Page 144 of Phoenix's Fire

"The tail?" Zasen asked. "Histail?"

"Lemme..." Jeera said, heading that way.

I followed, hoping I could help. When I got closer, I saw the wound. One side had a small puncture, but every time Drozel whipped his tail to avoid the pain, blood splattered from the other side.

"Stop it!" I snapped at him.

His tail stilled, and Drozel looked up. "Ayla?"

So I crouched down by his face. "You are big and strong. Clench your jaw - or scream. I don't care, but keep your tail still so they can stop the bleeding."

"And if you don't, she'll yell at you again," Omden told him.

Drozel dropped his face into the gravel he was lying on. "Fuck! It hurts. I can't help it!"

"If I can keep still, then you can," I said, daring him to deny it. "Be a Dragon, Drozel. Only Moles punish the ones helping them."

"It's my fucking tail!" he said, but there was a hint of a laugh wrapped up in it. "Again!"

"It's a very nice tail," Omden told him.

"I'm not fucking growing another!"

"But the one the Moles have is almost rotten," I teased. "They've been using it for years to terrify children. It would be so kind of you to replace it."

"Ha-fucking-ha," he grumbled. "That's - aagh!" He yelled as the tailless woman jumped back.

"Okay, let him up," she said.

"Fuck, it's numb," Drozel whined, rolling onto his back as soon as the men released him. "Why'd they have to shoot my tail?"

I bit my lips to keep from laughing, but Jeera crouched down to lean into his face. "You're going to need to have that sewn. Walking home is going to suck. Youwilllean on Omden, do you hear me?" She glanced up at me, smiling as she looked back at him. "Otherwise, I'll have Ayla help you."

"It's not funny!" Drozel said, and yet he laughed. "Okay, it's a little funny, but ithurts."

"You can lean on me," Omden assured him. "I got you, baby."

And while Drozel reached out for the green Dragon's hand, he turned enough to see Zasen. "The last of them ran. I told my team not to follow."

"We didn't either," Kanik said, proving he was with us as well.

"But where did you go?" Drozel asked Zasen.

He pointed at me. "Ayla found us an informant."

"What?" Omden gasped.

Everyone else around us turned to look at me. I just shook my head, unsure what they wanted.

"Her friend on the inside," Zasen explained, "sent a man to find her. The girl also sent proof Ayla trusts. I told him to find out how to get in."

"He doesn't know?" the tailless woman asked.

"Evidently, they don't tell them that, Tayle," Zasen replied.

Tayle thrust out her lower lip and nodded. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. Sounds like the Moles operate on a 'need to know' basis, and no one needs to know but the ones at the top."

"Pretty much," I agreed. "But if Callah knows I'm here, she can help us."