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"Good That’s right" The blackberry, a lucky find buried in a patch of brambles, smelled sweet and ripe Perry could scent it perfectly This close, he also caught Aria’s scent again Violets A scent he could never get enough of And then there was her te For the first tier or repulsion The tone that caht and alert, like mint

"Look at the color next If the berry’s white or has white inside, it’s safer to toss it"

She exa the information "This looks dark red"

"Yeah So far, it’s looking good Next you’d want to rub it on your skin Tender skin is best" He went to take her hand and re touched "The inside of your arht here" He showed her where on his own arm

She drew the berry over the inside of her wrist It left a smooth line of juice on her skin Perry frowned at the stumble in his heartbeat, then made himself not frown

"So, you’d want to wait a while If you didn’t see a rash creeping on, you’d put a bit on your lip"

He watched as she pressed the berry to her lower lip He kept looking at her mouth after she’d done it He knew he should look away, but he couldn’t "Right Good If there’s no stinging, you’d put it to your tongue"

Perry shot to his feet before he finished the words, nearly tripping over hi skitty, like he needed to laugh or run or do so He picked up a stone and tossed it into the creek, trying to get the i to keep fro her scent into his nose like he wanted to

"Is that it?" she asked

"What? No" All he could think about was the way she’d looked the night of the Aether storm The curves of her bare skin, pressed at his side "You’d s a small amount and wait a few hours, see how it sits Now you kno to find berries We need to pull foot"

He crossed his ariving her a strange look He felt strange He felt a lot of strange He hadn’t seen her as a girl before now He’d seen her as a Mole Now he couldn’t stop seeing all the girl about her

Aria gave hiht back--eyebrows dran,hih his shoulders at the feeling of laughing When was the last time someone had joked with him? The answer caood?" she asked, holding up the berry

"Yeah It’s good"

She popped it into herthe branch out to hi the string on his bow

When she was finished, she looked over and smiled "Seems easier if I just find them and ask you whether they’re edible or not Faster than the rubbing and tasting process"

"Sure," he said, feeling like a fool "That would work too"

Chapter 19

ARIA

They decided to take turns sleeping, right there by the creek She was supposed to take her turn first, but when she lay down, she couldn’t keep her eyes closed Dreas, and she wasn’t up for another one just yet So she sat, shivering despite her thick coat and the blue blanket wrapped around her The Aether moved in thin sheets, slow and wispy as the clouds Gusts rustled through the pine needles, setting branches swaying around her There were people who lived in trees and cannibals who dressed as crows out here

Yesterday she’d seen them both

"How far away is Marron’s?" she asked

"Three days or so," Peregrine said He held the s it absently Spinning it once Catching the handle Spinning it Catching it

Peregrine or Perry? She didn’t knohat to call hiht her how to find berries Peregrine had tattoos and flashing green eyes He twirled a knife without fear of cutting hih people’s necks She’d seen him decapitate a man But then, the hed, her breath fogging lightly in the cool air She wasn’t sure what she thought of hiet there in time?" she asked

His lips turned up like he’d been expecting the question "The Croven aren’t close, as far as I can tell"

It wasn’t the exact answer she’d wanted, but good to hear nonetheless "Who is he--Marron?"

"A friend A trader A ruler A bit of everything" His eyes dropped to her shaking shoulders "Can’t have a fire"

"Because someone would see the smoke?"

He nodded "Or scent it"

She looked at his restless hands "You don’t sit still h a leather strap at his boot "Being still makes oing to ask and risk upsetting what felt like a fragile truce

He crossed his arms and then uncrossed thele ran down her back This was so strange Hi her this Far more intimate than it should have felt Because she kneanted to know He didn’t ask eo home"