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It was darker now, but by the soft light of the Aether, she saw his eyebrows furrow

"Ithey wouldn’t call theood This is dangerous land I’m sure your companion told you"

"Yes He did"

Trip snorted "Nearly soiledup on us"

Rat lifted his big nose and sniffed the air He shoved Trip in the shoulder "Nearly?"

Harris sh food to share and a fire going Why don’t you and your coht? If you think you can put up with these two"

"I don’t think so But thank you" She realized she was gripping the handle of the knife so tight her knuckles throbbed Why did she have a knife? She lowered it As frightening as he’d looked with the mask on, Harris seemed friendly now Far more than her Outsider, whose name she didn’t even know And Harris talked

"Well," she said, reconsidering "I could see what he says"

"I say no"

They all turned sharply toward the voice uphill It was her Outsider He was barely visible in the faint light of dusk

Aria was just going to call out to hiing of bells Rat tripped and fell backward At least, this hat Aria thought until she saw a stick--no, an arrow--lodged in his throat

She didn’t think She spun and ran Trip caught her arers Then he laid the blade on her neck and thrust her arasped at the burst of pain in her shoulder His stench brought a sickening roll to her stomach

"Lower your bow or I’ll kill her!" Trip’s voice exploded by her ear

She saw him now The Outsider had cos and ar for days but that sootten about He’d taken off his white shirt, and his skin blended into the murky woods

"Do what he says!" Aria cried What was he doing? It was too dark He would hit her instead of Trip

She saw movement to her left Harris started up the hill toward the Outsider He no longer held the staff but a long knife that reflected the Aether light He drew closer in determined strides The Outsider kept still as a statue, either not seeing Harris or not caring

Trip’s panicked breath puainst her cheek "Lower your bow!" he yelled

She didn’t see anything this time either, but she knew he’d fired another arrow Aria heard a pop and then she jolted backward She tumbled over Trip Mo sharp as she hit the ground She sprang to her feet despite the stab of pain that shot down her leg

Trip lay twitching on his side, an arrow stuck in the left part of his chest She turned uphill, terror like a shriek in her ears She’d seen people wrestle and fence in the Realht look like Parrying and deflecting Footwork and guards She couldn’t have been

Harris and the Outsider swept past each other in streaks of movement, one bare-skinned, the other draped in black cloth She could justcrow mask She wanted to run She didn’t want to see this But she couldn’t bring herself to h it felt ure, Harris, hit the ground in a black heap The bare-skinned Outsider stood above hi roll downhill as if it had been bowled toward her It hit a bump that shook loose a pale mask, and now she saw clear blue eyes and a nose and white teeth and black hair, tu red

Chapter 16

PEREGRINE

"No, no, no" Aria shook her head, her eyes ith terror "What just happened?"

Perry skidded over loose gravel as he sprinted downhill to her "Are you hurt?"

She leaped back "Stay away from me! Don’t touch me" Her hand came to her stomach "What just happened? What did you just do?"

Every scent caht air Blood and sent bitterness He inhaled, scanning, and saw the source Dark patches stained the front of her shirt

"What is that?" he asked

Her head whipped to the side like she expected to see sorazed him with a punch to the chin

"Hold still!" He trapped her wrist and brought the shirt up, drawing the scent in He couldn’t believe it "That’s why you left? You left for those berries?"