Aria bit her lip to stop herself from snapping at him. She didn’t know why she was suddenly so angry. It was those words: We are so few. Why had he needed to say that? They weren’t few. They were lacking. They were missing Perry.

The Hovers regrouped, and she felt their velocity slow. There was a sudden descent, which made people gasp and reach for one another. Then the Hovers put down on a beach, one after another, a flock of iridescent birds alighting.

When their craft landed, Twig said, “We’re here. I can’t believe we’re here.”

Aria wasn’t. She didn’t feel there at all.

Reef motioned Roar closer. Talon was still sleeping in Roar’s arms.

“I want the three of you to stay together,” Reef said, looking from her to Roar. “Hyde and Hayden will be watching you, starting now.”

Watching them? She didn’t understand. Roar pursed his lips and nodded, resigned, and it began to make sense. He had been after Sable since Liv’s death. That was no secret to anyone, least of all Sable. And Talon was Perry’s nephew. Eight years of age, but a successor nonetheless. Aria wasn’t sure why Reef thought she needed to be protected, but then her mind wasn’t working right.

Reef disappeared and Aria was suddenly looking up at the brothers, at Hyde and Hayden, and then looking away, because they had bows over their shoulders. Because they were the same height and blond-haired, though not the right shade of blond. Was she going to move through the rest of her life seeing failures and deficiencies everywhere? Wishing everyone was more like Perry? Wishing everyone was him?

Sable was the first to leave the Hover, with a group of his soldiers. She only heard him leave. Everyone in the large hold had come to their feet, and with Hyde and Hayden in front of her, all she saw were their backs, and arrows poking from quivers. She listened to the soft hum of the ramp being lowered, a familiar sound now. Daylight flooded the Hover, and then a warm, gentle breeze floated in, carrying birdsong and the rustle of swaying leaves.

The crowd thinned around her as people began to disembark.

A new land.

A new beginning.

She put her arm around Roar, telling herself that she could do this. She could take a few steps.

As the crowd thinned, she could see further ahead. Marron was exiting the ramp, accompanied by some of Sable’s men. She was about to search for Loran when she caught a flash of Reef’s braids. He was leaving the Hover with Gren and Twig at his sides.

Fear shot down her back, sudden and unexplainable, yanking her from her daze.

Sable always moved first. He never waited. Never hesitated to put down a threat before it ever fully materialized.

“Reef!” she screamed.

An instant later, gunshots.

One. Two. Three. Four.