Page 20 of Cleansed By Water (The Nature Hunters Academy 3)

Shelly walked in and felt the enveloping warmth and the smells so familiar to her. She had the sudden urge to run through the house squealing in delight just because she was here.

Her mom walked beside her as they headed for the living room. Shelly took a seat on the couch. As if he understood that her parents would want to be close to her, Ra gave her hand a final squeeze and then released it. He walked around the chairs that were opposite the couch and leaned back against the wall. His eyes never left her. And as usual, the intensity with which he watched her filled her with warmth, a different kind than that provided by her childhood home.

Shelly’s dad sat on her right side, and her mom took the seat to her left. Tara took one of the chairs across from them and Aviur took the one next to her while Elias took up his sentinel-like pose behind the chair where Tara sat.

“This is all going to seem very far-fetched, and, frankly, you might think that I’m crazy or on drugs, but I need you to please listen with an open mind,” Shelly said as she looked back and forth between her parents. She stood and turned to sit on the coffee table so she could see them both at the same time and not feel like she was at a tennis match trying to see their faces as she spoke.

“All right,” her dad said.

“We will try,” her mom added.

Before Shelly could get started, there was a knock on the door. Shelly’s dad looked torn between needing to answer it but wanting to stay where he could see his daughter, as if she would disappear into thin air. Which, to be fair, was completely possible with the whole portal thing.

He hurried off and was back a couple seconds later with Carol, Tara’s foster mom, right behind him.

“Where on earth have you been, child?" Carol asked as she hurried forward and took Tara in her arms, hugging her as tightly as Shelly’s mom had hugged her.

“I’m so sorry, Carol,” Tara said as she hugged her foster mom. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Carol pulled back and kept her hands on Tara’s shoulders as she frantically ran her eyes over the girl. “You’re okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re not hurt?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Do I need to hire a hitman to kill someone?”

“No—" Tara started but then frowned. “Wait. What?”

“I'm sure we could find one on the Internet,” Carol said as she released Tara.

“A hitman?” Tara asked.

“I told you when I first met you that she didn’t take no shit,” Shelly said.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you, Shelly Smith,” Carol said as she turned her attention to Tara’s BFFF. “You’ve got some explaining to do, too, young lady. You’ve scared the pants off your parents.” She walked over to Shelly and pulled her into a hug. “I know they are relieved you are all right, as am I, sweet girl.”

“We were just about to get to that part, so excellent timing,” Shelly said as she hugged her back. “I love you, too, Mrs. Carol. And though my parents haven’t offered to hire a hitman, yet, they are happy to see me.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Now”—Carol turned to look at Elias, Ra, and Aviur—“someone needs to explain why my daughter and Shelly have been missing for over two weeks and why she has returned with three devils.”

Tara’s eyes widened. “Why would you call them devils?”

“Because no males that handsome could be anything but devils,” Carol said as she put her hands on her hips, glaring at the males in question.

“This is going to be good,” Shelly said as she took a seat on the couch. “If she gets out the paddle, I’m totally taking a video.”

“Paddle?” Aviur said as he glanced at Shelly and then back to Carol.

“Any time she puts her hands on her hips like that, it means she’s getting ready to get out the paddle,” Shelly explained. “Mrs. Carol is a firm believer in swatting a behind every now and again.”

Tara rolled her eyes. “You’re the only one who has ever seen her paddle, and she didn’t even use it on you.”

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