She knew this. For days she’d been translating his actions into meaning. Noticing how he walked in a dozen different ways. With utter quiet. With barely contained violence. With easy animal grace.
“What about his sister?” she asked.
“Olivia,” Roar said, and then added more softly, “Liv.”
“Is she a Scire also?” Aria didn’t even like the word. It sounded like a warped version of scare.
“As strong as Perry if not more. We never could decide who has the keener nose.”
“What happened to her, Roar?”
“She was betrothed to someone else. Someone who wasn’t me.”
“Oh.” Roar was in love with Perry’s sister. She sucked on her bottom lip, tasting the sweetness of the Luster. She didn’t want to be forward and ask too many questions, but she was curious. And Roar didn’t seem to mind. “Why not you?”
“She’s a strong Scire. She’s too valuable. . . .” Roar stared at the bottle in his hand like he was searching for the right explanation. “Blood is our currency. As Marked, we make the most skilled hunters and fighters. We overhear plans for raids and sense shifts in the Aether. Blood Lords surround themselves with people like me and Perry and Liv. When it comes to mating, they choose the strongest of their kind. If they don’t, they risk losing the Sense. Some say they risk worse.”
Aria had a hard time with how casually he’d said mating. “Couldn’t a child get two Senses with different parents? Is that what happened with Perry?”
“Yes. But it’s rare. What Perry is . . . it’s very rare.” After a pause, he added, “It’s best you don’t ever mention his parents.”
She slipped her hands into the sleeves of her coat, digging her fingers into the fur. What had happened to Perry’s parents?
“So as a Scire, Liv has to marry a Scire?” she asked instead.
“Yes. It’s what’s expected.” Roar shifted against the trunk. “Seven months ago, Vale promised her to Sable, the Blood Lord of the Horns. They’re a large tribe to the north. Ice-cold people, Sable the coldest of the lot. Vale was to receive food for the Tides in exchange for her. Half of which they may never get.”
“Because she didn’t go.”
“That’s right. Liv ran. She disappeared the night before we’d have crossed into Horn territory. It was exactly what I had wanted us to do together. I’d been thinking about it the whole way there. She left before I could ask.” Roar paused and cleared his throat. “I’ve been searching for her since. I’ve come close to finding her. A few weeks ago, I heard a couple of traders speaking of a girl who could track game better than any man. They’d met her in Lone Tree. I’m sure it was her. Liv’s not one you easily forget.”
“Why?”
“She’s tall—barely shorter than me. And she has the same hair as Perry, only longer. That alone is enough to draw attention, but she has this quality. . . . You watch her because just that will fascinate you.”
“They sound very alike.” Aria couldn’t believe she’d said that aloud. It had to be the effect of the Luster, loosening her tongue.
White teeth appeared in the dark. “They are, but thankfully not in every way.”
“Did you go to Lone Tree?”
“I did. By the time I got there, she was long gone.”
Aria let out a slow breath. Though she felt sorry for Roar, this was exactly what she’d needed. A break from her own mind and body. A chance to forget for a few moments about fixing the Smarteye and reaching Lumina. She had the urge to reach for Roar’s hand. She would have, if they’d been in the Realms. Instead she dug her fingers deeper into the fur of her sleeves.
“What are you going to do, Roar?” she asked.
“What can I do but keep looking?”
Chapter 20
PEREGRINE
Having Roar along changed everything. They walked through the morning and though Perry hadn’t caught any traces of the Croven, he knew they weren’t clear of danger. It worried him that they hadn’t been confronted yet, but with Roar’s help, they could make better time to Marron’s. Whatever signs of danger Perry missed with his pine-dulled nose, Roar would catch with his ears.
Aria hadn’t spoken to him since he’d told her about his Senses. She’d been hanging back all morning, walking with Roar. Perry had strained to hear what they were saying. Even found himself wishing he was an Aud. That had been a first. When Perry heard her laugh at something Roar said, he’d decided he’d heard enough and pulled out of earshot. In the span of a few hours, Roar had spoken with her more than he had in days.
Cinder kept his distance, but Perry knew he was there. The kid was so weak that he walked in noisy, dragging steps. It didn’t take being an Aud to hear him shuffling in the woods behind them. Something about the boy’s scent had set the back of Perry’s nose thrumming last night. It stung, just as it did when the Aether became agitated, but when Perry had looked up, he hadn’t seen the sky churning. Just the wispy streaks that still held above. He wondered if the Luster had muddled him, or if it’d just been the pine messing with his Sense.
He hadn’t had any trouble picking up the boy’s temper, though. Cinder’s wrathy attitude might throw Roar and Aria off, but Perry knew the truth. The icy fog of fear clung to him. Roar had guessed him to be thirteen, but Perry put him at least a year younger. Why was he on his own? Whatever the reason, Perry knew it couldn’t be good.