Page 26 of Of Flame and Fury

But her home…

More coughs spluttered from Kel’s lungs. To the right of the gates was a panel with controls to the aviary. She might not be able to salvage everything—but maybe the sprinklers along the aviary’s roof could still help.

Limbs heavy, Kel punched in the code to access the controls. Asmall screen above the keypad should have lit up green—but nothing changed. Kel typed in the code again.

Nothing.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision. The heat crept up to the closed gates. She wouldn’t have long before the fire consumed the entire aviary.

Kel tried the code a third time, and she let out a choked sob as her vision cleared.

The glass panel looked like a shattered mirror, pixels fracturing and scattering, a neon kaleidoscope that had needed updating a decade ago. Just like the aviary’s electrical wiring. Just likeeverything.

At the top of the screen, barely legible, was a glowing word: ERROR.

Another sob broke through her dry throat. She had nothing with her—nothing that could save the building. There were rows of enormous fire extinguishers beside her walk-in freezer, but that was across the far side of the aviary.

There was no way to call for help; she’d left her tele-comm inside the office. She couldn’t ride Savita to find help without leathers—she’d burn to a crisp.

A loudboomechoed through the aviary, followed by an orange flash. Kel pressed her hands against the glass to see better—before jerking away in pain. The panel wouldn’t shatter or melt, but it was already too hot to touch.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what—

When Kel finally saw the council’s red-and-gold lights soar through the stars, for a moment, she thought everything would be all right.Help was coming. Part of her yearned for someone’s—anyone’s—arms to bury herself in. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let herself unravel.

That luxury had died two years ago, with her father.

When the council officers arrived and told her that the aviary was beyond help, that too many electrical faults had tripped at the same time, she shoved the ghost of that spark back inside its tomb.

A stream of vehicles pulled up beside the aviary and attempted to soothe the fire. The inferno refused to die down, but it also didn’t retaliate, staying inside the aviary’s glass confines. All anyone could do was ensure the blaze ran a careful course.

Kel had retreated to a hill nearby, wrapping her arms around her bare knees and watching the destruction unfold. Savita bristled and clicked her beak, sitting against Kel’s back, as warm as the fire below. Her nearness was as much comfort as she could provide with the destruction wrought beneath them.

Kel let the shadows swallow her.

This was her fault.

She’dknownhow badly the aviary needed upgrades. But she didn’t have the money to pay for repairs. It had simply taken one malfunction for the fire to ignite the rest, a molten domino effect.

“Kelyn!”

The scream echoed up from the aviary. Kel saw a clunky, gray auto-engine skid across a patch of grass beside the other vehicles. The doors flung open and two tall, familiar heads emerged.

From somewhere above her body, Kel watched the two boys take in the scene with slack jaws. An officer pointed toward her hill. Bekn remained still, waving his arms toward the aviary and speaking in unclear shouts.

Savita rustled her wings and shrieked as Coup approached,though she quietened once his face became clear. In just a few long strides, Coup stood before Kel’s hunched figure.

It was the first time she’d ever seen him without his riding leathers, wearing instead tracksuit pants and a gray tee. From her perch, Coup’s silhouette eclipsed the stars, cutting across the sky like a dark blade.

“Are you…” He cleared his throat. “Are you hurt?”

Kel tried to shake her head, to tell him to leave. But she’d let the cold air sink beneath her skin. She’d refused the blanket a medic had offered her. Why should she accept comfort when Savita had none?

“We saw the fire and called the council emergency line. How—what happened?” Coup pressed.

The words bit at Kel, like little teeth gnawing on her frozen bones. “Go home, Coup. There’s nothing you can do.”

A minute passed before Coup crouched on the ground beside her.

---