Page 92 of Bound By Earth (The Nature Hunters Academy 1)

“Wait, you did what?” askedTara.

“Then prepare yourself,” said the Headmistress, ignoring Tara’s words. “Because the Elias we have locked in a cell is not the one youknow.”

“You locked him in a cell?” Tara practically yelled. One second, she was trying to keep up with what they were saying and the next she was charging forward at the Headmaster and Headmistress, to do what, she had no clue. Why the hell would they put him in acell?

Just before Tara was a foot from the couple, the ground began to shake so hard she stumbled and would have fallen if the Headmaster hadn’t caught her arm and steadiedher.

“Was that you?” Zuri asked theHeadmistress.

The woman shook her head. “He must know she’shere.”

“That was Elias?” Zuri asked, her voice rising inshock.

“Tara,” said the Headmistress, “I apologize that we’ve been talking around you. I know you are confused and rightfully so. I am Itterra, headmistress of TerraAcademy.”

“And I am Terrick,” the man said. “Headmaster of the academy and mate ofItterra.”

The ground shook again, even harder. “I don’t feel that I can say it’s nice to meet you just yet,” Tara said honestly. “Your sword-wielding chick here battled my friend and left him bleeding. Well, I don’t know that I can really call him a friend. It’s complicated. Anyway, she battled him and then snatched me away and took me through a portal to a mountain that she called an academy despite the fact that it looks like a freaking mountain and only a mountain. And now I’m standing talking to two people who are so pretty they don’t look like they are even human. Oh, and did I mention there’s also a freaking GNOME here? And now I’m being told that the guy that I … well … I … hell, I’m not getting into that. I’m being told Elias is causing earthquakes strong enough to shake a damn mountain. So, royalty or not, I don’t trust you.” She turned to Zuri. “Oryou.”

“You’d be stupid to trust us right away,” Zuri said. “It would suck if you turned out to be stupid. So, continue to not trust us. I don’t like having stupidfriends.”

“We understand,” Terrick said. “How about we take you to someone you dotrust?”

She didn’t know if she trusted Elias at the moment, but Tara knew she needed to see him. Knowing he was close by, it took all of her strength not to bolt down the dark stone corridor screaming his name to findhim.

“Please, follow us,” Itterrasaid.

Tara didn’t hesitate. She felt a tug in her chest as if a rope had been tied to her ribs, and it was being pulled away from her. She didn’t think she could stop her feet from moving forward even if she had wantedto.

They walked down the corridor for what seemed like a quarter of a mile. Every so often, Tara saw other lighted stone tunnels branching off from the one they were in. Then the tunnel opened up into a large chamber. Tara sucked in a sharp breath as she looked at the gold, brown, and black marbled walls that traveled up at least a hundred feet to a ceiling covered in lush, greenvines.

There was a huge chandelier hanging down, but it wasn’t like any light fixture she’d ever seen before. It hung from a thick braid of various colored vines bearing beautiful blooming flowers. The chandelier itself looked like twisted tree limbs that had been turned and manipulated until they formed a circle with upturned ends containing glowing orbs instead of lightbulbs. There were at least thirty of them, maybe more, and they bathed the chamber inlight.

Tara scarcely had time to take in the contents of the room because they quickly passed through it and took another tunnel leading away from it. This tunnel was better lit and bore a polished marble floor rather than the rough stone she’d seen in entrance tunnel. Tara heard running water. Well, not exactly running water. It sounded more like… Her thoughts froze as the group crossed under a tall archway and entered a circular room that didn’t appear to have a ceiling. All Tara could see above her was open air. And on the far side, running down the marble wall from somewhere farther up than she could see, was a cascading waterfall. The noise wasn’t so deafening that she couldn’t hear anything else, rather, it sounded like a muted applause. More of the glowing orbs filled the room, but they weren’t attached to anything. They were suspended in midair and went up and up until she could only see what looked like glowing dots the size of stars millions of miles away inspace.

“This way,” Itterra said as she turned toward another archway in the marble wall. That was when Tara realized that there were archways all around the circular interior, and they weren’t just around the base of the massive room. They were also going up the walls as though there were other levels to the mountain. Her eyes narrowed, and she saw that there were steps built into the marble walls that blended seamlessly. If Tara looked straight at the wall, she couldn’t see them, but if she shifted to the right or left, she could see them traveling up to the various floors like a massive circular staircase. She also noticed a walkway on each level that circled all the way around themountain.

Tara felt the pull in her chest again and realized her feet had slowed down considerably as she took in the interior of what she’d earlier assumed was only a mountain. She turned back toward Itterra and saw the Headmaster and Zuri standing beside the Headmistress, waiting on Tara to follow. She picked up the pace, and they all started offagain.

She didn’t allow her eyes to stray from the path in front of her, despite being curious because the mountain had started shaking again, and this time it didn’tstop.

“Is he throwing a tantrum?” Zuriasked.

Terrick chuckled, his deep voice filling up the arched corridor. “The knowledge of the soul bonded has been lost to us for a very long time. I am beginning to remember how very possessive and protective they are of oneanother.”

There was that term again, soul bonded. And they were using it in regard to her and Elias. When they reached the end of the corridor, a hallway ran left and right. Tara turned left without thinking about whether she knew where she was going. Somehow, she was certain Elias was this way. She pushed past Zuri and then both Terrick and Itterra. The tugging in her chest was becoming insistent, demanding her attention. She reached a set of stone stairs and began descending them without hesitation. The glowing orbs lined the walls here as well, illuminating the stairwell. Fifty steps later—yes, she counted—she reached the bottom. Her ears immediately picked up Jax’svoice.

“You’ve got to calm down. They aren’t going to let you out of here until you do. You’re dangerous like this, Elias,” Jaxgrowled.

Tara jumped when she heard an enraged roar reverberating off the stonewalls.

“That’s mature,” Jax snapped. “Keep acting like a four-year-old who isn’t getting the candy he wants and see what Terrick does withyou.”

Tara’s head snapped to Terrick, who lifted his hands innocently as if to say, “Whome?”

Tara didn’t buy it for a second. Terrick look controlled and civilized, but something about the man told her he wasdangerous.

“She’s here, Jax,” Elias’s voice was rough as though he’d been yelling loudly for a long period of time. “I can feel her. She needs me and I need her. Why don’t you understand that? I am only a danger to anyone who keeps her fromme.”

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