They were so different, inside and out, but they stood exactly the same way. Arms crossed. Ankles crossed. Their posture somehow both relaxed and alert. It was as close as they’d come to each other since Roar’s return.

“Like how they used to be,” Brooke amended.

“Has this ever happened before?”

“Never. And I hate it.”

Incredible. They actually agreed on something.

Aria rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes. The Hover hummed along, and the journey had turned smooth, but she knew it wouldn’t last.

A team, Reef had called them earlier. But they weren’t. Not even close.

They were six people with at least a dozen different agendas between them.

It didn’t matter. It couldn’t matter.

They needed to rescue Cinder. They needed a heading, and they needed Hovers to reach the Still Blue.

Her eyes fluttered open, finding Roar.

They needed revenge.

8. Peregrine

8

PEREGRINE

Soren set the Belswan down in a clearing with a distance of about ten miles between them and the Komodo. They decided to hike to a vantage point and observe from a safe distance.

Perry asked Roar to watch over the Belswan. Someone needed to guard it, and Perry needed Brooke for her eyes.

Roar agreed with a shrug, and Jupiter offered to stay as well. Perry waited outside, hoping Soren would stay too, but he emerged from the Belswan, jogging down the ramp behind Aria and Brooke.

Soren still wore his pale gray Dweller clothes, which would make him stand out like a whale in the woods, and he had a forty-pound pack taken from the supply room slung over his back.

Perry shook his head. “We’ll be back by tonight. You know that, right?”

Soren shot him a seething look and marched on.

They climbed to a cluster of stone outcroppings at the top of a hill. The spot would give them plenty of cover. Most importantly, it offered a clear view of the valley. The Komodo itself lay hidden behind a small slope in the distance. Hess and Sable would surely have sentinels posted along that ridge, and possibly also a patrol.

Perry sat beside Aria on the same rock, settling in to watch. They planned to assess their options from afar before moving closer.

They’d left the Aether storm behind at the coast, and the Aether flowed more calmly here, rolling in waves instead of turning in whirlpools. He didn’t see the red sparks, but he had a feeling he would soon. Thick clouds drifted across the sky, casting wide shadowed patches across the plateau, and he smelled rain coming.

“What was it your father used to say about patience?” Aria said after a little while.

Perry smiled. “It’s a hunter’s best weapon,” he said, happy she remembered something he’d told her months ago. But her temper was low and cool, at odds with her lighthearted comment.

“You all right?” he asked.