Page 40 of Cleansed By Water (The Nature Hunters Academy 3)

Tara continued to force the dense earth away from the troll. It began sinking. It was now waist deep in a quagmire of soupy dirt. “More fire! More water!” roared Elias. Two streams of flame and one jet of water met each other in the center of the beast’s great head. The result was nothing short of catastrophic. The troll’s head made a deafening popping sound and erupted in a shower of rock and ice, flying in all directions. Tara threw herself down and covered her face with her arms. Even through her heavy clothing, the projectiles caused her to wince in pain. A moment later, there was silence. She looked up again and saw a giant, headless stone torso resting in the dirt.

“Whoop!” Tara jumped up and threw a fist in the air. “Take that, you icy bastard.” She went quiet when she saw the others staring at her.

“Is she always like that?” asked Lawson, who put his arm around Cara.

“No, just after battles,” replied Elias.

“You know what?” said Tara. “I don’t even care. That was my first real battle that I, you know, actually helped out in. I’m celebrating.” She let out another whoop of triumph.

“Okay, calm down, troll-slayer. You’re bleeding.” Elias took his sleeve and pushed it against her forehead.

“I’m bleeding and I don’t care, cause I just killed a mountain troll,” she sang. She knew the adrenaline coursing through her veins probably dulled any pain sensations she might be feeling, and that she’d probably be all kinds of sore later, but Tara wasn’t concerned. She just helped kill a freaking troll.

“We can celebrate later,” said Professor Warren as she opened a portal. “Let’s get back to the academy and lick our wounds. I think this lake will be good for some time now. Good work, Tara, but don’t let it go to your head.”

* * *

Gabby forcedher mind to be still. She ignored the voices in her head that screamed at her. You’re not good enough to be soul bonded, especially with someone like Liam. One day he will realize it was a mistake, just like your parents did. She clenched her jaw and focused on what Josie had told her. And prayed it was the truth. Gabby closed her eyes and pictured Liam standing there in front of her. She felt his foreign magic in her skin and the tug at her heart. When she looked for the origin of that tug, she could see a gold strand connecting her heart to Liam’s. Her first instinct was to grab it and rip it out like a splinter embedded under her fingernail. But if she did that, Liam would die. He was already teetering on the brink. But he’d used his last bit of strength to push his power into her, merging them, bonding them.

She should totally be angry about that, right? Or maybe not. Hell, she didn’t know what to feel. So, instead of letting herself explore her feelings, she shook her head and focused on the task at hand—keeping Liam alive while they were on top of the damn volcano.

Gabby pushed her magic into him and imagined her fire like a protective coating, encasing everything inside and outside of him so that it would repel the outside heat source.

“Damn, that feels good.” Liam’s voice, a weak whisper, reached her ears. Somehow, he’d gathered the strength to scoot closer while her eyes were closed. She opened them now and saw that his face was practically tucked into her neck, his mouth right beside her ear.

“What?” she asked, unsure how to process the fact that she could feel something coming from the bond inside her. It was affection … and something more.

“You’re fire,” Liam murmured against her skin. “It’s like drinking warm hot chocolate while sinking into a hot bath. Mmmm.” He breathed out and then whispered, “Thank you, beautiful, for saving my life.”

“You sort of made me when you demanded I touch your skin.”

“You’re not the type of girl anyone can make do anything,” he replied.

Gabby growled. “Can I take my hand off of him now?” she asked Josie. Gabby sounded angry, but she wasn’t really. She didn't have time to be angry. She was just glad he was alive.

“Tell her no,” Liam mumbled against her.

Gabby couldn’t help the laugh that escaped, even though she was still trembling.

“I’m not going to lie to your soul bonded, dick wad,” Josie said.

“Ooh, language. This woman is harsh,” Liam said as he stepped back. He lifted his shirt and invited Gabby to remove her hand. She did not notice his washboard abs at all. Nope. She didn’t even glance at them.Shouldn’t I be doing something right now?

Liam wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulled it away, and then lowered his shirt. He entwined their fingers, pressing their hands tightly together. Gabby could feel the magic pulsing between them, like it was jumping back and forth between their palms. She had trouble making sense of the sensation. The magic was …happy, she guessed, if magic could feel an emotion.

“Alright,” Frost said as she clapped her hands together. “First crisis averted. It went much better than I thought.”

“What,” Gabby yelled as her stomach hit her feet. “Youknewthat was going to happen?”

“You actually planned to let me get cooked alive, Professor Frost?” Liam asked.

Gabby glared at her favorite professor, willing the woman to tell her she had not purposely brought a student up to the top of a volcano to put him in harm’s way.

“IknewGabby would do what needed to be done. She’s powerful and smart,” Frost said. There was no remorse in her voice. “As much as you seem to need coddling, I don’t have time and neither does the island. We have to get the pressure off this volcano as quickly as possible.” She turned to Josie, “Open a portal and get back down to your mate.”

Josie was gone a second later. Frost looked back at them. “Gabby, I know you might be freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out. Why would you think I’m freaking out? Because I’ve been forever bonded to a guy I barely know? Because we’re on top of a mountain and said guy almost just died? Because he would have died unless I bonded with him and used my magic to make him fireproof? Or maybe because now that we’re bonded, I can literally feel him inside of me, and it’s pushing me off the deep end? Is that why you think I’m freaking out?” Gabby could feel herself word vomiting, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it.

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