Page 81 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

She turned her head and saw a castle. It wasn’t the crumbling remains of a castle, but a freaking, complete, looked-as-if-it-had-just-been-built-yesterday, medieval castle. Horses galloped in fields surrounding it. Men dressed in tunics and carrying longbows walked upon the ramparts. “Whenin Ireland are we?” she asked hesitantly.

“You’re very smart,” he purred.

“I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“You wouldn’t unless you’d been around several hundred years ago. I can take you anywhere—past, present, or future.”

“Why do I feel abutcoming on?” she asked.

“Because, as I said, you’re very intelligent.”

“So, give it to me,” she said and groaned when she realized how that sounded.

“One day you will say that to me and mean something very different,” Osiris said as he looked her in the eyes.

“Don’t hold your breath,” she retorted. “Actually, if you need to breathe to stay alive—and I’m not sure you do—then, by all means, hold your breath.”

He chuckled. “Come,” he said as he walked down the mountain with an ease that shouldn’t have been possible.

Shelly chose to ignore that he’d just called her like a flipping dog. She started down the path behind him, for some reason trusting she could traverse the terrain as easily as he could. He claimed he wanted to woo her, so surely that meant he wasn’t going to let her tumble down the side of a huge mountain. Her feet hit the ground, and she felt as if she were walking on flat land and not down a steep incline. It was more than a little disconcerting. “So, tell me thebut,” she said.

“Although I can show you these things, we cannot interfere or participate in the world. We are simply observers. We cannot be seen by anyone we encounter. And when we travel to the future, what we see is not something that will necessarily come to pass. What you see can be influenced by what youwantto see. But that does not mean it will actually be so when the time comes. Do you understand?”

“I’m intelligent, remember?”

“That you are, little one. That you are.”

Shelly didnotlike the nickname. Not because it was offensive in any way or simply not true, but because it was too familiar, as if he had a right to give her a nickname, which he most certainly did not.

She hadn’t realized he’d stopped walking until he took her hand, and the darkness swallowed her up again.

When they reappeared, they were directly in front of the castle she’d seen from the mountaintop. The large double doors swung open, and he began moving forward, pulling Shelly along beside him.

Once inside, Shelly couldn’t help but smile at the flurry of activity. Soldiers moved about in jerkins, at least that’s what she thought they were called, bearing the crest of their king. The men carried long swords at their sides. They must not have been readying for a battle because they wore no armor or chain mail.

There were women dressed in long dresses—some nicer than others—scurrying about. A few carried baskets of food, and others folded heavy strips of cloth.

Chickens pecked about, and horses were being led to and fro. It was incredible, like stepping into a history book she’d been forced to read—or more often, stare at in a stupor—in school. This was so much better than looking at a single picture surrounded by hundreds of words. If schools had the ability to take students to the past, their test scores in history would skyrocket.

“This is amazing,” she said in awe.

“I’m glad you like it,” Osiris replied. Though she wasn’t looking at him, she could hear the smile in his voice.

They walked deeper into the castle grounds, and Shelly tried to take everything in so she could tell Tara every detail. Her BFFF was going to be so jealous.

Shelly had no idea how long they walked around, but after a while, Osiris took her hand again. “I have more to show you,” he said, and then did his disappearing act.

When Shelly opened her eyes, they were surrounded by sand and people who looked like they were dressed up in ancient Egyptian garb. No shirts, linen kilts, and sandals with a cord that wrapped up their calves.

Shelly and Osiris were standing on something made of stone that elevated them above the people moving below them. When she gazed out farther in front of them, her eyes widened as she saw two huge pyramids. “Holy, Pharoah babies,” she muttered. Then she jerked around to look at him. “Why would you bring me here?” Shelly figured this would be the last place he would bring her, considering it would make her think of Ra.

“He may be of the Egyptian bloodline, but he cannot offer you more than words. I can give the entire experience. If you want to sleep in a Pharaoh's lush bed, then you will feel the softest goose-down pillow beneath your head. If you want to bathe in the Nile with the queen of Egypt, then the water will cascade around your fair skin. I will give you so many incredible experiences, memories that will fill you with indescribable joy.”

Shelly was surprised at the amount of desperation she heard in his voice, as if he actually wanted to give her the world. He didn’t sound like this display was merely due to a competition he wanted to win. Could the lord of the underworld really want something more than the torturing of souls for all eternity?

He took her hand again, and they were off to somewhere new. This time, she heard the sounds of a city before she opened her eyes. When she finally did, her mouth dropped open, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if it had hit the ground.

“What the…” she muttered as she looked at the hoveringsomethingsall around her. Cars? Maybe they were cars. But they were shaped differently, like ovals with a pointy nose on them. She rubbed her eyes and then looked again. They were still there. “We aren’t in Kansas anymore,” she breathed out.

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