be more like my mother, who didn’t let herself care. Who moved from one man to the next with the seasons. There was always someone better, worth uprooting everything for. A new man for me to call father for a few months when, in reality, my father was nothing more than a roaming trader who was a drunk.

Rush. His name comes to me now. Mother said he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever laid eyes on, next to me. That’s what I was to her: an achievement in fine looks. A face that she could pinch and kiss and then send away.

It took all of one day for Liv to understand me better. Less than a day. The very morning after Gram and I came to the Tides, Liv and Perry tracked me down in my new home in the shed. “I think you should be our friend,” Liv said. I didn’t even know her name yet. Then, she was just the golden-haired girl from up in the loft. When I asked her why, she replied, “Because you need us.” I looked at Perry, who said, “All right,” and then I said, “All right,” and then everything was all right.

I fumble the knife and the blade slices into my finger. Cursing, I suck on my thumb, tasting copper. It’s been years since I cut myself.

“First rule of knives: they cut.”

I look up at the voice. Perry walks over, a bottle of Luster in one hand. “I thought this would help.” He gives it to me and sits. “Has she come back yet?”

Unstopping the cork, I take a drink. “No. Not yet.” I drink again, feeling the warmth of the Luster move through me. Maybe my father and I have more in common than our looks. “I can’t let this happen, Perry. We have to find another way. We have to do something.”

Perry nods. “I’ll talk to Vale.” His gaze slides over to me. “But I doubt there’s anything I can say that will change his mind.”

“You can change his mind. He’s scared of you. He knows the tribe would do well with you as Blood Lord.”

“The tribe doesn’t want me as—”

“They do.”

“There are plenty of people who doubt whether I could—”

“To hell with the doubters.”

Perry smirks at me. “Roar, if you interrupt me once more, I’ll . . .” He rubs the back of his neck and lets out a breath. “I’ll stop talking.”

“Doubters don’t mean a damn thing,” I tell him. “I doubt it’ll rain tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean I control the rain. What I think has no bearing on what is. You would make a great Blood Lord. Better than Vale. Better than your father.” I take another pull and then pass him the bottle. “The wise ask questions, Perry. The weak doubt.”

He gives me a halfhearted smile. “Where’d you hear that?”

“I just thought of it. And see? I’m right.”

We fall silent and I know it’s my doing. I’m the one who brought up his father. The bottle grows lighter as we pass it back and forth. The heat of the Luster begins to pull me back together. When Perry leans back onto his elbows, I catch him wincing from the corner of my eye. If I’d been the one to take Vale’s punches, I’d probably still be down. I’d be pissing blood for a week, no doubt.

I’m not sure how he came between me and Vale. Why he had to confront Vale on my behalf, or Liv’s, or anyone else’s in the tribe. When it matters—when it’s a tough situation—Perry always gets pulled in.

I look at my thumb, seeing a dark line where I sliced through a callus. I wonder if it’s the same thing with him. He’s been through enough—with both his father and Vale—that we think he is callused. That taking a blow is easier for him because he’s made of tougher material than the rest of us. Maybe so. Maybe he is tougher. But when a cut is deep, it’s still just flesh beneath.

“Thank you for earlier,” I say, breaking our silence. What I really want to say is I’m sorry, but those words don’t seem to want to come out.

“’Course, Ro. Anytime.” His tone is casual, but I know he means it. “I’ll talk to Vale tomorrow. You know I’ll do everything I can.”

I nod. What I know is that he has to do everything he can. Vale would never listen to me—especially not after tonight. And Liv can’t marry someone else. It can’t happen.

“We were supposed to be brothers one day, Per. Real brothers . . . family.” I don’t know what I’m saying. The Luster is speaking for me. But I can’t take the words back.

Perry looks right at me. “What do you think we are?”

I turn to the sea and stare at it. I watch the waves until the tightness in my throat loosens and I’m breathing normally again. He’s right. We are family. I’m not terrified of what I could be losing in the future. I’m scared of losing what I already have.

Beside me, I hear the slosh of the bottle as Perry takes a drink. Minutes pass before he speaks again. When he does, he’s so quiet that I know the words aren’t really meant for me.

“You’re better than a brother,” he says.

After an hour or two or four, Liv walks up. My head feels better and the ringing in my ear is gone, but my eyes don’t seem to be working because I can’t bring myself to look at her directly.

Perry climbs to his feet. “In case you’re really wondering,” he says to me, “it is going to rain tomorrow.” He taps his nose like Liv did last night. “If you ever want to know, just ask.”

He looks at Liv, watching her for a long moment. “See you at home?”

Liv nods. “See you at home.”

Perry heads south along the beach, which isn’t the way home. I wonder if he’ll spend the night on his own, thinking of all the ways he could’ve fought back against Vale. No, I don’t wonder. I’m sure that’s what he’ll do.

Liv sits next to me and takes the bottle. “You couldn’t even save a drop for me?” she says when she realizes it’s empty.

“I didn’t know if you were coming back.”

Her head whips over to me. “What?”

“I thought you were so eager to meet your future husband that you’d already left.”

“Stop, Roar.”

I don’t. “Why even waste your time with Luster? Sable is rich. He’ll give you the best. The finest wines.”

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. She’s hurting. Why am I trying to hurt her more? I make myself shut up and press my finger against the cut on my thumb until it stings. It’s such a small amount of pain. So bearable.

“This isn’t what I want, Roar,” she says. “You know that.”

Do I? I always assumed my future would be with her. I thought she wanted the same thing, but now I realize I’m not sure. I don’t know what she wants. We’ve never talked about it before. We’ve never needed to.

I look at her. “What do you want?”

Her back stiffens. “How can you ask me that?”

“Easy. I’ll do it again. What do you want, Olivia?” My voice is sharp, more demanding than I intend.

Liv springs to her feet. “I want to make my own choices! I want my life to be mine again! I want my brother to care about what I want. I want out of this situation!”

I’m up in an instant, pulling her against me. “I’m sorry, Liv. I’m sorry.” I kiss her forehead, her cheek, and her nose, and then her forehead again. There’s pressure in my lungs. She didn’t answer my question the way I wanted her to, but I’m powerless against her pain. “It’s all right. Everything’s going to be all right.”

I run my hands over her back, smoothing away the tension. Slowly she relaxes. Slowly she turns her head and rests it on my shoulder. Then I feel her fingers loop into my belt at my lower back, where she likes to hang her hands when I hold her, and I know we’re fine. I know we’re good again. The waves crash and we stand there. Her weight easing against me. Mine easing against her.

It’s a long while before she speaks.

“I’m scared, Roar,” she says. “I hate being scared.”

“Hey.” I tip her chin up so I can look into her eyes. “It’s going to be all right.”

“How could I ever leave you?” she says.

I swallow and shake my head. I can’t hear those words. “You won’t have to. We’ll figure it out, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to us.”

As I speak, Liv slides her hands under the hem of my shirt, pressing her fingers into my back. Her lips brush my jaw, gentle but insistent, and it’s impossible for me to talk anymore. I pull her against me, not so gentle. More insistent.

We end up on the sand trying to forget the past hours with kisses and whispered words. It doesn’t work. People say only Scires can render, but it’s not true. I feel her sadness and her fear. Whatever Liv feels, I feel.

I hold her and watch her drift asleep in my arms. I watch her for a long time afterward.

Then I force my eyes closed, and still her face is there.

This girl. She’s all I see.

 5 

The sound of giggling pulls me from a dream—nightmare?—of Liv in the middle of the clearing, wearing a long white dress.

“They’re waking up, Uncle Perry.”

I peer up and see Perry standing above me. “About time,” he says.

Liv is pressed to my side, her head resting in the hollow of my shoulder. My arm is around her, but it’s completely numb. I doubt we moved an inch the entire night.

Talon has a metal pail and a shovel and he’s busy burying Liv’s legs in the sand. Judging by the weight I feel over mine, he’s already gotten to me.

Liv stirs. She peels away from me and sits up. “What happened to me? My legs are gone!” she shrieks. She wiggles her toes and acts surprised when they pop out of the sand. “Who did this?”

Talon and Perry point at each other at the same time.

“How dare you!” Liv says, glaring at Talon. She jumps up and dashes after him, yelling over her shoulder, “I’ve got the little one!”

I lay my head back and stare up at the Aether, listening to Talon’s happy shrieks. Since he got sick, everyone makes an extra effort to get laughs out of him.

“You’re not going to chase me?” Perry says.

I shake my head. “No. No, I’m not.” The cut on my thumb stings and my neck is stiff. I’m not sure if it’s from two nights of sleeping on the beach or the punch I took from Vale. Probably both. “How do I look?”

“The part of you that I can see? Like death.”

“That sounds about right.” I sit up, stretching my arms to get my blood moving again.

“I talked to my brother,” Perry says.

I freeze. My brother. Perry only calls Vale that when something is wrong. This won’t be good. I unearth my legs and force myself to stand. Strangely, now that the weight of sand is gone, I miss it. “What did your brother say?”

Liv is far—out of hearing range for her—but she looks at us. She tells Talon to get a fishing line in the water and that Perry will join him soon.

“He’s not going to change his mind,” Perry says, when she comes over. “He said that he has to make this decision as Blood Lord. That it’s not an easy one, but he has no choice.” Perry crosses his arms and stares at Liv for a few moments. “He, uh . . . he wants you to leave tomorrow, Liv.”

Suddenly I can’t get enough air into my lungs. One day. I have one day left with her? Liv has gone pale beside me.

“Is that it?” I hear myself say.

Perry shakes his head. “He agreed to let you and me take her to the Horns. It’s a two-week journey. . . . I know it’s not much, but even that took some convincing.” Perry rubs the back of his neck and gives me a strange smile. “He also wanted me to tell you, specifically, that you’re a deceitful bastard and that he’ll have you hunted and killed if you interfere with his orders.”

Perry’s eyes flick to Talon, who’s calling for him by the water. “I’m going to go,” he says. “But you should both know that I don’t want to hear a word about what you’re thinking or planning, if you’re doing either of those.” He leaves before we can respond.

The message is clear. Vale has set the rules. Whatever Liv and I do from now on will be in defiance of his orders. If Perry learns we’re planning something, he won’t be able to lie about it to Vale. He’d be punished for helping us. Again.

Liv looks at me. We need to talk, but I realize we can’t do it here. I’m not the only Aud in the tribe, and if Vale is really concerned about us defying him, then he’s most likely having us watched. Our plans will have to be made far away from the compound.

I can tell Liv is thinking the same thing. Not now. Not here. But there is something I can say.

“I think you should be my friend,” I tell her. “All right?”

She smiles, and I know she’s remembering. “All right.”

In light of the fact that I can’t stop daydreaming of all the ways I’d like to slit Vale’s throat—and that he can scent my intentions through my temper—I decide it’s best to spend the day away from the compound.

Perry and I head to the southern woods to hunt as Liv stays behind to say her good-byes and pack. It’s nothing I want to see her do, anyway. It shouldn’t be happening. She shouldn’t be leaving, but that part can’t be changed. My focus now is to get her away from Vale’s control . . . and then?

I don’t know.

We could rush into a marriage, but Vale, Blood Lord of the Tides, is known all over this region. People in the neighboring tribes would suspect his sister’s hasty wedding, especially if it’s carried out away from Tide land. Most likely, Liv and I would be tied up and hauled right back to Vale. To marry, we’d need to go far, weeks away, where no one would recognize either one of us.

I’ve done my share of immoral things, but stealing a girl from her guardian and claiming her as mine is a lot to take in. Running off feels too close to what I saw my mother do plenty of times when I was younger. I never wanted to do the same. Where Liv is concerned I’ve tried to do things the right way. There’s no possibility of that anymore.

The more I think about running off and marrying her, the more my head starts to spin. I’ve never seen a decent example of a husband. What I’ve seen are men who shine like silver at first, then tarnish and eventually disappear. Is marriage something that has to be taught, or can you learn it by ear?

I wonder if Liv is thinking about the same things. She never had a mother—does that make her want to avoid marriage? Does she even want to be a wife? We’re both nineteen—old enough—but we’ve never once talked about getting married. I realize I’ve been thinking the words marriage and wife so much that they’re starting to sound strange in my head.

On the game trail up ahead of me, Perry slows. It’s drizzling—just like he told me it would last night. I watch as he sets up and takes aim at a deer, drawing the bowstring back to his jaw and holding it. He looses it, and the arrow sails wide. The deer startles and springs away.

“That was terrible,” I say. I can count the number of times I’ve seen him miss a shot like that on one finger. It just proves that nothing feels normal anymore. “You missed by almost a foot.”

Perry turns to me. “Whose fault do you think that is?”

If the tone of his voice wasn’t enough of a clue, the grim set of his mouth is. “Mine?”

He shakes his head. “Your nerves are getting on my nerves,” he says, before he leaves to retrieve his arrow.

I mutter an apology as I watch him go. I know just how to calm myself down. As we pick up the deer’s scent trail again, I go back to daydreaming about drawing my blade across Vale’s throat.

 6 

That night, Vale has a lamb slaughtered for supper. Because it’s Vale, I question this decision, wondering if he intended it to carry deeper significance.

While he has kindly granted me permission to escort the girl I love to her forced marriage, Vale makes sure I’m excluded from the high table in the cookhouse. I take my meal to a table by the door while Liv and her family feast together at the opposite end of the hall.

Liv sits with Talon and Mila, smiling as she talks to them. I can tell she’s keeping up a cheerful front for their sake. Around me as well, people pretend to be cheerful, chattering about Liv’s marriage. It’ll be great for the Tides, they say. An alliance to one of the most powerful Blood Lords alive and more food to get us through the winter. Everyone is happy. Everyone is cheerful, cheerful, cheerful.

“You know what’s unfair?” Brooke says beside me.

I push my plate away and stare at the mug next to it. Even Luster has no appeal tonight. “Life?”

Though there are hundreds of people between us, I feel Vale’s attention on me and look up. He’s enjoying my misery. Nearby Perry rips into a haunch with his teeth while Wylan, the fool, talks his ear off. It’s unwise to come between Perry and food.

“This.” Brooke yanks up her sleeve, showing me the jagged Seer marking around her bicep. “Just because we aren’t Scires, we don’t even get a chance?”

She’s talking about what’s happening to Liv, I know, but she’s thinking about Perry.

“We don’t choose the Sense we’re born with,” Brooke continues. “I didn’t decide to be a Seer any more than you decided to be an Aud.” She grabs my wrist, startling me. Her hissing continues in my mind.

Vale didn’t marry a Scire. It’s like he makes the rules only for the rest of us. And what’s the point of keeping the Scire line strong, anyway? Why is smelling everything all the time so damn wonderful?

I said these very words to Perry just yesterday, but I don’t want to talk about this now. I’m tired of problems. And I won’t give Vale the satisfaction of seeing me suffer.

I lean into Brooke’s shoulder and sniff. “You smell pretty good.”

Brooke yanks her hand away from mine and shrugs me off. “Tell that to your best friend.”

“Sure,” I say. “I’ll tell him.” I won’t. It wouldn’t make any difference, and he knows how she smells better than I do anyway.

Brooke looks at me, her blue eyes piercing and clear as glass. “It’s a shame you’re not a Seer, Roar. Everything would be so much easier if we liked each other.”

“I do like you.”

“Yeah.” She sighs and turns her attention back to Perry. “I meant more than like.”

I know what she meant, but Brooke and I are never, in this eternity, going to be more than friends. If that’s even what we are now. I tip my head to the side—it works for Perry—and take a slow look at her curves. “I could more than like you.”

The stress must be getting to me because I’m messing with Brooke. She has a dark streak that I’m not equipped to handle like Perry, who scents her moods a mile away. I continue despite myself.

“If you’re looking for something that’s purely physical, I’m definitely interested. We’d have to get Perry’s and Liv’s approv—hey!” I fold over my ribs, where she elbowed me.

“You were dropped on your head, Roar! A hundred times! It’s the only possible explanation.” She jabs me in the ribs again. “And try eating some food once in a while. You’re nothing but bones.”

Her last comment is begging for an off-color remark but I refrain. Clearly she’s miserable. I have no other choice. It’s time to do something that goes against my nature. “Listen, Brooke. I’m going to be honest with you—”

“Why start now?” she snaps.

“That stings. Do you feel better about yourself?”

She rolls her eyes, but suddenly her lower lip is quivering. My thighs tighten up as I fight the urge to sprint for the door. All I wanted was to blend into this sea of cheerfulness. Just for an hour. Just for ten minutes.

“Brooke, I was only teasing.” I nod toward Perry. “All I was trying to say is that he’s not like the rest of us. He’s missing something that doesn’t let him . . . that isn’t . . . that makes him . . .”

I stop myself and reconsider. What I’m trying to say is that Perry’s missing something critical. Maybe it’s the ability to trust deeply. I don’t know. But the way I see it, when you’ve been hurt by someone you love like he has, why would you ever seek love out? Why would you ever risk being hurt again? It wouldn’t surprise me if he never has anything like Liv and I do.

That’s all far more than I want to tell Brooke right now—or actually ever—and I’m starting to depress myself, so I just say, “I think you should move on.”

Brooke’s mouth pulls into a sarcastic smile. It’s easy to forget that she’s pretty when she smiles that way. “Is that what you’re going to do? Move on from Liv?”

Never. I take a sip of Luster and suck the sweet liquid from my lips, giving myself a moment before I answer. “Yes.”

Brooke rolls her eyes. “You’re such a liar, Roar. Your temper smells like turnips. Or whatever it is lies smell like.”

That makes me laugh. “No. My lies smell like honeysuckle.”

Her eyebrows draw together in confusion. “Honeysuckle?”

I shrug, not bothering to explain that the word amuses me. Honey and suckle don’t seem like they should go together.

The noise of the cookhouse rises up around us as we fall silent. I know this is hard for her. She’s losing her best friend and seeing the truth of what she means to Perry—which is not enough. My gaze moves back to the high table. Liv is still talking to Talon. Perry is still eating. I understand exactly what Brooke is feeling.

The world wouldn’t be the same without them.

 7 

We leave the following morning in the darkness, early, before the fishermen have even stirred. Mila and Talon sleep soundly, mother and child curled together. I watch from the bedroom door as Liv bends and kisses them both, hearing the sound of her breath catch. Then Perry curse under his breath behind me. Then our footsteps as we walk out of the house.

Only Vale rises to see us off. At least that’s what I think until I notice the two figures waiting at the edge of the compound.

When I hear the pause in Perry’s stride, I know he’s seen them too.

Vale glances at him. “When I said you and Roar could escort her, you didn’t think I was only sending the two of you . . . did you?”

That’s exactly what Perry thought, you bastard. It’s what Liv and I thought too. I bite the inside of my lip, barely keeping the words back. Beside me, Liv’s eyes are distant, like she isn’t even listening to Vale.

“I need to be sure she gets there,” Vale continues, not waiting for Perry’s answer.

It’s a bald insult. He has given this task to someone else to ensure it’s carried out properly. Vale might as well have just told Perry: You are incapable.

“We’d be better off without them,” Perry says. “If it’s just the three of us, we could move faster. We’d leave lighter tracks and draw less attention.”

Vale’s smile is mild, patronizing. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion.”

Perry hoists his satchel higher on his shoulder and nods tightly. “I understand.”

One day they’ll face off fairly, no chain or oath to protect Vale. One day soon. I hope I’m there to see it.

As we draw closer to the waiting figures, I recognize them as Wylan and Collins—an Aud and a Seer. Having them with us will complicate my own plans . . . plans I still need to create. Make Liv mine is the objective. What I haven’t figured out yet is how.

Run away with her? Marry her? I need to talk to Liv and find out what she wants. The real goal, the one that’s always guided me, is to make her happy.

Collins and Wylan are half asleep and clearly irritated with this assignment. After a brief exchange with Vale, they head off, taking the vanguard, leaving me to walk with the three siblings.

The hour before dawn is the quietest part of the day. There’s no wind to rustle the grass or birdsong filling the air yet. I hear only the faint rumble of the ocean surf half a mile away. With every step I take, anxiety tugs at me, until I can’t fight it any longer and I have to glance back.

The compound looks more appealing than it ever has, now that I’m leaving. Soft light of the Aether outlines the cluster of cottages, and though it’s not an old settlement, it looks sturdy and wise. As much thinking as I’ve done over the past days, it hasn’t occurred to me that I might not come back here. And though I’m a gypsy at heart—my mother always said home is where you rest your head to sleep—I can’t deny that this place means something to me. It brought me Perry and Liv and Talon. Even Brooke.

I miss it already.

I look at Liv, aching for her. If this is how I feel, what about her?

As we approach the tree line, where the trail plunges into woodland, Vale stops and so we do as well, wordlessly, obediently, forming a little group on the road. This small action cuts through my melancholy mood, annoying me more than it should; he has trained us to be like dogs.

“Don’t be late, Olivia,” he says unceremoniously. “Or there will be consequences.”

“What the hell does that mean?” The words fly out of my mouth.

Liv speaks at the same time I do. “Consequences? How do you plan to enforce them from here, Vale?”

Ignoring me, Vale squares himself to her. “I won’t enforce them, but your new husband will.”

It takes me a moment to understand what he means. When I do, my heart clenches up like a fist inside my chest. This conversation is barreling toward my worst nightmare.

“I am going north,” Liv replies, her voice as cold as winter. “I am doing this for the Tides. I will endure the term wife, but if Sable expects me to cower in a corner and submit to orders, he will be very disappointed. I am no one’s servant, and no matter how wrong my actions, no one will ever, ever punish me.”

I listen to her say this and wonder why the pull I feel to protect her is so strong. She doesn’t need me. Liv is a force. She is fierce.

Vale shakes his head. “Calm down, Olivia. No one is punishing you. The consequences are penalties on the dowry payment. We are the ones who will suffer if you’re late arriving, as Sable will garnish the cache of food he’s agreed to pay for you. And he is well aware of who you are and how you’re to be treated. You’re my sister, Liv, and whether you choose to believe it or not, I do love you. I would never want to see you hurt.”

Vale’s declaration is surprisingly earnest, but Liv won’t have it. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t force me into this.”

“I refuse to have this conversation with you again.”

As they continue to argue, my gaze drops to the knife at Vale’s waist. I could carve him into twenty pieces before he even drew his weapon. I could end this right now—for Liv and for Perry.

Vale trails off. He turns to me. “It seems I was right to bring it.”

He’s read my temper and sensed the darkness of my thoughts. There’s no point hiding anything now. The words I’ve been holding back tumble out.

“How can you do this to her? Feeding the tribe is your responsibility—your problem to fix. Why should Liv suffer because you failed to do your duty?”

Both Liv and Perry look at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. This definitely isn’t the plan, and no one, except Liv, speaks to Vale this way.

Vale stares at me, unblinking. I stand, ready, waiting for him to make the first move. To reach for his knife. To lunge at me.

He does none of these things. “Let me see if I have this right,” he says. “You want to discuss responsibility and duty with me?” A smile spreads over his face, real and true, like I’ve given him a gift.

“What have you ever done besides follow my brother and sister around?” he says. “What purpose do you serve, beyond being a siphon for bottle after bottle of Luster? You act as though you’re devoted to them, but you’re not. You’re devoted to yourself. You are arrogant, vain, and shallow—and that’s on your best days. You’re nothing but a pathetic source of amusement. You are a toy, Roar. And the time for playing with toys has passed.”

Something ignites in me. A feeling that locks me in time so there is no breath circling through my lungs. No heart beating in my chest.

I grab for my knife, knowing the precise angle and force I will use to stab Vale and sever his spleen in half, ensuring that his death will be festering and painful. My fingers scrape against the leather sheath at my belt, grasping, searching for the grip of my knife, and finding nothing.

Confusion slams into me. A feeling like I’ve misplaced part of my own flesh. Then the flash of steel draws my eye and I see my blade in Perry’s hand.

“What are you doing?” I yell, but my voice sounds miles away.

Perry slips my knife through his belt and lifts his hands. “It won’t solve anything, Roar.” There’s a flicker of guilt in his eyes, but he’s braced for my attack, ready to fight me.

I can’t think. Can’t make sense of what he’s done. He says it won’t solve anything, but it will. Vale is the cause of all our problems—not me. Vale needs to die.

Liv takes hold of my arm. “Let’s go, Roar. Come on. It’s time to go.” Her green eyes are furious.

I jerk out of her grip, looking from her to Perry. “I can’t believe this.” How can they act as though I’ve done something wrong?

“And here we are once more,” Vale says, making no effort to hide his amusement. “You do realize that one day they’ll grow tired of saving your sorry—”

Liv spins and slams her hands into his chest. “Stop it, Vale!”

I am past the point of stopping. I shoot past her, no other thought in my mind but to destroy Vale with my bare hands. Perry grabs my arms before I manage two steps. I twist and shove but I can’t break loose. I only manage to get myself into an armlock.

“Walk away,” Perry says behind me. “Don’t make me break your arm.”

I curse him. Pull and twist until the pain in my shoulder brings tears to my eyes. Perry meant it; he’ll break my arm if I fight him.

Vale’s eyes stay locked with mine as I’m shoved down the trail. “As I was saying,” he calls out, “they’re going to grow tired of this. I know I am.”

All I see in his face is victory. He pierced the weakest part of me.

Vale has never needed a weapon to draw blood.

Yanking myself out of Perry’s hold, I veer off the trail, leaving him and Liv behind.

What Vale said is the truth.

I’m not made for greatness like Perry and Liv. I have no desire to save a tribe or to right injustices, or even to become the best warrior. I’m an expert knifeman because I have quick hands—not my doing—and because I flirted with the weapon, teasing out its secrets in the name of fun. Spinning a blade and catching it with my eyes closed was an easy way to impress Liv. Becoming lethal was just a consequence.

My ambitions aren’t grand. All I have ever wanted is to be there for the two people who mean everything to me. Maybe that’s a small goal to others, but it’s always felt like enough.

 8 

I give myself an hour to brood, and then I pack my thoughts away and wait by a bend on the wooded trail. Without realizing it, I’ve pulled well ahead of Liv and Perry.

I made a mess of Liv’s departure from the Tides by getting into it with Vale. It was selfish of me. She deserved better than that. She deserves better right now. When I see Perry walk up, my regrets vanish and my hands close into fists.

“Are you cured?” he asks. There’s a slight lift to his chin that tells me he’s scenting my temper.

I don’t bother answering; he knows I’m not. “Don’t ever step in like that again.”

Perry stops. “What was I supposed to do? Let you kill my brother?”

“Yes! You should’ve helped me back there. Look at what he’s done! She’s your sister. How can you protect him and not Liv?”

“He got into your head, Roar. You’re not thinking straight.”

“You’re not seeing what’s right in front of you! Vale ruins everything.” He’s even ruining my friendships, I realize. Perry and I don’t fight like this. In a dozen years, we’ve barely ever argued. “What makes you think he won’t come after you next?”

Perry stills. “Careful, Roar.”

Liv comes around a thicket. She looks from me to Perry. “Well done, you two. This is just what we need,” she says as she walks past.

That night as we’re gathered around the campfire, Wylan complains about his tired feet and his tired eyes. A steady stream of nonsense continues to pour from his mouth as we eat and then watch the fire burn low.

“It should take us around two weeks to get to the Horns,” he says. He tips his chin, gesturing to Liv, who’s fallen asleep with her head resting on my lap. “Guess your days of doing that are numbered.”

“I guess they are,” I say. I’ve been running my fingers through her hair, watching the way the firelight turns it to gold and copper and bronze. Though she might not feel it anymore, I can’t bring myself to stop. She’s been angry with me all afternoon. Perry has been too. We haven’t spoken since our argument.

“Never thought I’d see you and her split up,” Wylan continues.

I take my bottom lip between my teeth and look up, holding back my first reply. “Neither did I.” Through a web of tree branches, I see the Aether running in flowing sheets. We don’t have to worry about storms since it’s spring, but tomorrow we’ll be exposed to another danger when we leave Tide land. Outside the tribe territories, every day is a fight for survival. The borderlands test even the strongest.

Wylan turns his attention to Perry, who’s sitting across the fire staring into the flames. “What about you?”

“What about me, Wylan?” Perry answers without looking up.

“Scires are in demand, though I have no idea why. You think Vale’s gonna sell you off like your sister?”

“I don’t know what Vale’s plans are,” Perry says, lifting his eyes.

I know he’s thinking the same thing I am: Wylan is like a skunk. Always foul-smelling, occasionally intolerably so. Tonight, apparently, we’re getting sprayed.

Wylan props his elbows on his knees and scratches the black bristle on his chin. “Well, you can’t stay with the Tides much longer, the way the two of you have been locking horns. You’re gonna have to find a match somewhere else, or disperse and spend the rest of your life in the borderlands—which wouldn’t be long.”

Perry crosses his arms. “You’ve given this some thought.”

Anger creeps into his voice, and I can’t blame him. There’s no easy answer to his situation. There can only be one leader. Eventually Perry will have to leave the tribe or challenge Vale for the right to be Blood Lord. When you’re facing your own brother, kill or be killed is a winless situation. He should have just let me off Vale for him earlier.

“I have,” Wylan says. “And so should you.”

I can’t stand this anymore. Not Wylan’s drivel, or being at odds with Perry. Liv shifts her head on my lap, turning slightly. She peers through her lashes and smiles at me, sleepy and perfect. Not wanting to wake her, I wait until she drifts off again before I speak.

“I’ve got a solution for you, Per.”

He looks at me, his eyebrows drawing together in surprise. I’ve broken our war of silence. “All right,” he says. “Let’s hear it.”

“It seems to me there’s a dearth of Scires,” I say. “Seeing as how you’re only about a tenth of all Marked.”

Perry nods. “Probably even less. There aren’t many of us.”

“Right. Which is why I was thinking you should propose to Vale that he loan you to other tribes as a breeding stud. He could make some money from your services and it would keep the two of you apart for long stretches of time. And I think the benefits, to you, are obvious.”

Perry looks back at the campfire. He rubs a hand over his mouth and nods like he’s pretending to mull it over, but I can tell he’s trying not to laugh. “That’s not a bad idea,” he says after a moment.

“I know,” I agree. It actually isn’t a poor plan. Perry’s never settling down and girls fawn over him anyway. Liv once told me that part of why they’re drawn to him is because he comes across as a mystery. We didn’t get any farther than that; I’d rather keep my best friend’s appeal a mystery to me too.

“If you’re open to that kind of . . . work,” I continue, “Vale could turn a nice profit.”

“Sure,” Perry says. “I could warm up to that kind of work.”

“Rise to the occasion?”

“Definitely.” A wide grin spreads over Perry’s face. “No problem.”

His question from earlier pops into my mind. Are you cured? I think we’re both on our way.

“You’re uniquely suited for the job,” I say. “A month here, a month there. You could really boost the population. In a couple of years there could be little Scires scurrying around all over the place. Or maybe not so little, since they’d be yours.”

Perry shrugs. “I don’t see any downside. Thanks, Ro. I’ll talk to Vale when we get back.” He turns to Wylan, whose black eyes are narrowed in suspicion. “Guess we figured it all out.”

Wylan looks from Perry to me and makes a sound of disgust. He flops to the ground and pulls his blanket over his head. “You’re both idiots,” he mutters.

Hardly. We got him to shut up, which is damn near impossible to do.

That makes us brilliant.

 9 

The next morning, after a quick meal of hard cheese and harder bread, we break camp and set off. As we fall into a comfortable formation—Collins and Wylan at the lead; Liv, Perry, and me at the rear—I mull over my plan for coming up with a plan.

I need to speak privately with Liv. If there is one thing that’s always been clear to me, it’s that my happiness is linked with hers. Only when I know exactly what she wants will I be able to coordinate our next move. As we head toward the Tides border, I vow to get her away from Wylan’s eavesdropping ears and Collins’s skitty eyes. Away, even, from Perry.

My gaze moves to him, walking a few paces ahead. As I watch, he tosses a few blackberries he found earlier into his mouth.

“Want some, Liv?” he says without looking back.

“No,” she answers. “Thanks,” she adds as an afterthought.

The tension between the three of us has faded, but Liv is still quiet. She’s allowed to be quiet.

“I want some,” I say, to chase away the silence a little longer.

Perry turns and waves a hand, indicating everywhere. “Then start looking,” he says, but he flips a few to me.

I chew the ripe fruit, thinking about the past days. Perry has defended me from Vale, and then Vale from me. And he has comforted Liv. His actions have shown he supports us, but now it occurs to me how little he’s actually said in support of us. Then it occurs to me that I haven’t heard him say anything. I have no idea what he actually thinks of Liv’s betrothal to Sable.

A cold feeling rolls down my spine. Is it possible that he actually agrees with Vale?

Thoughts fire off in my brain, one after another. Maybe he’s behind the arranged marriage because he doesn’t understand what love means—what Liv and I have. The closest he’s been to a girl is Brooke—which isn’t close at all. But even if he did understand, he wouldn’t make the same choices. Perry is selfless. For the Tides, he would sacrifice himself and love and anything else that got in the way.

Then it hits me. Could he actually be working against me and Liv? Did he come on this journey to keep track of us? To make sure we don’t run? He would never betray us for Vale; his allegiance to his older brother is a rotted thing, ready to crumble. But didn’t I just admit to myself he’d do anything for the Tides?

Sweat trickles down my back as I think of the thousands of times we’ve competed against each other in this thing or that—in everything. Our competitions were never earnest. Never malicious. Even when we argued last night, I never viewed him as a true adversary. What if he becomes one?

What if he tries to stop me from being with Liv?

Liv looks over at me then, her expression questioning and a little confused. I know I’m making a face. “Tart,” I say. “The berries were.” I wink at her and look away, focusing on the sound of our footsteps.

By some twist of fate, our pace is synchronized. Three pairs of feet land in near perfect rhythm. I concentrate on that—on the small miracle happening in this moment—but a rebel chant begins in my head and it’s loud. Too loud to ignore.

If I have to lose everything to keep her, I will.

I will.

I will.

I will.

Stealing some time to talk with Liv turns out to be simple. That night, as I’m circling our camp on night watch while the others sleep, she finds me.

I’ve been with her all day. All week. For months and years. But my heartbeat picks up at the sight of her approaching slowly, a tall liquid shadow moving through the black trees. She stops a few feet away, her eyes shining in the darkness. I notice that she’s wearing her weapon. We’re well into the borderlands now.

“I won’t let you give your life away,” she says. There’s pain in her voice, and I hate that this is the first thing—the first real thing—she’s said to me today.

“I don’t want to give it away either.”

“Roar, I need you to be serious right now.”

I raise my hands in surrender. “All right . . . I’m listening.”

“You heard what Perry said . . . what Vale vowed to do to you if we run. But this isn’t just about defying Vale, Roar. I’ve heard things about Sable. He’s proud and vengeful. People say he got his name because he has a black heart.”

“That’s just talk, Liv. Sable is powerful. Power doesn’t come without enemies and their scorn.”

“But what if it’s true? If we run, we wouldn’t just be going against Vale. What if Sable makes it his mission to hunt us down? To kill you? He has an army of thousands and that’s a fact. That’s not a rumor. I don’t want to be responsible for you living the rest of your life as a wanted man, and if you were ever caught . . .”

She trails off, choosing not to state the obvious. If I take her away and Sable or Vale ever catches me, it’s my life. There’s nothing for me to say so I shrug. I can’t promise that it won’t happen. It might. She’s either going to have to accept it—or not. But I won’t give her false hope.

I draw a breath, listening for sounds around me. The risk of being attacked by bands of dispersed is real out here; we can’t afford to let our guard down. I hear only the sound of leaves rustling with a breeze. The lonely call of an owl in the distance.

All I want is to be back where we were a few days ago on the beach by the cave.

Liv shifts on her feet. “Say something, Roar.”

“I love you.”

The words hang in the darkness, and now she’s the one who falls into silence. That wasn’t my intention. She should be in my arms right now. I don’t know why she isn’t.

I step toward her and find her hand. “I understand the risks, Liv.” I glance toward camp, thinking of the friend I might lose. “And I’m willing to take them. For you. For us. I choose you. Above everything else, I choose you.” Her fingers are cold, so I take them between my palms and then press my lips to them. “I’m ready,” I say, against her skin. “The question is, are you?”

She stares at me.

I wait.

And wait.

“You’re killing me, Liv. Whatever it is, just tell me. What’s in your heart?”

“You are,” she says.

She tells me again, silently.

You. It’s always been you.

I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath for a few days until now. I pull her against me and squeeze as hard as I dare without hurting her. I kiss the top of her head. “I needed to hear that,” I whisper against her hair.

“When I think about being without you,” she says, “I can barely breathe.”

The coincidence makes me smile. “Keep breathing. I’m right here.”

She leans back. The smile on her lips is there and gone. “I don’t see a way out, Roar. Every choice I have, people will end up suffering. If I don’t go to Sable, what’s going to happen to the Tides? Are they going to starve because of me? Is Mila? Is Talon?”

“No. Your brother won’t let them starve.”

“How? I’m Vale’s solution. His answer to feeding the tribe is me.”

“When I said brother, I was talking about Perry. He won’t let Talon go hungry. Neither will Vale. They’ll think of something. No one’s going to starve.”

Instead of soothing her worries, my comments only make her wince. She’d be leaving everyone behind if we ran. Talon. Perry. Vale and Mila. Even Brooke. She’d lose any chance of seeing them again if she and I defied Vale and disappeared.

I can’t ask her to make that choice.

“You know what I want,” I tell her instead. “Whatever you decide, love, I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

She’s quiet for a long moment, searching my eyes. Stepping right into my soul. “Liv or love?” she asks.

I brush her hair away from her neck and rest my hand there, feeling the beating of her pulse. “Either,” I answer. “They’re the same to me.”

 10 

We’re running out of time.

I meet Liv’s gaze across the small clearing in the woods, where we’ve stopped for water and a quick meal. I know she’s thinking the same thing.

We’ve traveled north day after day, completing a week, and then a few days more. We’ve climbed steadily and watched the oak trees turn into pines. The rolling hills turn into mountains that pierce the clouds. Now we sit only a few miles from Sable’s southern border. Since the territory is massive, the Horns’ city—Rim—is still a two-day journey from here. But if Liv and I are going to flee, it needs to happen soon.

It needs to happen tonight.

Perry drops his water skin into his satchel and rises from his spot on an overturned log. “Let’s keep moving. I want us on Sable’s land by nightfall.”

“We’ve gone far enough today,” Wylan says, waving a hand at the clearing. “This is as good a place to camp as any.”

“There’s no reason to spend another night on unprotected land,” Perry says. “If we move an hour north, we’ll be better off.”

He has a point. Once we cross into Horn territory, the odds of running into dispersed will drop. But just being this close to Sable’s land has me sweating and feeling skitty.

I look at Liv. I’m not the only one who’s anxious. She’s sitting against a rock, hugging her knees. She looks pale and fragile and fearful, and she is none of those things.

She must sense this, because she extends her legs and straightens her back. “Perry,” she says. “Just . . . one more night.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” His tone is softer with her. He pauses, watching Liv in silence. I wonder what he scents, what passes between them through their tempers, because he nods and says, “Fine. We’ll stay.”

Wylan lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Yesss,” he says. “My feet are—”

“We know,” Collins interrupts. “Your feet are killing all of us.”

Perry tugs his bow over his shoulder. “Wylan, you and I will take first watch.”

“I’ll be right there,” Wylan says. When Perry shoots him a glare, Wylan adds, “It’s not even dark yet.”

Perry starts to say something, catches himself, and leaves without a word.

Since Liv and Perry picked up human scents earlier, we don’t risk a fire. And we’ve already eaten, so there’s nothing to do but talk or sleep. I keep my eyes on Liv while Wylan and Collins prattle on about nothing. As daylight fades and the night cools, I try to read her thoughts, my heart racing though I’m sitting still.

Will she choose love or duty?

A life of hiding in the woods or as a purchased bride?

She has hard choices to make. I want to support her. This is her decision. But the part of me that wants to tie her up and haul her away with me is winning. I can’t stand by much longer. I won’t.

“Roar.”

Perry’s voice carries from a distance, but it’s sharp with urgency. I’m on my feet in an instant, scanning the trees, listening. I hear his feet pounding through the woods before I spot him. When I do, any doubt I have that we’re being attacked vanishes. Perry runs toward us at a full sprint.

“There are at least a dozen,” he says, when he reaches us. “The best chance we have is to outrun them.”

I shake my head. “It’s too late.” I hear footsteps. Behind us. Ahead of us. They’re faint, but they are everywhere. “There’s more than a dozen of them, and they’ve surrounded us.”

Perry curses, and I know we’re all absorbing the same fact: no matter what, we’ll have to fight our way out.

“Which way should we go?” Liv asks me. Her half-sword is drawn. She doesn’t look pale or fragile anymore. Collins pulls his bow off his shoulder. Wylan has turned white beside him.

I listen again, calibrating. Searching for the direction where I hear fewer footsteps. For the path, I hope, of least resistance. “This way.”

We grab our packs and sprint through the pine trees.

Darkness has fallen, heavy and thick around us, amplifying our breaths and our footsteps. We are loud. Any band with its share of Auds will follow us with no trouble. If they have a Scire, then they will track us by scent. Though it’s no time for these thoughts, I can’t help but recall Perry as he told Vale that we’d travel safer without Wylan and Collins adding to our numbers. He was right. If it were just me, Perry, and Liv, I know we could disappear. Perry was right again when he said we’d have been better off tonight continuing north to Sable’s territory. I don’t know why I ever question his instincts. I vow to never do it again.

Perry surges ahead, ten paces, twenty, fifty. He slows and sets up, nocking an arrow to his bow and loosing it. I follow the path of the shot and see his target. A man deep in the murky woods beyond, who flies backward and lands on the forest floor. Perry fires another arrow to the north, and another, but they come on us, steel flashing, yelling, flooding from the darkness.

A man in shredded clothes charges me, his eyes wide, feral, as they catch the dim light of the Aether. He lumbers my way, rash, thoughtless, and slashes at me with his knife. He moves as slow as a cloud. I dodge easily and strike back. My blade finds the artery at his neck and he crumples at my feet.

“Liv!” I only catch a glimpse of her blond hair before another man breaks through the trees, running at me. Swiftly I take him in, gauging his strengths as an opponent. He’s younger and more cautious than the last one, pacing as he measures me back, his feet light as they move in the practiced steps of a man comfortable with a fight. I keep my eyes on him, though I hear Liv behind me, grunting, her sword clanging. I feel my life drain away with every second that I can’t see her.

“Come on!” I yell at my attacker.

He doesn’t make his move and I won’t wait. I can’t wait anymore. I dart toward him and feel a slap on my chest as I plunge my knife into his heart.

Drawing the blade, I spin, spotting Liv just as she jams the hilt of her half-sword into a man’s face. He rocks backward, finished, but there’s another figure behind her. A man, streaking toward her with an ax. She’s blind to him. Doesn’t see him as he runs for her, the massive weapon held high.

I throw my knife.

In the instant that it flies across the night, I bargain with fate.

I’ll let her go. I’ll let Sable have her. I’ll do anything, as long as she lives.

I hit the ax man on the cheek, exactly where I aimed. He twists away and goes down. I hear two thumps: his body, his weapon. He doesn’t get back up.

Liv’s eyes lock with mine, fear flashing in them.

“Roar, go!” Perry yells from uphill. Wylan and Collins are with him. A cluster of men have gathered in the hundred yards that separate us. I count them. Nine.

We’re strong fighters, each of us, but those are still a fool’s odds—and I’ve just sworn to trust Perry’s instincts. Even if it means going against mine by leaving him to this fight.

“Perry!” Liv screams.

“Olivia, run!” he yells again.

There’s only one thing to do and Liv knows it too.

We run.

 11 

Liv and I sprint for a solid hour, and then we stop. She scents. I listen. And though it’s clear that we’re out of danger, we run for a half hour more.

When we finally stop for good, I bend over my knees. My shirt is heavy with sweat. My legs shake under my own weight.

“Do you think they made it?” Liv asks, out of breath. “Do you think Perry’s all right?”

He has to be, but I can’t seem to find words to tell her that.

She looks at me. “Are you all right?”

My hands are shaking, too. Almost every part of me is shaking. All I see is the man running at her with the ax.

“Roar,” she says. “Talk to me.”

Running has given me a stitch in my side. A dull ache that keeps me from uncurling my back all the way when I try to straighten up. “How could I be all right after what almost happened back there, Liv?”

She looks into the woods, and I know she’s remembering. “I didn’t see him. I didn’t know he was there.”

“Do you know how close that was? He was barely two feet away from you. What if my aim had been off? What if I’d missed?”

She shakes her head. “You never miss.”

“Olivia, that is not the point.”

“Roar . . . you’re hurt.”

“I’m not hurt! I am rage. I want to go back there so I can kill him again.”

“I meant you’re bleeding,” she says. “That kind of hurt.”

“I am?” I look down at myself. “Where?”

“I don’t know,” Liv says. “There’s blood on your face.” She steps closer and runs her hands over my cheeks, her eyes drifting over me. “I don’t see anything.”

Then I feel it—a sting on my chest—and I remember the slap I took earlier. I pull the collar of my sweaty shirt away from me, trying to see the cut.

“Here, Roar. Let me see.” Liv yanks the hem up. Over my head. Off. The cool night against my skin feels like heaven. Liv’s fingers skimming over my chest feel even better.

I suck in a breath as the sting flares. Peering down, I watch her thumb run across a nick that’s about two inches long. Right over my heart, but shallow.

“It’s nothing,” she says with relief. “Barely a scratch.”

I knew that—I hardly feel it—but I can’t resist. “So I get ‘barely a scratch’ when I’m hurt, but Perry gets a half-hour examination?”

“No,” Liv says. “You get this.” She wraps her arms around me and kisses me. It’s a long kiss, and more than a little desperate. We’re both still scared, but my hands grow surer on her body. It’s not long before we’re both breathing fast again.

“Liv,” I say. “I wanted you to be able to choose on your own. I didn’t want to force you. I haven’t asked because I never want to put pressure on you—”

“Shhh . . .” she says. “I know, Roar.”

I rest my forehead against hers. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

Her gaze drops to my mouth, and I feel her breath when she whispers, “I love you, Roar. I always will.”

We find a place to burrow together in the shelter of a pine tree, hidden beneath branches that look timeless. Our nerves are still with us, but there’s something more now. A pull that’s always been between us. That’s only gotten stronger with every day that I’ve known her. I hold her and tell her about all the days we’re leaving behind us, calling up stories, all the memories that are ours, until her laughter fades to the quiet rhythm of her breath as she sleeps.

Then I kiss the top of her head, feeling steady. Feeling full.

The past is behind us now. Tomorrow, we start our future.

I know she’s gone before I open my eyes. I know because I’m calling for her as I wake and look around me. Her satchel is gone, her sword and sheath, but I still feel the weight of her head against my chest and the warmth she left behind.

I call for her, yelling, though I know it won’t matter. Liv made her choice. She didn’t pick me or Sable or the Tides. She chose time. I don’t know how I’m sure, but I am. Liv always runs when she needs to think.

I call her name anyway, yelling to the trees and to the Aether. I don’t stop until I lose my voice and no sound comes out of me anymore. Then I pick up my satchel and pull it over my shoulder.

I’ll give her time, but I won’t give up. Ever.

Excerpt from Through the Ever Night

A WORLD TORN APART.

A LOVE UNDER SIEGE.

Continue reading for a sneak peek at the second book in Veronica Rossi’s spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT.

 1 

PEREGRINE

Aria was here.

Perry followed her scent, moving swiftly through the night. He kept his stride even as he scanned the darkened woods, though his heart hammered in his chest. Roar had told him she was back on the outside, had even delivered a violet with a message as proof, but Perry wouldn’t believe it until he saw her.

He reached a rise of boulders and dropped his bow, quiver, and satchel. Then he jumped up, leaping from rock to rock until he stood at the top. The sky was coated with a thick layer of clouds that glowed softly with Aether light. He scanned the rolling hills, his gaze stopping at a barren stretch of land. Scorched, silver in color, it was a scar left by the winter’s storms. Much of his territory, two days to the west, looked the same.

Perry tensed as he spotted the tail of a campfire in the distance. He inhaled and caught the smoky scent on a cool gust. That had to be her. She was close.

“Anything?” Reef called up. He stood some twenty feet below. Sweat glistened on his deep brown skin, running along the scar that reached from the base of his nose to above his ear, dividing his cheek, and he was breathing heavily. Just a few months ago they’d been strangers. Now Reef was the head of his guard, seldom leaving his side.

Perry climbed down, landing with a soggy crunch on a patch of melting snow. “She’s due east. A mile. Maybe less.”

Reef drew a sleeve across his face, pushing his braids away and wiping off sweat. Usually he kept up without any effort, but two days at a driving pace had brought out the decade between them. “You said she could help us find the Still Blue.”

“She will help,” Perry said. “I told you. She needs to find it, just as we do.”

Reef strode up, coming to within a foot of Perry, and narrowed his eyes. “You did tell me that.” He tipped his head and inhaled, the gesture bold and animal. He didn’t downplay his Sense like Perry did. “But that’s not why we’ve come after her,” he said.

Perry couldn’t read his own tempers, but he could imagine the scents Reef had taken in. Eagerness, green and sharp and alive. Desire, thick and musky. Impossible to miss. Reef was a Scire too. He knew exactly what Perry felt right now, moments away from seeing Aria. Scents never lied.

“It’s one reason,” Perry said tightly. He picked up his things, shouldering them with an impatient tug. “Camp here with the others. I’ll be back by sunup.” He turned to go.

“Sunup, Perry? You think the Tides want to lose another Blood Lord?”

Perry froze and then faced him again. “I’ve been out here a hundred times on my own.”

Reef nodded. “Sure. As a hunter.” He took a water skin from his leather satchel, his movements casual and slow though he was still out of breath. “You’re more than that now.”

Perry stared into the woods. Twig and Gren were out there, listening and watching for danger. They’d been protecting him since he left his territory. Reef was right. Here in the borderlands, survival was the only rule. Without his guard, his life would be at risk. Perry let out a slow breath, his hope of spending a night alone with Aria vanishing.

Reef stoppered the cork on his water skin with a firm thump. “Well? What does my lord command?”

Perry shook his head at the formal address—Reef’s way of reminding him of his responsibility. Like he could forget. “Your lord will take one hour alone,” he said, and jogged away.

“Peregrine, hold on. You need to—”

“One hour,” Perry called over his shoulder. Whatever Reef wanted, it could wait.

When he was sure he’d left Reef behind, Perry firmed his grip on his bow and broke into a run. Scents flashed past as he threaded through the trees. The rich, promising smell of wet earth. The smoke from Aria’s campfire. And her scent. Violets, sweet and rare.

Perry relished the burn in his legs and the crisp air flowing through his lungs. Winter was a time for holding in place as the Aether storms wreaked havoc, and he hadn’t been in the open like this for too long—not since he’d taken Aria to the Dweller Pod in search of her mother. He’d been telling himself she was back where she belonged, with her people, and he had his own tribe to take care of. Then, just days ago, Roar had showed up at the compound with Cinder and told him she was here on the outside. From that moment he could only think of being with her again.

Perry tore down a slope soft with new grass and recent rain, panning the woods. It was darker beneath the trees, the Aether light filtering softly through the canopy, but every branch and leaf stood in sharp contrast, thanks to his Night-Sighted eyes. With each step, the scent of Aria’s campfire grew stronger. In a flash he remembered her game of sneaking up, silent as a shadow, and planting a kiss on his cheek. He couldn’t keep the smile from coming to his lips.

Up ahead he spotted movement—a blur through the trees. Aria ran into view. Sleek. Silent. Intent as she searched the area. When she saw him, her eyes widened in surprise, but her stride didn’t slow and neither did his. He shed his things, dropping them where they fell, and sprinted. Next thing he knew, she slammed into his chest, solid and fragrant in his arms.

Perry held her against him. “I missed you,” he whispered in her ear. He couldn’t hold her close enough. “I should never have let you go. I missed you so much.”

Words tumbled out of him. He said a dozen things he hadn’t meant to say, until she drew back and smiled up at him. Then he couldn’t speak at all. He took in the arch of her slender eyebrows, black like her hair, and the cleverness in her gray eyes. Fair and finely made, she was beautiful. Even more than he remembered.

“You’re here,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come.”

“I left as soon as—”

Before he could finish, her arms closed around his neck and they were kissing—a clumsy, hasty kiss. They were both breathing too hard. Smiling too much. Perry wanted to slow down and savor everything, but he couldn’t find a scrap of patience. He wasn’t sure if he started laughing first or if she did.

“I can do much better than that,” he said, just as she said, “You’re taller. I swear you’ve grown.”

“Taller?” he said. “I hope not.”

“You are,” she said. She studied his face like she wanted to know everything about him. She nearly already did. During their time together, he’d told her things he’d never said to anyone. Aria’s smile faded as her gaze stopped at the chain around his neck. “I heard what happened.” She reached up, and the weight at his collarbone lifted. “You’re a Blood Lord now.” She spoke softly, more to herself than to him. “This is . . . It’s stunning.”

He peered down, watching her fingers run over the silver links. “It’s heavy,” he said. This was the best moment he’d had since he’d taken the chain months ago.

Aria met his eyes, her temper cooling. “I’m sorry about Vale.”

Perry looked across the shadowed woods and swallowed through the sudden tightness in his throat. The memory of his brother’s death kept him awake nights. Sometimes, when he was alone, it kept him from breathing. Gently he took Aria’s hand from the chain and slipped his fingers through hers.

“Later,” he said. They had months of catching up to do. He wanted to talk to her about her mother. Had wanted to comfort her since he’d heard the news from Roar. But not now, when he’d just gotten her back. “Later . . . all right?”

She nodded, her eyes warm with understanding. “Later.” She turned his hand to see the scars Cinder had given him. Pale and thick as trails of wax, they made a web from his knuckles to his wrist. “Does this still bother you?” she asked, tracing the scars with her fingers.

“No. It reminds me of you . . . of when you bandaged it.” He lowered his head, bringing his cheek next to hers. “That was the first time you touched me without hating it.” This close, her scent was everywhere, running through him, somehow stirring and mellowing him at the same time.

“Did Roar tell you where I’m going?” she asked.

“He did.” Perry straightened and looked up. He couldn’t see the currents of Aether, but he knew they were there, flowing above the clouds. Each winter, the Aether storms were growing stronger, bringing fire and ruin. Perry knew they would only get worse. His tribe’s survival depended on finding a land rumored to be free of the Aether—the same thing Aria was searching for. “He told me you’re looking for the Still Blue.”

“You saw Bliss.”

He nodded. They had gone to the Pod together in search of her mother and found it destroyed by Aether. Domes the size of hills had collapsed. Walls ten feet thick had been crushed like eggshells.

“It’s only a matter of time before that happens to Reverie,” she continued. “The Still Blue is our only chance. Everything I’ve heard points to the Horns. To Sable.”

Perry’s pulse quickened at the mention of the name. His sister, Liv, should have married the Horns’ Blood Lord last spring, but she’d spooked and run away. Liv still hadn’t appeared. He’d have to deal with Sable soon enough.

“The Horns’ city is still locked in by ice,” he said. “Rim won’t be reachable until the pass to the north thaws. Could be a few weeks before then.”

“I know,” she said. “I thought it would have cleared by now. I’ll go north as soon as it does.”

She stepped away from him abruptly and scanned the woods, her head angling quick and sharp. He’d been there when she’d learned she was an Aud. Every sound had been a discovery. Now he watched as her attention shifted naturally to the noises of the night.

“Someone’s coming,” she said.

“Reef,” Perry said. “He’s one of my men.” No way had it already been an hour. Not even close. “There are more nearby.”

Perry caught the steep dive in her temper, a bracing, cool drift. In the next moment his heartbeat faltered. He hadn’t felt tethered to another’s emotions in months. Since he’d last been with her.

“When are you going back?” she asked.

“Soon. Morning.”

“I understand.” She looked from him to the chain, her expression growing distant. “The Tides need you.”

Perry shook his head. She didn’t understand. “I didn’t come out here to see you for a night, Aria. Come back to the Tides with me. It’s not safe out here, and—”

“I don’t need help, Perry.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He was too skitty to order his thoughts. Before he could say anything more, she took another step away, her hands hovering over the blades at her belt. Seconds later, Reef emerged from the woods, square shoulders hunched as he walked toward them. Perry cursed under his breath. He needed more time with her. Alone.

Reef’s steps caught when he saw Aria alert and armed. Probably not what he’d expected from a Dweller. Perry noticed her wary expression too. With the scar across his face and his challenging stare, Reef looked like someone to avoid.

Perry cleared his throat. “Aria, this is Reef, head of my guard.” It felt strange introducing two people who meant so much to him. Like they should already know each other.

Reef gave a tight nod, aimed at no one, and then shot Perry a hard look. “A word,” he said sharply, before he stalked off.

Anger streaked through Perry at being spoken to that way, but he trusted Reef. He looked at Aria. “I’ll be right back.”

He hadn’t gone far when Reef wheeled around, his braids swinging out. “I don’t have to tell you what your temper’s like right now, do I? It’s the scent of stupidity. You’ve brought us out here chasing after a girl who’s got you so—”

“She’s an Aud,” Perry interrupted. “She can hear you.”

Reef jabbed a finger in the air. “I want you to hear me, Peregrine. You have a tribe to think about. You can’t afford to lose your head over a girl—especially not a Dweller. Have you forgotten what happened? Because I promise you the tribe hasn’t.”

“The kidnappings weren’t her fault. She had nothing to do with them. And she’s only half Dweller.”

“She’s a Mole, Perry! One of them. That’s all anyone’s going to see.”

“They’ll do as I say.”

“Or maybe they’ll turn on you behind your back. How do you think they’ll take to seeing you with her? Vale might have traded with the Dwellers, but he never brought one into his bed.”

Perry shot forward, grabbing Reef by the vest. They stood, locked, inches apart. Reef’s temper brought an icy burn to the back of Perry’s tongue. “You’ve made your point.” Perry let Reef go and stepped back, drawing a few breaths. Silence stretched out between them, too loud after their arguing.

He saw the problem with bringing Aria back to the Tides. The tribe would blame her for the missing children, regardless of her innocence, because she was a Dweller. He knew it wouldn’t be easy—not at first—but he’d find a way to make it work. Whatever needed to be done next, he wanted her with him and it was his decision as Blood Lord.

Perry glanced to where Aria waited, then back at Reef. “You know what?”

“What?” Reef snapped.

“You’re a terrible judge of time.”

Reef smirked. He ran a hand over the back of his head and sighed. “So I am.” When he spoke again, his voice had lost its bite. “Perry, I don’t want to see you make this mistake.” He nodded at the chain. “I know what that cost you. I don’t want to watch you lose it.”

“I know what I’m doing.” Perry gripped the cool metal in his hand. “I’ve got this.”

 2 

ARIA

Aria stared at the trees, listening to Perry’s footsteps grow louder as he returned. She saw the gleam of the chain at his neck first and then his eyes, flashing in the darkness. They’d come together in such a rush before. Now, as he strode toward her, she took her first good look at him.

He was impressive. Much more than she remembered. He’d grown taller, as she’d first thought, and more muscular through the shoulders, settling into his lanky height. In the dim light she saw a dark coat and pants with fitted, clean lines, not the battered, patched-up clothes of the hunter she’d met in the fall. His blond hair was shorter, falling in layers that framed his face, so different from the long twisting waves she’d known before.

He was nineteen, but he seemed older than her friends in Reverie. How many of her friends had been through what he had? How many had hundreds of people to look after? None. They came from totally different worlds. Aether, she thought. That was the only thing Dwellers and Outsiders had in common. It threatened them both.

Perry stopped a few feet away. Pale light fell on the strong planes of his face, and she noticed shadows under his eyes. He ran a hand over the fine scruff on his jaw. The brushing sound was so familiar, Aria could almost feel the gold bristles beneath her fingertips.

“Sorry about Reef.”

“It’s all right,” she said, but it wasn’t. Reef’s words echoed in her mind. Dweller, he’d called her. Mole. Bitter insults. Words she hadn’t heard in months. At Marron’s, she’d fit in like she belonged.

Her gaze dropped to the ground between them. Three paces for her. Two for him. Moments ago they’d been pressed together. Now they stood apart like strangers. Like everything had just changed.

A mistake. Reef had said that, too. Was he right? “Maybe I should go.”

“No—stay.” Perry stepped forward and took her hand. “Forget what he said. He’s got a temper. . . . Worse than mine.”

She looked up at him. “Worse?”

His mouth lifted into the crooked smile she’d missed. “Almost worse.” He shifted closer, his expression growing serious. “I didn’t come here to see you for a night, or to offer to help you. I’m here because I want to be with you. It could be weeks before the pass to the north thaws. We’ll wait until it does, then search for the Still Blue together.” He paused, his gaze focused completely on her. “Come back with me, Aria. Be with me.”

Something brilliant unfolded inside of her at the sound of those words. She memorized them as she would a song: every note, unhurried, spoken in his deep, warm timbre. Whatever happened, she’d keep those words. She wanted nothing more than to say yes, but she couldn’t avoid the anxiety that swirled in her stomach.

“I want to,” she said. “But it’s not just the two of us anymore.” He had his responsibility to the Tides, and she had her own pressures. Consul Hess, Reverie’s Director of Security, had threatened Perry’s nephew, Talon, if Aria didn’t bring him the location of the Still Blue. It was the reason—one of the reasons—she’d come back to the outside.

Aria looked into Perry’s eyes and couldn’t bring herself to tell him about Hess’s blackmail. There was nothing he could do. Telling him would only make him worry. “Reef said the tribe would turn on you,” she said instead.

“Reef’s wrong.” Perry’s gaze flicked to the woods in annoyance. “It may take them some time to adjust, but they will.” He squeezed her hand, a smile lighting in his eyes. “Say yes. I know you want to. Roar will beat me if I show up without you, and there’s another reason you should come. Maybe it’ll help you decide.”

He slid his hand up her arm and ran his thumb over her bicep. The feel of his archer’s calluses, somehow both rough and soft, sent a thrill through her. She heard the trees rustle with a breeze, and then felt it brush cool against her cheeks. No one planted her as firmly in her skin as he did.

Perry was talking. She had to backtrack in her thoughts to catch up. “You need Markings. It’s dangerous not to have them. Concealing a Sense is deceitful, Aria. People are killed for hiding them.”

“Roar told me,” she said. She’d been hiding out in the woods since leaving Marron’s, so her lack of Markings hadn’t been a problem yet. But once she went north, she’d come across other people. She couldn’t deny that she’d be much safer with the Audile tattoos.

“Only a Blood Lord can warrant them,” Perry said. “I happen to know one.”

“You’d support me getting Markings? Even though I’m only half Outsider?”

He tipped his head to the side, blond waves falling across his eyes. “Yes. I very much want to.”

“Perry, what about . . .” Aria trailed off, not sure she wanted to voice the question that had plagued her for months, but she had to know. Even if it meant hearing something that would crush her. “You told me you’d only be with another Scire, and I’m not . . .” She bit her lip and finished the sentence in the safety of her thoughts. I’m not like you. I’m not what you said you wanted.

Her face warmed as he watched her. No matter what she said or didn’t say, he’d scent the depth of her insecurity.

He shifted closer, tracing the line of her jaw. “You changed the way I think about a lot of things. That’s only one of them.”

Suddenly she couldn’t imagine leaving him. She had to find a way to make this work. The tribe would hate her for being a Dweller—she was sure of that. And if she and Perry arrived at the compound hand in hand, the Tides would lose all faith in his judgment. But what if she and Perry turned the focus onto something else? Onto something they both needed? An idea took shape in her mind.

“Did you tell the Tides anything about me?” she asked.

He frowned. The question seemed to catch him off balance. “I told a few people you’d help find the Still Blue.”

“That’s all?”

“I haven’t talked about us with anyone, if that’s what you mean.” He shrugged. “It’s private. . . . Between us.”

“We should keep it that way. I’ll go back with you as an ally, and we’ll keep us out of it.”

He laughed, the sound flat and humorless. “You’re serious? You mean lie?”

“It wouldn’t be lying. It’s no different from what you just said: keeping it private. We could ease the tribe into it that way. We won’t talk about us until we have a better idea of how they’ll take it. Roar would keep quiet if we asked him. Would Reef?”

Perry nodded, his jaw clenched. “He’s pledged to me. He’ll do anything I ask of him.”

The sound of a branch snapping pulled her attention to the darkened woods. Three distinct strides took form, one heavier than the others. The rest of Perry’s guard was on the way. They spoke in quiet tones, yet each voice was unique to her ears, as singular as the features of a person’s face. “The others are coming.”

“Let them come,” Perry said. “They’re my men, Aria. I don’t have to hide anything from them.”

She wanted to believe him, but they had to be smart. As a new leader, he needed his tribe behind him. But she couldn’t deny that being Marked would improve her chances of finding the Still Blue, to say nothing of the advantage Perry would provide on her journey to Rim. He was a hunter, a warrior. A survivor. More at ease in the borderlands than anyone she knew. All good reasons to go to the Tides for a few weeks before searching for the Still Blue. She and Perry would get everything they wanted if they just showed a little caution.

Perry’s guards were closing in, their footsteps growing louder by the second. Aria stood on her toes, resting her hands on his chest. “This is the best way—the safest,” she whispered. “Trust me.”

She pressed her lips quickly to his, but it wasn’t close to being enough. She took his face between her hands, feeling the soft scruff she’d missed, and kissed him again firmly, fiercely, before she backed away.

When Reef and two other men appeared, she and Perry stood several paces apart—the distance between strangers.

Also by Veronica Rossi

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Copyright

Copyright © 2012 by Veronica Rossi

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Epub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062239556

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