Page 49 of Of Flame and Fury

Kel’s stomach swooped as she imagined Coup struggling to unbuckle himself to avoid any frightened phoenix attacks. Savita was fast enough,magicenough, to survive, but Coup…

The rider’s mouth fell open in a mock look of surprise. “Wouldyou believe it—there’sfourother members of this team. We’re already here, Varra. We’re not backing out now.”

Any fear Kel felt for him vanished. “You’d rather we throw Sav into a race without a strategy?”

“Let me think!” Dira exploded. “We’re missing something. There’s a lot riding on our performance in our first Vohre race. Whether or not he knew what the terrain would be, Cristo wouldn’t throw us into an unwinnable race.”

Suddenly, a light flared in Kel’s mind.

She dashed inside their team’s tent and found the nearest wooden pole. She quickly unbound the rope holding it in place and, with gritted teeth, yanked the pole from the ground. The tent tilted slightly with one fewer leg, but it didn’t fall.

Kel hurried back to the track’s short railing, ignoring her friends’ confused frowns. On her toes, she leaned over the railing and lowered the pole down, down, until it met the water. Then she kept going.

Just when she thought she’d lose her balance and tumble forward, the pole thudded against the ground. She exhaled and, after a few seconds, pulled it out of the water.

There was a clear line across the pole, about halfway up its length. “Does anyone have a pen?”

Wordlessly, Rahn pulled one from her pocket. Kel drew a line on the wood, marking the water’s depth. “It’s only about a meter deep. There isn’t enough room for anything too dangerous to be lurking.”

So this was a race about strategy—not speed.

Her team let out a collective breath.

“Nothing says high stakes like murky sewage water,” Bekn deadpanned.

Kel looked around and noticed a handful of other teams facing the same dilemma. A few were investigating the water with tentpoles and measuring tapes. Two were frozen in confusion. Another three were standing in circles with their chins high, red-faced and screaming about the race’s conditions at the nearest CAPR officials.

Kel ushered the Howlers inside their tent, tying Savita’s harness to a nearby post and instructing her to wait. Inside, Kel turned to Rahn and Dira. “It’s like the simulation we ran a few days ago, with sand covering the ground and the overhead netting. Savita knew we’d buried objects in the sand, but she couldn’t see what. We had to guide her around them.”

“But this isn’t sand,” Coup argued. “It’swater. And the net isn’t high enough for Sav to fly above the water if any other phoenixes block her flight pattern.”

Kel bit her lip. “If you can distract her from the water while you guide her, we might have a chance. A lot of these phoenixes lived in the wild before they were tamed. Wild phoenixes know to fear the water, because they’ve flown over Salta’s oceans—full of krakens, hydras, and other beasts. But Savita doesn’t even know creatures like that exist.Thatis our advantage.”

The words left a bitter aftertaste in Kel’s mouth. This race required them to profit off phoenixes’ inherent fears. The knowledge gnawed at that seed of guilt buried deep in her gut. A seed she’d need to bury even deeper to win this race.

Coup closed his mouth. After a long moment, he nodded.

Dira, Rahn and Bekn exchanged looks. If they didn’t place in this race, the momentum they’d gained would evaporate, and they’d have to explain themselves to Cristo.

But KelknewSavita could do this. This track was about trust. Not many phoenixes trusted their riders to navigate them over murky waters. But Savita—whether Kel liked it or not—trusted Coup.

“Okay,” Bekn whispered, after a heavy silence. “Let’s win this.”

TWENTY

Together, Rahn and Kel strapped Coup’s legs into Savita’s saddle. Rahn’s saddle designs had seemed strange, at first. Where Rube’s designs were strong and durable, Rahn’s were sleek and varied. The skirts and seats of her saddles were shaped like hourglasses, rather than the traditional rounded slope, so the leathers didn’t weigh on Savita’s wings. Sav would have more freedom, more speed, while Coup would have less material to secure himself to.

Kel kept a hand on Savita’s side as they wove back through the crowd, feeling for any bursts of anxious heat, or hints that her temperature might flare as it had in recent training sessions. Yet Savita appeared unfazed by the commotion; if anything, she seemed invigorated. Her temperature was steady and her depthless eyes remained focused.

As Rahn shifted away from Savita’s side, Kel paused. Blinding flashes—from high overhead, in the raised stands—dotted her vision. Coup smiled and waved from Sav’s back, unbothered by the lights.

“You’re in your element,” she said dryly.

Coup continued to wave. “Meaning?”

Kel gestured to the media storm crowding the track’s rails. “Oh, come on, I’ve watched you in interviews for years. You adore the attention.”

Coup smirked. “You’ve watched me for years, huh?”

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