Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 7

Seven

Rymar

A s the evening went on, Zasen hovered - even though he tried not to. Kanik was doing his best to make sure Meri had space, but he couldn't be too obvious, because once the women were done eating, they rejoined us in the living room. There, Jeera made plans for Meri's new life, asking the girl her opinion, but Meri simply looked at Ayla.

And Ayla stepped up.

The timid thing we'd dragged back to Lorsa had changed so much, but having a friend in need did that to a person. Even if she was unsure of her decisions, Ayla was willing to make them in order to help her friend. It was her way of showing bravery and taking charge. What impressed me the most was how good she was at it.

Ayla was a warrior. This Meri girl? She was the sort of woman who needed to be protected. Even when Ayla hadn't been able to understand our words, she'd still glared daggers at us. She'd run. She'd pushed. Hell, when she'd slapped Zasen, the sound of that crack had carried through the house!

Meri was different. Sure, both women had been trained to be terrified, and even Ayla had pulled into herself back then. Meri wouldn't meet my eyes, though. She had no defiance at all. Worse, every single time she was confused, she looked to Ayla, not even voicing an opinion.

The English they were speaking made it hard to follow the conversation, but I didn't need that. I tended to do better with reading body language anyway. Right now, Meri needed us men to be very slow, predictable, and non-threatening. Jeera and Ayla seemed to be taking charge, and I caught words for things like "dress" and "bed."

Soon enough, Jeera stood, offering a hand to Meri. One more time, the girl looked to Ayla, but a nod was the last thing she needed. Taking Meri's hand, Zasen's sister led our newest refugee out of the house, with Naomi following. Words were exchanged in English, but the best I could do was wave.

And I caught when the girl's eyes dropped to my arm. The fear in her gaze was brutal, yet I still pushed a kind smile to my lips. Needless to say, as soon as the door closed, I turned to Ayla, using the one and only language I knew: Vestrian.

"Please tell me I didn't do anything wrong?" I begged.

Ayla let out a little giggle, then dropped onto the corner of the couch. "No. You were kind, Rymar."

Breathing a sigh of relief, I took one of the empty chairs. "Good. She just looked at me like I was about to jump her. She didn't even look at Zasen like that!"

"It's because you're vivid," Ayla explained. "See, in the compound, the lights are weak and the colors are faded. I didn't know any different until I got up here, and the first bright colors I saw were you Dragons. Zasen's eyes were so orange that I was sure he was the Devil himself. But you? Rymar, you're bold!"

"Gets me all the attention," I mumbled jokingly.

Ayla flicked her eyes up, nearly rolling them. It was the most snide she'd ever been, and I was actually a little proud of her. The smirk that came right after was even better.

"Brat," I taunted.

Which made her cheeks split into a grin. "I've been called worse."

Kanik just groaned and flopped onto the couch beside her. "I think you've corrupted her, Rymar."

"Then I'm being a good friend," I pointed out.

Which was when Zasen returned from the kitchen carrying a collection of drinks. "Tea?" he asked Ayla, passing her a glass of chilled tea. "Beer?" He held out a pair of bottles towards me and Kanik. Needless to say, we all took one, and then Zasen sank down into his favorite chair.

"How long until she's ready to talk to us, Ayla?" he asked.

That made her head snap over, and the joy on her face vanished. "What?"

So Zasen flicked a finger back towards the door. "The girl. I know she's scared, so I didn't push, but I need to talk to her."

"She's not going to hurt anyone!" Ayla insisted. "Zasen, she escaped! She wants to be safe. That's it."

"And she knows things," he countered.

Which made Ayla fall silent, but Kanik couldn't take it. "And Ayla's thrilled to have her friend out of that mess, Zasen. Stop being a dick."

"He's not being a dick," I said, trying to calm the tension of this whole surprising day. "He's asking Ayla for advice."

Ayla just chewed at her lower lip for a moment. "I don't know," she finally admitted. "Meri's so scared. I've been trying to remember how I felt when I came here, and I don't think I was that scared. Was I?"

"You were pretty scared," Zasen admitted .

"Not that scared," I assured her. "Even when you were terrified, you lashed out first, not last."

"Yeah," Ayla breathed.

"Which," I went on, "is why Ayla gets to decide when Meri's ready to talk to you, Zasen. That girl already thinks you're going to eat her. Don't make it worse."

"I haven't done anything!" he huffed.

"You did in the past," Kanik countered. "C'mon. You were the one who started the city militia. You were the one who carried the bodies back, leaving them outside so the Moles would know who you are. You, Zasen, said making them fear us might make them stop."

"And it didn't work," I reminded him.

The man growled under his breath. The sound was anger and frustration merged together. Naturally, my eyes jumped over to Ayla, but she didn't even flinch. It seemed she'd learned that when we said we wouldn't hurt her, she could believe it. Even more proof of how far she'd come, in my opinion.

"Why do you need to talk to her, though?" Ayla asked. "I can tell you everything."

I made a noise, keeping Zasen from answering. "Ayla," I said, "you're not going to help her by sheltering her."

"But she's scared!" Ayla insisted.

"She is," I agreed.

"She also has to experience things to stop being terrified of them," Kanik added. "Just like how we let you learn at your own pace. We didn't hold you back, Ayla. We gave you the chances and allowed you to take them. We trusted you to know your own limits."

She began chewing on her lip again, and her eyes had dropped to the ground. She wasn't sulking, though. This was her version of being stubborn. Sure, it looked meek and submissive, but I had a feeling she might never lose that habit. It had been literally beaten into her.

"She doesn't know what they do," she admitted. "She's already suffered Gideon's abuse. Isn't that enough?"

"No," Zasen said, but his voice was gentle. "The Moles will come back, Ayla. When they do, someone will die. People's loved ones will be carried away, butchered, and fed to your other friend. Mothers will lose sons. Husbands will lose wives. Children! Do those people deserve to mourn someone we could save by asking your friend what she knows?"

"No..." Big blue eyes looked up at Zasen. "But she's not ready."

"I know," he relented. "But what if she knows how to get in, Ayla? Didn't you say I shot her husband?"

"Yeah."

"That means he's a hunter, right?"

Her jaw clenched. "Yeah." Her reply sounded angry this time.

"So she may have heard things from him. She might know something she learned after she was married. "

"What if she doesn't?" Ayla asked too quickly.

Zasen simply canted his head. "Then we lose nothing. But you have shown me how much women know. Not what I wanted, but more than any of us expected. The problem is the food. If the Moles aren't killing us, what will the women eat? If they are killing us, how many up here will die? We have to stop this, Ayla."

"We've been killing them!" she shot back.

"And how many more will come?" he asked. "Waiting to defend ourselves doesn't work. It has never worked, but everything we've tried has failed worse. So many people have died , Ayla. This - the knowledge you and Meri have - is our best chance of trying something new."

Sure, his tone was gentle, but his words weren't. Then again, Ayla worked best with that. Zasen put the responsibility on her, then accepted her decision. He was fair with her, but he did push. What kept surprising me was how well Ayla responded to it. She burned down the old, embraced the new, and was remaking herself, just like the phoenix she'd picked as her sign.

Now we just had to ignite her inner fire.

"Look," I said, taking over, "Meri needs to know what happens. You have to tell her, Ayla, because they will come back."

"I know," she mumbled.

Kanik reached over to rub her shoulder. The girl glanced his way, their eyes met, and she visibly relaxed. She also held his gaze just a moment too long. Maybe there was something there? If not, she was giving Kanik all the wrong signals and probably didn't mean to. I'd have to talk to him about that later.

For now, I needed to make her see this logically. "Your mother was a Dragon." I looked over, waiting for her eyes to leave Kanik.

When her gaze landed on me, it was powerful. Her blue was not the same as the new girl's. It was bright, the same color as a perfect day's sky. Blue, but not soft. No, there was a strength in her eyes that shouldn't be there. It didn't match the gentle nature she so often tried to use as a shield.

"I know," she said, a hint of pride in those words. "My mother was the Serpent."

"Mhm," I agreed. "Who was Meri's mother?"

"No, her parents were Righteous." She paused, making a little noise of disgust. "I mean Moles. Both were Moles. That's why she moved in with me and Callah. She stayed with her mother until she was ten, so while Callah and I were used to being in our own room with only Ms. Lawton to care for us, Meri missed her parents. She was older, but new to the wing."

"Okay," I said, not quite sure what that was about. "So her mother was born down there?"

"Yes."

"But yours wasn't," I said again. "She was stolen from here. What if they want to steal Meri back? She won't even know they do that."

"And she may have heard things as a child," Zasen added. "What if she knows how to get into the compound, Ayla? What if she has the solution to freeing Callah? What if the Moles come here to hunt and she's shot because she wasn't warned to stay inside? What if they steal her baby because it's a girl? What if, what if, what if? There are so many reasons to find out what she knows, and none to ignore this! That girl could be the answer to stopping this carnage!"

"But she's scared!" Ayla snapped, raising her voice at him. "Don't you get that? They told her you will eat her. She doesn't have a clue that they were eating you! She can't take it, Zasen. Meri is gentle. She's kind. She's been hurt by Gideon, and I do not want to make it worse!"

Kanik replied in a calm and soothing voice. "You have to."

"No!"

"You do," I agreed. "Not now. Not even tomorrow. You can talk to her about it, but you have to start telling her. You have to find out what she knows. Ayla, we didn't tell you. We thought we could wait, and then we shoved you in a closet with a child."

"But I protected him," she insisted.

"You did," I agreed.

"And you were amazing," Zasen praised.

"But," I said, flicking a finger at Zasen to let him know I had this, "killing the hunters isn't enough. We have to stop them from hunting us. We have to try something new, Ayla, and she is that thing."

"What if she's not?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Then we will try something else. But we have to try. Just like you have to try to make her understand. This is the cruel reality we live in. We can't ignore it. Zasen needs to know about the compound. Meri might know things you don't. Maybe Callah told her something, or maybe things changed after you left. The only way we'll know for sure is if you ask her."

"Me?" Her eyes jumped between the three of us.

"You," Kanik told her, reaching out to lightly touch her arm. "We trust you, Ayla, and you know Meri. This is a lot of responsibility, but you can do it."

"When she's ready?" Ayla tried next.

"Make her ready," Zasen told her. "You owe her that, Ayla. It's a way of taking care of her, because hiding the hard truths will only cause her to be blindsided when they come." He quickly licked his lips, that dark tongue hard to miss. "And you're the only one she will believe."

The breath rushed from Ayla's lungs. "Oh."

"I know you want to protect her," I said, liking where Zasen was going with this, "but preparing her will. This is the only way you can keep her safe, even if it won't be easy. She'll trust you."

"Okay," she breathed. "I'll do it, and maybe Callah told her something, because she said she got my message."

"What message?" Zasen asked.

A tiny little smile touched Ayla's lips. "I promised to send back something yellow. I didn't think about it, but my arrows are yellow - and Callah is a healer. She saw them, so she knows I'm alive. That's why she sent Meri. Meri just didn't seem to know the message was an arrow. I don't think Callah told her, which is why I wasn't sure I should."

"You should," I promised.

"And you have to find out what Callah said," Zasen added. "We're fighting blind, Ayla, and your friends might just be the answer we've been waiting for."