Page 46 of Veiled By Smoke (The Nature Hunters Academy #5)
R ory’s fingers grazed the timeworn surface of a Stonehenge pillar, the lichen rough, cool, and wet beneath her skin, grounding her to the present, to this moment that felt both ancient and terrifyingly new.
The air crackled—sharp and bright, tasting of ozone and old secrets.
It filled her lungs with a bite that was half fear, half exhilaration, making her heart pound so hard she wondered if anyone else could hear it.
Rain pelted her face as she breathed in, and the world offered her the scent of rain-soaked grass, earth, and the spectral sweetness of wildflowers blooming where no one had planted them—a ghost of hope among the old stones.
Above, clouds boiled in the bruised sky, purples and grays swirling as a storm brewed and the last streaks of sunlight barely clung to the horizon.
Wind snatched at the ends of her braid, slapped cold against her burning cheeks, and set every hair on her arms standing to attention.
She shivered, but not just from the cold; anticipation and dread made her bones feel hollow, as if she was just a vessel for whatever was about to happen.
All around her, the soul-bonded pairs fell into their places, boots splashing through puddles and sucking into the mud.
Kimba’s voice sliced through the building storm—smooth, commanding, the kind of voice that made you believe you could walk through fire and come out whole.
“Positions, now! Gabby and Liam, northeast. Riggs, Lark—northwest. Lawson and Cara, southeast. Crey and Tinley, southwest. Rush and Brianna, straight north with Osiris and me. Shelly, you’re at the southern stone—Ra will join you there.
Rory, I want you and Aston with Shelly to boost her strength until her mate can get there. ”
Osiris looked at Rory, his sharp eyes narrowing on her. “Remember, once Aurora is out, you can’t break the circle until we say.
Rory nodded. “I know, devil man. I got this.”
Gabby threw Rory a wink as she strode past, her hand welded to Liam’s like they were two halves of the same wild thing.
“Heads up, Rory. Your sister’s about to realize she’s not the only one in the family with a flair for the dramatic.
And if Viscious tries anything, I’m aiming for the kneecaps first.”
Liam grinned over his shoulder, his voice carrying just enough for Rory to hear, “Five bucks says she does more than aim for the kneecaps.”
“At least make the bet worth her while, Babe,” Gabby shot back, pulling a sucker from her pocket, unwrapping it, and popping it in her mouth.
Where the hell she’d gotten a sucker, Rory had no clue.
Perhaps Osiris had some devil magic left that allowed him to conjure sweets–probably to get Gabby on his good side.
Rory was still holding a grudge. Mainly because he’d stolen her dragon bonded. Sort of.
“He didn’t steal me,” Kimba’s voice filled Rory’s mind. “There’s enough of me for both of you.”
“That’s true,” Rory agreed. “Considering you’re a big-ass dragon . . . with literally a big ass.”
She practically felt Kimba’s eye roll. “Don’t think I won’t scorch your ass just because you’re about to meet your sister.”
Rory felt herself relax a bit at their comfortable banter.
And then she relaxed even more when she felt Aston’s arm wrap around her waist. He pressed a kiss to her neck and murmured, “If you lose your cool and go all dragonrider badass on Viscious, I might be distracted and not be able to help. Just a heads’ up. ”
“Why would you be distracted?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.
“Because you’re hot as hell when you go all dragonrider badass.”
Rory laughed and gave him a playful shove. “I’ll remember that for roleplaying time.”
Aston’s eyes smoldered as he leaned closer to her. “Seriously not the time to mention bedroom activities, Vixen.”
“You started it,” she teased as she looked back at the circle and the people getting into place.
Nearby, Riggs and Lark paused, their heads close. Lark’s hair whipped around her as Riggs settled his palm over her heart, their bond a visible thread of light between them.
“If this goes sideways,” Riggs murmured, “remind me why we didn’t take up knitting.”
Lark’s eyes sparkled. “Because knitting never saved the world, Love.”
As she and Aston made their way to the Southern point, she saw that Shelly stood alone —except, Shelly alone was still a force of nature.
Her fists were clenched, her stance wide, as if she was daring the universe to come at her.
Lightening streaked across the sky, its sharp clap enough to cut through the thickening magic in the air, and Shelly glanced up, her eyes appearing to glow briefly.
She lowered her head and met Rory’s gaze.
Her face was fierce. In that moment she looked more like a hardened warrior than a young adult woman just beginning her life.
She gave Rory a slight chin lift, acknowledging her as if they were old comrades meeting at a battlefield.
Outside of the Stonehenge circle, the kings and queens of the elements were invisible to the eye but not to the senses.
Rory could feel their presence—Nasima and Beval, the air monarchs, their magic swirling around her, no doubt affecting the gathering storm; Kairi and Ecthelion, water’s royalty, cold and deep as the ocean’s heart; Aviur and Agni, fire incarnate, their heat prickling under Rory’s skin; and Dhara and Beaumont, earth’s sovereigns, pressing down with the weight of mountains, grounding her even as her soul wanted to soar or shatter.
As they reached Shelly and turned to stand beside her, staring at the currently empty center, Aston took Rory’s hand, his thumb making slow, steady circles across her knuckles.
He dipped his head, his breath a whisper against her ear.
“She’s coming, Rory. You’re going to be reunited with your sister.
That’s freaking amazing. And I wouldn’t doubt if she remembered you.
You’re a little hard to forget, you know. ”
She managed a watery laugh. “First of all, she was a freaking infant when our parents died. I don’t think the long-term memory is developed yet.
And you say that like me being unforgettable is a good thing.
” Rory thought about all the things she’d done that she was ashamed of that contributed to her being unforgettable.
She didn’t want to be remembered, at least not by the people who’d seen her at her worst. Unfortunately, that included Aston. But she was too selfish to give him up.
He squeezed her hand. “I wouldn’t change a thing about you, or our past, Sweets. We wouldn’t be who we are without it. And I think what we have is pretty damn special.”
Rory didn’t have the chance to respond as Osiris’s deep baritone rolled out, echoing off the stones and through her chest. “Stonehenge is a net, woven by those who came before us. Each pair, each bond, is a thread. When Ra and Aurora step inside, you’ll feel the circle draw tight.
Latch on to your element, your bond, and hold.
The kings and queens will amplify your strength, but you must not break focus.
Not for pain. Not for fear. Not for anything. ”
Kimba swept past, her energy sparking and popping.
“Some of you know what it’s like to face darkness—the Devil’s Heart Forest taught you that.
The rest of you, trust your bond. The evil coming tonight is ancient, and it wants to tear us apart.
We stand together, or we fall. That’s the truth.
And if anyone hears me say ‘duck,’ just do it, don’t ask questions. ”
“Will it be distracting if I yell ‘goose’?” Liam asked, his stupidly handsome face lit up in a grin that had Gabby blushing on a regular basis.
Osiris pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed. “If you do, I make no promises that I won’t burn your ass later.”
Gabby grinned, bouncing on her toes. “You burn him, I burn you. Fair is fair, devil man. Now, if you two are done dicking around, let’s show the dark royals what happens when they try to mess with us.
Spoiler alert: it’s not pretty.” Her last three words sounded like a song as she practically danced in place.
Rory had to admit that the redhead had a wicked Harley Quinn thing going on. It was a little disturbing.
“I’m seriously glad she’s on our team,” she told Aston.
She heard his chuckle in her mind. “Agreed. She’s a tad twisted.”
Liam’s mouth twitched. “Watch out boys and girls, my woman’s about to turn ass-kicking into an Olympic sport.”
Gabby nudged him. “You going to give me a gold medal?”
Liam leaned over and kissed her cheek and said in a deep, sexy voice, “You got to earn it, Baby.”
Lark, adjusting her stance beside Riggs, called out, “If anyone needs a pep talk, now’s the time. Otherwise, someone’s going to have to hold my earrings. I’m with Gabby, let’s get bloody.”
“Holy crap,” Rory whispered. “I think soul-bonded elementalists might be even crazier than the witches.”
Riggs just grinned, eyes fixed on Lark like she was the only thing standing between him and chaos. “I’ll hold your earrings, your shoes, and your integrity, Babe.”
“Good, because I plan to lose at least one of those tonight,” Lark shot back. “Anyone who wants to corrupt a child deserves to be destroyed in the most ruthless way possible.”
“Damn, you’re sexy when you go into vigilante mode,” Riggs said, rubbing his hands together as if he couldn’t wait to get it on with her.
“Kimba, is there something in the soul bonded that makes everyone horny?” Rory asked as she looked around the circle at the males who all couldn’t seem to take their eyes off their mates. Even Aston was pressing closer to her.
Kimba laughed. “With this many of us together, and the royal elementals lending their own power, it’s making the guys a little high on the soul-bonded magic–which, I know each of you has experienced the strength of.”