Page 29 of Of Flame and Fury

The hard part would be convincing Dira to come. Kel doubted her best friend had the same moral objections to working for Cristo, but she did have pride. The recruiter would need to acknowledge Dira’s merits as a winger—regardless of Kel’s ultimatum.

Coup rustled behind her. “Is there a question in there, somewhere? You know they wanted us as a package deal, right?”

“I’m not exactly thrilled about it, either. But we have nothing to lose.”

If she accepted Cristo’s offer, she’d be working even closer to Coup than she had in the last twenty-four hours. But what other choice did they have?

Coup bristled again. “You’re assuming I’ll just follow your lead. I made it clear I won’t go without my brother.”

“You can convince him to take Bekn, too,” Kel said, voice filled with iron.

When Coup was silent, she added, “If they plan on keeping us working on the same team, we just need to make it clear that Bekn and Dira will help us to…gelmore than two strangers would.”

More silence, before Coup said, “This isn’t just a gamble for me, Varra. If I agree to this, you need to be all in. I don’t have the luxury of time to move on, and I don’t have a family legacy to fall back on to secure me another job down the line.”

“Are you serious? I don’t have—”

“No—I don’t care if you agree.” His voice cut through the icy gale. “Your surname gives you a safety net I don’t have. If you fuck this up, that’s it for me. I won’t get any more chances. If we do this, we’re all in.”

Kel seethed. What other choice did he thinkshehad? Knowing her father didn’t mean he knew anything else about her.

She couldn’t do this. She’d have to find another way. She—

Savita released a loud screech. Kel ran her hand along her phoenix’s neck, taking a deep breath. For Sav… she could swallow her pride. But five minutes alone with Warren Coupers had the magic of making her forget.

If she was going to work closely with Coup at Cristo Industries, she knew she’d be spending plenty of time arguing with him. She didn’t want to add any more headaches to her future ones.

Silently, she began guiding Savita to the ground. Coup sat up in the saddle and wrapped his hands around her waist as they descended. He didn’t ask Kel to make any promises, and neither did she.

After landing and settling Savita, Kel hurried up the hill toward her cottage. With Coup just a few steps behind her, they entered through the back entrance. Kel wasn’t surprised to see Dira slumped across her tatty brown couch—she’d had a key for years—but shewasunsettled to see Bekn banging away in her small kitchen, rattling pans against the stovetop and filling the joined rooms with faint smoke.

Kel coughed, inhaling the smell of burned meat. “I thought you’d gone home?”

Bekn half-turned. “We’d both rather be here, for you.”

Kel stiffened at the unexpected sincerity. “I’m glad you’re both here—I…” She swallowed, turning to Dira. “I think we have to accept Cristo’s offer.”

Dira raised her eyebrows. “Wow, Kel, cut right to the chase.”

Kel stepped further into the room, Coup a shadow to her left, leaning against the doorframe. “I know what you’re going to say—but Cristo will take all of us. We’ll make him. We won’t go to Vohre unless he does.”

Dira watched Kel, unblinking. “You really think Savita will be safe at Cristo Industries? Just amonthago, you showed me an article about Cristo and said,He’s a plague on Cendor and Savita would be safer living with Ebrait’s sea monsters.” Dira shook her head. “The fire hasn’t changed that.”

“What other choice do we have?” Kel shot back.

“There’s always a choice,” Dira hissed. A muscle ticked in her jaw. “I left Dresva to have a say in my own future. You really think working for Cristo is going to give us any more freedom?”

Frustration flared behind Kel’s temples. They had no way of knowing what Cristo would ask of them in Vohre, but this was the only way Kel could protect everyone she loved without losing sight of them.

Finally, she said, “Yes, I do.”

Dira poked a nail into the couch’s tattered fabric. “If I hadn’t seen the reports, I’d think you’d set the aviary fire to get us to agree to this.”

Her stomach twisted at Dira’s words. She forced herself not to bite back.

“What do you think, mitigator?” Dira asked dryly.

Slowly, Bekn wiped his hands on his trousers and turned to Dira. “I don’t think there’s a mitigator alive who can solve the problems that Cendor stirs up. Money like Cristo’s would go a long way.But…”he paused, raising a hand half-covered in what looked like breadcrumbs, “… if we do this, you two need to get along. At least when there’s cameras around. Understood?”

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