“You can cry if you like,” Roar said when Perry was gone. He crossed his arms. In the darkness, she could just make out the glint of the black bottle of Luster propped on his elbow. “I’ll even offer up my shoulder to the cause.”

“No, I don’t want to cry. I want to hurt him.”

Roar laughed softly. “I knew I liked you.”

“He should have told me.”

“Probably, but what he said is true. He can’t help knowing tempers. And would it have changed your agreement?”

Aria shook her head. It wouldn’t. Before long, she knew she’d be back to walking endless miles with him.

She sat against a tree and picked up a pine needle, breaking it into tiny pieces. It seemed obvious once she thought it out. Basic genetics. The population of Outsiders was small. Any shifts had the possibility of running rampant in such a limited pool. A drop of ink in a bucket was more potent than a drop in a lake. And with the Aether accelerating mutations, the Unity had created an environment ripe for genetic jumps.

“I can’t believe this,” she said. “You’re a subspecies. Is there anything else? Are there any other traits that have drifted? Like . . . like your teeth?”

Roar sat beside her against the same large trunk. He wasn’t as tall as Perry, she noticed. Aether light fell across the smooth planes of his profile, all straight lines and perfect proportions. He didn’t have scruff over his jaw like Perry, either.

“No,” Roar said. “Our teeth are all the same. Yours are the ones that are different.”

Aria pressed her lips together on reflex. It hadn’t occurred to her before, but he was right. Before the Unity, teeth had been uneven. Roar smiled and kept talking.

“There are some differences between the Senses. Scires tend to be tall. They’re the rarest Marked. Seers are the most common. Seers are good at looking and good-looking, but before you start wondering, no, I’m not a Seer. Just lucky.”

Aria smiled despite herself. She was surprised by how at ease she felt in his company. “What about your kind?”

“Auds?” He flashed a mischievous grin at her. “We’re said to be sly.”

“I could’ve guessed that.” She looked down at his bicep, imagining the tattoo hidden beneath his dark shirt. “How well can you hear?”

“Better than anyone I know.”

“Can you hear emotions?”

“No. But I can hear a person’s thoughts when I touch them. That’s just me, not all Auds. And don’t worry, I won’t touch you. Unless you want me to.”

She smiled. “I’ll let you know.” This was unreal. There were people who could smell emotion and hear thoughts. What was next? Aria cupped her hands, blowing warmth into them. “How can you be friends with him, knowing he . . . knows everything?”