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Coup didn’t respond. His features were unexpectedly taut, grave, just as they’d been last night. He lowered into a half-squat and edged closer to Savita, palms outstretched. His riding leathers hugged his broad shoulders and tense legs, far more sculpted than even a rider’s needed to be.

Kel cleared her throat. “Make sure to keep your eyes on hers instead of the ground. Right—like that. Carnel phoenixes are smarter than spinels, but also more aggressive. They need to know that you’re—”

“Not a threat, but also not prey,” Coup finished, under his breath. His movements were smooth, practiced. “She needs to know I’m not dinner, but that she can also trust me with her back turned. I get it, tamer. Stop micromanaging.”

Kel rolled her eyes as Coup inched closer, closer, already a hundred meters closer than Sav had let Oska—or any of the Howlers’ previous riders—within their first month of meeting.

Perhaps Kel should have been relieved; they could race a lot sooner than she’d anticipated.

But Kel couldn’t help the disappointment that snuck through her.

Couldn’t Sav have injured Coup just a little?

Kel’s jaw dropped as Coup approached Sav head-on, barely two paces from her beak. Still squatting, he slowly raised a single palm over his head. The sparks dancing along Sav’s feathers calmed as she scrutinized Coup.

A minute passed in silence as rider and phoenix stared at each other. Kel held her breath. Palm outstretched, held high, Coup lowered his gaze to the ground. A test.

Kel instinctively started forward. She reached toward Coup, unsure what she planned to do—intercept Coup and Sav, try to prevent the impending slaughter, despite how many times she’d yearned for it.

She looked up and saw Savita peering down at Coup’s lowered head, his vulnerable posture. She blinked, slowly. Then she tucked her wings, folding red, yellow and orange feathers back on themselves, before releasing a high-pitched squawk .

“Your last tamer must’ve been thorough,” Kel said, unable to hide her disbelief. Though riders needed to understand basic phoenix nature, she hadn’t expected Coup —who seemed to risk his phoenix’s life as often as his own on the tracks—to display much competence.

Coup shrugged, still inching closer to Savita’s side. “He was rather useless, actually. I’ve just spent a lot of time in public aviaries.”

Curiosity hungered for Kel to ask why he’d been in public aviaries, but she didn’t want to show unnecessary interest in Warren Coupers. Not even if her traitorous phoenix let him too close.

Sav remained focused on the rabbits burrowing beneath her. Shock—and more than a little annoyance—shot through Kel when Coup reached a hand up to Sav’s neck.

The phoenix let out a low, cautioning grumble, but didn’t move. Coup stayed statue-still, his gloved fingers spread against a cluster of raspberry-colored feathers. Slowly he tilted his head toward Kel, a brow raised, as if to ask, What were you worried about?

Frustration hitched her breath. Somehow, he’d fooled Sav into letting him touch her on their very first encounter. It was sure to make the cocky bastard even cockier.

Kel placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t get smug. Sav is probably just bored and eager for a new chew toy.”

Coup’s lips parted into a maddening grin.

Before he could respond, a cheery voice called, “The media was right! Looks like cozying up won’t be so hard, after all.”

Kel scowled at Dira’s distant, cackling figure.

At Kel’s side, Sav fidgeted, raking her claws. In one swift motion, she launched at the place Coup’s hand had been just a moment ago. If he hadn’t moved, he likely would’ve lost a few fingers. Kel couldn’t resist a smirk.

Coup’s mouth twisted into a bitter line. “Can you try suppressing that holier-than-thou attitude long enough to keep me alive?”

Kel’s hands dug into her hips. “Excuse me?”

Coup’s head whipped toward Kel, as much movement as he’d risk beside Sav. “You think I want to be spending my mornings listening to you rant about how you’re too good for us? Risking my life every time Savita decides to mirror your body language?”

Hot anger filled Kel’s veins, comforting in its familiarity. Flames , she hated Coup. “You’re the one who agreed to this. You drove to my farm and wanted my help approaching my phoenix. If we’re going to work together, you need to do whatever I tell you to, whether or not you agree with it.”

As if to lend her own voice to Kel’s threat, Savita let out a low growl. Thicker smoke rose from her feathers. Kel bit down on a laugh.

Coup lifted his chin. “I’m here to win, Varra. Not to be your lapdog.”

“At least a lapdog can follow basic instructions,” she retorted.

Coup rubbed his fingers over his furrowed brow. A moment later, he let out a long breath. “Let’s just try to go an hour without Sav burning me alive. Then I’ll pledge my unwavering loyalty to you.”

Though Kel’s anger burned hotter, she relaxed her stance, wary of Sav picking up on any further body language. Alchemists! He knew how to push her buttons. “If I tell you to do something mid-race, will you?”

“If it’ll help us win, sure.”

If Kel had Sav’s temperature, steam would’ve poured out of her nose. “If Bekn asked you to do something, would you?”

Coup gave a surprised laugh. “Probably not. My brother’s great at a lot of things, but track strategy isn’t one of them.”

She sucked in a deep breath and faced Savita. “I doubt she’ll let you on her back yet,” she said tersely. “I’ll just lead her through her usual warm-ups. We’ll gauge her mood after that.”

Coup nodded silently, clearly biting back a retort. Kel tried her best to ignore him as she began coaxing Savita into her warm-ups: jumps, stretches, sprints, all before Kel guided her into the air with vocal commands and practiced hand gestures.

Savita hopped in a small circle before stretching her wings wider.

Kel laughed as the phoenix loosed a joyful shriek and flapped her wings twice, three times.

Kel bent her knees to brace against sudden winds as Savita launched into the air with another cry that sounded almost giddy, shooting straight into the clouds.

Savita’s feathers turned to serpentine flames and her grumbles became eager, earsplitting screams. Whether it was while she trained, raced, or simply swooped about the aviary, Savita always preferred to be airborne.

“How do you get her to follow commands while she’s flying?” Coup’s husky voice broke through her reverie. He was watching Savita, head tilted toward the clouds.

Kel leaned her arms to the right and Savita glided higher, at a slight angle. “Trust. Practice. Bribery with her favorite meats. Years and years spent learning her moods and behavior.” She shot him a look. “Patience, which is something you probably don’t know much about.”

Coup merely sighed.

Kel directed Sav higher, waving her arms about as if guiding an airship.

Savita glided and pivoted through the clouds.

A trail of smoke carved patterns into the sky: a figure eight, a spiral, and then more complex movements like angled downfalls and dual talon attacks.

Sav dove between tall fence posts and swooped beneath overhanging nets, weaving between the contraptions littering the paddock.

After twenty minutes, when Dira’s impatience to begin training became unbearably vocal, Kel instructed Sav to land.

Dira hurried closer and lifted her hands, as if looking at the track through a camera lens.

“We should start with a simulation without anyone on her back. Let’s move all the fence posts together and lower the nets.

Savita was faster than the other phoenixes in yesterday’s race, but she lost focus when they drifted near her.

I want Sav to be comfortable the next time she has to weave through narrow tracks. ”

Following Dira’s instructions, they reorganized the makeshift track. By the time Dira was satisfied, Kel, Coup and Bekn were gleaming with sweat.

“You’ve got a pretty impressive setup out here,” Bekn remarked.

Dira brushed dust off her hands. “We’re just missing a sancter rifle. Then we could really make a mark on CAPR.”

Kel threw Dira a dry look. “In your dreams. The only mark a sancter rifle would be making is all over my farm.”

Sancter rifles were one of the few handheld weapons found on Cendor.

The sleek rifles shot brilliant, electric pulses; an amplified version of what controlled phoenixes through their collars.

They cost a fortune. Most were used to start CAPR races or venture into Vohre Forest to capture phoenixes; they were far too dangerous to turn on people.

The weapon’s torrential electricity would likely tear through flesh and nerves as easily as lightning through the sky.

Kel found it amusing that—for an island that claimed to be a tech hub—it had developed little in the way of human firearms. Mostly because the council’s attention was instead focused on ways to control phoenixes—the greater danger to the island.

Dira threw Kel a wry grin before stepping back with Bekn, leaving Coup and Kel to tie the saddle girth around Savita’s belly.

Surprisingly cooperative at Coup’s nearness, Sav nuzzled her beak against Kel’s cheek, staying otherwise still.

Once the saddle was in place, Kel led the phoenix to the makeshift starting line and stepped back.

Savita exploded into the air upon Dira’s verbal command. She launched through the sky, weaving between flagpoles and swerving below black netting.

Bekn observed from a distance, fingers flitting about on his tele-comm at an inhuman speed. While Coup watched on from a few meters away, Dira asked, “How long do you think it’ll take Sav to let Coup on her back?”

Before Kel could reply, her small tablet blared from her pocket. She whipped it out and opened the app linked to Savita’s collar, monitoring her vitals. The alarm silenced as she clicked on a notification and was greeted with great, red letters across her screen:

TEMPERATURE ABOVE NORM. HEART RATE ABOVE NORM. IRREGULAR brEATHING PATTERNS DETECTED. CALM YOUR PHOENIX IMMEDIATELY, OR REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THEIR VICINITY.

Kel’s heart drummed in her ears. Though the roaring wind muffled her voice, she screamed for Sav to land.

Seconds passed before Savita glanced down at Kel. Her wings slowed until she hovered in place. She released a low grumble, and reluctantly raced toward the ground like a falling star.

Kel’s eyes widened as her phoenix neared. It had been impossible to spot from such a distance, but now Kel could see that Savita’s feathers weren’t stirring mere colors into the air—she had become flame .

Soft, fiery tendrils often decorated Savita while racing, but they rarely climbed so high. Now, they shrouded Savita in a lethal dance of red and orange.

Kel hurried over to Savita. The phoenix felt surprisingly cool.

“You okay?” Kel breathed, searching her phoenix’s body for any hints of distress.

Savita seemed entirely at ease. Though she was still covered in flames, there was no raised temperature or rapid breathing.

Kel frowned, glancing back at the tablet.

The alarming notifications had already cleared and Savita’s vitals were back to normal.

“What happened?” Dira panted, rushing to Kel’s side.

Kel wrung her gloved hands. “I’m not sure. Her vitals were spiking.” She ran her hands over Savita’s side. “But she seems fine now…?”

The fire wreathing Savita’s body was calming into soft waves, lapping against her feathers.

“Let’s keep practicing,” Coup said, a few steps back. “She’s probably just a little tense from yesterday’s race, and she’s still getting used to Bekn and me.”

Dira nodded. Kel bit the inside of her cheek, staying silent, though she made a note to check Savita’s vitals more often.

Uncontrolled flames often heralded a rebirth, but Savita was barely half a century old.

Immortal creatures, phoenixes usually rebirthed every century, returning to hatchlings and retaining their memories.

Still—there were plenty of phoenixes that defied the norm.

Rebirths were chronically destructive. They increased a phoenix’s temperature to roughly a thousand degrees, melting all but the sturdiest of metals within a hundred meters. Everything around Sav would turn to ash—and not the regenerating kind.

“Let’s pause this trial run there,” Bekn panted, appearing at Kel’s back. He glanced warily at Sav, who narrowed her eyes, and he shuffled back a step. “Coup, Kelyn—you might want to see this.”

He handed over her and Coup’s tele-comms. Kel’s brows shot up. “When did you grab those?”

Bekn shrugged. “While you two were trying to out-snark each other, I decided to be a productive member of this team.”

Kel huffed and grabbed her tele-comm. When the screen lit up, her jaw fell open.

Dozens of messages littered the screen. Missed calls from unknown numbers, texts from other CAPR crews’ mitigators, emails from local news stations.

She glanced over at Coup’s screen—bombarded with similar messages.

“What the hell?” he muttered.

Distractedly, Kel lured Savita back to the aviary with dried treats and then hurried with the others back through the paddock’s trampled grass. The four of them neared the side entrance to Kel’s cottage before freezing mid-stride.

Kel’s entire front lawn was packed with vans and cameras set up on monstrous tripods. People with voice-comms huddled at her front door.

“Alchemists help me,” she whispered.