Vale handed his bottle off without looking away. “What are you talking about, Peregrine?”

“The Dwellers took Talon.” He couldn’t believe he’d spoken the words. That they were true. That he was there, telling Vale his son was gone.

Vale’s dark eyebrows drew together. “That can’t be. We’ve done nothing to them.”

Perry took in the stunned faces around them. He shouldn’t have told Vale here. When the fog of disbelief wore off, the news would destroy him. But Vale, as Blood Lord, as Talon’s father, shouldn’t have to endure it in front of the tribe.

“Let’s go home,” Perry said.

Vale hesitated. He looked as though he was going to follow Perry until Wylan spoke up. “Tell him here. Everyone should hear this.”

Vale stepped closer. “Start talking, Peregrine.”

Perry swallowed hard. “I . . . broke into the Dweller fortress.” It sounded ridiculous to him now. Like a prank. “A few nights ago,” he added. “After I left.”

Vale would know, without Perry saying it, that he’d gone after their fight. That he’d acted like a frustrated child and done something rash, as he always did. In the silence that followed, Perry’s breath came fast, like he’d just sprinted. He scented dozens of tempers. Anger. Astonishment. Excitement. The flashing weights and colors and temperatures so potent that he felt sick.

Vale’s face tightened with confusion. “They came for my boy because of what you did?”

Perry shook his head. “They came for me. Talon was just there.”

He couldn’t look at his brother any longer. He stared at the jumble of footprints on the ground. In the next instant, his head rocked to the side and then his shoulder slammed against the earth. He looked up at Vale, a shot of heat flooding his veins. He was at his brother’s feet. He should stay there. He deserved this. But he couldn’t.

He sprang up. Vale drew his knife. Perry brought out his own blade. People cried out and pushed away from them.

Perry couldn’t believe this was happening. Talon should be here, not him. He should be long gone. “I’ll get him back,” he said. “I’ll get Talon. I swear I will.”

Rage burned in Vale’s eyes. “You can’t get him back! Don’t you see that? If you go after him, the Dwellers could destroy all of us!”

Perry tensed. He hadn’t thought of that, but Vale was right. The Dwellers could have dozens of Hovers like the two he’d just seen. Hundreds of men, ready to fight. He felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. Then worse for not caring.

“It’s Talon,” he said. “We have to get him back.”

“There’s no getting him back, Peregrine! You did this! Father was right. You’re cursed. You destroy everything!”