Page 26 of Cleansed By Water (The Nature Hunters Academy 3)

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Shelly said dryly.

Shelly heard a throat clear. She leaned closer to Ra and whispered, “We’re going to talk about this later, mister.”

His eyes roamed over her face, and he gave her a single nod. “As you wish, mate.”

Shelly shook her head. His words might have sounded as if he was giving her some sort of concession, but she could feel his irritation through their bond. When he said, “as you wish,” what he was really saying was “damn straight we are, and your ass is getting paddled.” Okay, so maybe that last part was just Shelly’s twisted fantasy. No judgment, people.

“Was that real fire?” Shelly’s mom asked, forcing Shelly to leave her fantasy and get back to the task at hand. “It could really burn something?”

“Yes,” Ra said. He pointed to a vase of flowers on the end table. “May I?”

Her parents nodded.

Ra took one of the flowers and held it by the stem. Flames immediately covered the base and quickly moved up until the entire flower was burning. Within seconds it was just a small pile of ash in Ra’s palm.

“Why doesn’t it burn you?” Shelly’s dad asked.

“Fire is the element that I have been given the power to wield. It doesn’t hurt me because it is a part of me,” Ra explained.

“I have it, too,” Shelly said as she raised her hand like a freaking kindergartner. “But I don’t know how to do anything with it yet.”

Her parents’ eyes widened. “You can hold fire?”

She glanced at Aviur, and he gave her a nod. “Yep,” Shelly answered.

Her parents didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. They sat there staring at her and periodically looking around the room at the others. Carol was still looking as cool as a cucumber. The chick had nerves of steel. After a few awkward minutes, Aviur spoke up.

“I realize I’ve been quiet most of this time, but I wanted to give Shelly and Tara time to explain as much as they could in their own words. I suspect you’re more likely to believe them than you are a complete stranger. But I feel now it is perhaps time for me to step in.”

Ra stood up and took Shelly’s hand, pulling her with him. “Let’s give him some room,” he murmured as he led her to the side of the living room. Elias did the same with Tara.

“Shelly introduced me earlier as Aviur, and that is my name. But I also added my title, and that is really the important part of our introduction. As I said, I am the light elemental fire king. My mate, the fire queen Agni, and I rule the fire elementals. There are three other royal couples—wind, earth, and water—that share the responsibility of ruling among their own elemental realm.

“While there is much I could tell you about the supernatural world, there really isn’t time for that. We have lingered much longer than we should have. I brought the girls here so you would know they are safe and alive. But they cannot stay.”

Shelly’s parents were on their feet in the blink of an eye. “What the hell do you mean she can’t stay?” her dad growled. “This is her home. Of course, she is going to stay here with us.”

“Now I’m concerned,” Carol said as she too stood.

Shelly felt Ra tense beside her, and she wrapped her hand around his bicep. This seemed to calm him, or maybe that was simply in her head because she just reallywantedto calm him.

To Shelly’s surprise, her mom’s response was less severe than her dad's. “Why can’t she stay?”

“I second that question,” Tara’s foster mom added.

“Your daughters are needed. Have you noticed the drastic drop in temperature recently?” Aviur asked them.

They all nodded.

“That was caused because the dark and light elementals are going to war.”

Shelly’s mom frowned. “I just thought we were doing a better job at recycling.”

Tara snorted and Shelly couldn’t help but grin.

Aviur shook his head. “This has nothing to do with global warming. A supernatural war is taking place, and we are trying to keep the humans safe.”

“All the more reason Shelly needs to be here, wherewecan keep her safe,” her dad said, his voice just as stern as it had been a moment ago.

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