Page 61 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

“Thanks, Einstein,” Liam said as he ruffled Aston’s hair and walked past him.

“Could you kick him again later?” Aston asked Tara.

She grinned at him and nodded. “My leg tends to fly up at will. I’ll just make it a habit to be standing near him when it does.”

12

Tara tried not to fidget, but it was difficult when she was so excited and scared. Mostly scared, but the excitement ran a close second.

It had been five days since the heads of the academies and the royal elementals met. Like earlier that day, she’d spent some of that time with Elias, Liam, and Aston, as they showed her their magic and tried to get her to tap into the supposed magic that was inside of her. Other times it was just her and Elias. The more she was near him, the harder it was to be apart from him. Nighttime had become one of her least favorite parts of the day. Most evenings, she laid in bed arguing with herself about why she should not go to his room and beg him to let her sleep on his floor just so she could be close to him. Because that wouldn’t be pathetic at all.

She hadn’t brought up how difficult it was to be separated from him becausehehadn’t said anything and seemed to be fine with or without her. Tara didn’t want to come off as some needy, pathetic girlfriend. She never wanted to be the clingy girl who drove a guy crazy. And, yet, she felt likeshewas the one going crazy.

“Are you ready for this, Buffalo?” Liam asked as he bounced on the balls of his feet. He’d taken to calling her Buffalo occasionally. Apparently, he thought the name of her hometown was humorous, which Tara couldn’t begin to understand. She’d given up trying to make him stop. It only encouraged him to do it more.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she muttered. Her eyes wandered over the large open field the Terra Academy students used for battle training. The top students who had been chosen to represent each of the other academies were gathered together. They kept to their own particular elements.

There were four distinct sections where students congregated. Each group eyeballed the others with wary suspicion as they talked quietly amongst themselves.

Liam, Aston, and Elias were the only ones from different academies who spoke to one another.

Elias was currently meeting with Jax, Zuri, and a group of other professors. He’d pressed a quick kiss to her lips and then jogged off, leaving her in Liam and Aston’s care.

Aston seemed content to observe the new people while Liam jumped around like a boxer getting himself worked up for a fight.

“Are you ever still?” Tara asked him.

“When I sleep,” Liam answered.

“You know they make meds for that.” She motioned to his whole body.

He waggled his eyebrows at her as he said, “Pretty sure there’s no pill to treat sexiness.”

Aston chuckled as he shook his head. “There’s no point in trying to corral him in any way. Liam is a force of nature.”

“So you’re saying he’s a natural disaster?” Tara asked as she raised her brow at the bouncing water elementalist.

“That’s an excellent description,” Aston agreed.

“You two are just jealous,” Liam said. “Although, Buffalo, you’re pretty damn sexy yourself. Cut yourself some slack and don’t feel the need to make jabs at my hotness.”

“Why the bloody hell are you talking about how sexy Tara is?” Elias asked as he appeared out of nowhere.

“Dude, you’ve got to turn that down a notch.” Liam pointed to the ground that had begun to shake beneath their feet.

Tara walked over to Elias and placed her hand in his. She’d noticed that skin-to-skin contact often calmed him down when he got testy, which usually only happened around Liam.

“Everything okay?” she asked, trying to draw his attention from the water elementalist who was too stupid to live.

Elias finally took his eyes off Liam and looked down at her. “Yes. You?”

Tara put on her happy face and gave him a thumbs up. “I’m peachy.”

He gave her a curious look, but she was saved from any question he was about to ask her by Jax’s booming voice.

“Attention students.” Jax waited until the murmuring voices died down. Standing alongside him were other professors, some Tara recognized and some she didn’t. All of them wore cargo pants, boots, and sleeveless vests in different colors.

“We realize this is an unprecedented event,” Jax continued once the field was quiet. “And your headmasters and mistresses have informed you of what is going on. I will try and fill in some of the blanks, just so we are all on the same page.” One of the professors in blue cargos whispered something to Jax. The earth elementalist nodded and then gave his attention back to the students.

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