Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 25

Twenty-Five

Kanik

I 'd stayed up late finalizing my lesson plans, so I slept in more than I was used to. When I finally woke up, the sun was high enough the band of light barely clipped the window sill in my room. That meant it had to be nearly noon.

My mind was still moving slowly. What I needed was a cup of tea. So once I was dressed, I left my room and padded down the hall towards the stairs. I was almost there when Ayla's door clicked open - and Zasen stepped out.

My feet stalled. He rubbed at his hair, pushing his dreads into some semblance of order, then stumbled sleepily towards the stairs. Worse, he was only in his underwear.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I hissed, suddenly very awake.

Zasen's shoulders slumped. I watched as he sighed, and then slowly, he turned back to face me. "What time is it?"

"What were you doing in her room?" I demanded.

"I fell asleep," he said, gesturing for me to keep my voice down.

"Like that ?"

He looked down at himself, then sighed again. "It's not what you think."

My tail lashed as I closed the distance between us. Unable to help myself, I shoved at his chest. "First you kiss her. Now you're sneaking out of her room? Zasen, she doesn't know how to say no!"

He caught my arms, easing them down. "She's learning, and I was in there to get ointment," he said, gesturing to his ribs.

There, three red lines stood out as gashes in his skin. They were deep. Not enough to require medical attention, but also not from a wayward branch in the woods. Across the entire area was the glossy sheen of ointment, giving his excuse some credibility.

"Why her room?" I asked, making it clear he'd better have a good reason .

"Can we do this downstairs?" he asked. "She's still asleep."

"Once you tell me why, then maybe." I jerked my head back at her door. "Otherwise, I'm going to need to check on her, so start fucking talking."

"We came across a bear last night," he said, lifting a hand to hold off my response. "We're fine, it's dead, but we didn't get meat. Ayla got hit across the back of her shoulder. I got pawed on the side. No other wounds, everyone is fine, but we dragged it back."

"From?" I asked.

"Market side of the creek." He paused to scrub at his face. "We pulled that thing all night, didn't sleep, so once we got home, I cleaned her wound and sent her to her room. Once mine was washed, I came up to put ointment on her injury, had her put it on mine, and I intended to leave."

"But you didn't." The words were an accusation.

"I closed my eyes," he admitted. "I was answering her, and I think I fell asleep. She rolled over, which woke me up, and I snuck out. I don't even know if she knew I was there, and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"Oh."

"So can we go downstairs now?" he asked.

"Yeah," I relented, gesturing for him to go first.

But when we reached the first floor, Rymar was sitting in one of the chairs, reading over some papers. He glanced up, then back to his page, but a second later, he lowered those, looking at both of us again.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Zasen passed out in Ayla's bed after hunting a bear last night and dragging it to the market until morning," I said as I headed for the kitchen. "I'm making tea for us. Want one?"

"No," Rymar said as his attention snapped over to Zasen. "A bear ?"

"We were not hunting it," he said.

"A fucking bear?!" Rymar asked again, this time sounding annoyed.

"Look, the forest was quiet. I was half expecting Moles to be out there, but Ayla says it's not time yet."

"Unless she's wrong," Rymar pointed out.

"And she's not," Zasen insisted. "We've got eleven more days before they'll be here. Still, I knew something was up. Even the birds were quiet, but I couldn't figure out why. I kept to the edges, staying close enough to Lorsa that we'd have an escape route."

"Makes me a little less pissed," Rymar said.

I put the kettle on, thankful someone had already lit the stove, then headed back to the living room. "Why didn't you bring her back?"

"Because..." He grunted, slinging his head slightly in annoyance. "It started with her cursing herself when she missed a shot. She called herself stupid, and things like that. I made it clear that's not how to curse, then tried to teach her to blame it - whatever it is - and not herself."

"And this has what to do with the bear?" I asked .

Zasen groaned. "Look, that led to a conversation about the kiss, that she doesn't forgive me because she doesn't think I did anything wrong, that she wants to be pushed, and that she's pissed off that Lessa doesn't think purple is a good enough color."

"Oh?" Rymar asked as a smirk began to claim his face.

"Why were you talking about purple?" I asked.

"Because I was trying to explain to her that she has more options than marrying one man. More? Less? That's up to her. She just needs to understand she has options now. And we may have talked about how I wouldn't kiss her again, that being her friend means she can make mistakes with all of us, including saying no - or not saying it. And so on."

"And the conversation was so riveting that you ignored the birds?" I asked.

Zasen ducked his head. "Yeah. I mean, she was kinda hinting that she's into you, Kanik, so I was trying to encourage her."

"Me?"

Rymar chuckled, the asshole.

Zasen shot him a warning look, then turned back to me. "She says you are kind, and fit, and intelligent. She says you're..." He blew out a breath. "A good prospect, or something like that. I told her she was allowed to experiment with all of this. You know, kissing, hand-holding, and those things. I mean, not that I named them off, but that was basically what we were talking about."

"Why are you pushing her at him?" Rymar asked. "I thought you were into the girl?"

"And Ayla clearly doesn't think of me that way," Zasen explained. "She doesn't look at me with those little smiles she gives him - and we all know she's not going to have more than one partner, if that."

"True," I agreed. "I just figured she had more in common with you. I mean, she becomes so brave with you."

"And she feels safe with you," Zasen told me. "Kanik, she likes when you touch her. She tenses up every time I do it. I think that says more than anything else."

"She told me it was improper, remember?" I shot back.

"Hey," Rymar said, stopping our debate. "Enough. Ayla's worried about enough. She doesn't need to add men to the mix. That she's relaxing should be enough for both of you. Right now, her attention is on Meri and helping her friend learn as much as she has, even if Ayla still has a lot more of that Mole shit to let go of."

So I flicked a finger at Zasen. "He said she got hurt." Then I headed back into the kitchen to check on the water.

"By the bear?" Rymar asked.

"It's not bad," Zasen promised. "My side's worse."

"You got hurt?" Rymar huffed, and I heard his chair creak as he got up.

Shaking my head at them, I pulled down a pair of cups, found the tea leaves, then poured the hot water over it all. They'd dropped their voices, but what little I could hear made me think Rymar was checking Zasen's wound. Deciding to be extra nice, I opened the pantry and found the bottle of pills Zasen kept there. Pulling one out, I palmed that, grabbed the cups and headed back in.

"Take this," I told him, offering a cup, then the pill.

"Thanks," he said, flicking a hand for Rymar to go sit down again. "Ayla's going to need one as well." He lifted a brow at me pointedly.

"Don't worry, I'll chew him out," Rymar assured me. "Take her some water as well."

"She's still in bed," I countered.

"So knock first," Rymar said. "If Zasen was in there, she's dressed."

"She's dressed," Zasen promised.

So I set my cup of tea on the coffee table, headed back to the kitchen, and got another pill, along with a glass of water. Ignoring the guys - and the way they both grinned at me - I carried those up the stairs, then lightly tapped on Ayla's door.

"Ayla?" I called through the wood.

"Mm?" she murmured from the other side.

It was loud enough that I knew it was meant for me, but that wasn't the same as an invitation. "I have medicine," I told her.

"Come in," she mumbled.

Slowly, I cracked open her door, giving her the chance to change her mind. "You decent?" I asked through the gap.

"I..." Cloth rustled. "Yes."

So I opened the door the rest of the way and stepped in. Her blonde hair was a mess. Her nightgown had thin straps over the shoulders, and while she'd pulled a corner of the blanket over her lap, I could still see her bare legs hanging out from the bottom.

"Hey, Zasen said there was a bear," I explained, crossing the room to pass her the glass. "I brought you a pill to make your body hurt less."

She lifted her hands, and took the glass in one and the pill in the other. When I nodded encouragingly, she popped the pill in her mouth, then chased it with a gulp of water. After swallowing that, she took another long drink, then looked on both sides of her, clearly trying to figure out what to do with the glass.

"I got it," I promised, taking it just to set it on the bedside table that was out of her reach. "How are you doing, Ayla? They said the bear got you."

She twisted to show me the back of her shoulder. "It isn't bad. We surprised it, and Zasen told me to run, but it chased me instead of him." She paused to rub at one eye. "So he chased it and stung it. When it chased him, I shot it."

"Can I...." I pointed to the edge of the bed.

She nodded. "And we pulled it back. I saw a dog."

"And it sounds like you didn't get a lot of sleep," I said. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

She glanced up and gave me one of those amazingly sweet smiles she was so good at. "Zasen saved me."

"Zasen got you into that," I reminded her. "He should've known better."

But she shook her head. "No, it was hiding. I could see he was looking for something, but it was just there, and he could've run the other way. He tried, but when it went after me, he helped." She closed her eyes and hummed, proving she wasn't all the way awake. "But I got paid."

"Lie back down," I encouraged. "You can sleep some more, Ayla. I just didn't want you to wake up hurting."

"Okay," she said, easing herself back down on her pillows. "It won't get infected, right?"

"No, it shouldn't. And if it does, Naomi has medicines for that."

Ayla nodded her head against the pillow, letting her eyes close. "Okay. I don't want to get infected. I'm going to get krael too."

"What?" I asked, not sure I'd heard that last bit correctly.

"Zasen said I'm rich. He said I could buy a house, but I like it here. I mean, unless I need a house?"

"No, you have a home here," I told her.

Her lips curled into another smile. "So I'm going to buy weapons and dresses. I'm going to pay you back too. I don't know how much money I have, but I killed a bear, so I can make more."

"You don't have to pay us back," I whispered, reaching up to smooth her hair back. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

She turned, rolling onto her side to face me. "I'm happy. I'm finally strong. I killed a bear."

"Yes, you did," I breathed, caressing her hair back one more time. "You're now the strongest woman I know."

Her lips curled again, proving she heard me, but I was already easing myself off the bed. Ayla didn't even stir, but I felt so much better after seeing she truly was okay. She was in one piece. She'd survived. She also deserved to be very proud of herself.

Because if she could kill a bear, I was pretty sure the Moles wouldn't stand a chance. Ayla didn't know how dangerous those things were. I'd seen entire groups of hunters killed by a single animal - who survived the ordeal! For her and Zasen to kill one with just the two of them?

I hadn't exaggerated at all. Ayla had just become the strongest woman I knew - by a long shot. And somehow, she made it look easy.