Snarling under my breath, I turned away only to find myself facing the table again. It seemed Tamin was now on his mother's lap and Ayla was holding the baby. The young woman looked down at little Taris with a soft smile and one finger toying with the baby's hands.

It was enough to make me pause. Brielle was smiling at Ayla. Saveah was too. Jeera, however, was looking at me. Saying something to her girlfriend, she pushed her chair back and got up, heading straight for me.

Which made me grumble again, because I'd already been outnumbered. Adding Jeera to the mix? Yeah, there was no way this would go well. But when my sister got closer, her words weren't ones I'd expected.

"You need to explain Dragon venom to her."

"Shit," Kanik breathed behind me. "That's a good point."

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

Jeera just gestured back towards the table. "Saveah was talking about how she has to be careful with the food she eats so she doesn't accidentally take in venom that she'll pass to the baby in her milk." Jeera lifted a brow. "And Ayla had no clue what she was talking about."

"Yeah..." One more time, I scrubbed at my face. It seemed I was doing that a lot lately, but it helped me think. "Jeera, we didn't want to mention we could make her immune."

"Why not?"

Rymar chuckled. "Because your big brother has been so sure he's going to have to kill her."

"And a sting would do it," Kanik added.

I just kept rubbing. Right between my brows, I was feeling the pain of a headache forming. "To everyone in Lorsa, she's a Mole," I reminded my sister.

"Which means that at least one of them will try to sting her," Jeera countered. "Never mind Tamin! He could do it by accident, and you've been letting them spend time together."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"No," Jeera snapped, pointing her finger at me the same way our mother always did. "You, Zasen, took responsibility for this girl. You are the one who has to keep her safe. So you need to sit her down, explain how our venom works, and tell her what she'll have to do to get immune to it."

Dropping my hands, I met my sister’s eyes and glared. "Not only do you want me to teach her how to use weapons and defend herself, but you also want me to make her immune to the one weapon every tailed person has? Then, if I'm getting this right, you think I should just... What? Turn her loose?"

"Make her a Dragon," Jeera said.

I clenched my jaw, knowing she was right and hating it. "That's not going to be easy."

"So?"

Behind her, Kanik chuckled. "It's not like you'd be doing it alone."

"I can even talk to her now," Rymar added.

"Her accent is pretty thick, though," Jeera said. "I mean, I can understand her, but she doesn't speak Vestrian like the rest of us."

"And you don't speak English like she does," I pointed out.

"Ohh, defensive," Jeera teased. "See, that means you don't hate her. You have at least a tiny little bit of respect for her. You also know I'm right." Then she patted my arm. "Don't worry. Brielle and I will help you."

"This is such a bad idea," I told all of them.

"It's a pretty good one," Jeera insisted.

"It's really not that bad," Kanik assured me. "If one of us is with her, no one should attack her. They might yell, but we can deal with that."

"And the more they see her," Rymar added, "the more comfortable they'll get with her."

"Or she'll get dead." I looked pointedly at each of them. "Have none of you considered that part? She. Is. A. Mole. Someone will kill her before they give her a chance."

"So why did you bring her back?" Jeera asked. "You found her out by the Reapers. Why not just ignore her and let her get herself killed like the rest of them?"

"Because she was a woman," I mumbled.

"Mm..." Jeera nodded slowly. "So you thought you'd save the cute little girl or something?"

"No," I countered. "I thought she's the first of their women we've ever seen, we might be able to flip her, and then I could get some information that would help us destroy the entire Mole base!"

My little sister merely flicked her brows up. "Congratulations, Zasen. Mission success. So now what do you do with her?"

"She hasn't given me shit," I hissed.

So Jeera leaned into my face. "Then ask better questions, dumbass. You flipped her. She's willing to talk. Your prisoner is now your informant, but how long do you think that's going to last if you keep treating her like she's the enemy? Or worse, a prisoner?"

"She's right," Kanik said.

"And Ayla's been spilling anything that pops into her mind," Rymar pointed out. "She's offering up information just because she can. You're not even asking for it and she's still offering."

"Which means your little project worked," Jeera said. "Now it's your responsibility to take care of your informant, right? Bring her into society, give her amnesty, and all of that?"

"All good points," Rymar muttered. "I'm going to use them on Jerlis."

"And I don't even need credit," Jeera joked, nudging his arm playfully.

Rymar laughed. "Wasn't planning on giving it."

But she was right. My little sister had just made the points I'd been trying to avoid. Ayla was helping. She wasn't a threat. Sadly, that wouldn't stop the rest of us from being a threat to her.

I just didn't want to like the girl. I didn't want to let myself think any Moles could be redeemed. Killing them all was much easier if I hated them blindly, and I did. Most Dragons did.

And over at the table, Ayla giggled loudly, causing my eyes to jump that way again. The pure joy on her face couldn't be faked. She was so pure, so innocent. In all of this, she was the real victim.

The things those men had done to her? The abuse and indoctrination? It was disgusting. That girl just wanted to escape, but what would happen when I explained to her that nowhere was safe anymore? If she wanted to live to be old, then she'd have to fight for it the same way the rest of us did.

Maybe even harder.

FortyAyla

I'd enjoyed the cookout more than I'd expected. Jeera, Brielle, and Saveah had been able to talk to me! Not only that, but the things they'd said? They'd spoken just like men, not caring if their words were polite or proper. Then they'd encouraged me to do the same.

Almost as impressive had been seeing the men playing with the children. At one point, Zasen had stolen the baby away to change her diaper. At first, I'd been sure I hadn't understood, but Jeera assured me it was normal. For Dragons, men cared for children as much as women, because some Dragon families were made up of only men - or in her case, only women.