How many times had Zasen called something by its name? In the compound, it had just been meat. Always pale, disgusting meat. But the meals up here were made from birds and deer. They were called things like venison and pork! It wasn't just meat - which meant the Righteous had been intentionally hiding it.
I didn't want to think about that, and yet I couldn't stop. None of this was right. My pulse was still hammering inside my body, moving much too quickly. I'd been scared - mostly for Tamin - and it had all happened so fast.
Yet as we made our way off Saveah's porch, Zasen clasped my shoulder gently. "You need to know that you're amazing," he said. "I'm so sorry you had to hurt people you knew."
"I'm not." I gestured back towards the door. "They were going to kill that little boy. He's just a kid!" Then I used both hands to shove back my hair. "Never mind all the other horrible things I just found out they've been doing. All of that is awful, but wanting to kill a child?"
"They take the children too." His voice was flat.
Mine wasn't. "Then I will kill every last one of them! I won't even complain about cleaning the floors in your house! They deserved to die! What kind of monster would attack a child? He's just a little boy!"
"A boy who stung a man to death, Ayla. What if it had been you?"
"Why would he sting me?"
"By accident," he clarified. "He still could, and how safe do you feel around that child now, knowing he has the power to take your life?"
Setting my jaw, I looked up into his face. "He's still a child, and if he killed me, then I would've died for a good reason. Zasen, I stabbed my husband so they'd let me die. I didn't expect to live through the day. I came here to die, and instead I found people worth living for. I made friends! No, I am not going to let them keep killing us."
"Us," he breathed, nodding as he took that in.
I grabbed his arm. "Zasen, I know you saved my life tonight. I've been eating Dragons all my life, and yet you attacked Phineas for me? Why? Why did you keep me from running into the coyote, show me how to see through the cloth, and teach me how to speak to Dragons? I don't understand why you've done so much to help me when this is what Moles have been doing to you."
"Because I wanted to use you," he admitted. "I thought I could manipulate you into giving me information, and then I'd simply kill you. I never expected you to help, Ayla. I thought you'd be like them, and then we realized you weren't."
I nodded, accepting that. "So I will make sure I can help." And I turned for the closest group of people I could see.
But Zasen caught my arm, stopping me again. "Ayla..."
"Moles did this," I snapped. "I'm a Mole, you said. That means I have to fix this, because this is wrong! This all happened because of me. Because of us! All those people who live in the compound! If that's why you brought me here, then I will make sure I can do what you need - whatever that might be."
Ducking his head, he groaned. "I was wrong, okay? I thought I'd convince you to hate your own people - "
"I do!"
"That's not what I meant." He tilted his head to the carnage behind him. "You killed people you knew to protect a tailed child, Ayla. You heard what I said in anger and used that knowledge in the middle of that mess. You tricked that man into telling you what you wanted." He pushed out a laugh. "I did think you were crazy for a bit there, though."
I just shrugged, feeling embarrassed at the compliments. "You said they were hunting. I know they go out on a regular schedule, and we were out on the porch!"
"Because we can't figure out when they come back," he admitted. "It's always at sunset, but we never know which sunset."
My mouth went slack. "That's why Tamin's not allowed outside that late?"
"Yeah," he muttered, dropping his head. "Look, I should've told you - "
"Zasen," I breathed as all the half-said pieces began to make sense, "I know when they're coming back."
"What?" he said, the words more breath than sound.
"The Moles like routines," I explained. "They love order." I sucked in a breath. "It's the fourth."
Confusion claimed his face. "No. It's the sixteenth."
I shook my head. "It's August fourth, I'm sure of it."
He pulled back and looked at me strangely. "It's Arbor sixteenth. Nordi, Arbor sixteenth."
And I realized we had another problem. "Zasen, I think we have different calendars. It's Friday, August fourth."
His eyes narrowed and he canted his head. "Seventy-three weeks in a year. Thirteen months, and a holiday week."
I shook my head. "Fifty-two weeks and just twelve months. Seven days in a week."
"Five." He smiled. "That's why we can't figure it out. The calendars are different, which means we don't know your holidays! No matter how hard we try, we've never been able to figure out the pattern - and people can't hide away forever." He groaned and turned me up the street. "That man told you when they're coming back?"
I nodded. "Yes. Twelve days before the next holiday. He said they travel by night because the daylight hurts their eyes. Depending on the weather, I might be off by a day, but it will be close. Although, August only has two holidays. Other months have more."
He groaned as the pieces started to fall together. "They always attack at sundown. Just as it's starting to get dark, as we're all headed home. Always. It's always right at dark!"
"So they can see, but Dragons aren't inside for the night yet. On the first day, I could barely open my eyes in the glare. Zasen, they live underground. This," I gestured to the night sky, "is bright enough for them to read by."
He nodded, taking all of that in. "Then we have time. Let's see who we can help right now. A lot of people got hurt tonight. I'll hold them, you sew them." Then he took my hand, twining his fingers between mine, and led me towards the worst of the cries.
The feel of his hand in mine surprised me. It also made me smile.
We spent the rest of the night sewing cuts and removing shallow bullets. Naomi and other doctors seemed to be everywhere. I saw Brielle kneeling beside an injured woman. She jerked her chin at me in greeting but didn't have time to do more. Jeera was probably out somewhere in the crowd, helping the same way.
