Page 18 of Phoenix's Fire

"Thank you," she breathed, reaching out to clasp my hand. "I was so scared I wouldn't find you, Ayla, but Callah said it would be okay, and now it is. I'm trying, I'm just..."

"I know," I promised. "Trust me, I know, but you really are safe now."

Six

Zasen

The four women took chairs at the table. I went out of my way to serve all of them, placing generous portions of everything on their plates. Meri leaned away from me each time I got close. It made sense. Her people had made me into a monster only rivaled by the Devil. They also weren't wrong.

Yet once that was done, I headed back to the living room where Rymar and Kanik were waiting. We didn't have plates. Our meal would come later so the new girl could get as much as she wanted.

As soon as I was out of sight, the conversation among the women started up again. They kept it in English so Meri could understand, yet their voices were soft. Private, almost.

I huffed out a sigh and dropped into my chair. Across from me, Rymar had claimed Ayla's. Kanik had the couch - and three beers waited on the coffee table for us. I reached for one, needing to relax.

"So, that's going well," Rymar said, speaking quietly in Vestrian to keep our words from carrying.

"Better than we did with Ayla," I agreed. "Also sounds like Meri's willing to stay with Jeera."

"Your sister will be tickled to finally get to babysit for someone," Kanik pointed out.

"No kidding," I agreed.

Because my sister and her girlfriend had been wanting a child for years now. Sadly, tailed women were all sterile. No matter how hard he tried - and I was willing to bet Irrik tried very hard - their shared boyfriend would never get either one pregnant.

Instead, the pair helped my mother deliver babies and helped with maternity. They were on the list for unwanted or orphaned children, willing to adopt anychild in need, but that hadn't happened yet. Evidently most people waited nearly a decade before they were chosen, unless it was a private arrangement.

But if Meri was living with them, she'd have all the support she'd need. Both tailed women would pamper her and her child. They wouldn't mind the wailing of an infant when it arrived. Even better, they would be able to ease the Mole girl's worries about giving birth - including what we could do if things went wrong.

"So when do we tell her about the Moles?" Rymar asked.

Kanik groaned, but I pushed out another heavy sigh. "Not yet," I told them.

"When?" Rymar pressed. "She's going to find out, and we made a mess of that with Ayla."

"Ask Ayla?" Kanik suggested.

"She'll be the best person to explain it," Rymar agreed.

"So we'll talk to her after Meri leaves," Kanik decided, looking over at me. "And you should tell her what you're hoping to find out. If Ayla knows the information you need, she'll figure out how to get it."

"I just need to know what that girl knows about the compound," I said. "Ayla can wait a few days, but we need to find out what they're doing."

"And the women don't know," Kanik countered. "Zasen, Ayla didn't know anything, so Meri likely won't either."

"But she might," I pointed out hopefully.

"And you don't even know what you want from her," Kanik snapped back. "Zasen, you want these women to give you the answer, but you're not even asking them a question."

"I'm asking them what they know!" I growled, my voice getting louder.

Rymar patted at the air. "So we let Ayla decide," he told me. "She's the one who's been through this, and she's seen enough to understand the real problem. That means she'll be the best one to make that call."

"Yeah." I reached up to rub the bridge of my nose. "This girl is also going to need clothes, and supplies for the baby. She'll need meat - "

"Good reason to take Ayla hunting some more," Rymar pointed out.

Which was a brilliant idea. "Okay," I relented. "But she can't use the venom-tipped arrows for that. Meri will need to be made immune - after the baby."