Page 290 of Phoenix's Fire

"I'm the same blood type," Rymar said. "If they don't have enough..."

That made my head whip between them. "What? Enough blood?"

"It's another thing Dragons do," Zasen said with a little smile, but it didn't last long. "Ayla, how did you find him?"

I pointed at Holly. "Lansin taught her. That's how I send her to someone in the house."

"And she tracked him that far?" Rymar asked.

"She's a good dog," I said, pitching it so Holly would hear it as praise.

"Yeah," Zasen breathed. "The best dog." Then he laughed once. "I thought he was gone. I didn't even think of going after him, but you did!"

"They always take the dead," Rymar said.

I nodded. "I, um, didn't want them to eat him."

"You thought he was dead too?" Zasen asked.

I nodded again. "But I can move faster than them. Holly could follow Kanik's scent. I thought that since Tobias didn't have the code, then I could follow them back and watch the way we do when sneaking up on game. I can see in the light and the dark. I could figure out the code, and if they took him inside..."

"What?" Rymar demanded when my words trailed off.

"Callah is going to start a rebellion," I explained. "She's going to help us, but in a way they won't expect. We're going to stop this, don't you see? And if they'd killed him and took him in there..." I looked between both of them, sure they'd be angry with me for this. "Then I was going to show the women what they are eating. I would make themlookat him, my friend, and see how righteous they really are!"

"No," Zasen said. "We need to plan an assault, not let them kill you!"

"But what if you're wrong?" I asked. "What if you'd just kill the good people, because the bad ones are at the back?"

"We have to stop them!" Zasen snapped.

A yawn slipped out, but I nodded. "Yes.Wehave to stop them. Me, Meri, Callah, Tobias, and now Sylis. You can't, Zasen. You can't even see down there! I thought about it the whole time I walked, and our old plan won't work. We can't get in! That means we need to rip them apart from the inside, and Callah's just created a weapon they will never see coming."

"What's that?" Rymar asked.

"Women."

For a moment, silence hung in the room, but then Zasen nodded. "We'll see. They clearly take security more seriously than I expected, so we can't do anything else, but I don't like it, Ayla. I don't like risking women who have been abused. They shouldn't need to do that."

Then he stood and moved to the end of my bench, positioning himself in the corner. I glanced at his chair, debating using that, but Zasen crooked a finger at me, calling me closer.

"You are about to drop. We got a little sleep, so now it's your turn. Come here, Ayla. I do not bite."

"But he is soft," Rymar said.

"And I'll make sure you don't roll off," Zasen promised. "There isn't a good place to rest here, but you need to sleep a little, because I have a feeling you won't go home to do it."

"No," I agreed, shifting closer to him.

Then he tugged me around, shifted his leg, and twined us together so he could hold me against his chest like a child. With a chuckle, Rymar got up and opened another cabinet. From there, he pulled out a thin blanket. That went over me,Holly lay down on the floor as close to me as she could get, and Rymar flopped back into his chair.

"And now," Zasen said, "we wait."

Something squeaked. Holly jumped to her feet, bumping me in the process, and I heard voices speaking softly. The squeaking happened again, and I opened my eyes in time to see a bed being pushed into the room by four people.

What was on it woke me up completely.

Kanik was covered with white blankets. His head was rolled to the side, but his chest rose and fell, proving he was only sleeping. The purple tip of his tail hung from the end of the bed, and while I wanted to rush to him, Zasen's arms tightened around me.

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