Page 9 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

“That”—Tara pointed a fry at Gabby—“is on point. Shelly won’t sit around waiting to be rescued.”

“There is no way out of hell unless Osiris wants to let you out,” Elias said, his voice quiet. Tara got the impression that he was trying to keep his voice from carrying to where Ra sat. “Waiting around to be rescued is heronlyoption.”

“Shelly won’t accept that,” said Tara. “She’ll create another option.”

Gabby raised a brow at Elias. “You’re totally dragging down my battle speech. Thanks for that.”

Gabby held a fork in one hand, and Liam reached over, placing his hand around hers. He lifted the fork to his mouth and took a quick bite of the chicken strip hanging off of it, then darted out of the way. Gabby swung her other hand around to slap him, but she wasn’t quick enough. Liam had obviously learned when to get out of the line of fire. Pun intended.

“Do you want to be fried in your sleep?” Elias chuckled. He wrapped an arm around Tara and pulled her closer to his side. She got the distinct impression that her man was trying to make a point that he could touch Tara without provoking an attack. Then again, Elias didn’t get turned on by aggravating the crap out of her.

Liam just grinned his trademark smirk. “The hotter she gets, the better,” he practically purred.

Gabby snorted. “You are so weird.”

“And yet you love me,” Liam pointed out. “What does that say about you, babe?”

“That I was dropped on my head one-too-many times as a child.”

Elias laughed, and Tara couldn’t help but smile. She also couldn’t help but think about how Shelly would thrive in this kind of conversation. Bantering was her specialty. She loved to push people’s buttons. And she was good at it. In the past, it had very much annoyed Tara. But now, she’d give anything to have Shelly next to her, prodding her about no longer having an impenetrable hymen or some other such ridiculousness.

“We will get her back,” Elias whispered, leaned down next to her ear. His warm breath caressed Tara’s skin, and she leaned into him, taking comfort in his proximity. “Trust me.”

“I do,” she whispered back. “But I can’t help worrying. And I know worrying won’t do a damn thing to help. So we’ve got to come up with a plan.”

Liam rubbed his hands together and leaned across the table until he was about ten inches from their faces. “Now we’re talking.”

Tara pulled her head away. “You realize that was a private conversation, right? There are such things as boundaries.”

“He doesn’t understand boundaries,” said Gabby. “He’s like one of those dogs that tries to get right up in your face so it can lick you in the mouth.”

Tara pulled a face. “Eww. Don’t give me that visual.”

Liam waved them both off. “If it was a private conversation, you would have taken it somewhere private.”

“He’s got a point,” Gabby said, her mouth full of chicken.

Tara frowned. “You don’t get to side with him. It’s in the girl code.”

Gabby held up her hands. “My bad. I’ve never had girlfriends. I didn’t know there was a code.”

“There is. Rule number one: Chicks before d—”

“Eeehhh!” Elias made a sound like a loud buzzer. “That’s quite enough, my love.”

“Well, you get the picture,” said Tara. “I’ll get you a copy of the code so you can memorize the rules. It’s published and everything.”

“Forget your code,” said Liam. “Besides, boundaries are for people who have something to hide.”

“Okay, on that one, he’s definitely wrong.” Gabby nodded toward her bonded. “I have very strong boundaries. I have nothing to hide. I just don’t want everyone’s crap in my yard.”

“Exactly,” said Tara.

“Argh,” Liam growled in frustration. “Who cares about your code, your boundaries, your privacy, or whatever? Let’s get back to the planning. How are we busting into hell and then the dragon realm? I vote we find a demon and blackmail them.”

* * *

Ra triedto tune out the voices of his brothers and their women, but every time they said Shelly’s name, his attention snapped back to the group, though his face and body remained completely still. He was desperate for any news of her. When he wasn’t quietly brooding, Ra spent his time knocking down the doors of every headmaster and headmistress in each of the elemental schools. He’d even sought the attention of the royals, Aviur included, despite his desire to strangle the fire king. Ra couldn’t forgive Aviur for shutting down his ability to enter the underworld.

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