Aria took his hand. “I’m so envious. A dull day sounds wonderful.”
They were ready. Perry had checked and rechecked their packs. He’d given Aria Talon’s knife. Tonight a wooden one would do her no good. And he had run through the plan with Gage and Mark, two of Marron’s men. Marron had insisted they come on the journey. Gage and Mark would bring Aria back to Delphi if they discovered the rumors about Bliss were true.
Marron embraced Aria. His hair looked almost white against hers. “You’re always welcome here, Aria. Whatever happens, whatever you find, you always have a place here.”
Perry turned to the painting of the boat on the gray beach, the sea a broad stretch of blue behind. Looking at it, he could almost smell home. What if she was forced to come back here? Marron’s was just a week’s travel from Tides land. Would it matter? Perry shook his head at himself. It wouldn’t. The Tides would never accept a Dweller once they learned about Vale, Talon, and Clara. They wouldn’t have beforehand. And he wouldn’t make the same mistake his father and brother had made. Nothing good ever came of mixing blood. He knew that better than anyone.
Roar strode up. “As Blood Lord, you could strike a new deal with Sable. You could get Liv back.”
Perry just looked at him for a moment. Partly because the question came out of nowhere. Partly because he realized he could do that as Blood Lord. It would fall within his duty. But it didn’t mean he would do it. It wasn’t a simple decision. “Don’t ask me that now.”
“I’m asking now.” Roar tipped his head toward Aria. “I thought you’d see things differently.”
Perry glanced at her. She was still talking with Marron. All he could think about was the way she’d felt against him when they had kissed. “It’s not the same, Roar.”
“Isn’t it?”
Perry pulled his satchel over his shoulder. Grabbed his bow and quiver. “Let’s go.”
He wanted the earth blurring fast beneath his feet. The night flowing into his nostrils. He always knew what to do with a weapon in his hand.
They left through a small gate on the north wall. Perry brought in all the scents, letting earth and wind tell him what they’d find. His nose hummed with the strength of the Aether. He glanced up. Vast spools crowded the sky.
He eased smoothly into the woods, finally shedding the feeling of being bound. They broke into two groups to lessen the sounds of their movement. He prowled uphill with Aria, choosing every step with care, scanning the canopy. He had no doubt the Croven’s sentinels were Marked, probably Auds. They would sleep in the treetops, the safest place at night.
Perry glanced over his shoulder. Aria had her hair pulled under a black cap and her face darkened with charcoal, as he did. Her eyes were wide and alert. She had a satchel of her own now. A knife. Clothes that fit. It struck him in that instant how much she’d changed. He’d wondered how it would be, doing this with her. She could have weakened his concentration. She was afraid. No question of that. But this was different than their journey to Marron’s. She was trapping the nerves and making them work. When he breathed, he knew the strength of her control.
Delphi’s walls receded as they crept deeper into the mountain. Judging by the look of the Aether and the burn in his nose, they still had time. An hour maybe, before the funnels rained down.
Aria’s hand at his back stopped him. She pointed to a large tree forty paces ahead. A fresh scatter of branches littered the ground below. Looking up, he saw a figure nestled in the crook of a branch. The man bore an ivory horn. The signaler. Perry looked higher and spotted another man. A pair, tasked with sounding the alarm.
He didn’t know how he’d missed them. Even more, he wasn’t sure how Aria had spotted them first. The men spoke quietly, a conversation Perry only caught as faint sounds. He met Aria’s eyes and then straightened slowly, nocking an arrow in place. He knew he wouldn’t miss the first man. Perry’s challenge was to kill him soundlessly. If he could keep the man from falling from the tree, that would be even better.
He took his aim and drew a few breaths. It should be easy. He wasn’t far. But one yell from the man, or one blast of his horn, and all the Croven would be on them.
A wolf howled in the distance, the perfect sound cover. He straightened the two fingers that held the bowstring, loosing the arrow. He struck the man’s neck, pinning him to the trunk. The horn slid off his lap but didn’t fall to the ground. It remained slung around his arm by a strap, hanging just below the branch. A pale crescent hovering in the darkness.
Perry nocked another arrow but the other man, definitely an Aud because he’d heard the noise, called out desperately for his friend. When he got no answer, he climbed down the tree, fast as a squirrel. Perry loosed another arrow. He heard a crunch as his shot sank into bark. The Aud scampered to the opposite side of the thick trunk, giving Perry no clear shot. Perry dropped his bow, pulled his knife, and ran.
The Aud saw him and veered toward a dense knot of brush. He was slight, closer to Aria’s size than Perry’s, and quick as he threaded around the thick undergrowth. Perry didn’t slow down. He crashed through the branches, hearing them snap and break around him. The man turned downhill, scampering in panic, but Perry knew he had him. He lunged, covering the final paces in the air, slamming into the Aud’s back.
Perry jerked up as soon as they hit the ground, making a clean swipe with his blade across the man’s neck. The wriggling body beneath him went slack as the rich scent of hot blood shot into his nose. Perry wiped his blade on the man’s shirt and stood, his lungs working for breath. Killing a man should be more difficult than killing game. It wasn’t. He looked at the knife in his trembling hand. Only the aftermath was different.