Perry’s knees almost buckled. That was it. He’d lost his chance to find Talon. Then why had they brought him down here? Confused, he turned to Roar and found him fighting a smile.

“I can’t,” Aria said, “but you might be able to, Perry.”

“Me?”

“Yes. They’ve only blocked me. The Eye still works. I can’t go in. But you might be able to.”

Marron nodded. “The device reads a signature in two ways. DNA and brain pattern recognition. Aria’s signature was denied right away. But with you, I can try to create some static, some noise in the authentication process. We ran some tests overnight. I think we could steal some time before you’re identified as an unauthorized user. It could work.”

It made no sense to him. All he heard was the last bit. It could work.

“My mother’s file had the security codes to her research,” Aria said. “If Talon’s there, we might be able to find him.”

Perry swallowed hard. “I can find Talon?”

“We can try.”

“When?”

Marron raised his eyebrows. “Now.”

Perry headed to the elevator, suddenly weightless on his legs, until Marron held his hand up. “Wait, Peregrine. It’s better if we do this up here.”

Perry froze. He’d forgotten about what he did downstairs. Shamed, he had to force himself to hold Marron’s gaze. “I can’t fix it. But I’ll find a way to pay you back.”

Marron didn’t answer for a long moment. Then he tipped his head. “No need to, Peregrine. One day I think I’ll be glad you owe me a favor.”

Perry nodded, accepting the agreement, and strode to one of the display cases on the rear wall. He pretended to observe a painting of a lone boat moored on a gray beach as he tried to collect himself. He’d made more than a few promises lately. I’ll find Talon. I’ll get Aria home. What had he done but bring a tribe of cannibals to Marron’s door and then break a valuable piece of equipment? How could Marron have faith in him?

Behind him, Aria and Marron talked about the problems of presenting him with the task of gliding through something he wasn’t even sure he understood. Perry had begun to sweat. It rolled down his spine, along his ribs.

“You all right, Perry?” Roar said.

“Hand hurts,” he said, lifting his arm. It wasn’t entirely a lie. They all looked at him, then at the dirty cast like they’d forgotten about it. Perry couldn’t blame them. If it didn’t hurt so badly, he’d probably have forgotten about it too.

Within a few minutes, Rose arrived and pulled Aria aside, speaking with her quietly. Rose handed Aria a metal case and left.