Kel launched to the side just as the phoenix sank its claws into the earth where she’d been crouched. It threw its beak back, as if to strike. But Kel couldn’t run—not now. Not as the creature’s feathers shuddered and the air began to quake. The collar became a bar of molten soap between her sweaty fingers, blistering her skin.
Kel lurched forward, arms outstretched.
The phoenix’s feathers scalded her hands as she heaved the heavy band around its neck. Then, the collar’s magnets locked together, and three green lights blinked to life, once again active.
A scream tore through Kel’s throat. She struggled to pull her fingers from the metal, shock fighting her brain’s commands. Her hands shook as she managed to pry them free, her breath whiny and ragged as she tumbled back, away from the phoenix.
Cradling her scorched hands, Kel looked up at the phoenix. She’d hoped the creature might calm once it felt the familiar weight of a collar.
She was wrong.
The phoenix let out a monstrous cry. Then—faster than she could follow—the bird lashed its head toward her, beak outstretched like a blade—
Something hard knocked Kel to the ground, just as a searing pain dug into her arm. Winded from the impact, Coup landed ontop of her. Both of their clothes were damp with sweat, his body pressed against hers. He grimaced as the phoenix loosed another ear-piercing screech. The phoenix had missed Kel’s chest but caught her right arm with a deep gash—far less lethal than it would have been if Coup hadn’t knocked them both to the ground. Still, Kel winced as pain slashed across her bicep and blood streamed from the wound. The phoenix flapped its colossal wings and the force sent Coup and Kel tumbling away, grasping each other.
The phoenix screamed again, but at least it could no longer destroy Cendor. It couldn’t fly more than a few meters without the collar’s inhibitor stiffening its wings.
Kel and Coup struggled to untangle their limbs. Her wounded arm and blistered hands ached from the fall. Black spots danced across her vision, trying to consume her, but the feel of hands around her arms helped her focus.
Suddenly Dira was at her side, helping her stand as Bekn helped Coup. Kel bit her tongue to hide a groan of pain as they scrambled toward the inn’s porch.
Now that the phoenix had its collar on, three brave souls—tamers she recognized from CAPR—were crouched low, approaching the phoenix.
The creature thrashed about, beating its wings and testing its limits. The air thickened and cooled, returning to a mundane, tepid evening. The phoenix nuzzled its beak against the sooty metal at its neck.
The three tamers managed to grab the phoenix’s brown leash, hanging limply from its harness. The creature settled low to the ground, as if soothed by the familiar tug.
“How the hell did you manage to get the collar back on that thing?” an onlooker asked.
Kel slid her arm out from Dira’s shoulders. “Thatthingwas just confused,” she rasped. Her throat felt stripped raw and hot needles bit into her shaking arms. “It needed trust—not a crowd waving their arms around.”
The man coughed and stepped away as Coup approached her. His cheek was grazed, but his face glowed with his usual smile. He seemed oblivious to his torn shirt, splattered with Kel’s blood.
“Not a bad first stunt for the new Howlers,” he said breathlessly. His eyes flickered down to her bleeding arm, and his grin vanished. “Ashes!You need a medic. How badly does it—”
“I’ll survive,” she muttered, clenching her teeth around searing waves of pain. “I’ve got a salve at home to treat the burns.” She winced as she tried to bend her blistered fingers. The blisters would heal soon enough with her CAPR medic kit, fading into the other burns mapped across her hands. But she’d have to make sure the slash up her arm didn’t get infected. “How are you so calm? Not many people are stupid enough to dive between a phoenix and its prey.”
Coup frowned. “Stupidseems like a harsh word for someone who saved your life.”
Before Kel could reply, the nearby glint of something silver drew her focus. Not just a glint—but flashes.
She looked back to The Ferret’s porch, expecting to see the scattered remains of the inn’s crowd.
Instead, all she saw was bursts of light and video cameras, recording everything.
Recording her.
SIX
Dawn cast Kel’s six paddocks in a golden haze. Crickets whistled against the early quiet and sparrows swooped below the pink horizon, scavenging all but one paddock, bordered by honey-hued trees, where smoke rose in tendrils.
From the back steps of her cottage, Kel lifted a bandaged hand to point. Even with the medicine she’d taken, the movement made her grimace. “I moved Sav out to our training grounds about an hour ago. She should be settled enough by now that she won’t bite any newcomers’ heads off.”
“She warmed up by terrorizing a burrow of bunnies under the paddock,” Dira added, arms crossed over her wine-red jacket. “As long as she doesn’t mistake you for an overgrown cottontail, your survival odds are about fifty percent.”
Bekn fiddled with the collar of his button-up. Coup’s dimples merely deepened.
His eyes glimmered, metallic in the morning light. “Let’s not keep her waiting, then.”
