She lowered her gaze and found Consul Hess sitting at a table twenty paces away. Small, with a marble top and two iron chairs, the table belonged in a bistro in a European square. Whatever Realm Hess chose, that detail never changed.
Aria looked down at herself. A kimono had replaced her black pants, shirt, and boots. This garment was made of thick cream brocade, patterned with red and pink flowers. It was beautiful, and far too tight.
“Is this necessary?” she asked, as always.
Hess watched in silence as she walked over. He had a severe face, chiseled, with wide-set eyes and a thin mouth that gave him a lizard-like appearance. “It befits the Realm,” he said, his gaze traveling up and down her body. “And I find your Outsider clothing unsavory.”
Aria sat across from him, shifting uncomfortably in the chair. She could barely cross her legs in the dress, and what was the waxy coating on her lips? She touched her finger and came away with scarlet lipstick. Really. This was too much.
“Your clothes don’t befit the Realm,” she said. Hess was in Dweller grays, as usual—clothes similar to those she’d worn in Reverie all her life, the only difference being that his grays had blue stripes along the collar and sleeves to show his position as Consul. “Neither does this table or the coffee.”
Hess ignored her and poured coffee into two delicate cups as pink petals sprinkled the table. Aria studied the gurgling sound, which was clear and sharp but oddly shapeless. The fragrant, rich scent set her mouth watering. Everything was the way it’d been for the past months. A fanciful Realm. This table and chairs. Strong, dark coffee. Except Hess’s hands were trembling.
He took a sip. When he set the cup down, it struck with a clack. He raised his eyes to hers. “I’m disappointed, Aria. You’re late. I thought I had impressed the urgency of your task upon you. Now I wonder if you need to be reminded of what’s at stake if you fail.”
“I know what’s at stake,” she said tightly. Talon. Reverie. Everything.
“And yet you’ve taken a little detour. Do you think I can’t tell where you are? You’ve gone to see the boy’s uncle, haven’t you? Peregrine?”
Hess was tracking her movements through the Smarteye. It didn’t surprise Aria, but she felt her pulse pick up anyway. She didn’t want him to know anything about Perry. “I can’t go north yet, Hess. The pass to the Horns is frozen.”
He leaned forward. “I could have you there tomorrow on a Hover.”
“They hate us,” she said. “They haven’t forgotten the Unity. I can’t go charging in as a Dweller.”
“They’re Savages,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. “I don’t care what they think.”
Aria became aware of how quickly she was breathing. Roar sat up. He watched her intently in the real, sensing her tension. Savages. She’d once thought of them that way too. Now Roar’s presence anchored and calmed her.
“You have to let me do this my way,” she said to Hess.
“I don’t like your way. You’re late reporting in. You’re wasting time with some Outsider. I want that information, Aria. Get me coordinates. A direction. A map. Anything.”
As he spoke, she noticed the shiftiness in his small eyes and the red flush creeping up his collar. In all their meetings over the winter, he’d never been this nervous and combative. Something had him worried.
“I want to see Talon,” she said.
“Not until you get me what I need.”
“No,” she said. “I need to see him—”
Everything stopped. The cherry blossoms froze, suspending in midair around her. The sound of the wind vanished, and a sudden dead silence fell over the Realm. After an instant, the petals rose up in reverse, then seemed to catch and flitter down again, normally, floating to the ground as sounds returned.
Aria saw the shocked look on Hess’s face. “What was that?” she asked. “What just happened?”
“Come back in three days,” he snapped. “Don’t be late, and you’d better be on your way north by then.” He fractioned out, disappearing.
“Hess!” she yelled.
“Aria, what’s wrong?”
Roar’s voice. She shifted her focus. His eyebrows were drawn with concern.
“I’m all right,” she said, quickly running through the commands in her mind to take off the Eye. Aria gripped it in her hand, rage blurring her vision.
Roar moved closer. “What happened?” he asked.
She shook her head. She wasn’t entirely sure herself. Something had gone wrong. She’d never seen a Realm freeze before. Had Hess done that on purpose to scare her? But he’d been nervous too. What was he hiding? Why the sudden urgency that she go to the Horns?
“Aria,” Roar prompted. “Talk to me.”
“Hess knows I’m here. And he wants me to head north right away,” she said, choosing her words carefully, making no mention of Talon. “He doesn’t care that the pass is frozen.”
“He’s a bastard, Hess.” Roar’s gaze moved beyond her, up the beach. “But I’ve got good news for you. Here comes your chance to break the glass.”
5
PEREGRINE
Perry walked down the beach toward Aria, aware of his every step. They’d only have a few minutes together at best, and he couldn’t reach her fast enough.
He met Roar halfway. “Keep an ear out?” Perry asked.
“Of course,” Roar said, cuffing him on the shoulder as he walked past.