Page 148 of Phoenix's Fire

That made the giant of a man pause. "Ione?"

"Ione," she repeated, nodding to herself. "Your nephew's name is Tobias."

I felt my entire body rock at her words. "What?" I asked.

"Who?" Jerlis demanded.

Ayla moved so she could see us both. "The man Callah sent? His name is Tobias. He used to help me in the infirmary. He's big. Probably the largest man in the entire compound," she explained. "Everyone said he was dumb. I never thought about it, so I'd pick him to hold the hunters for me when I removed the arrows."

"What does this have to do with my sister?" Jerlis demanded.

"But I've known him for years," Ayla went on, undeterred. "Not once was he cruel to me. Mostly, he didn't say anything, but even when I yelled at him, he just accepted it and helped me do what was needed. I mean, the infirmary is the only place down there where women can do that."

"And?" Jerlis pressed.

"My friend, Callah? She sent me a message." Ayla reached into her pocket and pulled out a very old and fragile piece of paper. "Be careful, but open it. My mother drew that, Mr. Mayor."

"Okay?" he asked yet again. Then he paused as the paper unfolded. "This is Lorsa."

"Yes. I thought it was Heaven, so before I refused Mr. Morgan, I told Callah to keep that. I said to put it in the one place no one would find it. She did. Today, Tobias gave it to me. He said he's been helping Callah, and that's his proof she sent him. There's no way he could've taken it from her. He can't get into the library where she hid it, but he has it, so I believe him."

"Ayla, what does this have to do with his sister?" I asked.

She pulled in a breath and stood a little straighter. "Tobias's mother was in quarantine. He said that's why he's helping, and I didn't think about it, but Zasen asked her name." She lifted her hand slightly, as if she wanted to reach out and was stopping herself. "He said his mother was Ione."

The mayor's shoulders dropped. His tail hit the ground. It was as if every muscle in the man's entire body simply forgot what it was supposed to be doing as Ayla's words hit him.

"You should probably sit down," I said, rushing over to support him. "Just right on the dirt, Jerlis."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ayla breathed, supporting his other side as we both eased the man down. Then she dropped to a knee beside him. "Tobias said he's been trying to get out because his mother told him the Dragons would save him."

"Why didn't he leave?" Jerlis asked.

She placed her small, pale hand over his large red-and-black one. "No one goes above the ground without someone watching them. Someone who will kill them," she said gently. "Tonight, Tobias shot at his partner to save us. Zasen killed the partner first, but Tobias tried. He said he has to go back, because he doesn't know the code to get in. He wants to get my friend out. He went back to help us."

"She had a son?" Jerlis breathed.

"Yes," Ayla told him. "A son who reminds me a bit of you, actually. He's a good man, so I thought you should know."

"And Ione?" he asked.

Ayla shook her head. "He said her namewasIone. Not is."

"She lived down there for years, and we didn't know?" he begged. "How did we not know?"

"The same way we women didn't," she soothed. "The Moles knew it was wrong, so they hid it. They're still hiding it, but I was thinking..."

"What?" I asked when her voice trailed off.

"Maybe Tobias can help us get the quarantined women out too."

Jerlis pulled in a deep breath and nodded. "And you're sure of him, Ayla?"

"Sure enough," she admitted. "I trust Callah. She must have trusted him to give him that picture. Down there, it could get her killed."

"You lost your sister," I told him, "but you just gained a nephew. A young man who is fighting back, even when he doesn't have to. A manshemade that way."

"A part of her," Jerlis said. "Proof we're defeating them, even from the inside. Even in the next generation."

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