Four hundred people were still gawking on Kaiden's gravel, and they had been gawking since the moment he told the Flame Monarch there was a spot left on his roster.
It showed no sign of stopping. Recruits who had spent the previous minute too frightened to breathe were spending their voices freely now.
Kaiden put his hand out.
The lot dropped into silence fast enough that the scaffolding netting three stories up became the loudest thing on the compound, because the whole crowd had just worked out what they were about to watch.
Scarlet looked down at the offered hand. She had come out of the sky ready to be haggled with, and the plain open palm in front of her took a full second off her.
"I know the contracts aren't signed yet, but... Welcome aboard, Scarlet," Kaiden said.
Her grin came back all at once, and it was enormous.
