Page 293 of Phoenix's Fire

Tobias stood against the wall with a handful of bright pink flowers in his hand and a smile on his face - completely fine.

"I got yelled at by my squad leader for taking too long to get these," he said, thrusting the flowers at me. "They won't live long, so it's okay if you share them with the other women." Then he handed me a thick package wrapped in a scrap of black cloth. It looked like part of a hunter's shirt. "And an engagement present. You know, to convince you not to change your mind."

My hands closed on the package, and I swore it felt like a book. A small one, barely bigger than my hand, but thick. And padded? Confused, I turned it over, surprised to see the fabric had been tucked in tightly. It also looked new.

"Open that in your room," he said. "And I know you're probably tired, but maybe I can walk you to the morning meal?"

"I'd like that," I said, reaching out with my free hand to squeeze his. "Thank you, Mr. Warren."

"It is my pleasure, Miss Atwood." He squeezed back, the most intimate gesture a couple could give in public, and then left.

I meandered back to my room, lifting the flowers to my face so I could smell them. It was nothing like I'd imagined. They were sweet, but also pungent and different. And so many! Some stems had many little flowers on them. Others had only one big one, but they were all pink in some way. A few had white as well, but I liked how bright they all were.

I may have been grinning as I made my way back to my room. Some girls looked over, unable to miss the entire bouquet of flowers I had, and that felt good. Tobias had just proven he was a very good catch. Maybe some thought he was stupid, but from a woman's perspective, he was pampering me.

But when I made it into my room, I dropped the flowers onto my table and hurried to open the fabric. Inside, I found page upon page of paper. Ayla's handwriting covered it. Small, delicate lines of text filled as much space as she could manage, and there were at least ten pages!

Underneath that was a book. The cover of it was written in soft, rounded letters unlike any I'd seen:The Ruins of Men.Curious, I opened it to scan the pages. There were a few small drawings, but most of this was text.

Setting that aside, I turned to her letter. She started by telling me about quarantine, but Tobias had already explained that. Then she said she had a list of all the Dragon women who'd been taken, but warned they might not be the only ones. I flipped through the paper until I found the list. Not only did she have names, but also descriptions and relatives!

Desperately, I trailed my finger down that until I found my own mother's name. There, I saw Nenufar. Red hair, green eyes. Tobias had told me his mother's name when Ayla said he had family up there, so I kept going until I found it. Ione. Comparing the families listed, I breathed a sigh of relief.

We weren't related. This was okay. He wasn't my cousin or uncle! Even if our marriage was for protection, I felt better knowing I wouldn't need to kiss a relative! Setting those pages aside, I went back to Ayla's letter, not surprised at all to find she spoke of Meri next. They had her, she was going to be fine, and she'd gotten something called a divorce. That meant she was no longer Gideon's wife.

I was so engrossed in Ayla's update, the rap at my door caught me by surprise. Shoving the book towards my pillow, I tried to hide the evidence just as the door opened and Ms. Lawton stepped inside. She was smiling, but the moment she saw the panic on my face, she eased the door closed behind her.

"I came to let you know Tobias is hale," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," I said, feeling my cheeks heating even as my blood ran cold. "He met me in the hall with a gift."

Her eyes jumped to my desk, then over to my pillow. "Flowers?"

I swallowed hard, but managed to jiggle my head in a nod.

"And?" she asked, looking at the papers I was still holding in my hand. "Did he write you a letter?"

"It's not from him," I breathed. "He only carried it."

The air slid from her mouth and her shoulders dropped. "Callah?"

"Please don't tell, Ms. Lawton?" I begged.

"From who?" she asked, sounding almost excited.

I had to swallow again. "Ayla."

"She's alive?"

"And Meri."

A laugh fell from the woman's throat, and she moved to sit on the bed beside me. "And?" she begged.

"But I'm not supposed to have this," I reminded her.

"And I don't care," she said. "I raised those girls. To hear they're actuallyalive,and you have proof?"

So I turned the page toward her. "Meri got something called a divorce, so she's no longer married to Gideon. Ayla got a list of the women in quarantine - " I stopped hard.