Page 99 of Axis of Fire

At first, there was only emptiness.

Then panic slowly began creeping through my thoughts like fire.

I imagined being the person forced to make that choice.

How could anyone choose?

I would never forgive myself if I failed to choose Gwendolyn, Dwayne, or Mike.

And I would die inside if I abandoned the person I truly loved in return.

“That’s why I made a decision,” Airis said quietly.

“Either I fall in love with the strongest woman capable of saving herself...”

His silver eyes finally shifted toward me.

“...or I never fall in love at all.”

The beating of my heart slowed, still reeling from his words.

I didn’t know why, but I suddenly wanted to pull him into a hug and tell him that his wish would come true—that both Tarven and his soulmate would survive.

That he would never have to choose.

But I held myself back.

He’d already seen me vulnerable.

Far too many times in just two days.

“So...” I bit the inside of my cheek, as if proving to myself that I could endure the pain that would come the second I said it out loud.

“Now will you answer my question?”

I exhaled slowly, forcing lightness into my voice.

“There wasn’t exactly a breakup. Someone just made me fall in love with him. Made me feel loved and accepted in every version of myself...”

I bit my cheek again, holding back the tears threatening to rise.

“And then he disappeared without a single explanation.”

Even now, memories of him replayed endlessly in my head.

The little things he remembered about me.

The things he did just to make me comfortable.

The lies that slipped so easily from his lips whenever he told me he was serious about me.

That he cared about me—not my body, not sex.

And yet it was after we slept together that he vanished.

Leaving me alone with plans for a future together.

And with hope for the happiness I had spent my entire life avoiding.