Page 261 of Phoenix's Fire

Drozel lifted his hand with the knuckles facing Zasen and his second finger held up. "Bite me, Zasen. I didn't lose it last time."

"Still got shot," Zasen teased.

Which made Kanik call over, "Careful, they might go for yours next, Zasen. It does stand out."

"I was just trying to give Drozel an advantage," he said.

But Drozel shrugged that off. "Worked out for me. Had a hot man pamper me, a cute woman spoil me, and a very sweet one take care of me. I think that counts as worth it."

So Zasen asked, "Omden, what do you think about him flirting with all these girls and ignoring you?"

"Shit," Omden said, angling his steps to fall in beside me, of all people. "Seems my boyfriend has a thing for my green and their gold. Better watch out, Ayla. He might start flirting with you next."

"I amnotflirting with the refugees!" Drozel snapped, sounding like he was no longer amused by the teasing.

"It was a joke," Zasen promised.

"No," Drozel said, slowing so he could walk with us as well. "Lessa? Yeah, I'll flirt, but only because Omden's okay with it."

"Completely on board with getting a break," Omden joked. "But no, I'm good with Lessa."

So Drozel looked over at me. "But I look back at how we got you, Ayla, and I fucking hate it. You were too calm. Too passive. I was so sure you were coming with us because it had to be a trap, so I wanted to kill you."

"And then you learned to speak," Omden said.

Drozel just nodded. "And now that I know what they did?" He let out a heavy sigh. "Every single time I look at Meri, all I can think is that not only did they torture her for years, but she's still helpless because of her condition. She can't run, or fight, or anything else. She doesn't even know she can scream at us yet."

"She'll figure it out," I promised.

"And until she does," he said, "I'm going to make sure she's taken care of. Someone to walk her around if she needs it..." He gestured to Omden. "Or a bigguy to open jars? Shit, I don't even know what I can do for her, but yeah. Not flirting is at the top of that list."

I jogged a few steps to move to his side. "Hey? Thank you. Everything up here is so confusing at first, but she's adapting well."

"Being around women probably helps," Zasen said.

I nodded. "Yeah, probably. But being able to see what people say is true? That's what makes it feel real. And to have a man as big as either of you be kind?" I looked between them. "You don't understand. We accepted old men because they were less likely to hurt us. To have a manhelp?"

"Protect," Drozel said. "Omden and I talked about it, and she needs to feel like someone will save her if she's scared. We want to do that, since we screwed up with you."

"And you can clearly hold your own," Omden said, flashing me a smile. "Plus, your friend is stronger than she knows. She's just never been allowed to find it before. With Lessa?" He nodded.

"Yeah, Lessa will teach her how to be afraid of nothing," Zasen agreed.

Then Drozel chuckled. "I can't wait to meet the next one. What's her name, Ayla?"

"Callah," I said. "I think it's a flower?"

"Calla lily," Omden said. "I like those."

"We’ve never seen them," I admitted, "but her mother loved them, I guess? That's how she got her..." I paused. "And her mom had probably seen them."

"Yeah," Omden said. "They grow here in the spring."

Which made me groan. "The signs were always there. We just weren't allowed to see them."

"We'll make sure you girls get to appreciate it all," Drozel said. "Think of it as me trying to alleviate my guilt."

"No guilt," I told him. "You saved me. Maybe you didn't want to, but you still did."

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