Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky 1) - Page 60

Perry looked down at his hand. “Not much. But it’ll be easier when the swelling goes down, I think. ”

Cinder let out a moan. “I could have killed you. ”

“You didn’t. ”

“But I could have! It’s just in me and then it’s out and people get hurt and die and I did it. I don’t want to be like this. ” Cinder buried his face as he fell into harsh, raw sobs. “Get out. Please go. ”

Perry didn’t want to leave him this way, but he was sure of one thing. Cinder was filled with shame. If he stayed there now, Cinder would never look him in the eye again. And he wanted that. He needed to talk to this boy again. Perry slid off the cot onto weary legs.

He would go for now, but he would return.

Chapter 23

ARIA

“Aria?”

Aria pushed herself out of the deepest sleep she’d ever been in. She blinked until the blurriness cleared.

Perry sat at the edge of the bed. “I’m here. Marron . . . he said to tell you. ”

She knew he’d gotten there safely. She’d been with Marron when Slate came with the news. But seeing him, she was rocked again by relief. “You took so long. I thought the Croven had gotten you. ”

His eyes glinted with amusement. “No wonder you were sleeping so well. ”

She smiled. When Slate had shown her to the bedroom, she’d only planned to wash her hands and get off her feet until Perry’s hand was treated. But she’d had no hope of staying awake when she saw the bed.

“You’re all right?” she asked. Mud crusted to the side of his jaw. His lips were dry and cracked, but she didn’t see any new injuries. “How’s your hand?”

He lifted his arm. A white cast reached from his fingers to his elbow. “It’s soft inside and cool. They gave me some pain medicine, too. ” He smiled. “Works better than Luster. ”

“What about Cinder?”

Perry looked down at his cast, his grin fading. “He’s in the medical ward. ”

“Do they think they can help him?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t said anything about him, and Cinder won’t let anyone near him. I’ll go see him later. ” He sighed and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. “I couldn’t leave him out there. ”

“I know,” she said. She couldn’t either. But she also couldn’t deny the danger in bringing Cinder around other people. He was a boy, but she’d seen what he did to Perry’s hand.

Perry tipped his head to the side. “I gave Marron the Smarteye. He’s working on fixing it. He’ll let us know when there’s news. ”

“We made it, ally,” she said.

“We did. ” He smiled. It was the lion grin she’d only seen a few times. Sweet and engaging, with a hint of shyness. It showed a whole part of him she didn’t know. Heart pounding, she looked down and saw that they were on the same bed. Alone.

He tensed like he’d just noticed the same thing and then his gaze flicked to the door. She didn’t want him to leave. He was finally talking to her without the grit of anger between them. Without any help from Luster or Roar’s easy chatter. She said the first thing that came to mind. “Where’s Roar?”

His eyes widened slightly. “Downstairs. I can go get him—”

“No . . . I just wondered if he’d made it back safe. ”

It was too late. He’d already reached the door. “Not a scratch on him. ” He hesitated for a moment. “I’m going to go pass out somewhere,” he said, and left.

For a few moments, she stared at the spot where he’d been. Why had he hesitated? What had he wanted to say?

She burrowed back into the warm covers. She was still in her filthy clothes, but she felt the soft pressure of bandages on her feet. Vaguely she remembered answering Slate’s question about her limp.

Tags: Veronica Rossi Under the Never Sky
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