Page 117 of Axis of Fire

With a startled gasp, I instantly wrapped my arms around Airis’s neck and buried my face in the crook of it.

As soon as we stepped through the portal—so well hidden I never would’ve found it on my own—we emerged in the middle of a forest.

“Are we in Manchester?” I asked, glancing around, though realistically I doubted I could identify a place by its trees. “And how do portals even work? What if we needed to get to... I don’t know... Italy?”

“The seal that grants me access to Vuduarus reveals different intersections during travel,” Airis explained. “Like a web of crossroads. I simply choose the route I need.”

He scanned the area as if searching for something before confidently heading toward a narrow path running between the road and the tree line.

I hurried after him.

The last thing I needed was to be stranded here alone with absolutely nothing.

“Wait—where’s my phone?” I suddenly asked, realizing I hadn’t thought about it once during my entire time in Istarus.

“We found you without it,” Airis answered without looking back.

I quickened my pace, nearly breaking into a jog just to keep up with him.

“Where are you even—”

I cut myself off the moment I spotted a black jeep parked along the roadside.

A curly blond head leaned out of the front passenger window, enthusiastically waving us over.

“Honor and glory to our great lieutenant and his fiery protégée!” he announced dramatically, half-hanging out of the vehicle.

“Touching speech, Chesterson.” Airis gave him a slow clap dripping with sarcasm.

“Relax. Next time I’ll come up with something better,” the guy grinned, dimples instantly appearing in his round face.

He reached for the front passenger door, but Airis stopped him with a single look.

Instead, Airis opened the rear door and gestured for me to get in.

“Ria and I are sitting in the back.”

“You always sit in front,” another voice pointed out—the driver this time.

I struggled to climb into the absurdly tall vehicle.

“And since when did you decide to call me Ria?” I asked.

“You introduced yourself that way to Anastasia,” Airis replied as he slid in beside me, completely ignoring the conversation around him.

“Yes. And only friends—or potential friends—get to call me that.”

I deliberately avoided looking at him, focusing instead on the two guys who had turned around to face us.

“Bax Chesterson,” the blond said with a smile.

“And I’m Lars,” said the driver, a dark-skinned guy with striking blue eyes. Unlike Bax, he wasn’t smiling. He looked at both me and Airis as though he had a thousand questions and fully intended to ask every single one of them eventually.

“You can call me Ria,” I said—mostly out of spite toward Airis rather than any genuine desire to bond with them.

“You called me a fiery protégée,” I added, looking at Bax. “Can you communicate across worlds or something? Is that how you knew about my element?”

“Tarven stopped by yesterday,” Bax answered. “He told us.”