Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky 1)

“Talon!”

He didn’t see his nephew anywhere, only the Hover floating in place. The hatch sealed shut. With a blast of sand, it shot into the distance.

He ran home in a mindless haze, his arm pressed against the spearing pain in his side. He stopped at the top of a ridge. From this far, the compound looked like a circle of stones in the valley below. A sky teeming with Aether flows and dark clouds made night of the late afternoon. Perry tilted his head, searching for scents on the storm winds. No trace of Dwellers that he could tell.

He smelled the sharp tang of bile. Wylan jogged up, a hand pressed to the knot the Dwellers had given him at his hairline. Wylan had vomited twice on the way back. The reek still clung to him.

“Hate to be you right now,” Wylan said. He had a dark, feral look in his eyes. “I heard those Moles. They came after you. Vale’s going to tear you in half. ”

“He’ll need me to get Talon back,” Perry said.

Wylan leaned over and spat. Then he laughed. “Peregrine, you’re the last person Vale needs. ”

Perry found everyone in the clearing, speaking in cheerful tones that mixed with festive music. Torches around the perimeter added a golden glow to the gathering, setting it apart from the cool light surrounding the compound. A few couples danced. Children wove through the crowd, hiding behind women’s skirts and laughing. It was a strange scene, as if they didn’t see the Aether roiling above them. Didn’t care that the sky might rain fire at any moment.

Vale sat on one of the crates by the cookhouse, talking to Bear at his side. He held a bottle in his hand and looked relaxed. Content to watch the celebration.

“Perry!” Brooke called, then she grabbed the arm of the person next to her. Her alarm rippled through the rest of the crowd, bringing the music to a halt. Now Perry heard the frightened brays and bleats of the stabled animals.

Vale stared at Perry, the smile easing off his face. He hopped off the crate and came forward, searching the crowd behind Perry. “Where’s Talon? Where’s Talon, Perry?”

Perry swayed. He could see the bronze flecks in Vale’s green eyes. “The Dwellers took him. I couldn’t stop them. ”

Vale handed his bottle off without looking away. “What are you talking about, Peregrine?”

“The Dwellers took Talon. ” He couldn’t believe he’d spoken the words. That they were true. That he was there, telling Vale his son was gone.

Vale’s dark eyebrows drew together. “That can’t be. We’ve done nothing to them. ”

Perry took in the stunned faces around them. He shouldn’t have told Vale here. When the fog of disbelief wore off, the news would destroy him. But Vale, as Blood Lord, as Talon’s father, shouldn’t have to endure it in front of the tribe.

“Let’s go home,” Perry said.

Vale hesitated. He looked as though he was going to follow Perry until Wylan spoke up. “Tell him here. Everyone should hear this. ”

Vale stepped closer. “Start talking, Peregrine. ”

Perry swallowed hard. “I . . . broke into the Dweller fortress. ” It sounded ridiculous to him now. Like a prank. “A few nights ago,” he added. “After I left. ”

Vale would know, without Perry saying it, that he’d gone after their fight. That he’d acted like a frustrated child and done something rash, as he always did. In the silence that followed, Perry’s breath came fast, like he’d just sprinted. He scented dozens of tempers. Anger. Astonishment. Excitement. The flashing weights and colors and temperatures so potent that he felt sick.

Vale’s face tightened with confusion. “They came for my boy because of what you did?”

Perry shook his head. “They came for me. Talon was just there. ”

He couldn’t look at his brother any longer. He stared at the jumble of footprints on the ground. In the next instant, his head rocked to the side and then his shoulder slammed against the earth. He looked up at Vale, a shot of heat flooding his veins. He was at his brother’s feet. He should stay there. He deserved this. But he couldn’t.

He sprang up. Vale drew his knife. Perry brought out his own blade. People cried out and pushed away from them.

Perry couldn’t believe this was happening. Talon should be here, not him. He should be long gone. “I’ll get him back,” he said. “I’ll get Talon. I swear I will. ”

Rage burned in Vale’s eyes. “You can’t get him back! Don’t you see that? If you go after him, the Dwellers could destroy all of us!”

Perry tensed. He hadn’t thought of that, but Vale was right. The Dwellers could have dozens of Hovers like the two he’d just seen. Hundreds of men, ready to fight. He felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. Then worse for not caring.

“It’s Talon,” he said. “We have to get him back. ”

“There’s no getting him back, Peregrine! You did this! Father was right. You’re cursed. You destroy everything!”