Page 36 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

Cybil nodded. “There is nothing to forgive.” She looked back at Nasima. “If you need me, please let me know.” She gave a bow to Aviur and Kairi and then hurried from the room.

“I didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable,” Collin said.

“You flattered her, and she probably needed to be flattered. The males here aren’t dazzled by her beauty, or anyone’s beauty, because they’re all beautiful.”

Collin frowned.

“They aren’t cruel,” Nasima corrected his obvious thought. “But this is what they come into the world knowing. It’s hard to realize how beautiful something is if there’s nothing that challenges that beauty.”

The boy tilted his head as he pursed his lips. “So why don’t you create unattractive elementals then?”

“If I was the one who created them, then perhaps I would. But it is Mother Gaia who creates them. You would know her as Mother Earth.”

Collin shrugged. “Maybe you should mention it to her the next time you see her.”

Aviur chuckled. “She knows now,” he said quietly.

Collin’s face flushed. “My bad.”

Nasima shook her head and waved him off. “You have made a good point. Now, what we really need to know is what your sister’s coven has been up to.”

“I don’t know everything,” he said. “I do try to spy on them as they summon the demons. But it’s creepy as hell, so I don’t show up every time.”

“I can imagine it is quite disturbing,” Kairi agreed.

Collin nodded. “The demon they’ve been dealing with for a while now is called Dolion. I overheard my sister mention that he was a demi-lord. Apparently, that means he’s really powerful?”

Nasima nodded. “The demi-lords are second to Osiris. He’s the lord of the underworld.”

Collin shuddered. “I don’t know why anyone would want anything to do with a demon.”

“Power. Some people are drawn to it like a flower reaches for the sun. They don’t care how they get it or what it costs. And demons are powerful, but they don’t share that power freely. Those who summon them are blinded by their lust for power and don’t see that something so wicked could never truly share anything with anyone.”

Aviur made a thoughtful noise and then said, “I find it interesting that the demon they are dealing with is named Dolion. It’s a Greek name and it means deceitful.”

“Ahh,” Nasima said as she nodded. “That makes sense. If his magic is the one that was used to make us forget the soul bonded, I can see why it worked so well.”

“Why?” Collin asked. “What does his name have to do with it?”

“Remember what your aunt said?” Kairi asked. “Names hold power?”

Collin nodded.

“There was a time when even humans understood how powerful naming someone was. Their name had a bearing on the type of person they would become. A demon with a name meaning deceitful is probably extremely gifted in magic that can deceive even the most discerning of persons,” the water queen explained. “The reason we need to know what demon the coven has been working with is because the magic used to cast a spell caused a very important piece of information to be lost to us for a time. We must be ready and aware if it should happen again.”

“There’s something else,” Collin said.

Nasima didn’t miss the way the male’s eyes darted around the room. Whatever he was about to tell them made him very uncomfortable. “What is it?”

“My sister’s coven has also met with someone like you.”

The air queen went very, very still. “What do you mean someone like me? You mean a royal elemental?”

Collin nodded. “But he was different.” He paused, seeming to search for the right word. “He was dark.”

“Do you know his name?” Aviur asked.

“Viscious. His name is Viscious, and he introduced himself as the dark fire king.”

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