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If Hess was a killer, then Sable was a murderer The act was personal with him; he’d looked into Liv’s eyes when he’d fired the crossbow at her
Aria bit her lip, an ache building in her throat for Perry For Roar and Talon and Brooke She was stupid to think this way right now, but grief was like theeverywhere, once it found a way in
"I’ to learn how to fly these too," Perry said, his voice low and deep "So I can race you"
His green eyes held a sood-natured competitiveness Maybe he really did want to fly Hovers Or maybe he knew exactly what to say to cal to lose to her," Roar said froht, but Perry said nothing back, and every second that passed in silence made Roar’s comment seem less friendly
To her relief, Soren broke the silence "I pulled up the last five flight plans and I don’t see any deviation I’ll extract voice sa together That will get us through the protocols and "
They had planned this part earlier, knowing that even alive, the Guardians could jeopardize the s of the now-deceased Guardians and reuse them in order to continue their façade The Real thee of a norain, waving his contributions in the air, as a way of apologizing?
Aria cleared her throat She played along, asking for more inforether Now
"And e get there?" she asked
"All covered," Soren said "I’ve got it right here"
He pushed a few buttons A diagram of the Komodo appeared on a transparent screen, just as it had in the Belswan The Komodo looked like a spiral made of individual units that could link and unlink, like old-fashioned train cars Each seg individual, or self-deterh Each unit could travel or fight in its own right
In its stationary state, the Ko the san The outer units were defensive and supportive The inner three, at the center of the coil, were highest security, highest priority They housed the ures
"My father and Sable will be in these central units," Soren said, highlighting theuess is Cinder’s in there too"
They were risking their lives on that guess
"The landing port is on the south end of the co that portion on the diagram "The central-corridor access is on the opposite side, the north end That’s where ant to go It’ll take us right to the inner units of the Ko"
"You’ll get us into that corridor?" she asked
"It’s secured, no question, but I’ll try to hack the codes e get there I tried earlier, but there’s no way to do it unless I’m on-site"
"What if you can’t hack theo to the loud plan Explosives"
Soren spoke without his usual bragging tone He had lanced at Perry, hoping he sensed it too But he seehts
"Three minutes," Soren said as they crested hills that had seeo
A jolt of adrenaline shot through her There, sitting at the heart of a plateau, was the Koonwing as Soren counted down the last two minutes Her pulse sped up as they approached the rows of Hovers lined across the plateau She saw ten Belswans Twice as o, these saar in Reverie
Soren flew the Dragonwing toward a runway--a stretch of dirt that cut through the center of the fleet At the far end, through curtains of thick rain, the south side of the Koave a gentle lurch as it touched down A few Guardians exited the Koed toward the to check the Hover," Soren said, answering the question on all their ht procedure Get your flight helht to the Koround crew and catch up to you Oh, and try to act like you’ve been here before"
Aria glanced at Soren As difficult as he was, they couldn’t have done this without hi and smelled faintly of vomit and rancid sweat
She left the cockpit, forcing herself to straighten her arm despite the pain that bloomed in her bicep She needed it to look noro," Soren called, just before the bay doors opened
A gust sent rain spraying into her visor
Aria jus felt heavy as she hit the er than she’d expected She fleard, lurching a few steps before finding her footing again Both Perry and Roar reached out, but she straightened and ignored the each other’s sturound operators, his voice loud and confident, like he knew everything about everything
Through her rain-pelted visor, she saw Hovercraft loo all around her, sleek and silent Even with Roar and Perry at her sides, she felt exposed Like the huge ships were an audience, watching her as she walked by
The Guardian suit ater-repellent, but sweat rolled down her spine and over her sto to her anyway
With every step, the Koe that she questioned how it could ever be lih She’d been thinking of it as a snake because of its coiled structure, but now she thought centipede
Two Guardians stood beneath a s the entrance They eapons like the ones that had put a hole in her ar To either side of the entrance, she saw black-tinted s
Was anyone watching the rain?