Page 97 of Of Flame and Fury

Her fingers itched to grab the sharp, expensive-looking pen on the desk. But she needed to keep him talking. She needed him distracted.

“In the story, Dejawillinglyshared her ashes with Landon Ryker. Deja didn’t die,” she said.

The veins in Cristo’s eyes seemed to darken. “Phoenixes are not the affectionate creatures of legend. You of all people should know this. Your beloved phoenix let you fall to your death in the forest.”

Kel winced. She’d tried not to think about it, about that moment—but Cristo was right. Kel had always loved Savita’s ruthlessness. Her power and savagery. And despite everything she’d learned, everything her father had taught her, a part of her had always thought thatshewas the exception to Savita’s nature. She thought that Savita would protect her.

She’d been wrong. Her time in the hospital was proof of that.

But that didn’t mean Sav deserved to die. It just meant that Kel had let her hopes pervert reality.

“Savita did whatanyphoenix would do. She doesn’t deserve to die just because her nature doesn’t suit yours.”

Pain flashed across Cristo’s face. “Maybe you’re right. But either way—one thing is clear from my research. A phoenix needs every single molecule of their ashes for a rebirth. We can’t save our own unless they die.”

Unless Savita dies.

Kel inched forward. Just a mere breath from the pen.

“You can’t get away with killing her,” Kel barked, as Cristo turned to face her. “Everyone in CAPR knows Savita’s name. If she disappears, there will be questions.”

Kel’s stomach dropped as Cristo’s lips twitched. “What makes you think I didn’t plan that?”

Kel tried to calm the shaking in her hands. “You’re lying.”

Shehatedthis. The back-and-forth—the game of cat and mouse.Cristo might claim he was sorry, but no one with regret would make a fuckingslideshowof their victory.

Cristo’s smile deepened, the first truly menacing expression she’d ever seen cross his face.

“Despite what you probably think, I didn’t recruit you for this purpose. At least, not at first. When I initially asked my recruiters to keep an eye on the Howlers, I had no idea Savita was nearing a rebirth. But I have very intuitive people working for me, Kelyn. One of my best scouts—he used to be a tamer, you see—was convinced that Savita was nearing a rebirth. We have technology monitoring every race across Cendor, tracking every phoenix using Cristo tech in their collars. Even before you arrived in Vohre, Savita’s vitals were fluctuating in ways I’d been carefully searching for. So when I heard that you’d refused my offer, I…nudgedyou in my direction. Your farm was already so deep in disrepair. It just needed a little spark to catch alight.”

Ice trickled down Kel’s spine. “You…youdestroyed my home.”

She’d thought that everything had been her fault. But Cristo had burned down her aviary. Cristo had been pulling her strings toward him all along. Was that why he’d helped her start the farm’s rebuild? Out of guilt?

The regret twisting Cristo’s features confirmed Kel’s suspicions. “I had the emergency team on-site paid off to report it as an accident. I never wanted you hurt. I was simply running out of time.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Once you’d accepted my offer, I began fanning the flames of the Howlers’ publicity. Savita needed to seem wild, untamed, so the council would step in. Then I would have a councillor deem Savita dangerous and unfit, and they’d allow me the courtesy of killing Savita myself. It would be a tragedy, but a legal one.”

Kel’s nails dug into her palms. She refused to process his words, refused to let him distract her. She just needed him to turn away—just once…

“You couldn’t have known what would happen in Vohre Forest that day,” Kel snarled. “You can’t take credit for this.”

Again, Cristo merely smiled. “I funded the latest race through Vohre Forest to see how Savita would respond to different environmental stimuli. I wanted to see if reintroducing Savita to her ancestral home might speed up her rebirth.”

Kel’s eyes bulged. “You can’t have known the Fume would show up.”

Cristo shook his head. “No, that was a tragic error. But I needed to conduct more research on Savita, and the only time she’s comfortable enough to allow her vitals to shift is when she’s racing. Your first race in Vohre went too well and didn’t give me the results I hoped for, so I…engineeredtwo more anarchic environments with competing species to test her reactions. The sprites gave us some headway, but it still wasn’t enough.”

“Coup almostdyingon the track wasn’t enough for you?” she snapped. Disbelief sharpened her words.

“Coup is a wild card, and largely did my work for me.”

“But why would you risk Savita rebirthing outside of your compound? Somewhere you couldn’t control?” The questions sputtered out of Kel like a dying engine.

He wasn’t making sense. But then again, Kel recognized the desperation on his face, that of someone willing to go to the ends of the earth for a loved one. He was lost to fear.

Cristo frowned, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. “I have people tracking Savita’s vitals every hour, every second. There was no chance of her rebirthing away from my compound. I simplyhoped it would speed up the process. And since I own the majority of Vohre’s news outlets, I’ve always controlled the narrative.”

Dread shivered down Kel’s spine. She’d never thought of how Cristo’s power would seep beyond his compounds. How could the world letone manhave so much control?

---