Page 324 of Axis of Fire

He pulled away from my lips, though he made no move to step back.

“Like I said,” he whispered roughly, “you don’t get pieces of me, Fireling. You either get all of me—or none of me.”

He kept whispering.

And somehow, that whisper was unbearably intoxicating.

It made me want to hear him whisper my name next.

“And there’s no fucking way I’m letting anyone else have you.”

“And since when did you become possessive, Kairos?”

“Maybe instead of asking pointless questions, you should think about my offer.”

“What offer?” I asked quietly. “For once, just tell me clearly what you want from me.”

Clearly.

Like a normal person for once.

But Airis stayed silent.

Chapter 33

Anastasia Lang’s POV

I couldn’t move.

Confusion, fear, irritation, anger—everything had seized me at once.

Tarven burst into the room at lightning speed the moment Rosalie called for him.

She looked terrified.

Maybe even genuinely terrified.

The second he spotted me on the floor, he rushed to my side.

“What happened?” he demanded, immediately reaching for my shoulders. But the moment his gaze dropped to my legs, he shifted his attention there instead.

I cried out when his fingers found the exact spot where, only seconds earlier, pain had shot straight through me.

“I—I don’t know. She was just heading for the door, and then she suddenly collapsed.” Rosalie’s words tumbled out in a panicked rush, tears already gathering in her eyes.

Meanwhile, I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw ached as Tarven examined my leg.

“Damn it. It’s a fracture.”

Our eyes met.

A second of silence.

And a room filled with Rosalie’s sobs.

“If it had happened during training, I would’ve noticed,” Tarven said quietly.

Almost as though he were speaking to himself.