Page 62 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

“I concur.” Rory heard Gabby speak up from behind her.

“She’s right,” Shelly called out.

“Totally broke the code,” Tara added her two cents.

“See?” Rory flung out her arm toward the girls. “They know.Theyactually have friends. I’m sure they have a book with all the BFF rules just sitting at home on the bookshelf, and I bet they would be happy to let you borrow it.”

“Now you’re just overestimating our organizational abilities,” Gabby said.

“But we can definitely work on a book,” Shelly offered.

Kimba turned to look at Rory, her large dragon eyes holding her friend’s gaze. Rory’s heart tightened in her chest because she saw Kimba’s kindness—the fierce protectiveness and love that Kimba had given freely to her since they became friends.

“I couldn’t tell you, little witch,” Kimba said. “I didn’t remember because it wasn’t time.”

“And now?” Rory asked.

“Now the forgotten past is being made known,” Sepheron answered. The dragon king turned to Osiris. “You have a choice to make. Return to the underworld and face Lucifer. Or come to our realm, learn of your past, plan for your future, and join us in ridding the earth of the demons that have escaped hell.”

Osiris’s eyes shifted to Kimba. And then he looked over at Shelly. The indecision was written on his face like neon lights on a massive sign in the middle of the dark.

“Look away, fallen lord,” Ra said, his voice dark. His eyes were still black and dancing with flames. Rory wondered if they would always be that way.

Kimba’s chest rumbled beside her, and Rory realized her dragon growled at him. “Make your decision. We don’t have time for you to act like a youngling who has had his toy taken away and doesn’t know how to deal with it.”

“Burn,” Rory mumbled as she, like everyone else, stared at Osiris.

After at least a minute, Osiris finally spoke again. “Fine. I will come and hear your so-called truth. But I make no promises about whether I will help.”

“That is good enough for now,” Sepheron said.

“You guys seriously need to up your standards on who you let onto Team Dragon,” Rory mumbled to Kimba.

“You’re probably right,” Kimba said. “After all, we let you in.”

Aston chuckled. “Nowthatwas a burn.”

Rory nudged him and smirked at her friend. “You’re still not funny, even if you did knock the king of hell off his high horse.”

“Your soul bonded thinks so.”

Rory rolled her eyes, then looked up at Aston. “You’re not supposed to laugh at her. It only encourages her.”

Aston cupped her face and gazed at her as if she alone held the answers to all of life’s important questions. “She makes you smile. Therefore, I will wholeheartedly encourage her. And she protected you when I could not. She has earned my loyalty, even if she annoys you.”

“You got yourself a keeper, little witch,” Kimba said. “Hold on to him with both hands.”

Rory heard a hint of longing in the dragon’s voice. She looked up and found Kimba gazing at Osiris. He was staring back at her, but his eyes were leery.

“This is going to be interesting.”

Gabby stepped up beside them. “Glad you didn’t die, witch,” the redhead told her. “We need all the girl power we can get with these bossy males.”

Rory nodded and swallowed back the lump in her throat. She’d never had friends, at least not before Kimba. The three girls who now stood before her looked at her with kindness, instead of the disdain she’d become accustomed to in her former life. The thought of friendships was a little scary, but it also brought her hope. Tara had an arm wrapped around Shelly’s waist, even though both their males looked ready to throw the girls over their shoulders and haul them off somewhere safer than a field littered with the corpses and ash piles from hundreds of dead demons.

“I’m back,” Shelly said. Though her eyes looked a little haunted, the girl held it together. “And you are a dragon-riding badass,” she said to Rory, “which means you have to be our best friend. We don’t take no for an answer.”

“She’s right. I was forced into it as well,” Gabby said. “But on the plus side, she’s only a little psycho, so it works.”

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