Page 146 of Axis of Fire

Their expressions.

Their confusion when I mentioned the psychiatric hospital.

I hadn't even needed to call Adeline to confirm their story about the ski resort.

I believed them.

But then what had really happened?

Who had tried to lock me away?

Whose blood had turned the pool water red?

Was Harold Moss involved in all of this—

or did I have another enemy entirely?

With a sigh, I glanced at the clock on the wall.

Almost one in the morning.

I slipped out from beneath the blanket and sat up.

The mattress shifted slightly beneath me.

After pulling on my soft slippers, I was about to stand when Airis's voice stopped me.

“Where are you going?”

His voice was rough with sleep.

Apparently, he'd fallen asleep the second his head touched the pillow.

Which only proved how exhausted he really was.

For the first time that night, my irritation softened into something closer to sympathy.

How much responsibility was he carrying?

How many people depended on him every day?

And now I'd become one of them.

“I'm just going to the bathroom,” I said quietly. “Go back to sleep. Nothing's going to happen to me.”

For a second, he simply watched me through half-lidded eyes.

Then his shoulders relaxed.

“Good,” he murmured.

The word was barely audible.

A moment later, his eyes closed again.

As if simply hearing my answer had been enough.

And somehow, that tiny display of trust unsettled me more than all of our arguments ever had.