They stood alone, some twenty paces off. The crowds had thinned; most everyone had loaded into the Hovers already. Aether clawed down across the sky, the sound of the funnels loud in her ears. They were leaving just in time. The funnels were almost on top of them.

“But you met him because of me,” Roar said.

“Yeah.” Perry crossed his arms. “I did.”

They both looked over, noticing her. Neither of them looked away. They watched her, their faces grave and worried, like they thought she might blow right off the edge of the bluff. Nearby, one of the Hover engines buzzed to life. Then another and another, until her ears filled with the sound, and she didn’t hear the Aether shrieking anymore.

Her attention moved to a group coming toward them.

Horn guards. Her father. And Sable.

It was almost time to leave.

As Roar spoke again to Perry, Aria found herself shutting out the sounds of the Hovers, the wind and the surf below, and the storms, focusing solely on them.

“I don’t like this idea, Perry.”

“I knew you wouldn’t.”

Roar nodded. “Right.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

Perry had told Aria that he’d return, but he made no such promise to Roar now. As the pause stretched out between them, she wondered if Perry had only said what she’d wanted to hear.

“All right then, brother,” Roar said at last.

They embraced—quickly, firmly—something Aria realized she’d never seen before and never wanted to see again. It made them look scared and breakable, and they weren’t. They were magnificent, both of them.

Perry moved closer and called to Talon, who jumped down and met his uncle. Kneeling, Perry took Talon’s face in his hands, and then Talon was crying and she had to look away.

Her father and Sable were almost there. Wind pushed Loran’s black hair into his eyes, but Sable’s was just a shadow over his skull.

As she watched them approach, her conversation with Perry played over in her mind. He had told her that he would come back. Hadn’t he? What had she said to him? Had she been rude or ungrateful, like the last time she’d seen her mother?

The last time.

This couldn’t be.

Was it?

She could have lived every minute she’d had with him better. She should have always spoken the best words she could to him.

Sable arrived, his face flushed, his eyes full of energy. He stood talking with Loran, but Aria knew he was watching everything.