Page 85 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

“I have agreed to let her choose and I have,” Osiris said. “But for you to leave the underworld, there must be payment.”

“What is your price?” Ra asked.

“Your soul.”

“That would nullify anything I might do to change my fate,” Ra said.

“Correct,” Osiris said. “Your place will be with your ancestors regardless of your promises or sacrifice.”

Shelly sucked in a sharp breath. She stepped around Ra. “No.”

“Shelly,” Ra warned.

“NO! I won’t let you give your soul to him for me, Ra. I won’t let you throw away your chance at avoiding this place for eternity. It’s not happening so just forget it. You can have mine.”

Osiris’s eyes widened. He clearly hadn’t expected that. “You do not know what the consequences of your actions will be if you do this,” he said, staring at her as if Ra wasn’t even in the room.

“I will not allow him to give up his soul for me. I don’t care what the consequences are.” Shelly wasn’t going to lie to herself. She was terrified, but that didn’t change the fact that she wouldn’t let Ra make that kind of sacrifice for her. It wouldn’t be just his soul. He would suffer for all eternity when he died. She felt Ra take her hand and pull her to face him.

“I can’t let you do this,” he said, his voice quiet but firm.

“You don’t have a say. It’s my soul, my choice. Ra, if you give him your soul, I won’t leave with you.”

“Dammit,Mery,” he said in a strained voice as if she were torturing him.

“I accept your offer,” Osiris said.

“No,” Ra yelled, shocking Shelly with his reaction.

“Shelly’s soul will be mine. You will be bound together. Never to be parted. Neither of you can ever choose another,” Osiris said as he continued to stare at her. “If either of you gives yourself to someone else, your fate is with me.”

“You know what this means for her,” Ra snapped. “She can’t go back soulless. It will leave her open to the darkness.”

“So it will,” Osiris said.

Shelly frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Your soul is what maintains your moral compass,” Ra said. “Without it, the power that evil offers will be difficult, if not impossible, to resist.”

Shelly’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t want to be evil. How could she view the world in the same way as Osiris? That would be unthinkable. “So, you would get me anyway?” she asked Osiris. “I thought you were giving me a choice.”

“Bind my soul to her,” Ra said, finally causing Osiris to look away from her. “If you bind my soul to her, she will be protected.”

“If I bind your soul to her, it’s not the same as an elemental binding you,” Osiris warned.

“I don’t care,” Ra said. “I won’t leave her vulnerable.”

“She’ll be vulnerable in a different way,” Osiris warned.

“How?” Shelly asked.

“If I bind his soul to you, essentially making you one with him, then not only is your fate tied to each other, the order of your fate will be the determining factor in your eternity.”

Shelly shook her head. “Please speak in simple, human terms. My brain is too tired to decipher demon legalese.”

“For you and Ra to escape eternity in the underworld, Ra would have to die first. You would die with him, but it will have to be his heart that stops first. It will be his sacrifice to fulfill his oath. If your heart stops before his, then you are both mine.”

The look on her face must have made it very clear to him what she was thinking.

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