Page 14 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

“Notyourlady,” she bit out as he took her hand.

A second later, they were in her room. He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Maybe not right now,” Osiris said gently, his deep voice smooth as silk and warm like velvet. “But one day.”

He was gone before she could tell him where to stick his smooth, silky, warm, velvet voice. “Bloody hell, Shelly,” she chastised herself. “What is wrong with you?” She thought about Ra and nearly dropped to the ground as a slice of pain cut across her mind. She gagged when her stomach again attempted to empty its contents. Thankfully, nothing came up. With the pain came a realization. She hadn’t experienced any pain the entire time she was with Osiris.What the hell does that mean?And why hadn’t she thought of Ra, until just a few minutes ago, a single time while she’d been with Osiris? “And why the hell did you give him a damn nickname, Shelly?” She leaned down and pressed her cheek to the carpet, closing her eyes as the mysteriously absent pain returned with a vengeance. But Shelly welcomed it. She’d rather hurt and despair for Ra than feel fine and spend time with the lord of the underworld.

Shelly took slow, measured breaths and tried to keep from dry heaving all over again. She closed her eyes and pictured the man who’d walked through hell for her. Shelly wondered if he was up there suffering as she did. She hoped he didn’t. Shelly wanted Ra to be okay. She needed him to be okay, even if she wasn’t. Her questions to Osiris about her soul were all legitimate. She knew that something had to be going on with the soul bond between her and Ra, and she also knew that in order for him to keep her separated from Ra, there would be consequences. Part of her was terrified to know what those consequences would be. Slowly, she lowered herself down onto her side and curled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She leaned her head down until her forehead pressed against her knees. She did not know when she’d started to cry, but suddenly Shelly couldn’t catch her breath as tears flowed from her eyes. They tracked down her cheek and dropped to her neck. She could feel them beginning to soak the side of her collar.

She hated feeling confused. She despised feeling out of control of her emotions, but most of all, Shelly loathed feeling the tiniest speck of sympathy for Osiris. He didn’t deserve any emotional response from her. Even hate would be wasted on Osiris because he didn’t care what she felt for him. It didn’t bother him at all if she despised him or adored him. He wanted two things: control and power. It wasn’t the same control that Ra needed. It wasn’t because, like Ra, he knew that if he lost control, he could hurt many people. “Stop this!” Shelly sobbed as she tried and failed to pull herself together. But she knew it was futile. She gave herself over to her confusion and the pain of being separated from her mate. Shelly would give anything to be in his arms. To hear his voice in her ear, to hear him whispering how much he cared for her and how he would never let her go. “I love you, Ra.” She hiccupped through her tears. “Don’t give up. Please, whatever you do, don’t give up.”

Shelly wasn’t quite sure how long she’d been in the underworld. But she was sure of one thing: she couldn’t stay here much longer. Her captivity was going to drive her insane, and who knows what she would do once insanity set in? Whatever it was, she knew it wouldn’t be good.

* * *

Osiris stood silentlyoutside Shelly’s door and listened to her sob. For a few minutes, he’d almost had her. He’d made her focus on something other than that accursed Ra. And when she’d been distracted, the pain she felt from their separation had been muted. That was a good sign. More than likely, the bond was weaker than it might otherwise be because it was so new. The connection between them hadn’t yet had the time it needed to grow so strong as to be unbreakable. Osiris hated to see Shelly in pain. Despite what she said, Osiris understood what love was. He knew it well because he’d lived so long without it. In love’s absence, it became easy to imagine what it must be like. Osiris simply needed to imagine the exact opposite of his current circumstances. He didn’t need to experience love to know that it would be something life changing.

But Osiris had to admit Shelly might be right about one thing: whether he was actually capable of giving love to someone else. This, he wasn’t even sure about himself. He’d be completely fine receiving it. Demanding affection and adoration was one of his top attributes. And he could certainly see himself demanding all of Shelly’s affection. Osiris would not want to share even a minute of her attention. But could he reciprocate? Who knew?

Ra’s name on her lips reached Osiris’s ears through the door. The lord of the underworld balled his hands into fists and leaned his forehead against the door. He loathed the fact that Shelly longed for Ra and not for him. Osiris hated himself for ever having once given her up. If he’d just denied Ra the opportunity to take her, then by now Osiris was sure he could have won her affections. Even the most selfless human has basest desires, secret wants and needs that Osiris could provide. He could give Shelly anything she wanted.“Except what she needs most.”A voice whispered in his mind. He pushed it away and focused on what hecouldgive her. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. This time, he’d be even more impressive, show her what her heart hungered for. Osiris would pull every weapon from his arsenal. Seduction, money, the most sumptuous of foods, whatever it took. He’d take Shelly anywhere she wanted to go. He’d give her jewelry so beautiful and priceless that men would die to protect it. Osiris would tempt her with inconceivable things onlyhecould offer. Osiris had to show her she would come first always, no matter his place in the underworld. Was he capable of that? “There’s only one way to find out,” he whispered and backed away from the door.

He frowned as another thought struck him. What if it doesn’t work? Then, and only then, would he have to take drastic measures. Osiris would be forced to exploit her need to protect those she loved, especially her mate. It wasn’t the way he would prefer to win her, but he would do it if necessary. Hewouldwin her. No other outcome was acceptable.

He looked at the two demons that stood as sentries on either side of her door. “Attend to her every need. Do not let her leave this room for any reason.”

Both demons bowed their heads and kept their eyes lowered.

Satisfied they would heed his command, Osiris left Shelly, disappearing and reappearing in his throne room. He would give her some time and space to deal with the emotions that were causing her such confusion. He could have cleared up some of the confusion for her, and might have, if she hadn’t brought up Ra’s name again. He didn’t like seeing her in pain, but he also didn’t like hearing another man's name on her lips.

She was worried about her soul, or rather the soul she shared with Ra. The separation between them was certainly causing her pain, and if left unchecked long enough, it could do some long-term emotional and mental damage. But Osiris had a trump card. He had Shelly’s actual soul. Once she picked him, he would be able to return Shelly’s soul to her and undo the soul binding between her and Ra. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just force it back into her. Now that she’d picked Ra as her mate, she had to unpick him to reaccept her soul. Osiris felt he should have known that would be the case. Yet when he’d tried to return Shelly’s soul while she slept the first night after her arrival, it had bounced off Shelly like a ball on glass. He’d felt at a complete loss. Osiris was the ruler of hell, the owner of souls, and he hadn’t known her soul wouldn’t return to her body once given the opportunity. “How does that happen?” He growled, once again irritated over the matter.

Osiris sat down on his throne of wailing souls and tuned them out. He didn’t have time to deal with their suffering. He had to figure out his next move. For the first time in his existence, he was unsettled, out of his depth. He released a deep breath and leaned back until he rested like a lazy cat draped across the large, ornate chair. Closing his eyes, Osiris focused on the goal: Shelly at his side, where she belonged. She simply didn’t know yet that’s where she belonged, or if she did, she didn’t want to admit it.

He tried to push away her words, but they kept dancing in his head. “Do you even know or are you just winging it?”Osiris wasn’t sure he had an honest answer for her. Did he know what he was doing? Ever since he attempted to put her soul back in her body, the soul had begun to fade.Thatwasn’t supposed to happen. So, maybe she had a right to question his knowledge. “I need a vacation.” He huffed even as he felt the urgency of his current predicament tighten around his throat. Osiris knew time was of the essence. A soul-bonded mate would never stop looking for his other half. Ra was coming, of that Osiris was sure. Shelly’s soul, which he had taken, was fading. Once it was in its final resting place, the soul was supposed to stay intact. Of that, he was sure. Suddenly, the ruler of hell didn’t know all of the rules anymore—if he ever did.

* * *

Ra crossedthrough the portal and stumbled as pain wracked his body. He doubled over for a moment, then clenched his teeth and raised himself upright. Before him stood a decrepit mansion, the headquarters of Blackhorn coven. All the witches that had fought at the battle at Devil’s Heart had been killed, so he wasn’t sure if any coven members remained. He was about to find out.

And if any remained, they would know how to summon the demon he needed. After doing a little digging in Crimson Academy’s hall of history, Ra had come across a book that might be useful in helping him gain access to the underworld. The book contained information concerning Aviur and past interactions with the coven. Though it had been a long time ago, Ra figured the location of the witches hadn’t changed. They didn’t move from their locations if possible because the home and land they lived in, and practiced magic in, absorbed their magic from the spells they performed. But none of that mattered at the moment, because he currently couldn’t breathe.

He fell to his knees then caught himself with his hands before he face-planted, vaguely noticing the way the dry grass stabbed into his palms. His stomach roiled with nausea, and his head felt as if it had been hit by a sledgehammer. Ra gritted his teeth to keep from roaring out in rage. Not because he was in pain, but because he knewhispain meant Shelly was in pain.

As he knelt, taking slow, deep breaths, another feeling surfaced. This wasn’t physical pain, but emotional. Ra suddenly felt guilt and shame, and he knew they weren’t his own emotions. He certainly had his own guilt and shame, but these felt different. Confusion intermingled with them. Ra dug his fingers into the ground and tried to focus on those feelings. He knew the emotions had to be coming from Shelly through the soul bond they shared because Ra wasn’t confused about why he felt guilty or shameful. Ra hadn’t protected his mate. He’d allowed her to be taken by the lord of the underworld. For that, he was entirely guilty.

But the emotional roller coaster going on inside of him now was not his own ride. This was definitely coming from his female.What did she have to feel guilty about? Or shameful?The beginnings of a terrible thought began to form in his mind. He instantly shut the thought down before it could take root. He would not torture himself with “what ifs.” That type of thinking was pointless. “What ifs” wouldn’t help him find a way into hell. All they would do was distract him from his goal.

He slowed his breathing and mentally pictured taking all the pain he felt and stuffing it into a box in his mind. Then Ra closed the lid tightly. After a few more heartbeats, he stood up, dusted off his pants, and then rolled his neck back and forth, enjoying the feel of the popping joints. When he was sure his emotions and power were under control, he walked to the door of the Blackhorn coven and knocked.

At least a minute passed before the door was finally pulled open. The woman standing in the threshold appeared to be in her late twenties. Her face was free of makeup, which only made her look younger. Her brown hair was pulled up in a messy bun, the style Ra had noticed many of the females at the academy utilized when they were sparring. She wore a T-shirt with the words “I put a spell on you” across the front and ripped jeans. As far as witches went, she seemed to Ra very un-witch-like.

“What do you want, elementalist?” the witch asked.

Ra wasn’t surprised she picked up on his power. It was pouring off of him like a cup overflowing with water. He’d been able to suppress the magic somewhat, but the pain he’d just felt coming through the portal had shaken his control.

“I have some questions regarding the summoning of demons,” Ra said without giving an introduction. The witch didn’t need to know who he was. It was enough that she knew he was powerful enough to cause her serious problems if she didn’t cooperate.

She snorted. “As if.” She shook her head. “I’m sure you know that messing around with demons wiped out over half our coven. We were foolish. Our demon-summoning days are over.”

“I don’t want you to summon it,” Ra said before the witch could shut the door. “I just need you to tell me how to summon one.”

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