Dira, to Rube’s left, let out a high laugh. “It almost sounded like you said—”
“I’m leaving,” Rube said, still staring at the table.
Kel frowned. “What?”
“Not just the team; I’m leaving Fieror.”
Kel reached forward again. “If this is about—”
“It’s not about Savita, or… Oska.” Rube shuffled back. “I’m moving to Vohre. I sent off an application months ago for Cendor University’s early-entry boarding program. They’re offering me a partial scholarship, and my parents said they’ll cover the rest.”
His features pinched, and he added, “I know the timing is… I wish it wasn’t so soon. I got the email this morning, but didn’t check my comms before the race. After what happened… with Oska…” Rube cleared his throat. “I don’t think I’m cut out for CAPR.”
Kel opened and closed her mouth. Eventually, Dira coughed and said, “Wow.That’s… really amazing, Rube.”
Rube beamed, plucking up the courage to meet Dira’s eyes. His dimpled grin rounded his face, making him look even younger.
Rube was sixteen, a year younger than Kel and Dira. Kel had found him at a local market, purchasing scraps to invent and trial his own tech. Before he’d joined the Howlers, their old rider had been icing burns between races, their cheap leathers hardly up to code. But with Rube’s fabrics and some inventive hardware, the Howlers had begun to hold their own against Fieror’s best—and wealthiest.
It was no surprise that Cendor University had accepted Rube. Or that he intended to leave the Howlers.
But the pit in Kel’s stomach, the same one she’d felt when her mother left, yawned awake.
Rube tried again, “I never thought I’d get in. But Cendor University has the best mechatronics and software courses in Salta.Canen Cristograduated from there.”
“We get it,” Kel said, voice clipped. “When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning.” Excitement glimmered in his eyes like stars, already tracing a new orbit.
Kel fumbled for Dira’s hand beneath the table. She knew what it meant to lose people, and she’d tried desperately to build jagged walls that no one but Dira could cross. And yet—Rube’s words suffocated her. Her mind whirred, grappling for something new, solid, to knit her back together.
Rube ran a hand through his sable-black hair. “You’re welcome to keep the suits I worked on and the software I was upgrading. Dira should be able to figure out the rest.”
“I’m sure I will,” Dira said, smiling tightly.
Kel squeezed Dira’s hand. Despite their revolving door of teammates, loyalty was everything to Dira. Kel doubted her best friend would soon forgive Rube.
Kel wanted to argue, to shake Rube and make him understand all that was at stake—but she knew it would make no difference, so she offered stilted congratulations instead, and closed her eyes as he left.
She’d expected nothing less for Rube’s future. Just not so soon.
Dira shook her head. “No notice in the middle of racing season, no help finding a replacement, no care that we already lost one Howler today. I’ll have to ring some contacts and beg for whispers of up-and-coming talent.”
Even if they continued to survive without a mitigator, they were now without a rideranda technician. Kel could act as a rider if she had to, but neither Kel nor Dira had the technical knowledge to toy with their equipment.
If the Howlers couldn’t compete, Kel would have no choice but to sell her farm. Her father’s life insurance was running dry and the Howlers’ earnings weren’t enough to sustain Savita. The aviary was a black hole that sucked in money as fast as if Savita had burned it, and the Cendorian Council had strict property expectations when it came to housing phoenixes.
I’m going to lose the farm.
I’ll lose Savita.
She quickly shoved down the thought. Nothing could force her to give up Savita. She’d fight like a wild phoenix before that happened.
Dira slouched on her stool. “Well, there goes that plan.”
“What plan?” Kel asked. She picked at the emblem she’d sewn onto her sleeve—the emblem she’d sewn ontoeverythingthe Howlers owned: a black, barbed infinity, overlaid by a burgundy flame.
Instead of responding, Dira glanced toward the inn’s wide doors.
