“We’ll get your Markings done before we go. And about hiding things between us … let’s drop it. It’s killing me not being able to touch you.”

Aria smiled up at him. “We’re leaving soon. Can we keep it up just until then?”

“You like seeing me suffer?”

She laughed softly. “The wait will be worth it, I promise. Now go.”

He kissed her once more, then tore himself away and ran up the beach, weightless over the sand.

Roar watched him from the top of the beach with a grin. “That was beautiful, Per. It was killing me, too.”

Perry laughed, smacking him on the head as he jogged by. “Not everything’s meant for your ears.”

He found Reef up the trail, stalling Bear and Wylan, who’d come in search of him. As they walked back to the compound, Bear spoke of the trouble he was having with a pair of farmers, Gray and Rowan. Wylan chimed in with petty complaints every dozen paces, his voice sharp and angry, as always. No matter what Perry did or said, it was never good enough for Wylan, who’d been one of Vale’s most devoted followers.

Perry listened with half a mind, doing all he could to keep himself from smiling.

An hour later, he sat on the roof of his house, alone for the first time in days. He dropped his arms over his knees and closed his eyes, relishing the cool mist on his skin. When the breeze died down and he breathed in deeply, he scented traces of Aria. She was in Vale’s room now, inside the house. Laughter drifted through the crack in the roof beside him. The Six were playing a game of dice. He could hear Twig and Gren’s usual banter. Auds both, they talked constantly, always arguing, competing over everything.

Lamps flickered around the compound and smoke drifted from chimneys, mingling with the salt air. This late in the night, only a few people were still about. Perry lay back, watching the Aether light sift down through the thinner patches in the clouds and listening to the volley of their voices across the clearing.

“How’s the baby’s fever?” Molly asked someone.

“Dropping, thank the sky,” came the answer. “He’s sleeping now.”

“Good, let him rest. I’ll bring him down to the sea in the morning. It’ll open up his lungs.”

Perry inhaled, letting the ocean air open his own lungs. He’d grown up under the care of many, much like the baby they spoke of. As a child, he’d crawled up into the nearest lap to sleep. When he’d had fever or a cut that needed stitches, Molly had nursed him back to health. The Tides were a small tribe, but they were also a big family.