Through the Ever Night

Aria pushed away the thoughts. Worrying wouldn’t help anything. She looked up at Liv. “What about Sable?” She rubbed her wrist, feeling the echo of his grip.

Liv shrugged. “He’s not terrible…. I know … it’s not much of a way to think of the man I’m marrying, but it’s better than I’d hoped. I thought I’d hate him, and I don’t.”

She bit her bottom lip, hesitating, like she was deciding whether to say anything more. Then she came to the bed, sitting beside Aria. “When I got here earlier this spring, he was going to let me leave. He told me I could go whenever I wanted, but that since I’d finally arrived, we might as well get to know each other. I didn’t feel as trapped after he said that. It helped me feel less like a thing that was being passed around.”

Aria wondered if Sable had said that on purpose. Scires were known for manipulating people. But shouldn’t Liv have seen that?

“I don’t fawn over him,” Liv continued, “and he likes that. I think he sees me as a challenge.” She fiddled with the green rope around her waist. “And he’s attracted to me. The scent he gives off when I enter a room … it’s not something you can fake.”

Aria stared at the door, listening to footsteps outside fade. “Do you feel the same way about him?” she asked when it was quiet again.

“No … not the same.” Liv tied the ends of her belt into an elaborate knot as she thought. “When he kisses me, he makes me nervous, but I think it’s because it feels different.” She met Aria’s eyes. “I’ve never kissed anyone other than Roar, and that’s—”

She shut her eyes, wincing. “This is what I can’t have. I can’t sit here and remember how it feels to kiss Roar when I’m marrying someone else in days. He has to leave. It’s too hard for me like this, and I can’t stand to see him hurting.” She shook her head. “I hate that he makes me feel weak.”

Aria sat back against the iron headboard, remembering Perry on their last night together, bruised and beaten after a fight that had happened because of her. The next day, he lost part of his tribe. She didn’t feel weak because of him. She felt too powerful, like every choice she made had the potential to hurt him, and that was the last thing she wanted.

“Roar will move on,” Liv said quietly. Her eyes had softened, and Aria knew she’d read her temper. “He’ll forget about me.”

“You can’t really believe that.”

Liv bit her lower lip. “No,” she said. “I don’t.”

“Will you tell him the truth? Roar needs to know what you’re doing. He needs to know why.”

“You think it will help?”

“No. But you owe it to him.”

Liv watched her for a long moment. “All right. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” She scooted higher on the bed, drawing the blanket over her legs. The sounds of the storm filtered into the room, and a cold draft flowed in beneath the bedroom door. “How is my brother really doing?”

Just a short while ago, she had threatened Aria. Now she was close and relaxed. Lost in her thoughts. Hot and cold, Aria thought. She wondered if there was anything in-between with Liv.

Aria pulled the other side of the blanket over her. The last time she’d seen Perry, he’d been bruised and abandoned by so many people. By her. She hated knowing she’d added to his pain. “It hasn’t been easy.”

“It’s so much to do. So much to take care of,” Liv said. “He must be out of his mind missing Talon.”

“He is, but we’re getting Talon back,” Aria said before she could stop herself.

Liv frowned, her green eyes roaming over Aria’s face. “Where are you from?”

Aria hesitated. She had the feeling her answer would shape their relationship from that moment on. Should she risk telling Liv the truth? She wanted trust between them, and here, late at night and in the quiet of her room, she just wanted to be herself. She drew a breath and answered. “I’m from Reverie.”

Liv blinked at her. “You’re a Dweller?”

“Yes…. Well, a half Dweller.”

Liv smiled, a small laugh bubbling out of her. “How did that happen?”

Aria shifted to her side and rested her head on her arm, mirroring Liv. Then she explained how she’d been cast out of the Pod in the fall and met Perry. She told Liv everything that had happened at the Tides’, and how she needed to find the Still Blue to get Talon back. When Aria finished, Liv was silent, and the sounds of the Aether funnels had faded. Rim had seen the worst of the storm.

“I’ve heard Sable mention the Still Blue a few times,” Liv said. Her eyes were heavy with sleep. “He knows where it is. We’ll find out and get Talon back.”

We. Such a small word, but it felt huge. Aria felt a grounding, settling sort of thrill. Liv would help.

Liv studied her for a long moment. “So you don’t care what happened at the Tides’? That you were poisoned? You’re going back to my brother?”

Aria nodded. “I care, but I can’t imagine not going back to him.” Lyrics sprang into mind, well-worn in her singer’s memory. “‘Love is a rebellious bird that nobody can tame,’” she said. “It’s from an opera called Carmen.”

Liv narrowed her eyes. “Are you the bird, or is my brother?”

Aria smiled. “I think the bird is the connection between us…. I’d do anything for him,” she said, and realized that it really was that simple.