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"I’ht you’d see things differently"

Perry glanced at her She was still talking with Marron All he could think about was the way she’d felt against him when they had kissed "It’s not the same, Roar"

"Isn’t it?"

Perry pulled his satchel over his shoulder Grabbed his bow and quiver "Let’s go"

He wanted the earth blurring fast beneath his feet The night flowing into his nostrils He always knehat to do with a weapon in his hand

They left through a sht in all the scents, letting earth and wind tell hith of the Aether He glanced up Vast spools crowded the sky

He eased s bound They broke into two groups to lessen the sounds of theirevery step with care, scanning the canopy He had no doubt the Croven’s sentinels were Marked, probably Auds They would sleep in the treetops, the safest place at night

Perry glanced over his shoulder Aria had her hair pulled under a black cap and her face darkened with charcoal, as he did Her eyes ide and alert She had a satchel of her o A knife Clothes that fit It struck hied He’d wondered hoould be, doing this with her She could have weakened his concentration She was afraid No question of that But this was different than their journey to Marron’s She was trapping the nerves and th of her control

Delphi’s walls receded as they crept deeper into theby the look of the Aether and the burn in his nose, they still had time An hour maybe, before the funnels rained down

Aria’s hand at his back stopped hie tree forty paces ahead A fresh scatter of branches littered the ground below Looking up, he saw a figure nestled in the crook of a branch The her and spotted anotherthe alarm

He didn’t kno he’d missed them Even more, he wasn’t sure how Aria had spotted theht as faint sounds Hean arrow in place He kneouldn’t e was to kill hi from the tree, that would be even better

He took his aim and drew a few breaths It should be easy He wasn’t far But one yell from the man, or one blast of his horn, and all the Croven would be on them

A wolf howled in the distance, the perfect sound cover He straightened the two fingers that held the bowstring, loosing the arrow He struck thehim to the trunk The horn slid off his lap but didn’t fall to the ground It re just below the branch A pale crescent hovering in the darkness

Perry nocked another arrow but the other man, definitely an Aud because he’d heard the noise, called out desperately for his friend When he got no answer, he climbed down the tree, fast as a squirrel Perry loosed another arrow He heard a crunch as his shot sank into bark The Aud sca Perry no clear shot Perry dropped his bow, pulled his knife, and ran

The Aud saw hiht, closer to Aria’s size than Perry’s, and quick as he threaded around the thick undergrowth Perry didn’t slon He crashed through the branches, hearing them snap and break around hi in panic, but Perry knew he had hi into the Aud’s back

Perry jerked up as soon as they hit the ground,a clean sith his blade across thebody beneath him went slack as the rich scent of hot blood shot into his nose Perry wiped his blade on thea a hand Only the aftermath was different

A stab deep inside his nose had hiun to take the shape of a massive whirlpool The storm would come soon and it would strike hard

He slid the knife back into his sheath, hisas he heard a muffled cry

Aria

Chapter 34

ARIA

Aria pulled into a crouch as a thirdfrom another tree close by, only twenty paces off She clutched Talon’s knife, ready to fight, but he didn’t run toward her He darted toward the tree where the dead h her He wanted the horn If he alerted the rest of the Croven, it wouldn’t just be her death It would be Marron’s men Roar And Perry

She waited until he neared the base of the tree before she ran after hi beneath her She knew she’d picked the right , his hands occupied, and his back turned to her She’d used speed and surprise to her advantage just as Roar had taught her

It should have been perfect But with steps to go, she realized the only lethal targets she kneere along the front of the body She thought of reaching around for his jugular, but he was too far off the ground

She couldn’t turn back He heard her, his head whipping around For an awful second, their eyes met Roar’s voice burst into her ? His back? Where?

Thetoward her She tried to raise her blade She intended to do it But he came down on her in a blur

Aria landed on her back, the air driving out of her chest in one heave A roan burst out of her He was on top of her She braced for a knife in her side For a blow across the face She was ready, but he shuddered and then went limp

She’d killed hih her at the feel of his hair strewn over her eyes, at his weight pressing down on her It took three tries to bring air into her lungs When she finally did, the odor of him was so foul, she choked back a rise of nausea Warmth seeped across her stomach She couldn’t irl She was a wild-eyed thing, but pretty She scrambled up the tree, slipped the horn around her neck, juround, and ran off

Aria pushed her shoulder back with all the strength she had It was enough to free her arm With another push, she rolled the man off She wanted to shoot away fros

Another Croven ca at her side Aria groped through the dirt for her knife, hearing Roar in her o of your blade