Page 65 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

Gabby laughed. “Pretty sure you are downplaying the hell out of everything.”

Tara glanced at the girl out of the corner of her eye.

Gabby must have noticed Tara’s surprised look because she laughed. “You’re giving me the ‘you’re looney as a toon’ look.”

Tara smirked and nodded. “Maybe.”

Gabby shook her head and pulled something out of her pocket. Tara watched the girl peel the wrapper off a sucker and pop it in her mouth. “I’m not looney. I’m batshit crazy. I own it. Might as well. I mean, I’m basically a pyromaniac. How could I not be crazy?”

Tara’s eyes widened and her heart hurt. “You and my best friend would get along great.”

“Oh yeah? She’s a twisted freak, too?” Gabby rolled the sucker around in her mouth and continued to swing her bag of clothes.

“Just a little bit,” Tara said, holding her hand up with her forefinger and thumb separated a bit.

“I assume she’s an earth elementalist like you.” Gabby pulled the door open and motioned for Tara to go in first.

“No, just a regular human, as far as I know.” The girl must have sensed the sadness in Tara’s voice.

“Where is she?”

Tara walked inside. “I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Especially if you will get into trouble, but I’m a steel vault if you need to talk. Just an FYI. You tell me something that you don’t want anyone else to know, and there’s nothing anyone could do to get the info out of me.”

Tara eyed the fire elementalist and saw the confidence in her eyes. “For some reason, I believe you.”

Gabby grinned. “I like you. And I don’t say that to just anyone. In fact, I think most people need a good ass-kicking at least once in their lives.”

It was Tara’s turn to laugh. “Don’t I know it.”

They entered the bathroom and quickly changed their clothes. As Tara looked at her black cargo pants and shirt that identified her as a student, she suddenly felt as if she belonged here. And not just as Elias’s soul bonded, but as a student because she really was an earth elementalist.

“You look badass,” Gabby said. “I wish black had been our color.”

Tara looked at Gabby and her eyes widened. The redhead was short, but she was curvy in all the right places. Also, she’d altered her uniform, which only made her look even better. Her pants were ripped, and she’d somehow cut the shirt so that it was baring her belly button. She’d also cut out the collar so that the shirt hung off one shoulder. “How’d you get your pants like that?”

Gabby reached into one of the pockets on the side of her pants and pulled out a knife. She flicked it so the blade whipped out. “I like sharp things.”

“Good to know. And what are you talking about? You look great.”

“Red clashes with my hair,” she said, pointing to the beautiful streaked strands. Her hair was just a little past her shoulders in pigtails, which meant it probably hung to the middle of her back when it was down.

“You kind of have an innocent look if you ignore the slashed-up and torn clothes,” Tara said. “The pigtails and freckles make you seem safe.”

Still sucking on the sucker, Gabby smirked. “I like to be underestimated. And I’ve never been considered safe, not even when I was merely a regular human.”

Tara noticed the bathroom had lockers and showers, which made sense considering it was near the training fields. She picked a locker and put up her bag. Gabby did the same. Then, with one last look in the mirror to make sure everything was where it should be, they headed back outside.

Tara felt him just as they stepped outside. She looked over and saw Elias walking toward her. The black clothing gave his already lethal edge an even darker feel. He was yummy, but she was not about to admit that she might need to wipe away some drool. That would be unacceptable.

“Who’s that?” Gabby asked. “I hope you know him because the fire in those eyes is about to burn your clothes off.”

Tara’s lips quirked. “He’s an acquaintance.”

Elias heard her, and his eyes narrowed in challenge.

“I want an acquaintance who looks at me like that,” Gabby purred.

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