Cleansed by Water: The Nature Hunters Academy Series, Book 3

by Quinn Loftis

  Viscious stared at him for several minutes before finally saying, “Go on.”

  “Her soul bonded needs to die. Once he’s gone, her soul will be incomplete again and easily swayed.”

  “And how exactly do you propose killing the male of a soul-bonded couple?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on Tucker. “Perhaps you are unaware of the fact that they are much more powerful than normal, non-soul bound elementalists.”

  “I am aware,” Tucker bit out through clenched teeth. “But they are not invincible. With enough dark elementals, they could be overwhelmed. Especially if her mate was distracted with trying to keep her safe while he attempted to fight off so many opponents.”

  Viscious stood and walked around his desk. He paced slowly, his hands steepled against his chin.

  Tucker wanted to tell him to hurry the hell up and make a decision, considering he’d heard there were light elementals all over the freaking world attempting to keep things running as the temperature rapidly dropped.

  No one knew why the seasons were suddenly jacked up, at least no humans did. Tucker had been watching the news, but the scientists studying the phenomenon were all baffled.

  Of course Tucker knew it had something to do with the elementals. Duh. But he wasn’t privy to the inside knowledge of the royals, so, he honestly knew little more than the humans.

  Finally the dark fire king stopped pacing and looked at Tucker. “Let’s say I allow this plan of yours. How are you going to find them?” he asked.

  Tucker tried not to smirk. It annoyed him that Viscious considered him an idiot. And he knew this because the king had called him one, among other things, when Tucker had failed in keeping Tara out of her soul bonded’s grasp. “As it so happens,” he began, “there has been talk of a battle between several light elementalists and some mountain trolls in Michigan. Apparently, there was a soul-bonded couple there that wielded the power of earth.”

  “How do you know this?” Viscious asked.

  “Dark elementals are worse than teenagers about gossip, and word travels fast through them,” Tucker answered. “I was working with two other acolytes yesterday and heard about it.”

  Something that looked like interest suddenly flared in the king’s eyes. “I will allow you to pursue this endeavor until it appears it is not going to end in our favor.”

  Tucker forced himself not to do something stupid like gloat, but on the inside, he was practically jumping for joy at the chance to get Tara back. He wouldn’t admit it to another being on earth, but he’d become obsessed with her. She fascinated him, and over the years, he had come to realize he wanted her for himself. He would move every obstacle out of his way to make that happen.

  “I suggest you travel to the location of the battle. There was a reason the elementalists were that far north. There's no doubt it has something to do with the dropping temperatures,” Viscious said.

  “Do you know anything about that?” Tucker asked before he could censor himself.

  Viscious's eyes snapped to him. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. That’s none of your concern, boy. Never question me.”

  Tucker held up his hands and took a step back. “I meant no disrespect,” he said quickly. He really wasn’t in the mood to get burned.

  “You are dismissed,” Viscious said with a wave of his hand.

  Tucker turned and left without another word. He let out a quick breath once the door to the dark fire king’s office was closed. He really hadn’t expected anything to come of his inquiry, except maybe some berating and possibly some bodily harm.

  His day was suddenly looking up, and with any luck, he would see Tara again very soon.

  Chapter 12

  It had been three days since Gabby and Liam had halfway bonded on the side of a volcano. She had to admit that one day, when or if she wasn’t freaking out about it, it would be a fantastic story to tell. But at the moment, all she could think about was how the hell she was supposed to handle being soul bonded to someone.

  She’d worked so hard over the years not to build any attachments. Attachments were bad. Attachments meant she could be hurt, and she was done being hurt. She’d had enough of that in the short years she’d been with her parents to last a lifetime.

  Gabby had also managed to successfully avoid being alone with Liam by strategically placing herself away from him when they weren’t on an assignment. This meant when they went back to the academy each evening, she continually found other places to sleep than her dorm room.

  Was she being a chicken? Absolutely. Would she probably look back and be embarrassed by her evasiveness? No. It took a lot to embarrass Gabby, and she wasn’t about to let Liam change that.

  It was late when they finally got back to the academy. They’d spent the day in England, which was amazing, except for the fact she didn’t get to go sightseeing. Apparently, trying to keep the world from falling apart meant there was no time for the tourist thing. Go figure.

  Despite that, Gabby found it surreal to travel to a country she’d never been to before. The past three years, she’d been nowhere other than Crimson Academy. Though it was in Indonesia, she rarely left the academy, so she wasn’t really even aware that she wasn’t actually located in the United States. Not that she missed her birth country or the slums of Chicago. There were no good memories there.

  Gabby shook her head and attempted to refocus so she wouldn’t be caught unawares by Liam. Letting her mind drift back to her past would do her no good.

  She took a quick shower, washing away the leftover smells of smoke from the fire they had battled all day. Dark fire elementals had decided to wreak havoc on a small village, and there had been no way the volunteer firefighters would have been able to take care of it, even if they would have had the manpower. The fire had been imbued with dark magic, and that took a little more than a thirty-year-old pumper truck to extinguish. Professor Frost mentioned the presence of dark magic meant Viscious, the dark fire king, had likely been there.

  Gabby had been mesmerized by the way the fire had moved. It wasn’t some random flame that just ate up everything in its path. It moved with purpose, as if something was guiding it, which was exactly the case.

  Professor Frost contacted Aviur, and he’d helped contain the blaze. Gabby had been worried the entire village was going to be burned down before they were able to stop it. Thankfully, they’d saved most of the buildings.

  Now, the hot water felt good on her skin, and the familiarity of her favored tried-and-true vanilla bath products warmed the cold inside of her.

  By the time she’d climbed out of the shower, toweled off, and slipped on her sleep clothes, Gabby felt like she was going to drop. She knew it would be smarter to find somewhere else to sleep, lest her soul bonded find her, but she was too tired to search out another temporary bed.

  She flipped off the light and then practically crawled into her bed.

  Gabby sighed and a small smile formed on her lips. “Man, I’d forgotten how comfortable sleeping in an actual bed was,” she muttered. The places she’d managed to sleep the past few nights had been much less comfortable. But what did she expect from a cupboard, behind the bleachers in the gym, and her personal favorite, a janitor's closet? At least there she’d been able to pillow her head on some packages of paper towels.

  Her eyes fell closed and immediately her mind was filled with the handsome face of Liam Nash.

  Gabby had to admit, he’d actually gotten less annoying over the past few days. But then, she didn’t know how much she could trust her opinion. Maybe she just thought he was less annoying because he was her soul bonded, and somehow that was skewing her view of him.

  It was at this point in the day, when she was alone and it was dark, that she felt safe enough to examine things. She allowed her mind to finally drift to the place from where she’d been continually trying to redirect it—the whole soulmate thing. Gabby allowed herself to think about how Liam had held her, the sweet things he’d whispered to her when they’d been on th
e volcano, and how he’d taken care of her. Could she be honest with herself and admit she ached for him? That she wanted him close and longed to have him make her feel like she mattered to him? She wanted to matter.

  Gabby heard her phone beep, indicating a text message. More than likely, it was Shelly wanting to know that she was still alive. Oh, and wanting an update on the Liam situation.

  Gabby debated responding, but before she could even move, she was pulled into the much-needed slumber her body craved.

  Heat enveloped her. Gabby tried to push the blankets off, but they were heavy and wouldn’t release their restraint on her body. Her groggy mind tried to make sense of what was happening and wondered when she’d traded her normal blanket for a weighted one.

  Gabby had no idea how long she’d been sleeping. She opened her eyes and blinked. No light filtered in through her curtained window.

  She tried to roll over, but again, her blanket wouldn’t budge.

  “Could you please be still, babe. I’m trying to sleep.”

  Gabby moved before the voice finished speaking. She rolled to the left, away from the person in her bed, and reached between her mattresses. Her hand wrapped around the dagger she kept there. Bringing it out, she rolled back over. She ended up on top of the intruder, straddling his hips with the blade pressed across his throat.

  She stared down into the bright eyes of Liam. They were swirling like the ocean—white, blue, and grey—and they were glowing. It reminded her of being under water and looking up at the sunlight shining down into it.

  “Why the hell are you in my bed?” Gabby growled as she leaned closer and pressed the blade a little harder. She didn’t bother asking how he’d gotten into her room. There were any number of ways that could have happened, and Liam was powerful. He’d have no trouble getting into most places, locked or not.

  “You’ve been avoiding me,” Liam said, as he held her gaze. His eyes were so intense, and to her surprise, there was no playfulness in his demeanor.

  “No, I haven’t,” Gabby denied. “I’ve been busy.”

  “Busy hiding?” Liam asked. “You don’t seem like the type to run away from something difficult.”

  “I’m not running away.”

  “Can you remove the knife from my throat so we can have a conversation without you accidently slitting my jugular?”

  Gabby continued to stare down at him, the dagger grasped firmly in her hand.

  Liam began to slowly lift his shoulders from the bed. He gripped her upper arms and boldly pressed his neck into the knife. The second Gabby saw the blood running down his skin, she pulled the knife back and flung it across the room.

  Her eyes were wide as she gasped at the harm she’d caused him. It felt as if she’d cut herself.

  “I, that…” she stammered. She was shocked when she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

  “You didn’t do anything, Gabby,” Liam said as he raised himself until he was sitting upright with her in his lap.

  Gabby didn’t know what to do with her hands. She was suddenly acutely aware of the fact she was sitting in Liam’s lap, in her bed.

  “That was all me, babe.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, and she realized she was shaking.

  “I need to get up,” she said, attempting to push away from him, but Liam wouldn’t release her. Instead, he pulled her closer.

  “No, you don’t. You need to let me hold you,” he said.

  “I do not,” Gabby snapped. “I need you not to be in my bed uninvited. I need you to realize if a person isn’t actively seeking out your company, then they probably don’t want it.”

  “Now, you’re just being mean.” He reached up and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. “We need to talk, and we are going to talk, now.”

  She was surprised how stern his voice became. And judging from the hard look in his eyes, Gabby knew he wasn’t about to budge. And he was much too big for her to move. She could burn him, though.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he growled. “I’m a water elementalist, my little firecracker. I am designed to put out your flames.”

  She forced herself not to roll her eyes. Of course fate would give her a mate who had the ability to combat her own magic.

  Gabby emitted a sigh and her shoulders slumped. She gave up her attempt to get away from him. “I don’t want this,” she said, hating how defeated she sounded.

  “You don’t want what?” Liam asked. “A devoted partner? A mate who will care for you and love you? You don’t want someone to share your burdens with? Someone to share your dreams with?” His voice grew louder with each question. “Tell me, Gabby. What is it exactly you don’t want? Love, adoration, affection, desire, someone to need you and want you? What could you possibly not want in a soul bond? What could there—”

  “I DON’T WANT THE PAIN!”

  Her breath came in harsh pants. Her anger increased the more he questioned her. “I don’t want to wait for the day you realize I am not who you really want. I don’t want to wake up one day and see the light that you once looked at me with is gone. I don’t want to suddenly realize I am worth nothing to you.”

  She jerked her chin out of his hand and managed to push off of him and climb out of the bed. She refused to look at him. Instead, she walked over to the window and stared out into the night.

  The moon was full and bright, and everything was so peaceful. A layer of frost coated the grass. Trees glistened like diamonds, making the darkness appear magical and non-threatening.

  “Why would you think those things would ever happen?” His voice came from directly behind her, and she started.

  Gabby hadn’t heard him move while she’d been lost in the beauty of the outside world.

  “Because that’s what people do,” she said quietly. “I learned a long time ago not to rely on others because they would only let me down, and I’m tired of being let down. I’m tired of hurting.”

  “Baby—”

  “No,” Gabby barked and whipped around to face him. “You aren’t hearing me. I’ve finally managed to get my pain down to a dull ache. There was a gaping hole, and I felt like I was constantly bleeding out. Now, finally, I’m able to get through the day without wanting to hold my breath and never stop. And then you show up. And you say all these things, and you initiate the bond I didn’t want to begin with and you … you …” She tried to form the sentence that would tell him to get the hell out and never come back, but the words wouldn’t come out. It was like her mouth refused to work. There was a part of her that was sick at the thought of him leaving and never returning. Could she really go the rest of her life and never see him again?

  “Baby,” Liam said again, his voice even softer. He reached up and cupped her face, gently raising it until she was looking at him.

  She made a choking sound as she looked into the eyes of a man desperate to make her understand something. “Don’t pity me,” she said quickly. She didn’t think she could stomach him pitying her, not Liam.

  “I would never,” he told her. “You’re too strong for me to pity. I am so sorry you have been hurt by the people who should have always loved and protected you. I would do anything in my power to fix it.” He stepped closer, so close she could feel his warm breath on her face. “I would destroy the world and everyone in it if it meant you felt safer.”

  Gabby bit back a sob and shook her head. “I’m not worth—”

  “You’re worth everything,” he cut her off. “You are worth anything, everything, and more. I don’t care if I have to walk through the seven levels of hell to prove it to you.”

  She dropped her eyes, unable to bear looking into his. She wanted to believe him but was so terrified to do so.

  “Look at me, Gabby,” he said firmly. “I understand you can’t simply trust me. Your trust has been broken. Your faith in people has been broken. I get that. But I’m not going anywhere. I’ve told you that, and I mean it. I will prove to you that I am yours and you are mine.” He ran hi
s thumbs across her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “I will screw up, and I will piss you off. There will be times you will want to throw something at me. But I will never give up on us, and I will never walk away from you.”

  “How can you say that?” she whispered. “How can you know you won’t get tired of me? I’m not okay, Liam. I’m not Shelly or Tara. I’m broken. I don’t know if I can ever give you back the things you give me.”

  “I don’t care, baby.” He pressed his forehead to hers and chuckled. “I wish I could make you see what I see when I look at you. Damn woman. You’re amazing. You’re beautiful and badass, and you take my breath away. But that’s not why I know I will never get tired of you. I know I will want you for the rest of our lives because I chose you.”

  She shook her head. “No, you were stuck with me through this whole supernatural soul bond shit.”

  “We are soul bonded,” he agreed. “But the soul bond doesn’t make me love you. I choose to love you.”

  Gabby’s eyes snapped up. “You can’t.” She frantically shook her head and tried to back away from him, but he held her tight. “You can’t love me. We’ve only just met.”

  “There are no rules to love, Gabby.” He stared at her for a minute, then his lips lifted into a small smile. “My parents taught me that. What I wouldn’t do to give you the kind of parents I had. I saw devotion in them. I saw them choose love every single day up until the day they died. And they weren’t perfect.” He suddenly laughed, and his eyes lit up with good memories. “My dad drove my mother absolutely insane. He was pushy and sarcastic.”

  “Sounds a lot like someone else I know,” she muttered.

  “Won’t deny it, babe,” he said, his smile still in place. It was a damn good-looking smile. “Let me show you,” he said, and the smile dropped away. His jaw clenched as he dropped his hands from her face and wrapped them around her before pulling her against him.

  “Liam,” she said, placing her hand on his chest. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to push him away or pull him closer.