Page 496 of Axis of Fire

The rise of his chest.

A twitch of a finger.

But he remained completely still.

My throat went dry.

He had known too much.

And it seemed the demon had decided to eliminate him—

using Rosalie's own power.

No one spoke.

The world itself seemed to have stopped.

We needed to think.

To act.

To survive.

Yet none of us could tear our eyes away from Aaron.

"I know this isn't the time..." Azalia began quietly before faltering.

"...but it can't block my voice."

I forced myself to breathe.

Slowly.

Trying to keep the fear from swallowing me whole.

"Then sing," Taylor said quietly.

"But I don't know if I'll be able to take control of—"

"Sing."

He cut her off, his voice sharper than before.

"Trust me."

Then, without a word of warning, Azalia began to sing.

The moment her voice reached me, my stomach lurched violently, as if it were trying to crawl up my throat.

I clamped my hands over my ears.

Across from me, Rosalie did the same, but she wasn't fast enough. She turned away from us, unable to suppress a violent gag.

Taylor remained perfectly still.

The scorpion perched on his shoulder stirred, its glowing eyes darting from side to side.

I shifted my attention to the demon.