Page 44 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

“He would have to give a great sacrifice, and he would have to keep his promises. If he chooses to make a promise, then he cannot break it.”

“So, in essence, he has to be the opposite of what a demon is,” Tara pointed out.

Elias nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what he has to do. He has to show that he isn’t corrupt like his ancestors. Ramses wanted power, and it didn’t matter how he gained it. Ra said when he came back from the underworld, he knew he would do anything to avoid the fate of his ancestors. If Ra says he’s going to bring Shelly back, then that is exactly what he will do.”

“Wow,” she whispered. “I can’t imagine the amount of pressure he must live with. Wait…” She leaned forward and turned to face him. “What about his parents? Are they in the underworld? Holy crap, that would be horrible.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Elias said. “Ra hasn’t spoken about them, and none of us have asked. I imagine it is very painful for him to think about, especially if there is nothing he can do to help them.”

If his parents were in the underworld, essentially hell, she couldn’t imagine how painful that would be. It would be horrific.

“Ra really will bring her back. No matter the cost?”

“No matter the cost,” Elias agreed.

9

Shelly was about to kick some demon ass. If one of them tried to poke her one more time, she was seriously going to lose it. Hell, who was she kidding? She couldn’t freaking move. They could poke her all day long, and she’d have to lay there like a doll and take it.

The pain was still present. But for some reason, it seemed a little less intense. Perhaps all of her nerves had been burned away, and she was going numb. Numb would be good. She could live with numb.

Laying there as she was, unable to move or speak, Shelly had been doing a lot of thinking, reflecting. She was starting to realize her life hadn’t been full of much purpose, which annoyed her. What had she done in the eighteen years she’d been on earth? Nothing. Was that why she was currently burning in hell with demons poking at her? Was it because she’d wasted the time she’d been given?

Shelly wanted a do-over. She needed another try to be better, to be kinder, and to give more of herself to help others. “That’s a little deep for a teenager,” she told herself. But teenager or not, she wasn’t a bump on a log. Although her mom had pointed out many times as she laid in front of the television that she very much resembled a bump on a log. She could have volunteered at a homeless shelter or saved a kitten or something. She might have turned the other cheek when the bitches tormented her. Okay, probably not that, but she could have planted a tree, maybe. Planting a tree was good, right?

Ugh, she was going to drive herself crazy with all the what-ifs, should haves, and could haves. What was done was done, and she’d apparently made her bed and was going to have to burn to a crisp in it.

It sucked she hadn’t gotten to tell her parents goodbye and that, despite the fact she could be a jerk to them, she loved them and knew they loved her. She wished she could have told Tara just how much her friendship meant to her and that she didn’t hold any grudges for how difficult Tara had been to befriend. Shelly had always liked a challenge, and fighting to have Tara as her BFFF had only made the victory that much sweeter. Shelly wished she could have gotten to experience a first kiss and get butterflies in her stomach because of a guy.

She was glad Tara was getting that. If anyone deserved a break, it was her. Shelly hoped Elias would treat her right. Maybe she could figure out a way to haunt him if he was an ass to her best friend. That could be fun.

Shelly felt a finger dig into her side. “I’m going to cut your damn demon fingers off when I get out of here,” she yelled inside of her mind. “You’re a dead demon when I get free.” She considered her words and wondered if demons were already dead. “A deader demon,” she amended. Now, if only she could figure out a way to stop burning.

“What do you think Osiris is going to do with her?” One of the demons suddenly spoke. It had been a while since any of them had said anything.

There was that name again, Osiris, the one nobody seemed to want to draw attention from. Couldhesomehow free her? If so, then maybe shedidwant his attention.

* * *

Ra looked downat the three lifeless bodies then promptly vomited up the entire contents of his stomach. It wasn’t much. He didn’t know how long he’d been traveling through the underworld, but there hadn’t been time to stop for snacks. He knew the demons he’d slain weren’t really his best friends … yet his friends’ lifeless faces were what had stared up at him. Their blank eyes met his own, and it gutted him.

“How long is this going to take?” the small demon asked.

Ra wiped his mouth and then turned to face him. “Who are you?”

The demon stood up a little straighter, though he was still no taller than Ra’s thigh. “I am Crescious. The ever-faithful, indispensable servant of our master, Osiris, the lord of the underworld.”

Ra fought the urge to roll his eyes. “And what do you want?”

“It is not what I want, but what my master commands. Osiris desires an audience. Now that you’ve made it, technically, to level one of the underworld, you can accompany me to his throne room.”

Ra’s stomach clenched violently, but he kept his face impassive. The last thing he needed was to see Osiris. What heneededwas to get to Shelly. It felt like days had passed since she’d been thrown through the portal. “What does he want?” Ra asked.

The little demon laughed. “You are mortal. You are the ancestor of Ramses the great, and you have shown up in the underworld unannounced. Yet you ask that?”

“I’m kind of in a hurry,” Ra said, though he knew the lord of the underworld didn’t care a whit about Ra’s priorities.

“That’s great. But frankly, I don’t give a demon’s ass. Let’s go, young Pharaoh.” He walked over and grabbed Ra’s hand. One minute, they were in the barren land of the second level of hell, and the next they were in a room filled with the moans and wails of people who sounded to be in horrific pain.

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