Page 35 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

“I could kill you now.”

Ra chuckled. “You think I’m afraid of death?”

“Of course not. But what would your death mean for little Shelly-lu-who?”

Ra’s stomach sank, and he tried to keep his fear from showing on his face. Viscious’s chuckle told him he’d failed.

“Still, as I said before, I’m never one to look a gift pharaoh in the mouth. There’s no need for things between us to turn ugly. What if I told you I could easily provide you passage into the underworld?” The dark fire king grinned, and Ra knew his face had once again betrayed him. “I’m going to go out on a pretty solid limb here and make an educated guess. I’d be willing to bet if you could get into Hades, you’d be there already, trying to get your little bonnie lass back by your side.” Viscious tilted his head, and a wicked smile crossed his face. “Instead, you’re topside, killing my acolytes and wasting my time.”

Ra’s heart nearly stopped in his chest. Viscious could certainly travel to the underworld. He was the dark fire king. Of course, he could go there anytime he wanted. He could get Ra in, and Ra would be able to rescue Shelly. Then these awful feelings would go away. He would be able to get Shelly out of Osiris’s clutches and away from his lies. She’d be safe in his arms where she belonged, and he’d never let her out of his sight again.

“Ahh,” Viscious purred. “You see? I do have something you want.”

Ra didn’t answer. He waited for the other shoe to drop. What would the fire king require in return?

“I will make this easy for you,” Viscious said. “No need for petty back-and-forth negotiations between men of honor like ourselves.” Ra had to keep from scoffing, but this time he held his expression steady. “The deal is simple, Ra. I will take you to the underworld whenever you would like. You need only give me a simple blood oath. If and when I call upon you, you will answer that call and do whatever it is I require of you. No questions asked and no refusal.”

Ra shook his head. It was a terrible price, but not the worst the king could have asked. “I expected you to ask for lifelong servitude.”

“Not at all.” Viscious spread his arms wide. “You can go back to your life as a goodie-two-shoes. As I said before, it’s so much better when my servants willingly work for me. What kind of service would you offer me if I forced your continued obedience? I’d constantly be worried about your loyalty. Not only that, but forcing you would cause a stir from the light elementals, and I am not in the mood for another battle.” Viscious feigned boredom when he made this last statement, but Ra could hear the irritation in his voice. The truth was, Viscious didn’t have the means to go to battle with the light elementals, at least not at the moment. The Devil's Heart battle had dealt the dark royals a significant blow. “But a teensy-weensy one-time task? Well, no one could blame you for taking such a good deal.”

The thought of making a deal with the dark fire king turned Ra’s stomach, but what else could he do? Summoning a demon and trying to use its portal to get into hell was still an option, but not a good one. First, Ra had yet to figure out how to perform the summons. Second, even if he actually performed a successful summons, he had no idea if he could get through the portal. Demons came out of underworld portals; humans didn’t go into them. Then, he still had the issue of getting back out of hell. At this point, the level of fubar the situation had reached was beginning to make it hard to breathe.

“I’ll give you twenty-four hours to think about it,” Viscious said.

“And if I don’t take the deal?”

The dark fire king’s voice dropped, and the smile vanished. “Then we revisit option number one. I cannot have an enemy as powerful as you roaming around out there, can I? You are still young, and already you are a formidable foe. Imagine what kind of adversary you would be once fully trained? Best not to take chances in my line of work. I didn’t get to be king by being stupid. Powerful foes are like weeds. Best to pluck them quickly before they take over the entire garden. Don’t make me pluck you from this earth, Ra.”

Ra felt his magic attempting to explode out of him, but he kept it in check. Fighting the king now would only end in a quick death. And he wouldn’t risk that with Shelly still in Osiris’s clutches. “So it’s not really a choice at all.”

“There is always a choice, little pharaoh. You can choose to die, or you can choose to live.” Viscious opened a portal and motioned toward it. “Off you go now. I will expect you back this time tomorrow. If you do not return, I will know you’ve made your choice. In that case, I will hunt you down, and you will suffer greatly before you die. And who knows? Once I’m done with you, I might decide Osiris doesn’t deserve that little bauble I helped him obtain. Perhaps it’s time I took on another consort myself. I promise you, when I get my hands on your little fireball, I won’t be nearly as gentle as the so-called lord of the underworld.”

* * *

“Where the hell did he go?”Elias asked.

Aston and the rest of the group stared at the empty spot where Ra had been moments ago. Elias had lunged for Ra as their brother had stepped through, but the portal had snapped closed before he could grab the fleeing pharaoh.

“No idea,” Liam said. “I didn’t get a good look.”

“It was a forest,” Tara said. “But that’s all I could see.” There were nods of agreement all around.

Rory shifted beside Aston, and he turned his attention to her. She glanced up at him, and he noticed her skin looked pale and her lips were pinched tightly together. “His eyes,” she said. It was clear to Aston by the looks on each face that they all saw the same thing. “Something is very wrong with him, Aston. You said he’s becoming a demon?”

“It seems like the only logical explanation for the change,” he answered. “Though I would need to do more research. I’ve never heard of anyonebecominga demon. You either are or you aren’t. But”—he dipped his chin, and his brow rose—“we all know Ra isn’t your everyday, run-of-the-mill elementalist.”

“What should we do?” Tara asked in a shaky voice. “I mean, he basically said Shelly cheated on him…with Osiris,” she practically shouted. “How on earth could he think such a thing?”

Aston looked over at Elias’s soul bonded and saw that her face was red, and her body trembled with rage. Apparently the idea of her friend committing such a betrayal, or even implying she had done so, was not something Tara appreciated.

“Can we take this conversation some place other than the foyer of a witch coven?” Gabby asked.

“We might as well see if we can find what Ra was looking for,” Elias said. He turned to look at Rory. “Can you take us to the library?”

Rory nodded. “I can, but I will not let you summon a demon.” Her voice hardened with determination as she looked at Elias.

“Let’s worry about crossing that bridge when we come to it.” Elias motioned for Rory to lead the way.

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