Page 27 of Surge of Fire

The phoenix’s gaze meets mine and she shifts closer on the other side of the glass, slowly moving down the branch until we’re a foot from each other, which seems incredibly close given the size of her enclosure. “You’re a beautiful thing,” I tell her. “But that egg is pretty uncomfortable, huh?” It’s no wonder the phoenix females are rare if they have to birth eggs that are nearly too big for their bodies to handle.

“How did you know she was gravid?”

I jump and spin around to Dr. Abigail, feeling embarrassed. “What?” I’d been so lost in the female phoenix. Even now the pull to her was overwhelming, almost like being in the presence of a large predator, but not. Being around her has that same power, but not that simmering sense of danger.

“How did you know she was with egg?” she repeats, as if I didn’t know what gravid meant.

I shake my head. “I don’t know, she just seemed uncomfortable. Like the egg inside of her is too big, and she just wants it out.”

She stares at me. “That’s actually what we’ve been worried about, that she’s ready to release the egg, but can’t.”

I glance back at her and shiver. “And what’s wrong with her wings?”

“Her wings?” Her tone has changed again to one I can’t read.

“Yes.” The phoenix moves even closer to me. “Something destroyed her wings, didn’t it?” My stomach flips, and I swear I can feel the bird’s rage and anger.Someone took away her ability to fly. But why?

“The male phoenixes actually do that to the females. It seems it’s their way of preventing them from being able to fly away when the males wish to mate them.”

Maybe we don’t call things rape in the animal kingdom, but that’s close enough. Plus, you know, the male’s stupidity to force their mate to need them for survival also leaves their female open to predators. It’s probably a huge part of the reason phoenixes are nearly extinct. “No wonder they don’t want to mate with the asshole males.”

The female opens her wings, and I can see the shredded remains that are her wings, and my heart aches. To take something so beautiful and destroy it is sickening. If I were a female phoenix, I’d let the whole species end too.

“That’s why we keep them separate as much as possible.”

“Or completely. Those assholes don’t deserve her.” I stiffen, remembering where I am, and tear my gaze away from the phoenix. “Sorry.”

She tilts her head. “You’re an interesting one, Samantha. Now, help me with this male.”

The doctor sets out a tray of tools. We don gloves, and then she carefully removes the bird from his cage. She works carefully, lifting his wing. There’s wire wrapped around it. “Hand me the pliers.”

I do, and she has me hold the wing while she slowly cuts it away. She hands me the wire when she’s done, then softly runs her hands along the wing.

“Is it broken?”I don’t think it is, for some reason.

She shakes her head. “I don’t think so, but we’ll keep him for observation and do an x-ray if we see any signs of injury.”

After checking over the rest of him, she uses her keycard to open a smaller, empty cage, and puts the male phoenix inside. While she does, I check over the wire, frowning. “This looks like a snare, like something a hunter would use. Is there any chance–?” Fuck, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Implying that their security isn't good enough to keep poachers off sanctuary lands is a pretty big accusation.

Her dark gaze finds mine. “Actually, we’re quite worried about that. We’re concerned wealthy people are paying the nearby townsfolk to trap the phoenixes for money.”

“And do what with them?” Now, I’m angry.

She shrugs. “Keep them for their own private zoos. Use their feathers for their clothing. We’re not quite sure. But if we can’t get to the bottom of it, we’ll have to take all of them into the safety of captivity.”

“Then, I guess we’ll have to get to the bottom of it.”

We stare at each other for a long minute, and then she laughs. “Come on, I have more to show you.”

The rest of the day is a blur of amazing things, as the doctor shows me the sanctuary and teaches me how to use the laser chipper. I tag my first phoenix, and then she shows me how I can now see the phoenix on my app. She also explains that I can’t see the others because I don’t have the proper credentials, which I don’t mind one bit.

We end the day with her complimenting me again and saying if I carry on the way I am going, I’ll have a bright future at the institute. It puts a real spring in my step as I hurry back to campus, wondering if all my dreams are finally coming true.

I think this might be the most hopeful I’ve felt since my father died.

TEN

Samantha

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