As Hess spoke, Sable gave a signal to one of his men at the door. Horn soldiers came in from the corridor, standing along the wall. Hess’s Guardians entered as well. Both groups seemed uneasy to be there.
“The CGB had already seen Outsiders who exhibited this type of rapid evolution by assuming enhanced sensory capabilities.” Hess glanced at Roar. “But what the program accomplished went further than anyone anticipated. Not only did the test subjects adapt to the Aether; the Aether adapted to them.”
He paused, just a beat of silence. In that beat, Aria began to count Guardians. Horn soldiers. Weapons.
“It wasn’t long before the project was deemed a failure,” Hess continued. “There were instabilities that weren’t accounted for. As with anything, in solving one problem there’s always a possibility of creating secondary, consequential problems. While the scientists had figured out how to create a human with dynamic genetics, they couldn’t figure out how to turn those dynamics off. The test subjects expired within years of creation. They were nonviable. They . . . self-destructed.”
Hess looked to the glass wall again and said, “All except one.”
20
PEREGRINE
Speakers in the ceiling had piped in every word.
“I’m . . . I’m an alien?” Cinder said. The scent of his fear flooded the chamber.
“No. That’s not what he said.” Perry pulled against his restraints, though he knew it was useless. He wanted to shatter the glass between the chambers and reach Aria.
Reach Sable.
They’d seen everything too, but Perry knew it wasn’t the same from the other side. Whenever Aria or Roar looked over, their gazes scanned, never settling on him or Cinder.
Cinder’s eyebrows drew together, his expression desperate. “But I heard that man. He said the word alien.”
“He also said the word chameleon, but you’re not one of those, are you?”
“No. But they created me as an experiment—that part is true.”
“You’ve made yourself into who you are—not them.”
“He said I was going to self-destruct. He said I was going to die. He said—”
Cinder fell silent as Sable’s voice came through the speakers.
“We need Cinder to get us through that wall of Aether. He’s the only one who can do it.”
Aria shook her head. “No. It would kill him. And he won’t do it for you.”
Sable and Hess exchanged a look, but Sable answered. “I think I speak for us both when I say we’re only concerned with your second point, which is why your arrival here couldn’t have come at a better time.”
He rose from the table and came to the windows. “Hess, make this transparent, please.”
The glass lost a faint smokiness that Perry hadn’t noticed until then. In the other room two dozen people turned in unison.
Aria shot up from her chair. Fear flashed in her eyes; he hated seeing it. “Hess!” she yelled. “What did you do?”
“It was a necessary measure.” Hess rose from his seat and joined Sable. “They’re on sedatives to keep them submissive. We couldn’t control the boy without them.”
“That’s going to change,” said Sable. He moved along the glass wall until he stood in front of Cinder. “You can hear us, correct?”
“Yes,” Perry growled, answering for Cinder. “We can hear you.”
Sable smiled, like Perry’s reaction pleased him. “Good. Cinder, as you’ve just heard, you’re the key to our survival. You are the only one who can unlock the door to the Still Blue. We need you. But in order for you to help us, you have to be taken off the suppressants so you can regain your strength and access the full power of your gift. What we can’t have, Cinder, is you using your ability to harm us.”
He turned his attention to Perry. “That’s where you can help. From what Kirra tells me, Cinder has already risked his life for you. He looks up to you. He’ll listen to you.”
Perry’s gaze went to Kirra. Two weeks ago, Cinder had driven away the Aether so the Tides could reach the cave in safety. She’d been there and must have told Sable.
“Cinder needs to do for us what he did for you,” Sable continued. “That will require your help. Keep the boy in line as he’s weaned off the suppressants. Encourage him to cooperate. He has the opportunity to save lives. He can become a savior, Peregrine. A martyr.”
“A martyr?” Cinder whispered beside him, terror making his voice shake.
“He’s just a kid!” The words flew out of Perry’s mouth before he could stop them.
“He’s thirteen,” Kirra scoffed. “That’s hardly a kid.”
“You have no leverage,” Hess said. “We have it all.”
They did. They had Roar and Aria—they could pressure him to comply—but he still couldn’t agree.
Cinder began to cry beside him. “I can’t!” He looked at Perry. “You know what will happen to me.”
Perry knew. The last time Cinder had called the Aether, it had almost killed him. The magnitude of what Sable described would make that certain.
As Blood Lord, he’d needed to put people he cared about in danger to help the tribe, but this . . . a sacrifice? He couldn’t ask that of Cinder.
“He’s not doing anything for either of you,” Perry said, looking from Hess to Sable. “And neither am I.”
Sable’s voice came through the speakers again. He sounded a little smug as he said to Hess, “We’ll have to take my approach.” Then he lifted his hand in the air. “Cinder, I want you to think of these four words: Is it worth it?” he said, counting them off.
“If you attempt to escape or use your abilities against us, that’s the question you should ask yourself. Then you should think of Peregrine—of Perry there—and consider how much he means to you. Think about how you’d feel if he suffered because of you. That will happen if you don’t do exactly as I say, and it won’t stop there.
“Aria. Roar. Even the girl at the Tides Kirra tells me you’re so fond of. They’re all within my grasp. And I don’t think you want their pain—or their blood—on your conscience. On the other hand, if you help us, then your friends will stay safe. I’ll bring them all on the journey to the Still Blue, where they’ll live under my protection. Rather clear-cut, in my opinion. Is all of this making sense to you?”
Cinder groaned. “Yes.”
“Excellent.” Sable’s eyes glinted with intensity. “Then I’ll ask once again: As you regain your strength, will you do exactly as I tell you? Can I trust you to obey me, Cinder? Will you submit your power to me?”
21
ARIA
No!” Cinder’s answer was a battle cry. A sound of raw defiance.
The echo of his voice hung in the air as his veins lit with Aether, which covered his face and arms and spread over his bare scalp.
The lights in the room shuddered. Gasps rose up from the Guardians and Horn soldiers. Guns flew from their holsters, all of them pointing at Cinder.
“Stop!” Hess yelled. “Put away your weapons! He can’t harm you!”
Aria turned to Roar, whose face flashed with the strobing lights, thinking now.
Roar pushed back from the table. He grabbed his chair between his bound hands, hurling it at the wall of windows.
It struck with a crack, bouncing off. The glass splintered, spiderwebs splaying across its surface, but it didn’t shatter.
Aria dropped and rolled beneath the table.
She came up on her knees by the door leading to Perry and Cinder’s chamber. Behind her she heard yells, footsteps scattering in panic. She jabbed at the security panel. A red flashing message told her what she’d already known. Only a special access code would get her inside.
“Soren!” she yelled, having no idea if he’d help or if he was in league with Hess now.
The rattle of gunfire exploded around her. She covered her ears, tucking into a ball. Gunshots pocked the door in front of her, and the smell of hot metal seeped into her nose. She braced for the s
ame slap she’d felt in her arm when she’d been shot in Reverie. It didn’t come.
“Stop! Don’t hurt the boy! He cannot be harmed!” Hess shouted over the noise. Aria peered behind her to see him shove a Guardian, who dropped the pistol in his hand. One of the Horns had Roar by the arms, and Soren was belly crawling toward her from the opposite side of the room.
She didn’t see Sable.
“Out! Everyone out!” Hess yelled.
Abruptly, the gunfire ceased and men rushed for the door. Guardians and Horns jammed at the exit, pushing, shoving in their hurry to flee. In the kick and trample, the fallen pistol skittered across the polished floor, stopping a few feet from Aria.
She snatched it up, aiming at the man who was dragging Roar outside. “Let him go!”
The Horn soldier released Roar without a fight, plunging into the corridor. The door slid closed behind him.
Sable and Hess. Guardians and Horns. Everyone had cleared out.
Roar rushed to her side, Soren a second after. A high-pitched alarm exploded through the room’s speakers.
“We have to get out of here,” Soren yelled. “They’re going to gas the chamber.”
Aria looked up, tuning her ears, listening between the siren’s blares. A faint hiss came through the air vents. It was already happening.
“Find something to cut me loose, Soren,” Roar said.
Aria faced the glassed room. The only thought in her mind was reaching Perry. She adjusted her grip, finding the trigger with her left index finger, and fired at the glass at an angle. The weapon bucked in her hand five, six times, before the window peeled apart and fell in a heavy sheet.
She vaulted through the window frame into the room, rushing to Perry’s side. She set the gun down and began unbuckling the heavy straps. She felt slow and clumsy with her bad hand, but she forced calm into her movements. Panicking wouldn’t help.
She glanced at Perry’s face and found his green eyes fixed on her. “Are you hurt?” she asked.
He looked tired, his skin washed of color. Cinder was almost unconscious. The brief use of his power had bled him dry.
Perry gave her a small, strained smile. “Too angry to feel pain.”
Roar unfastened Cinder’s bindings. Soren came over and undid the ones on Perry’s feet. Aria saw Soren’s hands pause for a moment as he swayed, balance unsteady. The gas was affecting him.
She felt it too. The alarm sounded further away and deeper in tone, like it was disappearing into a dark tunnel.
As soon as she’d freed Perry’s hands, she shot to the door and found it locked.
“Aria . . . ,” Soren said behind her. “It’s too late. I don’t have time to hack it. . . . The gas isss . . . ,” he slurred.
“It’s not too late!” She backed away from the door and aimed at the locking mechanism. Her head was spinning. The room was spinning. She couldn’t keep her aim steady. A bitter taste like rancid limes slid over her tongue, and her eyes began to burn.
Roar’s hand closed over hers. He took the pistol. She noticed he was breathing raggedly. “It’ll ricochet. . . . Soren’s right.”
Disappointment washed over her. Crushing her with the feeling that they’d just made their situation worse.
Aria turned. Perry leaned against the bed, his wide shoulders hunched. “Aria,” he said simply.
Soren sat heavily against the wall. Then he slumped onto his side, eyes fluttering closed. The lime taste seared down Aria’s throat and the walls flapped, undulating like sails in the wind. She couldn’t move.
Perry’s head tipped to the side, heavy and resigned. Not the playful tilt she knew. “Come here.”
His voice drew her forward. She went to him, walking across the tilting floor. Her face smacked into Perry’s chest. He caught her by the arms. She’d only vaguely registered that her bicep didn’t hurt at all when she found herself on the floor, with no memory of sitting down.
Perry pulled her against his side, putting his arm around her. Soren had passed out. Cinder lay still on his bed. Roar sat against the door, glaring into space.
He seemed so far. The room seemed to stretch out and go on forever.
“S’good at least that—” Perry turned to face her, and his knee knocked into her thigh. “Sorry.”
“Didn’t feel it,” she managed to say through a numb mouth. “What’s good at least?”
“We’re together.” She saw the flash of a grin just before his eyes slammed shut. He fell forward, his forehead thudding onto her collarbone.
Aria wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as they drifted away.
22
PEREGRINE
That’s good. Come on back. There you are,” Sable said.
Perry opened his eyes, blinking at the brightness. His first thought was of Aria. Then Roar and Cinder.
He was going to demand to see them. To know how they were—where they were. But then he saw the table next to his bed.
A set of tools rested on a tray. A wrench and a hammer. A mallet with a black rubber head. Clamps and knives of all sizes. Finer tools with needle-thin points. Dweller tools that shone like icicles.
He had no doubt in his mind what was about to happen to him. But he was prepared for this. He’d known the instant he’d met Sable that this was possible.
The dark-haired man with the silver horns stood by the door. Kirra and a few Guardians as well.
Hess stood closer, next to Sable, his weight shifting from side to side.
“Do I have to stay?” Kirra asked. Her head was bowed, her red hair shielding part of her face.
“Yes, Kirra,” Sable said. “Until I say you can leave.”
Sable fixed his blue eyes on Perry, blinking a few times, staring quietly. Scenting Perry’s temper. “You know why we’re here, don’t you? I warned Cinder. I told him what I wanted. He refused me. Unfortunately, the price of that transgression falls on your shoulders.”
Perry looked to the ceiling, keeping his breath steady. He wanted, more than anything, to endure what would come next without begging. Even when his father beat him as a boy, he’d never begged. He wasn’t going to start now.
“I can’t hurt Cinder physically,” Sable said. “That would be counterproductive. But I can make him understand that until he concedes, he’ll suffer—through you.”
He turned his attention to the table; his hand hovered over pliers before he picked up the mallet. He tested the weight of the tool in his hand.
Perry could tell it was substantial.
“I’m thinking bruises. They’re showy. Not very messy, and—”
“Get on with it,” Perry snapped.
Sable slammed the mallet down on his arm. It struck Perry’s bicep, over his Markings. Bursts of red exploded before his eyes. A sound slipped out of him, like he was lifting a huge weight. He held on, waiting as the pain began to fade.
“There has to be an alternative to this,” Hess said.
“He’s our leverage, Hess, as you said. Our only means of breaking down the boy. And the alternative is that we die. How does that sound to you?”
Hess glanced at the door behind him and fell silent.
“Relax,” said Sable. “I hit him harder than I intended.” He looked back at Perry. “You know I’m being merciful, don’t you? I could find the girl he likes—what’s her name?” he asked Kirra.
“Willow.”
“I could have Willow on this table instead. You wouldn’t choose that, would you?”
Perry shook his head. His throat had gone dry, and his arm had its own heartbeat. “There is one thing you should know,” he said.
Sable’s eyes narrowed. “And what is that?”
“I don’t bruise easily.”
It was a stupid thing to say, but it gave him some small feeling of control over the situation. And the look on Sable’s face, surprised, incensed, was worth it.
“Let’s find out,” he said, tightly. And the mallet came down again.
This one was easier to en
dure than the first strike. Every one that followed became easier still as Perry retreated into his mind. His father had prepared him for this, and he felt a strange sense of gratitude. A euphoric closeness to times past, which had been terrible, but which had included Vale and Liv. They’d made him good at finding quiet, even peacefulness, in the face of pain.
When Sable came to Perry’s hands, tears pricked at his eyes. They hurt the worst, maybe because they had been smashed so many times before.
Hess turned green and left first. Kirra followed soon after with the dark-haired guard.
Only the men posted at the door stayed, too afraid of Sable to leave.
23
ARIA
Something terrible was happening to Perry.
Aria felt it.
“Sable! Hess!” she yelled again. “Where are you?” She pounded on the heavy steel door, screams ripping through her throat. “I’ll kill you!”
“Aria, stop.” Roar came up behind her. He wrapped her up, pinning her arms.
“Don’t touch me!” She struggled against him. “Let go! You did this!” She didn’t want to turn on him, but she couldn’t hold back. “You did this, Roar!”
He held on, and he was stronger, and she couldn’t push him away. She stopped fighting and stood, trapped against him, her muscles shaking.
“I know,” he said, when she was still. “I’m sorry. I know I did this.”
She hadn’t expected him to say that. Hadn’t expected to hear the guilt in his voice. “Just let me go.”
Roar released her and she spun, looking from his face to Soren’s, seeing their worry and fear, and suddenly tears poured from her eyes.
Her gaze cast around the small room. She needed to get away from them. With no better options, she climbed to the upper bunk and curled as close to the wall as she could, trying to keep back the sobs that tore through her.
Below, Soren said, “Do something, Outsider.”
“Are you blind?” Roar replied. “I tried.”
Under the Never Sky: The Complete Series Collection Page 74