“I wish you weren’t joking,” Perry said. He already missed the feeling of her weight against him.
Soren pushed the steering console away and stood. “That’s some kind of gratitude for saving your lives. You’re both welcome, by the way.”
Aria smiled. She held her hand out to help Perry up, her injured arm tucked against her side. “Who said I was joking?”
Perry rose and followed her into the main cabin, ignoring the gasps of the Dwellers huddled there. Resting his hand on Talon’s shoulder, he stood beside Aria as she pressed a control by the door. The hatch opened with a rush of air that carried the sound of the waves, lowering to the sand.
In the morning light, he saw the Tides stream out of the cave, filling in along the beach. They gaped at the ship, caught between disbelief and panic. Behind him, dozens of Dwellers stared at the world outside, their fear palpable, strong enough to scent even with his smoke-blunted nose.
Perry spotted Marron and Reef. Bear and Molly. His gaze moved past the brothers—Hyde, Hayden, and Strag. Past Willow and Brooke. In search of Roar and Twig. Regret hit him as he realized that neither of them was there. He had to find them—and Cinder—but first he and Aria had to settle the Dwellers into their temporary home.
Flea trotted to the bottom of the ramp, whining at the sight of Talon and wagging his tail. Wagging his entire body. Talon looked up, his green eyes shining with eagerness. “Can I go?”
“Sure,” Perry said, and watched him run down the ramp with Clara.
Talon didn’t get far before Flea jumped on him, knocking him to the sand. Clara shot past them and jumped into Brooke’s arms. The tribe rushed forward, surrounding them, until Perry lost sight of them both.
He looked at Aria beside him. There were still so many problems to solve, but they had brought Talon and Clara home, and rescued who they could from Reverie. It was a good beginning.
They would need to form a new tribe now, and find the Still Blue.
Perry held out his hand, remembering his approach to the Tides with her weeks ago. Their awkward silence and the distance they’d put between them. They’d taken their greatest strength and hidden it like a weakness.
“Should we try this again?” he asked.
Aria smiled. “The right way,” she said, and wove her fingers through his. “Together.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, thank you, Barbara Lalicki, for your support and guidance through the creation of this book. You steered me right many times with encouragement and sage advice. I am so fortunate to have an editor with the soul and talent of an artist. Thank you.
Andrew Harwell provided additional editorial input and helped in countless other ways. Andrew, you do it all with such a fantastic attitude. It is truly a pleasure to work with you. To Karen Sherman, my copyeditor: Thank you for your insight and thoroughness. You make me look good, and I would be nowhere without you. My gratitude also goes to the marketing, design, and sales folks at HarperCollins. There’s so much work behind the scenes. I appreciate your efforts very much.
Thank you to my ninja agents, Josh and Tracey Adams, for handling the business side so I can focus on the fun—I mean creative—side of things. You are wonderful. Thanks also to Stephen Moore for running the show in Los Angeles.
Lorin Oberweger, Eric Elfman, Lia Keyes, and Jackie Garlick were always available to brainstorm, read, or critique or just support me as I wrote Through the Ever Night. You are all invaluable to me.
The YA Muses—my home team of Katy Longshore, Talia Vance, Bret Ballou, and Donna Cooner—this wouldn’t be half as fun without you. Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me. YAH-Muses!
One of the most rewarding aspects of being a writer is belonging to the writing community. Thank you, Apocalypsies, for bringing me great friendships and much support during my debut year. A few years ago, the SCBWI opened a door for me. In particular, thanks to Kim Turrisi. I aspire to be like you by someday opening a few doors for others, too.
My family is my greatest treasure. My parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews … I could write another book or two or ten telling you how much I love you. Thank you for believing in me. To Michael, Luca, and Rocky: You are the point of everything.
Last, but certainly not least, to the bloggers and readers out there—to you—thank you for sharing your time with Perry and Aria. Many of you have reached out to me and touched me deeply with your support and enthusiasm. Thank you.
Now, are you ready? It’s time to head Into the Still Blue....
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
VERONICA ROSSI graduated from UCLA and studied fine art at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She began writing fiction for teens and received first-place awards in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and SouthWest Writers annual contests before completing UNDER THE NEVER SKY, the first book in her Under the Never Sky trilogy. It’s since been embraced by publishers in more than twenty-six countries worldwide and optioned for film by Warner Bros. Veronica lives in northern California with her husband and two sons. You can visit her online at www.veronicarossi.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
CREDITS
Cover art © 2013 by Gustavo Marx/MergeLeft Reps, Inc.
Cover design by Michelle Taormina
COPYRIGHT
Through the Ever Night
Copyright © 2013 by Veronica Rossi
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-0-06-207206-1 (trade bdg.)
ISBN 978-0-06-224710-0 (int. ed.)
EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062072085
12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
BACK AD
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com