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"No--I’lanced down the hall and then shifted closer "I want a chance to know you, Aria," he said, low and urgent "I’ to believe you!" Her voice rose, sounding shrill and unfamiliar to her own ears She backed down the hall, suddenly desperate to retreat

Loran didn’t stop her

He watched as she spun and sprinted away

30

PEREGRINE

Move, Tider! Hurry up!"

Struck between the shoulders, Perry stu the other way Pain tore through hilanced back

The ht, but built like a mountain, his eyebrows pierced with metal studs "You want to untie iant sneered "You think I’ his steps as much as he could, Perry scanned every hall and chah the narrow halls, but he saw far fewer of Hess’s roup of Guardians They looked panicked and lost, like the rest of the world shared a secret He shook his head His gut feeling had been dead-on Sable had beaten Hess at his own gaiant had stepped to his chaot," the Horn soldier had taunted, flinging a bundle of ragged clothes at Perry "Put those on It’s tio"

It had been far too soon Only an hour had passed, not the four Hess said he’d needed

Now the giant’s voice boomed at Perry’s back "Faster! Move your feet, or I’ll knock you out and drag you outside!"

Perry didn’t see how that would help He’d be harder to carry; that seeh a door Perry stumbled halfway down a ramp before it hit him: after days in the Komodo, he was finally outside

He pulled the cool air into his lungs as he took a few steps over the loose dirt The night smelled of smoke from fires that smoldered on the distant hills His skin prickled with the familiar feel of the Aether The sky churned red and blue and terrifying--a fearso trapped in a small chamber

Hovers lined the field before him, just as when they’d arrived, but the Komodo looked different from the coiled snake he’d seen before Now it stretched backward and forward, unspooled, its links running in a straight line

"Peregrine!"

Sable stood with a cluster of men a short distance away Perry didn’t have to be pushed to walk over to him

"Ready to see the Still Blue?" Sable ser to leave all this behind?"

"Where are they?" Perry asked, anger burning in his blood

"Cinder is loaded up and waiting for you You’ll see hiravation at best, but only a fool would leave behind such a pretty girl as Aria She’ll be here soon When this is all behind us, I hope to get to know her better"

"If you touch her, I will rip you to pieces with hed "If they weren’t tied behind your back, that iant, who hauled Perry away

Across the field, hundreds of people loaded crates onto Hovers They were aHovers, Guardians ere trying to help, and Guardians who had no idea as happening Angry shouts volleyed back and forth Total chaos

As the giant pushed hi the roofline of the Komodo Everywhere he looked, he saw firepower Dwellers and Outsiders taking sniper positions He couldn’t tell whether they orking together or in opposition It didn’t seem clear to the a final look across the crowdsto see Aria and Roar

"Keep going, Tider," said the giant He struck Perry between the shoulder blades, sending hi

Perry moved to the cockpit Cinder slu alray cap fitted snugly over his head Off the Dweller drugs, he already looked healthier than hours earlier

Seeing Perry, relief flared in his eyes "They told ?"

"Daiant He pushed Perry into the seat beside Cinder

A Dweller peered back from the pilot seat, his face beaded with sweat and draith fear--no doubt owing to the gun pointed at his head by the rine of the Tides" Thea mouthful of brown teeth as he smiled "You don’t look like all that iant

"Heard you got your wings clipped," said Brown Teeth, his pistol never leaving the pilot’s head

As they laughed, Perry took in the situation, noticing the pilot’s hands were free They’d have to be, for hi to find so to tie your feet," said the giant "If you try to kick h your foot, and then I’ll start hurting you Understand?"

"I understand," Perry said, though he didn’t really

When the giant knelt, he kicked

The giant’s head whipped back, his teeth snapping He fell in a ed in the aisle between the seats

The pilot reacted quickly, shoving away the Horn’s pistol The soldier lunged, and the twoin the close space in front of the controls

Perry stood, hunching in the low cabin