“Amber.” Aria read the name on the small screen. He moved on to the next. “Brin.” And then to the next. “Clara.”
Perry didn’t move. He stayed in front of the door marked CLARA. Aria couldn’t tell what was happening. She was looking through his eyes. She couldn’t see his face in the Realms. Beside her, he looked calm but she knew he wasn’t. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Roar cursed at her side. “She’s one of us. A girl who disappeared from the Tides last year.”
Marron sent her an urgent look. “Aria, he has to keep going. We have little time.”
Perry sprinted now, past Jasper. Past Rain. To Talon. He burst through the door, into a room with walls covered with animated drawings of soaring hawks, swirling blue skies, and fishing boats casting in the sea. Two comfortable stuffed chairs sat at the center. They were empty.
“Where is he?” Perry asked desperately. “Aria, what have I done wrong?”
“I’m not sure.” She had thought that opening the door would summon the children into that Realm, but she didn’t know. All of this was new.
She was right. Talon fractioned at that moment, appearing on one of the chairs. His eyes flew open and he shot across the room, away from Perry.
“Who are you?” he said. He had a commanding voice for such a young boy. A voice full of fire and daring. He was a rangy little thing. He had green eyes, the color deeper than Perry’s, and dark brown hair that fell in the same twisting locks. He was a striking child.
“Talon, it’s me.”
Talon peered at him suspiciously. “How do I know?”
“Talon . . . Aria, why doesn’t he know me?”
She scrambled for an answer. These were the Realms. You could never trust anything. It was too easy to become something else. Someone else. Talon knew that already. “Tell him something,” she said, but it was too late.
Perry was wild, cursing. He turned to the door. “How do I get him out of here?”
“You can’t. You’re with him only in the Realms. He’s somewhere else. Ask him where he is. Ask him anything else you want to know. Quickly, Perry.”
Perry dropped onto one knee, his eyes falling to his burnt hand. “He should know me,” he said under his breath.
Talon came closer, tentative. “What happened to your hand?”
Perry wiggled his swollen fingers. “You could call it a mix-up.”
“Looks like it was bad. . . . Did you win?”
“If you were really Talon, you wouldn’t ask me that.”
Aria knew Perry had smiled at his nephew. She could picture his crooked smile, a blend of shy and fierce.
Recognition sparked in the boy’s eyes, but he didn’t move.
“Talon, it looks like you, but I can’t get your temper.”
“There’re no tempers in here,” he said, full of righteousness. “All the scents are off.”
“That’s eight. They’re faded but strong. . . . Squeak, it’s me.”
The suspicion left the boy’s face and he threw himself against Perry.
Aria watched Perry’s hand on the wallscreen, stroking the back of Talon’s head. “I was so worried about you, Tal.” Beside her, on the couch, he shifted, dropping his head into his hands. He was growing used to being in the two places at once. Aria put her hand on his shoulder.
Talon squirmed out of the embrace. “I wanted you to come.”
“I got here as soon as I could.”
“I know,” Talon said. With a gap-toothed grin, he reached out for a tendril of Perry’s hair and rubbed the streaked gold between his thin little fingers. Aria had never seen anything so tender in all her life.
Perry took him by the shoulders. “Where are you?”
“In the Dweller Pod.”
“Which one, Talon?”
“Rev. That’s what the kids here call it.”
Perry patted Talon’s arms, took hold of his chin, touching his small neck. “They’re not hur”—Perry’s voice caught—“hurting you?”
“Hurting me? I get fruit three times a day. I can run in here. Fast. I can even fly, Uncle Perry. All we do is go around in these Realms. They even got hunting Realms, but a lot of them are too easy. You just—”
“Talon, I’m going to get you out of here. I’ll find a way.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
Perry’s shoulder tensed beneath Aria’s hand.
“This isn’t where you belong,” Perry said.
“But I feel good here. The doc says I need medicine every day. It makes my eyes water, but my legs don’t even ache anymore.”
Aria exchanged a worried look with Roar and Marron.
“You want to stay?” Perry said.
“Yeah, now that you’re here.”
“I’m still on the outside. I’m only here this once.”
“Oh . . .” Talon’s lower lip pushed out in disappointment. “It’s good for the tribe, I guess.”
“I’m not with the Tides.”
Talon frowned. “Then who’s Blood Lord?”
“Your father, Talon.”
“No, he isn’t. He’s here with me.”
Beside Aria, on the couch, Perry’s body jerked. Roar hissed nearby.
“Vale’s there?” Perry asked. “He was captured?”
“You didn’t know? He was trying to come rescue me and they got him. I’ve seen him a couple of times. We’ve gone hunting together. Clara’s here too.”