Outside, the hills blurred past. She was surprised by how far they’d gone. They’d reach the Tides soon.

“I swear that almost made me sick,” Soren muttered.

Aria remembered their last hurried exchange through the Smarteye.

“What?” Soren said, scowling at her. “Why are you looking at me that way?”

“You said you knew where the Still Blue was.” Their connection had been cut off, just before he could tell her.

Soren grinned. “That’s right, I do. I saw everything Sable and my father talked about. But I’m not saying a word in front of the Savage.”

Perry’s arms tensed around her. “Call me that again, Dweller, and it’ll be the last thing you ever say.” He shifted his back, relaxing again. “And you don’t need to tell me anything. I know where it is.”

Aria looked up at Perry. She moved too quickly, and pain shot down her arm. She bit the inside of her lip, waiting for it to subside. “You know where the Still Blue is?”

He nodded. “That fleet was moving dead west. There’s only one thing in that direction.”

The realization struck her before he’d finished speaking. “It’s at sea,” she said.

Perry made a low sound of agreement. “I was never closer to it than when I was home.”

Soren’s mouth twisted in disappointment. “Well, you don’t know everything.”

Aria shook her head, in no mood for Soren’s games. “Just say it, Soren. What did you find out?”

Soren’s lip curled like he was ready to say something snide, but then his expression relaxed. When he replied, his voice was even, and lacked its usual bitterness. “Sable says he has to go through a solid wall of Aether before he reaches open sky.” He made a dismissive sound, low in his throat. “He says he can do it, but it’s a lie. No ship can do that.”

No ship could, Aria thought, but there was another way. She spoke at the same time Perry did.

“Cinder.”

43

PEREGRINE

The Hover passed the Tide compound and glided north along the coast. Soren had to take them over the open ocean to reach the protected cove outside the cave, the bluff too steep for the craft to negotiate. Perry noticed that the ride was rougher over water. As Aria dozed in his arms, he looked across to the horizon and felt a surge of hope. They didn’t have Cinder, or the might that Hess and Sable would have together, but the Still Blue was somewhere at sea, and no one knew the sea like the Tides did. The ocean was their territory.

Talon and Clara woke as the Hover put down on the beach. Perry had an explanation ready as to why they’d needed to leave the compound, but seeing the huge smiles on their faces, he decided he’d explain later.