Page 86 of Axis of Fire

And nothing had changed.

My fire hadn’t lifted even for a second.

Not even a little.

“Maybe you just saw in me what you wanted to see,” I muttered, dragging myself after him, feeling like I’d just run a marathon—and then somehow squeezed in three Pilates sessions on top of that.

My legs could barely carry me.

“Everything takes time, Fireling.”

“If I had any strength left, I’d tell you exactly how much I hate that nickname.”

“Go ahead, suggest I carry you,” he replied, the mockery in his voice unmistakable.

“I doubt you’re capable of that,” I said thoughtfully.

“That would require being a gentleman.”

“And what do you think I am?”

“You can figure that out yourself.”

I raised a brow, catching him off guard just enough to make him stop.

Then I flipped my hair and kept walking toward the turn.

“The exit’s the other way.”

Without a word, I changed direction, not even trying to show that I’d been thrown off for a second.

“I did carry you on our first day,” he added.

“Because I was injured,” I shrugged.

“Why did you even bring that up?” he asked.

I didn’t slow down.

I simply glanced at him over my shoulder, a smug smile tugging at my lips.

“Why did you fall for it so easily?”

Checkmate.

Chapter 7

“You know, if some random guy was leading me through a forest to who-knows-where, I’d listen to my survival instincts and refuse,” Louis said, jumping over a large broken branch.

“I doubt her survival instincts—assuming she even has any—can resist this handsome asshole,” Aars said, nodding toward Airis while completely ignoring the murderous glare I shot him from behind Airis’s back.

“Oh, come on. He’s not going to do anything to her,” Moirz said calmly, walking with his hands tucked into his pockets as if this route were part of his everyday routine.

“And if he does,” Aars added, “I’d pay to see that.”

I had to admit—

this spirit had a truly awful personality.