Sealed by Fire: The Nature Hunters Academy Series, Book 2

by Quinn Loftis

  “The leaders of America have more money than Earl, who has dirty teeth?” Ra asked. He looked thoroughly lost. Shelly couldn’t blame him. Some of the stuff she said even confused her … if she bothered to listen to what came out of her mouth.

  “Exactly. But just because they have money doesn’t mean their teeth care is any better than Earl’s. They just have the money to go to the dentist and get new teeth. Haven’t you noticed how white all politician’s teeth are? My dad told me I should never trust a man whose teeth are whiter than his soul.”

  “By white, you mean having a pure soul?” Ra asked.

  Shelly nodded.

  “How do you know if their soul is pure?”

  She leaned back and tapped her foot as she thought about it. “I think it’s something you can see in the small areas of a person’s life. For instance, a person who takes time to open the door for another person shows that they value other people. A person who gives money to a person on a street corner demonstrates that money is not what is most important to them. And…” she looked at him with a small smile. “A person who would go to hell for another person shows they consider another person's life more important than their own. I’d bet my life that you have a pure soul.”

  Ra shook his head briskly. “Don’t ever bet your life on anything,” he said sternly. “Your life is more valuable than anything.”

  Shelly reached out, took his hand, and squeezed it tightly. “And that’s how I know your soul is whiter than your teeth.”

  He shook his head as he laughed. “You know that sounds ridiculous, right?”

  She shrugged. “I’d rather sound ridiculous and be right than sound sane and be wrong.”

  Ra shifted and then said, “Tell me more.”

  “What do you mean? Tell you more what?”

  “Your thoughts. Your mind is fascinating,” he said.

  “And you’re easily entertained. You don’t watch TV very often, do you?” she asked.

  “I don’t have much time for TV.”

  She sighed. “I’ve had too much time for TV. Actually, it’s not that I’ve had too much time, it’s that I didn’t do anything better with my time.

  “As I was laying there stuck in my body burning up like dried brush I realized how pointless my life has been. I mean, look at you.” Shelly poked him in the chest. “You’re out there saving damsels and fighting demons. And what am I doing? Telling my mom I’ll do the dishes as soon as I finish binge-watching fifteen hours of my favorite show. Pathetic.” She shook her head and, once again, felt the disgust she’d experienced as she’d been burning.

  “You aren’t pathetic. You’re eighteen, Shelly,” Ra said. “You aren’t supposed to be fighting demons.”

  “I beg to differ. If that were the case, then I wouldn’t have met you, in hell of all places. I’m totally meant to be a demon huntress.”

  This brought a loud laugh from him, which caused her to grin from ear to ear. “A demon huntress?”

  “Yep,” she said, popping the “p” loudly. “I’m going to be like Van Helsing was to vampires. Kicking butt and taking names.”

  “Maybe we should get out of the underworld and you could get some proper training before you start your demon-killing spree?”

  Shelly rolled her eyes. “I suppose that would be a good idea. My hand-to-hand combat skills are a little rusty, and my magic is downright medieval.”

  “Is that so? It’s been so long since you’ve used your magic that it’s stuck in the middle ages?”

  “Exactly.”

  “What kind of magic do you possess?” His eyes still had a faint orange glow, but they also held humor in them. He was having fun with her, and Shelly loved it.

  “Oh you know, the run-of-the-mill everyday magic,” she said, waving her hand nonchalantly.

  “Can you give me an example?”

  “Sure. Totally. Absolutely.” She paused for a moment and scrunched up her face. “Okay, for instance, I could use the spell Alahomackius to create a hole.”

  “Is that two Harry Potter spells put together? And why would you want to create a hole?” Ra asked. She could see he was trying very hard not to laugh.

  “No. It’s totally original. And the why is quite obvious, I would have thought. People need holes all the time. A hole for a tree. A hole for the time capsule someone is no doubt putting together at this very moment.”

  “Right,” he said and nodded as she looked pointedly at him.

  “And a hole for a dead body that someone needs to bury. See! Lots of holes. Holes for everyone.”

  Ra burst into laughter. He apparently gave up the battle to hold it in when she declared “holes for everyone.”’ Shelly slapped her hand over her face. Gah, I’m a dork. Who the hell makes up a spell about creating holes? Me. She mentally raised her hand. I do. I’m all over that like flies on manure.

  “Any other spells?” he asked through his laughter.

  “I got tons, but I can’t tell you all of them. There has to be some mystery in a relationship, or things get boring.”

  “I have a feeling things are never boring with you, Shelly,” he said as he reached up and ran a finger across her cheek.

  She felt her face heat with her blush and had to look away. His intense gaze was enough to make her want to use her hole spell so she could conjure one up and fall into it. Tara was going to laugh her butt off when Shelly told her about her word vomit.

  “What about you?” she asked Ra. “You actually have magic, real magic. What can you do?”

  Ra dropped his hand from her face and held it out, palm up. A small spark suddenly appeared. It flickered like a candle flame. After a few seconds, it began to move to a rhythm.

  Shelly gasped. “Are you making your fire do the cha-cha?”

  Ra grinned. “Not the cha-cha. I’m just willing it to dance. It chooses the dance it wants to do. I’m partial to the cabbage patch myself.”

  She giggled. “So you can make fire dance? That’s way cooler than conjuring holes.”

  He flicked his hand up, and the flame leaped into the air. Ra moved his hand, and the flame followed it, floating and lengthening. She realized he was writing in the air with fire. Soon, she recognized the letters of her name burning in front of her. “Wow,” she said breathlessly. “That’s amazing. I didn’t know there was more to fire magic than just throwing fireballs.”

  “I can also heat up food,” he said and smirked. “Though frozen burritos get a little tricky. I can never get the middle warm without the rest becoming scorched.”

  She shoved his shoulder. “Now, you’re just showing off.” Their laughter died down, and they sat in companionable silence. She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen once they were no longer in the underworld. They would, sort of, be forced to be together. Would Ra still want her?

  “I notice you’re in a dress,” Ra said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Yeah, Tara and I were at our prom when things went to hell in a handbasket with the whole dark elementals and whatnot.”

  “Did you go with a date?”

  She shook her head and pointed to herself. “Never been on a date, remember?”

  “Did you get to dance at least?”

  “With a group. I didn’t get asked to the dance by any of the guys.” Why did admitting that feel as if she’d just held a sign over her head with an arrow that read Loser for Life?

  Ra suddenly stood and held out his hand to her. “I’d like to dance with you.”

  Shelly’s eyes widened, and she slowly placed her hand in his. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her tightly against him. Ra moved effortlessly, as if he’d danced a million times before.

  “You’re good at this,” she said.

  He shrugged one shoulder. “It was sort of a requirement. Even though there aren’t royals in Egypt any longer, my family was very important. We attended a lot of functions where I was expected to dance,” he explained.

  Shelly let him
lead her around the room and laid her head on his chest. She sighed as he pulled her even closer. She was dancing with a Pharaoh in hell. Well, he wasn’t a Pharaoh, exactly, but a thousand years ago, or something, he would have been. Her life was so strange. Strange and wondrous, and she didn’t want this moment to end.

  “I like holding you,” Ra murmured. “It feels right, like you belong in my arms always.”

  She bit her lip to keep from saying something that would embarrass herself. Not that she could get any more embarrassed than her whole ‘I know magic that makes holes’ bit.

  “I like being in your arms,” Shelly finally said, not wanting him to think she didn’t feel the same way, because she totally did. She had read so many romance novels where the main character described all the feels, and finally, it was her turn. She was getting all the feels, and she wanted more. Was she getting greedy? Damn right she was.

  “What are you thinking?” Ra asked, looking down at her.

  “All the feels,” she said with a sigh as she looked into his handsome face.

  “Should that make sense to me?”

  She shook her head. “Not at all. But it’s a good thing.”

  He continued to stare at her as his hand moved to her hair. Ra wrapped it tightly around the strands and tugged just a little. They’d stopped moving, and Shelly’s breathing picked up as the intensity between them grew.

  “I’m going to kiss you, Mery.”

  There was that “beloved” name again that made the drunk butterflies in her stomach also high on speed.

  “Are you okay with that?” Ra asked.

  “Mm-hmm,” she said with a head-bobbing nod she was sure made her look like a bobblehead.

  He chuckled as his eyes began to swirl with red and yellow flames.

  Shelly tried not to hold her breath because she didn’t want to pass out, not when she was getting her first kiss from Ra—a freaking heir to the Egyptian kingdom, fire elementalist badass, and all-round sexy beast. If she passed out because she couldn’t breathe, she’d kick her own ass … multiple times.

  He leaned his head down slowly, and she forced herself to not rise up on her toes and meet him halfway. She wanted him to pursue her. There was something intoxicating about a man pursuing a woman because he wants her badly enough to risk rejection. A man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after it. That was what she’d read about in her books and hoped she’d one day have. And here he was, holding her tightly, staring at her tenderly, and no doubt about to rock her ever-loving world.

  His lips were a hair’s breadth from hers when he was suddenly gone.

  Her arms, that had been wrapped around his neck, now held empty air. Her body, that had been wrapped tightly in his arms and pressed deliciously against his firm form, was now held by nothing.

  “Time’s up,” a deep, smooth-as-silk voice said from behind Shelly.

  15

  “Oh come on!” Shelly bellowed and stomped her feet like a three-year-old as her hands fisted and fell to her sides. She knew she probably looked ridiculous but damn if she cared. He’d been right there. His lips had been so freaking close she could practically taste them.

  She had no idea how long it took to compose herself, but once she stopped growling like a feral beast, she gulped several deep breaths and closed her eyes. No matter how badly you want to kill Osiris, you can’t, she thought to herself. Not because you won’t, but because you literally can’t, Shelly. He’s the lord of the freaking underworld. So, get a grip before you get your ass fried by the devil himself.

  Finally, when she was pretty sure she wouldn’t slap Satan—because that would be unwise, and she sort of prided herself on being wise on occasion—she turned to face him. Her breath caught for a second because, truthfully, he was beautiful. And if Ra hadn’t already stolen her heart, and the man before her wasn’t the lord of hell, she might have been tempted to fall for him.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he began.

  “No, you’re not,” Shelly cut him off. “You’re lying. Though I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s sort of your thing, right?”

  He smirked at her. “Just because I’m the lord of the underworld doesn’t mean I can’t be truthful. But alas, yes, I am lying. I’m not a bit sorry that I interrupted what was about to happen.”

  She looked around, realizing for the first time she wasn’t in the same room she’d been in with Ra. Now, she stood in a field surrounded by wildflowers. “I was going to say that hell must have frozen over because Lucifer is being honest, but I’m pretty sure hell has no flowers, so I don’t really know.”

  “I want to show you what I can offer you that the boy cannot,” he said. His eyes flashed with something dark when he mentioned Ra.

  Shelly got the feeling that Osiris finding her nearly lip-locked with his competition was not something he’d expected. He clearly didn’t know how off-the-charts teenage hormones were. Not that Ra was a teenager, but he was a young, healthy, virile male who obviously was attracted to her. And she was a teenager, one who had been denied any sort of male attention and suddenly had the focus of one that was H-O-T, hot as hell.

  “All right then,” Shelly said and shrugged. “Let’s get this over with.”

  He sighed as if annoyed with her. “I’m glad to see you are so excited.”

  “I don’t do fake,” she said as he walked toward her. “If you want a chick who is going to tell you what you want to hear, then you’ve got the wrong girl. I do brutal honesty. No holds barred. Tell it like it is, even if it leaves you a whimpering, rocking ball of brokenness. This is me.” She pointed to herself. “If you can’t handle the heat, then you need to get out of the kitchen. Which now I realize sounds kind of stupid because, you know, you’re from hell and all.”

  He stopped a couple of feet from her and leveled a stare so full of smoulder that Shelly couldn’t help but blush. Apparently, her little speech had not deterred him.

  “You’re perfect to rule at my side,” he said softly. “You will make an incredible queen.”

  “And you’re awfully sure of yourself there, bud.” She folded her arms in front of her and popped a hip out as she gave him her own stare, one entirely devoid of heat. It did, however, hold a dash of annoyance and a whole lot of “let’s get this over with so I can go lip-lock with my Pharaoh boy toy.” Okay, so he wasn’t really her boy toy, but maybe he would be into role play. She mentally smacked herself. Did I seriously just think that? Bloody hell, I need to lay off the romance novels.

  Osiris held out his hand to her, and she tried hard not to look at it like it was a serpent about to strike. She failed.

  “I’m not going to bite you,” he huffed, “unless you want me to. Let me assure you, you would thoroughly enjoy it.”

  She rolled her eyes and took his hand. Standing around verbally sparring with him seemed to be turning him on. Go figure. The devil liked it rough, even verbally. Ugh.

  “I have to be touching you to travel with you,” he explained. She could tell by his tone of voice he was not used to having to explain himself.

  “Fabulous,” she said. “Where are we going?”

  Osiris grinned wickedly, and then she was engulfed in darkness. When the lights came back on, she stood atop a mountain, looking out at the most beautiful landscape she’d ever seen. A crisp wind blew her hair back, and the smell of flowers, earth, and trees filled her nose. It was majestic. “Where are we?”

  “Ireland,” Osiris said.

  She turned her head and saw a castle. It wasn’t the crumbling remains of a castle, but a freaking, complete, looked-as-if-it-had-just-been-built-yesterday, medieval castle. Horses galloped in fields surrounding it. Men dressed in tunics and carrying longbows walked upon the ramparts. “When in Ireland are we?” she asked hesitantly.

  “You’re very smart,” he purred.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  “You wouldn’t unless you’d been around several hundred years ago. I can take you any
where—past, present, or future.”

  “Why do I feel a but coming on?” she asked.

  “Because, as I said, you’re very intelligent.”

  “So, give it to me,” she said and groaned when she realized how that sounded.

  “One day you will say that to me and mean something very different,” Osiris said as he looked her in the eyes.

  “Don’t hold your breath,” she retorted. “Actually, if you need to breathe to stay alive—and I’m not sure you do—then, by all means, hold your breath.”

  He chuckled. “Come,” he said as he walked down the mountain with an ease that shouldn’t have been possible.

  Shelly chose to ignore that he’d just called her like a flipping dog. She started down the path behind him, for some reason trusting she could traverse the terrain as easily as he could. He claimed he wanted to woo her, so surely that meant he wasn’t going to let her tumble down the side of a huge mountain. Her feet hit the ground, and she felt as if she were walking on flat land and not down a steep incline. It was more than a little disconcerting. “So, tell me the but,” she said.

  “Although I can show you these things, we cannot interfere or participate in the world. We are simply observers. We cannot be seen by anyone we encounter. And when we travel to the future, what we see is not something that will necessarily come to pass. What you see can be influenced by what you want to see. But that does not mean it will actually be so when the time comes. Do you understand?”

  “I’m intelligent, remember?”

  “That you are, little one. That you are.”

  Shelly did not like the nickname. Not because it was offensive in any way or simply not true, but because it was too familiar, as if he had a right to give her a nickname, which he most certainly did not.

  She hadn’t realized he’d stopped walking until he took her hand, and the darkness swallowed her up again.

  When they reappeared, they were directly in front of the castle she’d seen from the mountaintop. The large double doors swung open, and he began moving forward, pulling Shelly along beside him.