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TWENTY-TWO

T he Howlers were still drowning in their own triumph when they returned to Cristo Industries. Even the swarming reporters asking about Kel and Coup’s blooming romance hadn’t soured Kel’s mood.

They swaggered through the pearly facility, congratulated by familiar and unfamiliar faces.

When they reached their unit, they were shocked to see a stack of wrapped gifts strewn across their kitchen table.

Bekn hurriedly opened the card atop the stack, and the others crowded around him to read neat, looping handwriting:

Congratulations, Howlers! I’m so glad this first foray was such an easy win for the team. I can’t wait to see what you can achieve in Vohre’s more inventive races. I’m eager to keep this momentum rolling into your next race in a few days.

Regards, Canen

Dira snorted. “That race was anything but easy.”

Kel made a sound of agreement. By Fieror’s dry, looping standards, the race they’d just won had been wilder than anything they could have imagined. Her giddiness began to fade, swallowed by Cristo’s latest mandate.

“Savita’s never had to recover so quickly between races,” Kel said, her mouth dry.

Bekn sighed. “We still have to prove ourselves. We’re not in a position yet to refute Cristo.”

“Especially after winning a race that he considers easy ,” Dira snorted.

Kel grimaced, though the note didn’t sour any of their moods for long.

They quickly scavenged some small vials of blood gin and Asciran fizzy drinks from the kitchen and began clawing through the wrapping, each finding their allocated name tag.

Kel unwrapped her gift to discover a smooth wooden box.

Lifting the lid, the black kit held a variety of sharp tools for tracing, cutting and stamping leather.

The tools were laid out in neat rows, far more lavish than the set from her father.

Something small and reluctant sparked to life at the sight of the tools. A startling wetness stung Kel’s eyes.

On the back of the name tag, Cristo had written:

Rahn mentioned you enjoy carving and embossing. It reminded me of the designs I used to sketch, before all of this began. Enjoy.

Kel clung to the kit for the rest of the night, spreading the tools out around her as the Howlers piled into their unit’s lounge room.

Dira clutched a guitar maintenance kit and a stunning ruby necklace that—from Rahn’s hopeful expression—Rahn must have selected.

Coup tore into an armored jacket signed by Mott Rodeto—a long-dead CAPR legend—and a box set of horror films, which Kel was surprised to discover he loved.

Rahn held up a container of decadent pastries and a new technician tool kit.

Bekn carefully unwrapped an enveloped card and a small silver box with what looked like the latest tele-comm model inside.

The Howlers refused to let Kel peel herself away until nightfall, long after their celebrations had ended and they’d huddled together on their small chaise lounge, drinking and watching Coup’s horror movies.

Pressed far too tightly against Coup, Kel couldn’t help but notice how he laughed after every jump scare, eyes shining with morbid delight.

Once the others had called it a night, Kel took the chance to sneak from their rooms, and eventually she found herself winding through Cristo’s white labyrinth, trying to remember the damn way to Savita’s enclosure.

She’d walked the path dozens of times now, and still, every identical twist and turn felt like navigating Savita through clouds.

Finally, Savita’s private aviary appeared around a bend to the left. Kel opened the entrance with her security pass, placed her new carving kit on the ground, pulled on her gloves, and breathed in the smoke and damp moss. This was her home.

A beat later, Savita descended from her overhead perch. Her copper talons glinted in the softening light and shadows pooled beneath her darker, burgundy feathers. The firebird let out a low rumble and landed in a clearing beside Kel.

Kel laughed. “Miss me already?”

In response, Savita ducked her head. Kel lowered her own, pressing against her phoenix’s beak. A moment later, Savita reared back. Her gaze searched Kel before she spread her wings to take flight again.

Something cracked inside Kel as Savita vanished, but she tried not to dwell on it.

Kel moved back to the entrance and reached for the tablet bolted to the wall.

If Kel couldn’t be close to Savita, perhaps checking Savita’s vitals from the race might ease her mind.

Sav’s temperature had only increased at the end of the race, but it had still flared high enough to warrant Kel’s concern.

Kel typed her login details onto the touch screen but the usual white display of tables and graphs refused to appear. Her login details were incorrect. She rubbed her eyes and tried again.

INVALID LOGIN.

Kel’s fingers curled into a fist. She tried once, twice, three times, but it was no use.

Why was she locked out?

She grabbed her tele-comm and typed in her login details. The device was connected to the same account; they all linked back to Savita’s collar. The tele-comm app didn’t offer as many readings as Cristo’s tablet did, but she could still see that Savita’s vitals appeared normal. Too normal.

Kel glanced up at Savita’s hulking silhouette. Anyone from today’s race would know that these readings were a lie. By the end, Savita’s flames had eclipsed her body, shrouding Coup in waves of heat. She had no idea how he’d withstood it.

Those kinds of flames weren’t anxious bursts or abnormalities. Sav’s vitals should have reflected that.

Kel tried to log in to the tablet again, and cursed under her breath. She heard Savita land once more and approach her.

“Why would they deny me access, Sav?” Kel whispered.

Kel slowed her breathing, ironing the wrinkles in her thoughts, trying to soothe the itchy nerves beneath her skin. If she marched into Cristo’s office, would he apologize and restore her access?

Or was there more to it?

After what she’d seen—the dorky shirts and reassurances—she no longer believed that Cristo wanted to steal Savita from her.

He had an entire team of specialists monitoring Savita’s biology and behavior, but she knew he still valued her insights—at least she hoped he did.

Was it truly just a glitch in the system?

Whatever was going on, Kel didn’t need the readings from Savita’s collar. Her father had taught her to read a phoenix’s vitals by hand.

Kel turned to see Savita behind her, watching her curiously. She reached out a hand.

“Please, stay still,” Kel coaxed.

Savita’s head twitched, but she didn’t fly away again. That was a good start.

Kel walked to Savita’s side and touched the base of her left wing. The feathers were no warmer than usual.

She traveled along Savita’s body and began to whistle the same lullaby she’d sung to the collarless phoenix in Fieror. Savita seemed to relax at the sound, and Kel jumped back to avoid being squashed as Savita thwonked to the ground in a heap.

Kel groaned. “Just give me a few minutes.”

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.

There was 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.