Sealed by Fire: The Nature Hunters Academy Series, Book 2 Read online

  “Ra really will bring her back. No matter the cost?”

  “No matter the cost,” Elias agreed.

  9

  Shelly was about to kick some demon ass. If one of them tried to poke her one more time, she was seriously going to lose it. Hell, who was she kidding? She couldn’t freaking move. They could poke her all day long, and she’d have to lay there like a doll and take it.

  The pain was still present. But for some reason, it seemed a little less intense. Perhaps all of her nerves had been burned away, and she was going numb. Numb would be good. She could live with numb.

  Laying there as she was, unable to move or speak, Shelly had been doing a lot of thinking, reflecting. She was starting to realize her life hadn’t been full of much purpose, which annoyed her. What had she done in the eighteen years she’d been on earth? Nothing. Was that why she was currently burning in hell with demons poking at her? Was it because she’d wasted the time she’d been given?

  Shelly wanted a do-over. She needed another try to be better, to be kinder, and to give more of herself to help others. “That’s a little deep for a teenager,” she told herself. But teenager or not, she wasn’t a bump on a log. Although her mom had pointed out many times as she laid in front of the television that she very much resembled a bump on a log. She could have volunteered at a homeless shelter or saved a kitten or something. She might have turned the other cheek when the bitches tormented her. Okay, probably not that, but she could have planted a tree, maybe. Planting a tree was good, right?

  Ugh, she was going to drive herself crazy with all the what-ifs, should haves, and could haves. What was done was done, and she’d apparently made her bed and was going to have to burn to a crisp in it.

  It sucked she hadn’t gotten to tell her parents goodbye and that, despite the fact she could be a jerk to them, she loved them and knew they loved her. She wished she could have told Tara just how much her friendship meant to her and that she didn’t hold any grudges for how difficult Tara had been to befriend. Shelly had always liked a challenge, and fighting to have Tara as her BFFF had only made the victory that much sweeter. Shelly wished she could have gotten to experience a first kiss and get butterflies in her stomach because of a guy.

  She was glad Tara was getting that. If anyone deserved a break, it was her. Shelly hoped Elias would treat her right. Maybe she could figure out a way to haunt him if he was an ass to her best friend. That could be fun.

  Shelly felt a finger dig into her side. “I’m going to cut your damn demon fingers off when I get out of here,” she yelled inside of her mind. “You’re a dead demon when I get free.” She considered her words and wondered if demons were already dead. “A deader demon,” she amended. Now, if only she could figure out a way to stop burning.

  “What do you think Osiris is going to do with her?” One of the demons suddenly spoke. It had been a while since any of them had said anything.

  There was that name again, Osiris, the one nobody seemed to want to draw attention from. Could he somehow free her? If so, then maybe she did want his attention.

  Ra looked down at the three lifeless bodies then promptly vomited up the entire contents of his stomach. It wasn’t much. He didn’t know how long he’d been traveling through the underworld, but there hadn’t been time to stop for snacks. He knew the demons he’d slain weren’t really his best friends … yet his friends’ lifeless faces were what had stared up at him. Their blank eyes met his own, and it gutted him.

  “How long is this going to take?” the small demon asked.

  Ra wiped his mouth and then turned to face him. “Who are you?”

  The demon stood up a little straighter, though he was still no taller than Ra’s thigh. “I am Crescious. The ever-faithful, indispensable servant of our master, Osiris, the lord of the underworld.”

  Ra fought the urge to roll his eyes. “And what do you want?”

  “It is not what I want, but what my master commands. Osiris desires an audience. Now that you’ve made it, technically, to level one of the underworld, you can accompany me to his throne room.”

  Ra’s stomach clenched violently, but he kept his face impassive. The last thing he needed was to see Osiris. What he needed was to get to Shelly. It felt like days had passed since she’d been thrown through the portal. “What does he want?” Ra asked.

  The little demon laughed. “You are mortal. You are the ancestor of Ramses the great, and you have shown up in the underworld unannounced. Yet you ask that?”

  “I’m kind of in a hurry,” Ra said, though he knew the lord of the underworld didn’t care a whit about Ra’s priorities.

  “That’s great. But frankly, I don’t give a demon’s ass. Let’s go, young Pharaoh.” He walked over and grabbed Ra’s hand. One minute, they were in the barren land of the second level of hell, and the next they were in a room filled with the moans and wails of people who sounded to be in horrific pain.

  Ra glanced at his surroundings and forced himself not to react to the writhing bodies in the water flowing around the room.

  “Finally,” a deep, velvety smooth voice said.

  Ra snapped his head around, his body going on full alert at the threat he suddenly felt running through his body like an electric current. When his eyes met the soulless eyes of Osiris, the elementalist wanted to turn and run as fast and as far as he could.

  Ra had thought the demons he’d faced had been sinister. He’d felt their darkness, but they were nothing compared to the evil radiating off the lord of the underworld. If he equated them to a flame, Osiris was an uncontrollable wildfire sweeping across cities while the demons were minuscule embers in a small, simmering campfire. They simply didn’t even compete.

  “Speechless?” Osiris asked. “I get that a lot.”

  Ra held the gaze of the man whom the world knew as Lucifer or Satan. It was difficult because staring into the face of evil could never be called easy. Ra’s own spirit couldn’t stand the darkness looking back at him. It was a feeling he’d never experienced before and never wanted to again. “What do you want from me?” Ra asked.

  Osiris laughed. “Want from you? A mere mortal? What do you think you could possibly have that I’d want?”

  Ra shrugged. “I wasn’t the one who requested an audience with you. I was told you wanted to see me.”

  Osiris’s eyes narrowed and his lips tightened. “I wanted to see you because you are trespassing, and I don’t take kindly to intruders in my territory.”

  “I’m not here taking a leisurely afternoon stroll,” Ra said. “But there is something in your realm that doesn’t belong, and I need to retrieve it.”

  The lord of the underworld tilted his head, and his eyes took on a reptilian quality. “Something,” he said slowly, “or someone?”

  It wasn’t a surprise he knew about Shelly. He was the ruler of hell. Of course, he knew about everyone in hell.

  “You already know the answer to that question.”

  “She is here uninvited as well. You cannot simply waltz into the underworld and take something without so much as a ‘how do you do,’” Osiris said. “There are protocols, rules.”

  “Do you really follow rules?” Ra challenged.

  “Unfortunately, there are some rules even I cannot break. Believe me, it’s a bitch, and I loathe to admit it. Now”—he stood up from his throne—“I’m tired of this conversation. Who is the female to you?”

  “She’s a human who doesn’t belong in the underworld,” Ra said. “I’ve been sent by the elementals to bring her back.”

  “So, she’s an elementalist?” Osiris asked.

  Ra didn’t answer right away. He weighed his words as quickly as he could. Which would be worse for Shelly? Did it matter to Osiris if she was or was not an elementalist? He wasn’t sure. “She’s undecided,” Ra finally answered. “But she is under the protection of the royals.”

  Osiris began to pace with his hands folded behind his back. Ra took the time to take in the lord of the underwo
rld’s appearance. He wore black slacks, a black button-up shirt, and black shoes. His clothes were perfectly pressed, not a single wrinkle in sight. He looked like the main character in a mobster movie. It made Ra wonder where Osiris developed his sense of fashion. How did the lord of the underworld decide how to adorn himself?

  “That is a problem,” Osiris said softly, more to himself than to Ra. “She intrigues me. It has been a long time since a mortal female has entered my territory.”

  Ra bit the inside of his cheek to keep from showing any emotion. Emotion to one as powerful as Osiris would be considered a weakness. Any sign of weakness and the predator would pounce. But everything inside of him wanted to attack Osiris right then and there. The way he said Shelly intrigued him was full of romantic insinuation.

  “She’s a bit young for you,” Ra said as casually as he could.

  “I have been here since the beginning of time. Do you really think I will find a woman who isn’t young compared to me?”

  Ra shrugged. “Fair point. Still, she’s barely considered an adult in the overworld.”

  “Which means she can be molded into what I want.”

  Bile rose in Ra’s throat.

  “She really would be the perfect bride,” Osiris continued. “She’s beautiful … and young, which means she will be easily impressionable. I could fashion her into the exact consort I desire.”

  Do not attempt to kill the lord of the underworld, Ra. He had to repeat the words over and over again to keep from drawing any of his weapons.

  “So, that is your interest in the girl … as a potential … mate?” Ra had to ground out the last word.

  Osiris smiled, but there was no mirth in his eyes. “It has been a very long time since I’ve had a companion. It sort of seems like fate, don’t you think?”

  “And what about what the woman wants?” Ra asked. “Does that matter to you? Don’t you prefer the woman you take as your own to desire to be with you?”

  Now, it was Osiris who shrugged. “What does that matter? I can make her do my bidding. I can turn her into a lap dog if I so wish.”

  Ra chuckled, but he had to force himself to actually sound amused. “Surely that isn’t what the lord of the underworld seeks in a companion. A woman who would crawl to him with a broken spirit? A woman who would grovel? I daresay you could find plenty of those around here, already. No, that doesn’t seem like your type at all, mighty Osiris.”

  Osiris narrowed his eyes on Ra, scratching his chin as he did so. “I’ll admit you make a good point. A weak female would not befit one of my stature. She cannot be the queen of hell if she has no backbone.”

  “Perhaps you should let her decide who she wants to be with,” Ra suggested.

  Osiris turned to fully face him, his movements slow and deliberate. “You have interest in her for yourself,” he said, grinning. It wasn’t a question. “Is she yours already?”

  “No,” Ra answered honestly. “She’s never even met me.”

  “And yet you followed her into hell.”

  “She doesn’t belong here. I wasn’t going to leave an innocent female to this fate.”

  “How honorable of you,” Osiris spat. “Do you think that will endear her to you? Can you give her anything at all?” He took slow steps toward Ra as he continued to speak. “I can lay kingdoms at her feet. I can give her anything she desires. Precious gems, mansions, money, fame. All of it can be hers.”

  Osiris made a good point. What could Ra give Shelly? Would she even want him? They didn’t know one another. He knew he was drawn to her. Something about her called to him, but would she feel the same way?

  And what if, after getting to know her, he didn’t even like her, let alone love her? What then? Would he truly tie himself to someone without knowing anything about her? Did that matter?

  No, it didn’t. He wasn’t the type of person to leave someone in hell to be with the lord of all things evil, a fate worse than death. He wouldn’t do that to anyone. He couldn’t do it. No matter what sacrifice he would have to make, he would not leave Shelly in the arms of a man—or demon rather—who would use her and eventually kill her. After all, what had happened to Osiris’s other women? He’d said it had been a long time since he’d had a companion, which meant there had been others. Something had to have happened to them, and Ra didn’t believe for a second that they dumped the lord of the underworld and moved on to someone else. He’d believe that when hell froze over.

  “Do you still want to let her choose?” Osiris asked, breaking into Ra’s thoughts.

  “Will you keep your word and let us leave if she chooses me?” Ra asked.

  A smirk appeared on Osiris’s face. “I always keep my word. I will let you both leave, but no one leaves hell without payment.”

  Ra knew that was the case. He just had to figure out what he could give that wasn’t his soul. His ancestor had been adamant that he not give Osiris any of his soul.

  “Then, yes, I want to let her choose.”

  Osiris’s eyes narrowed and took on a quality that was so snake-like it was eerie. “So be it,” he murmured. “I must summon the dark elemental fire king. It is his spell that protects the girl, and only he can remove it.”

  “There’s no need to summon him, my lord,” a gravelly voice said as a demon and a man appeared on the throne. The man Ra knew to be Viscious, the dark elemental fire king himself. Though Ra had never met him in person, his name often came up during lessons at Crimson Academy, and Ra had seen many pictures. Powerful fire elementals can change their form, of course. But this particular form of a man was one the fire king apparently used often.

  “Beast,” Osiris snapped the demon’s name. “It took you longer than it should have.”

  “I apologize,” Beast replied, though he didn’t sound particularly repentant.

  “You’ve been looking for me?” Viscious asked. “I find this to be a happy accident, as I was hoping to speak with you. We have much to discuss.”

  Osiris folded one arm across his chest and rested his chin in his hand. His finger idly tapped his lips as he stared at the dark fire king. “What could we possibly have to discuss? Other than the fact that you dumped a mortal female in my territory.”

  “I do apologize about that,” Viscious said as he waved off Osiris’s statement. “But, I needed to get your attention. The human is but a means to an end.”

  Despite attempting to stay fully alert to his dangerous surroundings, the fire king’s statement drew Ra’s full attention. He didn’t like the sound of Shelly being used as a means to anything.

  “How so?” Osiris asked, his own attention clearly piqued.

  “She’s an offering to you, of course. I need you to join the dark elementals in battle.”

  “And why would I do that?” asked the lord of the underworld.

  “Because you need me and my contacts to open the gates to the underworld.”

  Osiris stilled at Viscious’s statement. Ra didn’t think either of the powerful beings was breathing. He wasn’t entirely sure either of them actually needed to breathe.

  “Did you say open the gates to the underworld?” Ra asked. He probably didn’t need to draw any attention to himself, but he couldn’t help but speak up.

  Viscious turned and seemed to realize for the first time that Ra was even there. “Why, hello, Aviur’s little soldier,” he purred in a voice that made Ra want to draw his sword. “Why am I not surprised to see you here?”

  “Probably because Aviur is always having to clean up your messes.” Ra’s jaw was clenched as he held the elemental’s gaze. Viscious was tall, though Ra was just as tall and bulkier in muscle. But that didn’t matter. If it came to a battle, they wouldn’t only fight strength against strength. They would fight fire magic against fire magic. And Viscious didn’t become the dark fire king by being weak. He’d probably forgotten more elemental magic than Ra had learned in his few years at the academy. Regardless, the underworld was not a place where he needed to battle the dark fire
king.

  “You would be wise to watch your tongue, young pharaoh,” the fire king growled. “I am not opposed to burning it out.”

  “Now, now,” Osiris said. “There is no need for threats, here. Ra and I have just come to an agreement, and I’ve given my word to him.”

  “An agreement about what?” Viscious asked, his voice full of suspicion and irritation.

  “About the female.”

  “You don’t want her?”

  Osiris tsked. “I didn’t say that. But where is the fun in simply taking something that is served up to you on a silver platter? Ra wisely pointed out that the best things in life are earned.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I’m going to allow the female to choose if she would stay here with me.”

  “You’re going to give her a choice?” The dark fire king sounded appalled.

  Ra shook his head. “Is it so novel an idea to want a woman to choose to be with you rather than forcing her?”

  “I just don’t see the point,” Viscious said. “He’s the lord of the underworld. He doesn’t ask when he can simply take.”

  “Which makes him weak if all he does is take,” Ra said. “Anyone with power and strength can just take. But to be chosen, to earn something, or someone, that is a true test of power.” Some of what Ra said, he actually believed. He didn’t necessarily believe the bit about being powerful if someone chose you, but he was parlaying with beings who only understand one thing, so he had to speak their language. In reality, Ra had learned from watching his parents’ relationship, that being chosen by someone did not make you powerful. It made you humble. To know that another person saw worth in you and would choose to give their time, affection, and emotions? Was there anything more humbling than that?

  “What is the agreement then?” Viscious asked.

  “The mortal female will choose which of us she wants to be with,” Osiris explained. “If she chooses Ra, then I allow her to leave and return to the overworld. If she chooses me, then Ra must find his own way topside, and if he doesn’t make it…” Osiris shrugged. “No skin off my teeth. I will be too busy with my new bride to be concerned with a misplaced fire elementalist.” Osiris turned his eyes on Ra. “You know how it is with newlyweds. They can’t keep their hands off of each other.”