Page 198 of Axis of Fire

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” I snapped, glaring at Tarven.

He ignored me completely.

“Or...” Aars purred beside my ear.

“We could visit Mataarus ourselves.”

His grin widened.

“And finally find out what exactly connects you to it.”

I froze.

God.

I wanted to demand answers right then and there.

But somehow...

I managed to hold myself back.

“What if I went to Mataarus with you?” I asked, looking directly at Airis.

“Absolutely not,” Tarven cut in before Airis had a chance to answer, irritating me even more.

“Am I the only one who thinks this is all a little suspicious?” I asked, trying to catch Airis’s gaze.

Although...

Damn.

I already knew I had almost no chance of winning this argument.

Tarven was practically a brother to Airis.

He’d chosen loneliness over the possibility of one day losing him.

“I can’t take you to Mataarus,” Airis said at last. “Entering the world of the dead requires a special seal.”

I froze.

Completely caught off guard.

Was Airis actually explaining himself to me?

Seriously?

I’d convinced myself that version of him had existed only in the human world.

“You should agree with him,” Aars drawled lazily. “We’ll get into Mataarus through him anyway.”

His grin widened.

“Just without his knowledge.”

And once again, that oversized dragon-cat managed to fill my head with a thousand new questions.

“Fine,” I sighed with a shrug, turning back to Tarven. “But I wouldn’t mind spending today in bed recovering.”