Page 47 of Veiled By Smoke (The Nature Hunters Academy #5)
Rory felt her face blush and noticed Tara’s did as well. “Okay. Thank you. That’s enough of that. Moving on to that pep-talk about killing Viscious.”
“Good idea,” Kimba said as she took Osiris’s hand, and the two of them reached out with their free hands in the direction of the couples on either side of them.
The others followed suit, ready for action.
The ground hummed, a vibration that started at Rory’s feet and climbed her spine.
She heard the wind hissing through stone, the distant caw of crows, the nervous, uneven breathing of her friends, and the sizzle of magic growing thick and tangible in the air.
The world shrank to the ancient circle and the people she loved.
Then it shrank even more to the spot where she hoped her sister would soon appear.
Suddenly, Shelly straightened as a portal blossomed into being, its edges sparking blue and white. The temperature dropped even colder, the sky bruised even darker, and electricity ran through the air, raising goosebumps along Rory’s arms.
Ra stepped through first, his tan face carved from granite, resolution and regret fighting for space in his black eyes. A young girl followed, and Rory gasped as she saw a face that resembled her own.
“That’s her,” she whispered, forcing her feet to stay in place despite the driving need in her to run to her sister and get her to safety.
Her sister was flanked by Penny and two other women that Rory didn’t recognize.
One, the younger one, was definitely a witch.
Rory could feel her magic. The older woman was simply human.
Although she was older, the way she moved towards Aurora as if to shield her made it clear she was tough.
Aurora moved like she was walking through a dream she didn’t quite trust, her eyes drinking in the stones, the people, the storm gathering above them.
Rory’s breath snagged in her chest as she watched the family member that had been stolen from her–a relationship she’d been robbed of because of an evil witch with her own agenda.
She couldn’t stop herself from staring at her sister, desperate for the sight of her, willing Aurora to look her way, to see her, not just as another person in the circle, but as blood, as family.
As if drawn by some magnetic pull, Aurora’s gaze snapped to Rory and held.
For a moment—one, two heartbeats—Rory saw a flicker of something in her sister’s eyes.
Recognition. Confusion. Then, a spark of hope.
Aurora’s lips parted, her breath quickening, and Rory felt it—something old and unbreakable stretching between them, a bond too strong for time or pain or even magic to sever.
“Aurora,” she called out, nearly moving forward.
“Rory, don’t you dare move,” Kimba shouted, and it froze her in place.
Aston’s hand was still in hers, and she squeezed so hard she might’ve cut off his circulation.
“She sees me,” Rory whispered, voice trembling with awe and grief and love all tangled together.
“Aston, she knows. She knows I’m not just— She knows.
” Her mind was repeating the same thing over and over again because all she could think was that her sister saw something in Rory that called to her.
Of all the people in the circle, Aurora looked at her.
Aston’s eyes glimmered with pride. “Of course, she does. You’re sisters. No amount of time apart could change that.”
Rory wanted to run to her, to wrap her arms around her sister and promise her that nothing—no darkness, no devil, no Viscious—could keep her away again. But the circle was set, the pattern in motion, and all she could do was hold her ground and hope.
Kimba’s voice cut through the thickening tension.
“Everyone but Ra and Aurora, step back until you’re just outside of the stones.
Move now. No arguments, no heroics, and for the love of everything, don’t trip on any rocks.
Penny, get those females with you out of here.
” She swiped a hand in the air, opening a portal next to her.
“We can’t be worrying about two witches and a human when we need to be focused on trapping Viscious. As soon as we’re good, we’ll call you.”
The older woman started to speak as she looked back at Aurora, but Penny wrapped an arm around her, speaking to her softly as she and the other witch went through the portal. It snapped closed. And Kimba’s attention was back on the group.
The pairs obeyed the soul-bonded queen, their boots squelching in the wet grass, the ring of living magic growing tighter around the ancient structure. Rory hesitated, caught in that moment with Aurora, her heart in her throat.
Then, Aston tugged her gently, his voice a murmur, “We’ll get her back, Rory. I promise. Now move, before Kimba turns you into a frog.”
Rory snorted, the sound half a laugh and half a sob. “She wouldn’t dare. I’m her favorite.”
Aston grinned. “You keep telling yourself that, Love.”
She stepped back, feeling the circle of magic pulse encompassing Ra and Aurora. Rain stung her cheeks, and somewhere overhead, thunder rolled—a warning and a promise, the sky itself bearing witness to what was about to unfold.
Settling into her position beside Aston, Rory looked around at the faces of her friends, her family, and the soul-bonded pairs who would stand with her against the evil facing them.
The stones shimmered, catching stray lightning in their grooves, and the air pressed in, heavy with magic, hope, and the desperate certainty that tonight, everything would change.
As the circle closed and the world held its breath, Rory knew, bone-deep, that the thread tying her to her sister would not break. Not now. Not ever.
And in that breath before the storm, Rory finally believed: together, they would heal from all the pain they’d experienced in their lives.
S helly’s body shivered from the rain and cold, her hands balled so tight the knuckles ached.
The world felt too loud and too quiet all at once.
She could feel the magic humming through the ley lines beneath her feet, thrumming up her legs, crawling beneath her skin like a promise and a threat.
She’d never been afraid of a fight, never backed down from a challenge, but this—this was different.
This was Ra’s soul on the line, her soul, and the kind of darkness that didn’t just swallow you whole, but spat you out changed, broken.
Every breath was a struggle, the air thick with moisture, power and the faint, ever-present tang of stone and moss and ancient awareness.
In her stressed state, she bit the inside of her cheek and tasted iron on her tongue—fear, maybe; or maybe the anticipation of what was about to happen was eating her from the inside out.
The wind knifed through the stones, tugging at her hair, sliding under her jacket, making her ache down to her bones, but some of that pain had nothing to do with the cold.
Her eyes moved around the circle, taking in her friends—their faces set, some pale with nerves, others grim and determined.
Her neck turned directly to her right, and there stood Rory, with Aston at her side, her eyes wide and shining in the growing gloom.
Gabby shifted from foot to foot like a caged beast ready to be let loose on her prey, Liam at her side, the two of them bristling with barely-contained energy.
Even the elementals, the kings and queens hidden in plain sight, seemed to make the air denser, heavier, as if the whole world was waiting for a verdict.
But Shelly’s eyes kept drifting to the center of the circle, to where Ra stood, his back ramrod straight, shoulders squared, every line of him screaming tension and pain and something else—resignation, maybe, or anticipation.
She could feel him through the tie that bound them–a wild, desperate pulse that was both a comfort and a torment.
He didn’t look back, didn’t need to. She could sense him in her bones, in that secret place their bond lived and breathed.
But tonight, the bond was electric, raw and untested, and she’d never used their combined soul magic in a way that mattered this much.
Not with the fate of his eternity hanging in the balance.
Shelly’s mind raced, running every scenario, every possible failure.
What if we’re not strong enough? What if I falter, even for a second?
What if all these people—elementals, soul-bonded pairs, kings and queens—what if we’re still not enough, and Viscious wins?
What if I lose Ra? That thought alone made her stomach clench, and a cold sweat broke out along her spine.
She remembered all too vividly what hell felt like—the endless heat, the suffocating evil that fed the darkness, the sense of feeling utterly stuck with no way out.
The first time, she hadn’t known Ra was coming for her–fighting his way through the levels of hell, putting his life on the line for a girl he didn’t even know.
The second time, she’d felt Ra suffering at their separation and his need to get her back again.
This time, however, they were one, soul-bonded, incomplete without each other.
When he’d gotten her back, he’d sworn he’d never let her go again.
They hadn’t expected such a request from the dark fire king, something that might separate them regardless of what they wanted or needed.
Tonight, there were too many unknowns, too many ways for victory to slip through their fingers.
A warm hand slid into hers, startling her out of her spiral. When she looked down, nothing was there. Her hand was empty. She looked up to see if Ra was somehow doing something, but he was focused on Aurora. Then her eyes shifted to her best friend, Tara. She had a small smirk on her face.
“I’ve figured out that when we’re using our magic all joined like this, we can communicate,” Tara’s voice filled her mind.