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“Hey.” He took a sip from his glass.
“Um, hey.” I was guessing this was the buddy Seb had mentioned. He certainly looked right at home.
“You’re Taylor, right?” His smile warmed. “Holt’s told me a lot about you.”
I smiled back, stepping into the room and letting the door close behind me. “That’s me.”
“Nice to meet you.” He chuckled, leaning back in the chair and lowering his feet to the floor. “Gotta admit, it’s a little strange seeing a human down here.”
My grin turned wry as I set my backpack down and shrugged off my suit jacket. “You can tell, huh?”
“Yes. I can tell.” He eyed me curiously again, then nodded at the chair opposite. “Holt’s just gone to do something. I wasn’t really listening. But he’ll be back soon.”
“No problem.” I sat down and leaned forward to hold out my hand over the desk between us. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
He sat forward to grasp my hand, his fingers cold from the ice-filled tumbler. “I’m Axel.”
In an instant, my blood ran cold. Oh, holy crap. This was the time-fucker guy. This was who Holt had tried to call to come and wipe my memory the night we’d met.
I was frozen in place, staring at him, taking in the sunburn and freckles across the bridge of his nose. The pink scalp under his pale hair.
He was back from his cruise, then.
I didn’t want to assume the worst, but… suddenly, I was remembering that strangely sombre text Holt had sent me earlier saying there was something he wanted to talk to me about. And now Axel was here, waiting in his office. Axel the time-fucker guy who could wipe memories. Who could make me forget everything—Goliaths, the wrestlers, all the non-humans and the supernatural world.
Holt.
Sweat broke out under my arms as I released his hand and sat back. Holt… wouldn’t do that, would he? He wouldn’t want me to forget him. He couldn’t think that I’d ever betray him, that I’d ever tell anyone about everything I knew.
Could he?
My thoughts were spiralling a little. Maybe because Axel was kind of… really unnerving. Looking into his eyes was like staring into the depths of space. Or a black hole. Like if I looked into them long enough, time would become meaningless.
I quickly looked away, suddenly terrified that he was already fucking with the timeline in my head. I was ninety-five per cent certain Holt wouldn’t want him to do that—wouldn’t want me to forget everything—but… Larkin had probably explained the situation to Axel when he’d called him about my unexpected presence in Holt’s office. Maybe Axel had come here of his own volition to clean up the situation. Tidy away the loose ends.
Get rid of the human suddenly infiltrating Goliaths and the supernatural world.
“S-so, um… how was your cruise?” I asked in a slightly strangled voice, then cringed internally. Oh god, I didn’t want him to figure out how much I knew. “Not that I—Just… Holt mentioned you were… on a cruise. Just in passing.”
“Oh man, it was awesome.” Axel lounged back in Holt’s desk chair looking completely relaxed, but maybe this was a typical day for him. Holt had said ailyns were rare. His job was probably being hired to wipe poor, unsuspecting humans’ memories on a day-to-day basis.
“Great,” I croaked, still keeping my eyes averted. “That’s great. Gosh, I haven’t been on a vacation in—”
“Taylor.”
Holt’s familiar voice from behind me was a blessed relief. I turned quickly in my chair and saw him striding over from the door, his face lighting up at the sight of me. After leaning down to give me a kiss, he finally seemed to notice Axel and rolled his eyes.
“Sure, go ahead, help yourself.” He nodded at the glass in Axel’s hand, then added, “Get the fuck out of my chair, asswipe.”
Axel chuckled, slowly standing and revealing his short stature. He was dressed in a turquoise shirt with the name of a resort on the front and a pair of ripped jeans. “This rum is dog shit compared to what I’ve been drinking the last few weeks.”
Even though he’d ordered the ailyn to vacate his chair, Holt stayed standing beside me, his hand cupping my nape and long fingers playing absently with my hair in a soothing touch that made me want to lean into him. “I thought you were hanging out with the wrestlers.”
“I was, but I wanted to meet Taylor.” Axel grinned at me. It just made me incredibly nervous.
Holt must have sensed it, because I saw him look down at me with a mildly concerned frown before giving my nape a gentle, comforting squeeze. “Yeah, well, I need to talk to Taylor about something private. So…”
I swallowed, part of me dreading what was coming. Was Holt going to offer me the option of forgetting everything—him? Did he want that? He had to know I didn’t. He had to know how I felt about him.
