Page 264 of Axis of Fire

“Tomorrow your false conclusions about me are going to shatter.”

I looked at him again.

“And why’s that?

What’s happening tomorrow?”

“I’ll take my shirt off.”

I immediately rolled my eyes and looked back at the ceiling.

“We’re going to Magicslan,” he continued after letting his gaze linger on me for another moment.

“Pack a few things.

We’ll be there for two days.

I’ll be waiting outside your room at nine tomorrow morning.”

“Try not to traumatize my roommates,” I said as his voice grew quieter.

Apparently, he was already heading for the door.

“I have to mark my territory somehow.”

Our eyes met again.

His smug.

Mine utterly confused.

“So nobody touches what belongs to me.”

A grin spread across his face.

“Sweet dreams, Fireling.

I’d appreciate it if you stopped letting go of me in your dreams the way you do in real life.”

And with that, he left.

I couldn't move.

Couldn't blink.

It felt as though even my heart had stopped long enough to be reborn twice.

Maybe from shock.

Or maybe from the terrifying realization that I wanted him to mean every word.

Anastasia Lang’s POV

“I won’t let her anywhere near you while you’re wearing that bracelet.”

Tarven paced back and forth in long, furious strides.

Meanwhile, I sat on a large stone near the Temple of Nereida, where we’d gone for a walk.