I fell back onto my rump, and a yelp finally escaped my throat. If anything, that seemed to incite the beast more, because he grabbed a handful of my carefully put-up bun and used it to drag me, heading back the way he'd come. Grabbing at his wrist with both of my hands, I somehow managed to keep my hair attached to my head, but I didn't know what was going on.

"Stop!" I begged in his language, my words getting louder as the panic set in. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do whatever made you mad. Please let go. Let go! No, no, no, that hurts!"

The man slung me to the ground and snarled something else too fast for me to understand. Desperate, I began to crawl, heading back for my book to save it. Once I had that, I could run, but what if I wasn't supposed to have it? What if it was why he was so angry? But I couldn't deny I had it. I couldn't hide it now. The best I could do was run.

Instead, the man kicked me in the ribs just hard enough to knock me over. The air rushed from my lungs, so I curled into a ball, protecting my head with my arms. I waited for another kick, knowing exactly how men punished women who disobeyed.

It never came.

I saw a flash of dark brown and purple, but tears were filling my eyes and my hands were trembling. Trying to force a breath past the fear in my throat, I started crawling for my book again, and this time I made it. Once I had that, I looked back to see Kanik throw the man onto the ground.

"Get your fucking hands off her!" Kanik roared.

"I will kill the damned Mole!" the other man screamed.

Then another voice spoke up. "Ayla!" This one was childish and high-pitched.

"No, no, no," I breathed, having naturally reverted back to English.

But the boy rushed to plant himself before me. With his tail up and his arms out, he was clearly doing his best to guard me.

And he wasn't the only one. Kanik was grappling with the man. Their tails slapped at each other, and hard. I could hear the smacks of flesh. Someone else was screaming. The door banged. I couldn't keep up with it all, but I knew one thing. I would not let a child get hurt because of me.

"No, Tamin," I said in Vestrian, grabbing his tail to get his attention.

I didn't make it in front of him before Zasen rushed across the grass to join Kanik. A moment later, a human woman ran at me. Her words were high, frantic, and panicked, but her eyes were on Tamin. In her arms was a bundle of cloth, and she was gripping it as tightly as I was with my book.

"Ayla, inside!" Zasen snapped in English.

"Don't let the boy get hurt!" I begged in the same language.

"His mother's coming." Zasen's words were a growl of anger, and when he glanced back at me, those orange eyes of his were fuming. "Get. Inside."

"Yes, sir," I mumbled, feeling my eyes start to sting even as I stood up.

Tamin tried to grab my hand, but the human woman yanked him away, speaking so fast I would never be able to make her words out. Kanik was still holding the Dragon who'd attacked me. Zasen was standing over him, ready to jump in, and I was alone.

Step by aching step, I made my way back to the door of the house. Inside, the air was cool, and it was much less bright. It was also quiet.

Caressing the book that had started all of this, I moved to a corner of the couch and set it on the table beside me. After folding my hands in my lap, I began to slowly rotate my mother's ring back and forth anxiously. I'd made a horrible mistake. Unfortunately, I had no clue what I'd done! Kanik had allowed me to read.

Maybe the other Dragon simply didn't know that? Maybe the flowers I'd been looking at were valuable? Or what if they weren't Zasen's, Kanik's, or Rymar's? What if they belonged to someone else and the man had assumed I'd mess them up?

I just didn't know, and I had no clue how to fix any of this. For all I knew, they might throw me out for this, but that was okay. I'd learned a lot since I'd been here. I would find a way to survive, and my feet were almost healed. I'd hide in the forest if I had to. I'd make a place where I could grow plants to eat, send Callah a yellow flower, and then we could live to be old without any men around.

But the thought made the stinging in my eyes worse. The first tear slipped down my face, and I didn't even bother to wipe it away. I knew my plan to get Callah out of the compound wouldn't work. I didn't even know how to open the door, and I hadn't seen any of our hunters since I'd come here. Without them, there was no way I'd get anything yellow back.

But outside, the chaos was still going on, and Zasen's voice was getting louder and louder, which made it easier to understand his language. "Of course I know she's here! I brought her!"

"Then I'll kill her!" the unknown man roared back.

"If anyone's killing her, it's me!" Zasen snapped. "I need what's in her head. We've been feeding her, putting up with her, and figuring out how to talk to her for two weeks! Not once has she been out of my sight."

"And she wasn't this time either," Kanik added, but he wasn't yelling as angrily. "I was watching her through the fucking window!"

"She's never allowed out of our sight for a reason!" Zasen went on. "And if you kill her, then how will I learn how to defeat them, huh? That woman is a gold mine. She's also fucking harmless! She can't even defend herself from a child!"

"He said she's not a Mole!" the woman screeched. "But I saw her. She's as orin as the rest of them."

"Mama!"

"Hush."

"She's a Mole," Zasen said. "She's a Mole we're using to keep Lorsa safe. If that means smiling at her and giving her books? Then yeah, we'll do that, because she's the first one we've been able to talk to." He paused for a moment. "And she is talking."

"Which is the only reason she wasn't killed when we found her," Kanik said.

"But that can still change," Zasen added. "If that girl doesn't help, I'll get rid of her myself rather than let her screw us over."

I just looked down at the story of Peter and caressed the cover. "I knew it couldn't really be this good," I mumbled to myself. "I did, but I hoped it was. But that's okay. Maybe if I tell them all my memories, they'll let me stay? It's much better than making babies."

Thirty-FiveKanik

Somehow, we got Adoet calmed down and headed on his way. Saveah wasn't as easy. Her boy had been talking about his new friend for a few days now, and since she was at Zasen's, Saveah hadn't worried at all. Now that she'd seen Ayla, she was livid.

"You allowed my child to talk to her!" she snapped.

Zasen sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Saveah..."

"No!" she snapped. "His father hasn't even been dead a month, and I'm barely holding it together. I thought I could trust you, Zasen!"

"It's not like that," I said, speaking up. "Saveah, she's been abused. The Mole men are cruel to their women. She's not here to hurt anyone. She's here to escape."

Saveah slowly turned her attention back to Zasen. "Oh? And how can you be so sure of that?"

Zasen just licked his lips, but the lashing of his tail behind him proved how annoyed he was with all of this. "She's malnourished, barely has the muscles to walk across the house, let alone Lorsa, and wants nothing more than to read." Then he bobbed his head. "And it could be an act."

"An act?" She flailed her hands. "And you let her near Tamin?!"

"She's my friend, Mama," Tamin whined.

"She's dangerous, baby," Saveah explained. "She's the reason you have to come inside before the sun sets." Then Saveah looked up. "And speaking of that..."

Because the sky had darkened from gold to pink while we'd been talking. Now the purples and blues were starting to come out, and dusk wasn't far away.

"Don't you ever," Saveah growled, "put my son at risk for your stupid ideas, Zasen. He is not a weapon for you to wield in your foolish crusade."

"No, he's not," Zasen agreed. "He's my friend's son. One I swore to protect with my life, and I will never forget that."