When Perry straightens, his face is red. His eyes are half open and unfocused like he’s somewhere else, maybe in a memory. If he is, I don’t want to know what it is.
“That was for Roar,” Vale says. He speaks quietly, for Perry’s ears only, but I hear him. Every Aud in the clearing hears him. “This one is just for you, little brother. Try not to hit me back. ”
He punches Perry again in the same spot. Even harder.
This time Perry buckles and falls, thudding down to one knee. I watch him muffle ragged coughs against his forearm. I watch his shoulders shake as he struggles for control over the pain we all know he’s feeling. I see it through a blur. He was quick to recover after the first punch, but not this time. Every second that passes, my ear rings louder. Every second, I’m closer to drawing Liv’s half-sword and going after Vale.
Liv tenses beside me. I grab her hand, keeping her at my side. Neither one of us can step in right now. Perry has to stand on his own. If he doesn’t, Vale wins.
r /> Finally Perry climbs to his feet, but he’s hunched over, unable to straighten all the way. I notice that he’s failing at one of his own lessons; there is hatred in his eyes.
“Are you finished?” he asks, his voice strained.
Vale isn’t done. I know he isn’t. But Liv breaks away from me and hooks her arm through Perry’s. “Yes, he’s finished,” she snarls at Vale. “You’ve brought enough happiness to our family today, haven’t you?” Then she looks at me as she tows Perry away, her gaze willing me to follow.
She didn’t need to tell me. Wherever they go, so do I.
No one says a word in the half hour it takes us to walk to the sea. I’m stuck listening to the shallow breaths my best friend is taking because of me.
I should have known Vale would do this. Perry is fiercely protective of Liv and Talon and me. Over everyone in the Tides. Vale took advantage of that trait. He twisted the situation so he could show his dominance over Perry—the main threat to his power as Blood Lord. He even calculated the blows he delivered, punching Perry in the stomach so the result of his punishment would be hidden from the tribe. Tomorrow, instead of remembering brutality, the Tides will remember justice.
I know he planned it that way. It’s all clear now. All the strategy I just witnessed.
It makes me sick.
When we’ve left the compound behind us and reached the pressed sand by the water, Liv stops. It’s almost dark and a thick blanket of fog is rolling in from the ocean. It tumbles toward us, swirling through the air in waves.
“I want to see, Perry,” Liv says.
I shove my fingers into my hair, tugging until my scalp hurts. I know where this is going. There is more torture to come.
Perry shakes his head. “It’s nothing. ”
“Show me anyway. ”
“Liv—”
“I don’t care! Let me see. ”
I hate this. They did this when they were younger, too. Liv always had to inspect him afterward. It’s like she wants to feel each and every bruise herself.
Perry mutters a string of curses. Liv crosses her arms and waits. She never backs down. At nearly six feet, she’s only a few inches shorter than him and every bit as stubborn. At times like this I wonder if they’re twins who were somehow born a year apart.
Perry shakes his head and finally relents. He looks away, his neck corded, his arms flexed so tight as he lifts up his shirt that I half expect the material to tear. A bruise has already bloomed on his stomach—I see it even in the twilight—but the worst part is the look on his face. I bite down until my jaw aches, willing this moment to end. Shame doesn’t belong on Perry. It’s the last thing he should ever feel.
After a moment, he tugs his shirt down. “Enough, Liv. I’m fine,” he says, but Liv still doesn’t move away. I know she’s searching for his temper to see if he really is fine.
“You are?” she asks.
Perry nods. “Yes,” he says. He sounds spent. Liv’s concern has worn him down. Force has never been the way to break him. I wonder if Vale knows that.
Liv steps back, satisfied at last. She looks at me and I can’t ignore how this started any longer. “What did Vale say to you, Liv?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not doing it,” she says dismissively. She strides toward me. “Have you lost your mind, Roar? How could you do that?”
“I need to know what he said. ”
“Vale could’ve had you killed! Did you even consider that?”