Page 501 of Axis of Fire

The demon was back on its feet almost immediately.

But instead of attacking, it simply stood there.

"Don't tell me we didn't hurt it at all?" I asked, refusing to believe it. "It was like our attacks just... disappeared the moment they touched him."

"No," Taylor said.

His narrowed eyes remained fixed on the demon while the scorpion on his shoulder traced slow, circular movements.

"They didn't disappear."

"They're still flowing."

"What?" Azalia asked.

"Look."

I turned back toward the demon, but all I saw was its body—whole, untouched, completely unharmed.

"What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?" Rosalie asked, her voice beginning to edge toward panic.

"The currents," Taylor answered simply.

I could've killed him for those maddening pauses.

"Inside him," he continued, "Aaron's blood is still flowing. Stacia's poison. Rosalie's bone magic. Azalia's voice."

"What?" Azalia blurted out. "It reached me too?"

"So that's your magic," I said, turning to him. "You can see—and manipulate—currents."

Taylor didn't even look at me.

I took his silence as confirmation.

"Then..." Azalia began, thinking out loud. "How do we fight him?"

"We don't."

Taylor's answer came without hesitation.

"Your abilities are already fighting him."

Another pause.

"I think..." His gaze sharpened. "I might be able to help."

With those words, he extended both hands in front of him and slowly closed his eyes.

Silence settled over us.

It felt as though everything had frozen.

Even time itself.

I watched the scorpion on his shoulder.

Its movements became quicker.