Page 519 of Axis of Fire

To stop fighting.

To let go of everything this miserable day had forced me to carry.

Instead, I said only one word.

"Leave."

"No."

"I said leave."

He didn't move.

Something inside me finally shattered.

"Why the hell do you keep hurting me?" I demanded, my voice rising. "Wasn't it enough that I was wrong about you? Wasn't the lies and the fear enough? Wasn't everything that happened during those damned Trials enough?"

My voice cracked on the next sentence.

"Wasn't it enough that today... I let someone else die instead of me?"

That was the point of no return.

The tears came all at once, impossible to hold back any longer.

I was so tired.

Tired of all of it.

To my surprise—and to the secret, traitorous part of me that hated itself for hoping—Airis stepped forward without hesitation and pulled me into his arms.

I buried my face against his chest and finally let the emotions take over.

It felt as though, for the first time all day, every thread that had been dragging me downward had finally snapped.

As if I could breathe again.

It didn't mean I'd forgiven him.

It didn't erase what he'd done.

I'd already drawn my conclusions.

My heart was lost to Airis Kairos forever.

From now on, he could only ever be my mentor.

Nothing more.

And he would never again be allowed to become the reason for my pain.

At least...

That was what I desperately wanted to believe.

Chapter 50

Anastasia Lang's POV