Page 116 of Axis of Fire

Thereafter, every realm was granted permission to build a Temple of Nereida—a sanctuary capable of revealing hidden truths, each one containing a fragment of Nereida’s soul.

— from the journal of Lucirius von Bathsha

Necessary Information for Beings Raised in Vuduarus

Chapter 10

“Why the hell do I have to be in your arms?” I asked, making no effort to hide my irritation as I stared into Airis’s eyes, silently choking on my resentment toward him.

“Then give me another way to get you to the portal across three cities and a sea,” Airis replied, arching a brow and crossing his arms over his chest.

Thinking it over, I immediately asked,

“How long are we going to be flying?”

Just the thought of him touching me again made heat crawl beneath my skin.

And for two very different reasons:

Either an overwhelming physical attraction to this asshole—

or an equally overwhelming urge to murder him.

I understood why he didn’t trust me.

I wasn’t exactly rushing to trust him either.

But I hadn’t held a knife to his throat.

And I hadn’t risked his life just to get the truth.

“About fifteen minutes,” Airis said, casually rolling his neck. “The longer we stand here arguing, the less time we’ll have in Vuduarus.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I listed our exact arrival time in the report,” he replied. “And I’m expected to stick to it.”

I sighed.

At this point, I didn’t even feel like asking for more details.

“Fine. I can survive fifteen minutes,” I muttered, stepping in front of him.

In response, Airis tossed a warm fleece shirt over my head—the one he’d been carrying the entire time.

“Hey—what the hell are you doing?” I yanked it off my face and glared at him with all the fury I could manage.

Today, my irritation felt almost impossible to control.

“Put it on. It’s cold up there.”

“You could’ve handed it to me like a normal person instead of throwing it at my face,” I grumbled, though I still pulled the soft fabric over my head, instantly wrapping myself in even more of Airis’s scent.

Without another word, Airis swept me into his arms and pulled me firmly against his chest.

“Hold on tight.”

The second he said it, freezing air slammed into my face hard enough to steal the breath from my lungs.