Page 22 of Axis of Fire

“The world you were born into…” he began.

“Vuduarus. The world of life. Ordinary people live there—without magic.”

“Then how the hell did I end up there?” My voice trembled.

I wanted to cry.

To scream.

To break something.

Instead, I forced a nervous, broken smile.

Trying to hold back everything tearing me apart inside.

“We don’t know,” he said, looking away.

“Sometimes mages cross into Vuduarus… searching for a different life.”

I said nothing.

My parents’ faces surfaced in my mind.

Or rather—

my tormentors.

The ones who had spent my whole life trying to destroy me.

I tried to remember if they had ever shown anything resembling magic—

but no.

Nothing.

“You showed up at the psychiatric clinic during my capture,” I said.

“How did you even find me?”

“So many questions…” I muttered under my breath.

“With radars that detect magic,” Mr. Shiford replied.

“And my name?” I asked.

“How did you know that?”

“Our people found your parents first. They got the information from them. Then they tracked your location.”

“My parents… do they have magic too?”

Mr. Shiford shook his head.

He didn’t elaborate.

“How could a human couple have a child with magic?” I frowned.

“They couldn’t,” Sulfur answered for him.