Page 427 of Axis of Fire

"I'm asking about you."

His eyes lifted to mine.

"Don't make me worry."

A faint smile ghosted across his face.

"Let's not switch roles."

"Then don't keep avoiding the question."

The words escaped before I had time to think.

Deep down, I'd always suspected he worried about me.

Hearing him admit it—even indirectly—felt dangerously comforting.

"You're practically an Istmond student now," he said quietly. "You already have enough to worry about. I don't want to give you even more."

There it was again.

That rare, almost impossible tenderness in his eyes.

Once, Joelle had told me Airis was the coldest and most ruthless of the Strongest Twelve.

Most people had never even seen him smile.

But with me...

He kept showing me someone entirely different.

Someone real.

"Not knowing is worse," I said softly. "My imagination always comes up with something far darker than the truth."

Silence settled between us.

Airis released another long, weary sigh before finally speaking.

"We have reason to believe Harold Moss isn't working with just one informant."

My stomach tightened.

"What makes you think that?"

"We captured two people working for him in Vuduarus."

My breathing caught.

He noticed.

"They sensed the magical surge and thought they could reach the site before we did," he continued before I could spiral any further. "Lars's squad got there first."

Some of the tension eased from my chest.

"So... there's another mage from Vuduarus?"

He shook his head.