Page 75 of Cleansed By Water (The Nature Hunters Academy 3)

She took a deep breath and forced away her negative thoughts. She’d just have to take it one second at a time, as Liam had suggested. He was proving himself to her, one second at a time.

They went down a set of narrow stairs and into a corridor. Fluorescent lights lined the walls and harshly lit up the space.

Their feet echoed in the enclosed space and now and then the lights would flicker.

“Anyone else find the light flicker thingy creepy?” Shelly asked.

“That’s creepy 101 in the Creep Academy,” Gabby said.

Shelly laughed. “Creep Academy. That sounds like a school for future stalkers.”

Gabby tugged on Liam’s hand. “Did you go to that school?”

“That’s what I love about you, babe. You got a wicked sense of humor.” Liam sighed wistfully, not bothered in the least by her question.

“No, for real,” Shelly called back to them. “Did you take some classes on creeping?”

“Dude, Elias went to a town and pretended to represent a fake company to meet his chick. Ra walked right into hell and then bound his soul to a chick he’d never even spoken to. ButI’mthe creepy one?” Liam asked.

“Okay,” Shelly said as she raised her finger into the air. “I’ll give you one point for that. You three areallcreepy. But you’re also hot as hades so that sort of balances out the creep factor.”

“So if we were unattractive our creepiness wouldn’t be okay?” Ra asked his mate.

“Exactly,” Shelly said.

“Yep,” Gabby agreed. “Why do you think Ted Bundy got away with his stalker, creepy ways? Because he was good looking.”

“I watched a documentary on him,” Shelly piped in. “Those girls totally had to have gotten a weird vibe from him. Crap, I got the weird vibe through the television, and the guy is dead. But they overlooked their gut instinct because he was hot.”

“And what is the lesson you learned then?” Ra asked.

“That you might bash me over the head with a crowbar and strangle me, but before that happens I get to enjoy all your yummy muscles and delicious sexiness.”

Gabby snorted and covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

“Ra, would you be offended if I said your woman is messed up in the head?” Liam asked. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. She’s hot, but, seriously, that’s whacked.”

“Hot?” Gabby asked, her hand heating up in his palm.

“Ow,” Liam yelled and jerked his hand away. “Damn, woman, warn a man before you attempt to make bacon out of one of his appendages.” Liam looked at her and winked. “Don’t be jealous, Gabs. There’s no one hotter than you.” He raked his eyes down her body and bit his bottom lip.

“And if I were to say Ra is hot?” Gabby asked.

Liam’s head snapped forward to glare at the pharaoh. His jaw clenched before he finally turned back to her. “Message received, babe.”

Gabby smiled at him and gave his hand a squeeze to let him know she wasn’t mad. She was insecure, but it was something she was going to have to get over. Poking Liam in the process was just a perk.

She was certain the tunnel was going to lead them back to the United States, right underneath all the countries between them and the Atlantic Ocean and then right through the Atlantic itself. But finally, the tunnel ended at a huge metal door.

Professor Frost knocked and, a minute later, the door opened. A loud hum dispelled the quiet of the corridor.

As they filed into the room, Gabby saw half a dozen other elementalists already there. She recognized them from the various teams on the mission.

“How are things going in here?” Frost asked Professor Eddison King. He was a Tempest Academy professor, if she remembered correctly.

“So far Crey and Tinley”—King motioned to the pair who had their hands pressed against a massive contraption Gabby suspected was one of the engines—“have managed to warm it enough to keep running. The turbines are working, otherwise, no amount of their heat would matter.”

Frost nodded. “We got the gorge thawed, and the elementals are keeping it that way.”

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