Page 26 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

Aston flinched. Preventing him from leaving was one thing, but the thought that Rory might want to kill him was too terrible to think about.

“She wasn’t trying to kill you.” Tara shot Gabby a glare. “Regardless of what was said during your fight, in your soul, you knew she was yours. She knew that, too. And she still does. There is no way she wanted you dead.”

“I agree,” Liam said. “No matter how angry she was at you, she’d never be able to kill you. It would be like killing herself.” Liam looked over at Gabby and brushed a piece of red hair from her cheek. The gentleness in his touch was almost painful to watch.

“All right,” Tara said, clapping her hands together. “You guys fought. She tried to knock you on your butt. You managed to get out of Dodge because you thought that’s what you wanted, and thenBAM!” She clapped her hands together again.

“ARGH!” Aston groaned and doubled over before hitting the floor on his knees.

“I did not do that.” Tara’s voice sounded far away. “All I did was clap my hands. I didn’t make him fall over. Did I?”

Aston tuned out her voice and focused on the pain currently stabbing through his gut. He felt a ripping sensation inside of him and then something he thought he wouldn’t ever feel again. “Rory,” he bit out through clenched teeth.

“What?” Elias said. Aston felt his brother’s hand on his back and could see his shadow fall over him. “What did you say, Aston?”

“Rory. I can feel her.”

“Does that mean she’s in the human realm?” Liam asked.

“Not necessarily,” Tara said. “He’s been in pain since he left the dragon realm.”

“I’ve been hurting,” Aston confirmed. “But I couldn’tfeelher. Her magic, it’s reaching for me. And her—”

“Soul,” Elias finished for him. “Her soul is reaching for you.”

“Yes,” Aston answered, the words barely audible even to his own ears. He rested his palms on the floor and tried to get himself under control. Not to mention feeling her inside of him. He breathed in and out slowly and pictured her the first time he’d ever laid eyes on her. Rory had been astride the back of a massive dragon. His soul bonded’s black hair blew around her face wildly as her fierce gaze met his. Aston had known as surely as he knew himself—she was meant for him.

“I have to go.” He shoved from the ground and stood up. He staggered but got himself under control before one of the others could steady him. “If she’s in the human realm, she could be in danger.”

“There’s no ‘could be’ about it,” Gabby said. “If she’s your soul bonded, then that means she’s an elementalist. Which means her parents were killed by dark elementals. As it stands right now, she doesn’t appear to have picked a side. That means the dark elementals are going to try to recruit her.”

“And by recruit…” Tara said.

“I mean pull an Osiris and take what doesn’t belong to them,” Gabby confirmed.

Aston didn’t need to hear it. He knew exactly what could happen to Rory if he didn’t get to her before an acolyte or dark elemental did.

He opened a portal but didn’t have any idea where it led to.

“Focus on her,” Elias encouraged. “You can find her. Just focus on every little thing about her. And then let her soul guide you to her.”

Aston did as his brother instructed and gave in to the pull inside. Suddenly, through the portal, he could see a neighborhood. Row after row of identical houses lined the streets.

“That’s just creepy.” Liam stood beside Aston and looked into the portal. “I feel like any minute now all the doors are going to open at the same time and kids are going to file out and start bouncing balls at the same tempo while their moms wave from the doorways.”

“That’s where Rory is?” Elias asked.

Aston nodded. “She’s there. I just can’t tell which house, if she is in a house.”

“Let’s do this.” Gabby stepped through the portal.

Liam followed closely behind. “Dammit, woman. You’re supposed to let me go first to make sure it’s safe.”

“I don’t need you to keep me safe, water boy,” Gabby said just as Aston stepped through.

“I’m not talking about it being safe foryou,” Liam said. “I’m talking about making sure the innocent people on the other side are safe fromyou until we determine if they are indeed innocent.”

Tara laughed. She and Elias followed behind Aston. He closed the portal and then looked down at both ends of the sidewalk where they stood. A deep ache swelled inside of him when he faced one direction, so he turned his feet that way and started to jog.

---