Page 49 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

Ra simply watched the group argue. The longer they kept this up, the longer he could stall and attempt to come up with something to tell them other than the awful truth.

“As I was saying,” Gabby said loudly, interrupting all other conversation, “this is a judgment-free mountain. You can tell us all your deep, dark secrets. Judging by those dark circles around your eyes, your secrets are eating away at you.” She pointed to his face. “Which seems to happen when you start getting super emotional.” She paused and held out her arms with her palms up. “We’ve all got skeletons, Ra. Some are still decomposing and stink worse than others, but they all have the same ending.”

“Okay, didn’t see the pep talk going that direction,” Tara muttered.

“What’s the ending?” Ra asked. Despite the female’s flippant words, her tone of voice was pleading. The compassion in her eyes made him curious.

Gabby shrugged and slipped her hands into her front pockets. “The smell ends because the rotting is over. Eventually, you’re left with something that, though still dead, is much less messy. Because, let’s be honest, a rotting corpse is just gross. But once it gets down to the bones, you can deal with the skeleton without getting your hands any dirtier than they were. You can move forward by picking the skeleton up and taking it out of the closet, and you don’t even have to use gloves.”

“You should definitely still use gloves,” Tara muttered. The group was quiet for a moment before Tara continued. “That was a convoluted mess, but I think we all get what you’re saying.”

Liam held up his hand and shook his head. “Nope. I’m clueless. I mean, babe, how many dead bodies have you handled? Should I be concerned?”

“That’s not really what’s important,” Gabby said.

“Pretty sure it’s fairly important.” Liam held up his hands. “I mean, if you’ve got some awesome way to conceal dead bodies, then I’ve got a list of names that could use your expertise.”

Elias shook his head and snapped his fingers at the couple. “I think we’ve gotten a bit off topic.” He stepped directly in front of Ra. Elias’s eyes swirled a vibrant green while Ra watched his friend struggle to keep his emotions in check. “Mate, what the hell is going on? Just tell us.”

Ra clenched his jaw and took a slow breath. He considered the best way to tell them, but there really was nogoodway. Better to just get it out there and deal with the fallout. “I made a deal with Viscious,” he said, his voice low. “He can get me into the underworld.”

Ra didn’t look away from Elias as he spoke. He looked him dead in the eyes.

“Okay, I did not see that coming.” Liam sighed, drawing Ra’s attention. He watched as Liam ran a hand through his hair and then bobbed his head side to side as if he needed to loosen his neck muscles. Ra understood the feeling. Every muscle in his own body had been drawn tight since watching Shelly disappear with Osiris.

“Viscious?” Tara asked.

“The dark fire king,” Gabby offered. Her eyes danced with flames as she stared at Ra. Her shoulders stiff and her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

“What deal did you make?” Elias asked. “What did that wanker want?”

“A favor.” Ra slipped his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants and rolled his shoulders back. “At a time of his choosing, if he requests my help, I must answer. No questions asked. I will give him my word.”

“Wait.” Gabby’s eyes narrowed. “You saidgive, not gave. Does that mean you haven’t made the deal yet?”

“I’m going to him now.” Ra held up his hand as each of them opened their mouths to refute him. “If I do not accept the deal, he will kill me, or at least try. And you know how powerful he is.”

“No.” Elias growled and swiped a hand through the air. “This is not happening. We will figure out a different way. Rory and—”

“There is no other way!” Ra bellowed. The shocked looks on their faces, eyes wide and mouths dropped open, would have been comical if not for the circumstances. Ra rarely raised his voice. He rarely lost control. But with every second that passed, he felt as if Shelly was getting farther and farther away from him. Whatever it was inside of him that was causing his eyes to turn black continued to get stronger. He could feel it spreading like mold on an apple. How much longer until his rot affected those around him?

“I will get her back, and I don’t care about the price. I’m not saying this decision is right, but itiswhat I will do.” He looked at Liam and then Elias. “She is mine. She is my heart, my soul, my life’s breath. Without her, there is nothing. No color, no light, no peace. I am simply existing. I cannot live like this, and I cannot let her go.” He dropped his eyes and whispered, “I am sorry, brothers.”

There was no sound as they stood there on the mountain. Ra waited. Despite what Gabby had said about there being no judgment, he knew that willingly siding with their enemy deserved judgment.

“I would do the same thing, mate,” Elias said, breaking the tense silence. “If it was Tara, I would burn the world to the ground.”

“Damn straight,” Liam agreed. “Gabby would be breaking legs to get me back.”

Liam’s words cut through the tension, and they all chuckled. Even Ra couldn’t help but smile. He looked up at them. “I really am sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Tara took Elias’s hand in hers. “Gabby told the truth when she said no judgment. We’re with you, Ra. But before you go bake cookies with the dark side, could you give us a minute to fill you in on some things? Then maybe—” She held up her hand to stop him when he started to open his mouth. “Wait. I’m not saying we’re going to try to stop you. I’m just saying give us a little time. Can you do that?”

Ra looked at her and then the others. Their eyes each held an earnest plea, voicing the same thought. Finally, he nodded. “What do you have?”

“Dragons.” Liam raised his hands and flared them out like fireworks, emphasizing the word. “We got dragons.”

“Maybe,” Gabby quickly added.

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