Page 54 of Of Flame and Fury

Savita lowered her head in response.

Kel ran both hands along Savita’s back and down her tail. Sav’s temperature was slightly raised, but it always was after a race. There was no hint of what had caused her to grow unruly flames on the track.

There had to be a reason.

As Kel checked the other side of Savita’s body, the phoenix swiveled her head toward her. She half-opened one eye and snapped her beak, as if to say,You’re keeping me awake for this?

“Such hardship,” Kel drawled. “But until you grow a vocal box and tell me why you started flaming, I don’t have a choice.”

Kel moved down Savita’s tucked wing, along the rows of smaller feathers. The phoenix’s smoky scent wasn’t any stronger than usual and each of her feathers trembled with the same temperature.

Kel sighed. “What are you hiding from me, Sav?”

Savita was hotter than usual, but Kel could still lightly touch her feathers with thick, gloved fingers. She cursed again. It had been too long since she’d relied on her own touch, rather than tech. She was beginning to doubt her instincts.

The only reason for Savita’s flames to climb so high was a rebirth. It would explain why her temperature had started soaring sporadically in their training sessions, too. But there were none of the signs she’d been taught to expect. No thicker scent of smoke, no extreme heat or taller flames.

Unless…

Slowly, Kel crouched down and ran her fingers along Savita’s right wing. She removed her jacket and placed it along a lower, thicker row of feathers; a sturdier barrier between skin and heat.

Savita whined in protest, clicking her talons together.

“This will only take a second,” Kel promised. “Try not to roll on top of me.”

Savita whined again and stopped fidgeting. Kel tensed her legs and gritted her teeth. With one long, excruciating grunt, Kel lifted Savita’s wing.

Knees quivering, Kel ducked her head.

Her mouth went dry.

Therewas the proof she needed.

Deep in the skinfold where her wing met her body, a thin line of dark feathers peppered Savita. They were tucked too deeply for Kel to have noticed before. The feathers beneath Savita’s wing were darker than any phoenix’s should have been; a mix of deep brown and ash-black. A clear sign of a nearing rebirth.

Kel had suspected it, and still, she hadn’t truly thought she’d find anything; yet these feathers were the first irrefutable sign. Kel guessed that Savita still had plenty of time, but even the initial stages of a rebirth promised unpredictable bursts of fire and heat, suffocating smoke and even wilder mood swings.

Kel frowned, lowering Savita’s wing. Cristo and his tamers must have known this from their own tests. Why would they try to hide it from Kel?

Questions crowded her mind, begging for her attention. If Cristo knew of Savita’s impending rebirth, why would he insist on another race? There was no risk yet of Savita imploding on the track, but surely he’d prefer to keep her closely monitored?

Kel slumped back against the enclosure’s damp ground. In the last few hours, her bones had filled with confetti, lead and, now, hollow confusion. Exhaustion forced her eyes shut but her mind kept whirring, shattering the joy she’d felt after the race.

When sleep finally took her, Kel dreamed of her farm. Unfamiliar faces. Coup behind Kel as they soared on Savita’s wings, ash raining on the ground, destroying everything it touched.

TWENTY-THREE

As the Howlers meandered down Vohre’s busy streets, Kel felt like a threadbare puppet. Though Bekn hadn’t summoned the media, people still paused as they passed. Bekn would glance to the right, and Kel knew to wave. He’d shift away, and Kel and Coup knew to move closer together. Somehow, her new mitigator had rewired her muscle memory to suit his publicity schemes without her even realizing.

The crowd cleared just for a moment, and Bekn gave her a small, approving nod. “You’re getting the hang of this.”

Kel sucked in a deep breath and counted her steps, letting the glaring lights overwhelm her and empty her mind. Above her, neon greenery wove up and down skyscrapers. Vines poured over sleek balconies and wrapped around large, overhead screens flashing with advertisements.

Through a tight smile, Kel whispered, “We should be trying to speak with Cristo. It makes no sense for Sav to be racing if she’s nearing a rebirth.”

After a night spent tossing and turning, watching Sav sleepsoundly, Kel hastily told her teammates what she’d discovered. She’d found Bekn, Coup and Dira huddled inside their small kitchen, the latter two eagerly awaiting Bekn’s latest feast. The three had waved away Kel’s concerns once they realized it usually took months for phoenixes to rebirth after initial symptoms appeared. Talking to them felt like trying to light a match in a hurricane.

“We’ll figure it out after the next race,” Bekn whispered back, quiet enough that Rahn, striding ahead of them with Dira, wouldn’t hear. “There’s nothing we can do until then. Besides, Cristo wouldn’t let Savita compete if it would put anyone in danger.”

---