Page 312 of Axis of Fire

And somehow...

I'd still be the one blamed.

I walked toward the door slowly, carefully considering my next move.

My next words.

I needed to keep my distance.

The moment I unlocked the door, I barely had time to touch the handle before Rosalie shoved it open herself.

She grabbed my arm roughly and forced me backward into the room.

I was tall.

She was taller.

Makris blood.

Her brown eyes locked onto mine immediately, stripping away every trace of pretense between us.

Then her gaze dropped to the bracelet around my wrist.

Cold spread through my chest.

But I held myself together.

I couldn't afford to let her see weakness.

“So...” A sly smile, almost rodent-like, curled across Rosalie's thin lips.

“That means you're at your most vulnerable now?”

Rosalie was breathtakingly beautiful.

But the cruelty inside her erased everything beautiful on the outside.

At least for me.

“I may not have my magic right now,” I replied evenly, “but that doesn't mean I can't deal with you without it.”

Rosalie's brows rose at once.

She pressed a hand dramatically against her chest.

Feigning shock.

“Was that a threat?”

I said nothing.

I had no interest in playing her game.

“Say whatever you came here to say,” I replied instead.

“Then leave.

I'm tired.”