As Ivy struggled to come to terms with her body's responses, Zain stated in his growly voice, "I have some questions for you."
Nurse Ginny huffed and spoke before Ivy could. "You can wait another few minutes, Zain Kinsella. Ivy needs to eat her breakfast before doing anything else."
She expected Zain to argue, but he nodded, crossed his arms, and waited, never budging from his spot on her bed.
Great. She was going to have an audience for her bland meal.
Trying her best to ignore the hulk of a dragonman on her bed, Ivy allowed Ginny to spoon some of the special, barely warm soup concoction they forced her to eat every morning. Still, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Zain following the spoon to her lips, to the bowl, and back again.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if he needed to document her eating habits to his boss, but didn't. The sooner she finished her food, the sooner Ginny would leave her alone.
And while during those first few days Ivy had feared being alone with Zain, she actually looked forward to it now. Mostly because she wanted to ask about seeing his dragon again, and to see if he kept his word about being nice to her. It would be fascinating to have an almost normal conversation with him.
"Almost" because it'd still be her talking with a dragon-shifter, something she still had trouble believing.
Once she finished the last of her food, Ginny raised her eyebrows at Zain as some kind of warning and left them alone.
Silence fell, but after a few beats, Zain said, "Are you ready now for some questions? Or do I need to brush your hair first, to finish you getting ready? Although I'll be honest—if I touch it, then it won't look much better than it is now."
His tone of voice was lighter, almost as if he were…teasing her. But that couldn't be true. Could it?
She answered, "This is about as good as I'll get today, I'm afraid. So, what questions do you have? Is it related to the data I brought with me? Did your team manage to decrypt it all?"
His eyes widened a fraction, and she resisted a smile. Good. She liked keeping him on his toes.
Zain cleared his throat, uncrossed his arms, and nodded. "Some of our scientists looked over the recently decrypted dragon-drug formulas and weapon schematics, but nothing's been found yet about an all-out attack on our kind. And we all think that's inevitable. So tell me—is a war coming that we need to know about?"
She shrugged. "If it hasn't happened in the year I've been unconscious, then I have no idea. The formulas are ways to keep dragons from shifting, and the schematics are for portable anti-dragon guns and lasers. The rumor was that the leaders wanted everything sorted and ready before truly attacking with force. It's why only small groups of dragon-shifters have been targeted over the last few years."
Zain grunted. "They were merely test subjects."
She nodded. "The random attacks by different factions within the Knights was to make the attacks appear unprofessional and scattered. In truth, there is a small group or council—we were never told the exact details about the organization at the top—that's plotting every step."
Zain searched her eyes. "But you were telling the truth before, about not knowing who they are?"
"Yes. Just like the different factions didn't all know the others were also testing drugs on dragon-shifters, most departments within the Knights never interacted with others unless absolutely necessary. So, for example, the research and technology departments never met with the regular foot soldiers, or even the accountants."
He frowned. "Then how did you steal all the data?"
She tilted her head. "That was an oversight, one they won't overlook again, I'm sure. Since I was in charge of the chemical research department, I demanded to see every bit of data we had on dragon-shifters. It's true that you can't devise new formulas or poisons to be more effective without all the knowledge available. However, rather than having access only to reports and general data collections, someone granted me full access. I didn't pay much attention to the other data at first. But eventually, as I learned about the children's kidnappings and testing, I started to feel uneasy. The more children they took, the worse the feeling grew until I knew I couldn't keep helping them."
"And so you copied as much of the data as you could and escaped," Zain stated.
She bobbed her head. "I had no idea there was another group of scientists creating the strange poison to keep us all hostage or I may not have had the courage to run. If I hadn't made it to Stonefire's lands when I did, then I would've been a sitting duck for them and easily dead by now." She glanced down at her blanket and plucked the material with her fingers. "I truly am sorry for the role I played in hurting any of the children here or elsewhere in the UK." Taking a deep breath, she met Zain's gaze again. "I hope maybe this time you'll start to believe me."
He studied her face a second before he said softly, "I have no bloody idea why, but I do."
His words sent a thrill throughout her body, one that should worry her, but Ivy did her best to ignore. "Good. Then let me know what other information you need so I can help as much as possible."
"In a minute. First, I need to know something unrelated to the Knights, something personal."
As his eyes flashed, she murmured, "What?"
"There must've been some sort of fear or hatred lingering inside you before you encountered the Friends of the World. Where did it come from? Why were you afraid of us?"
Ivy blinked and tried to process his question. After a few beats, she replied quietly, "I don't know the exact moment. But parents tell stories before bedtime, about the dragon-shifters coming to get us if we were naughty. Plus, the only real history we're taught in school concerning dragon-shifters is about the human-dragon wars that have happened over the centuries." She shrugged one shoulder. "So I guess my only real knowledge about your kind was negative."
Zain watched her face as he said quietly, "So when someone offered you further proof of those views, you took to it."