Roar and Liv (Under the Never Sky 0.50) - Page 8

“Olivia, tell me. ”

She shoves me in the chest. “Did you even think?”

I grab her wrists, trapping her hands against me. She tugs away, but I hold her fast and stare into her eyes. I want her to tell me I’m imagining everything. That none of this is really happening. “Please, Liv . . . I need to know what he said. ”

I release her hands and she takes a step back. She looks to Perry and back to me. I don’t recognize the expression on her face. “He told me he made an arrangement. All the food we need? Vale sold me for it. I’m supposed to marry Sable. ” Her mouth quivers into a humorless smile and she glances at Perry again. “He fetched a good price for me. Enough food to keep the Tides fed through next winter. I guess I’m expensive. ”

She tries to laugh but it’s strained and thin. Nothing like the sound I know. And then her eyes fill and she turns her back to me and everything inside of me rips and tears. Every muscle. Every bone in my body. I can’t move. I can’t move and the ringing that had just begun to fade in my ear is drowned by the roar of blood.

She’s mine. The words rage through my mind.

Liv is mine.

I must have spoken them aloud because Liv’s shoulders jolt and she darts away. I follow her and collide with Perry, who’s saying something to me. There’s a gap that feels like an hour before his words sink in.

“Let her go. Give her some time, Roar. She wants to be alone. ”

I watch as she disappears into the curling fog. Liv flees when she’s unsure. Like Perry, she thinks on the run. I know this, but my stomach still twists as I watch her leave. I want her to need me right now. She doesn’t. Somehow, I both hate her and love her for it.

For what feels like a lifetime, I stare at the spot where she vanishes. Then I look at Perry. “What do I do now?” My head pounds from Vale’s punch.

Perry rubs a hand over his jaw. “Stay here,” he says. “I’ll be back. ”

Pressing a hand to his stomach, he jogs back to the compound.

4

When Perry is gone, I look around me. The fog has moved inland and I can’t see more than a hundred paces in any direction. The surf is rougher than it was last night, the waves foaming as they pound against the beach. I picture bruises spreading across the sand and shake my head, trying to get the image to go away.

Pulling my knife from the sheath at my belt, I spin the blade around my wrist, tossing it, flipping it fast, fast, faster, concentrating on just this. On the focus I need in order to do these tricks and keep my fingers intact.

Without Perry and Liv, I feel unhinged and I shouldn’t. I should be more like my mother, who didn’t let herself care. Who moved from one man to the next with the seasons. There was always someone better, worth uprooting everything for. A new man for me to call father for a few months when, in reality, my father was nothing more than a roaming trader who was a drunk.

Rush. His name comes to me now. Mother said he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever laid eyes on, next to me. That’s what I was to her: an achievement in fine looks. A face that she could pinch and kiss and then send away.

It took all of one day for Liv to understand me better. Less than a day. The very morning after Gram and I came to the Tides, Liv and Perry tracked me down in my new home in the shed. “I think you should be our friend,” Liv said. I didn’t even know her name yet. Then, she was just the golden-haired girl from up in the loft. When I asked her why, she replied, “Because you need us. ” I looked at Perry, who said, “All right,” and then I said, “All right,” and then everything was all right.

I fumble the knife and the blade slices into my finger. Cursing, I suck on my thumb, tasting copper. It’s been years since I cut myself.

“First rule of knives: they cut. ”

I look up at the voice. Perry walks over, a bottle of Luster in one hand. “I thought this would help. ” He gives it to me and sits. “Has she come back yet?”

Unstopping the cork, I take a drink. “No. Not yet. ” I drink again, feeling the warmth of the Luster move through me. Maybe my father and I have more in common than our looks. “I can’t let this happen, Perry. We have to find another way. We have to do something. ”

Perry nods. “I’ll talk to Vale. ” His gaze slides over to me. “But I doubt there’s anything I can say that will change his mind. ”

“You can change his mind. He’s scared of you. He knows the tribe would do well with you as Blood Lord. ”

“The tribe doesn’t want me as—”

“They do. ”

“There are plenty of people who doubt whether I could—”

“To hell with the doubters. ”

Perry smirks at me. “Roar, if you interrupt me once more, I’ll . . . ” He rubs the back of his neck and lets out a breath. “I’ll stop talking. ”

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