Page 49 of Veiled By Smoke (The Nature Hunters Academy #5)
“As light reveals what hides in the shadows, so shall the actions of a man reveal what hides in his heart.” ~ Ra
T he air inside the stone circle was so thick with magic that Ra could barely breathe.
Every lungful tasted of ancient earth, the fizzle of lightning, and the metallic tang of fear and anticipation.
His palms were slick, and his heart was a frenzied drumbeat in his chest as the ritual light from the soul-bonded magic flashed and shivered across his skin.
The golden cord now encircled the stones, humming with power, each note vibrating up through his boots and into his bones.
Aurora stood surprisingly steady at his side for one so young, her presence a strange comfort and a raw wound at the same time.
He could feel the blood oath—a hungry, living thing—coiling tighter inside him, twisting, pulling him toward the center, toward Viscious.
The promise he’d made was a chain around his soul, and the closer this moment came, the more it burned.
A ripple of unnatural heat swept the circle, setting the hairs on Ra’s arms prickling.
Then a portal tore itself open in the air, a jagged wound of black shot with violet light.
Viscious stepped through, boots smashing on the soaked grass, head held high, a smirk curving his mouth.
Shadows clung to him like a cloak, eyes burning with dark delight as he surveyed the scene.
He stopped, twenty feet away from Ra and Aurora, his gaze flicking over them with a predator’s lazy confidence.
Then he took in the circle—Osiris and Kimba front and center, white light pouring off them in waves, the soul-bonded elementalists around the ring, their joined hands glowing, the golden cord of magic wrapped around every ancient stone.
Viscious’s nostrils flared, lips peeling back in a sneer.
“Well,” he drawled, his voice smooth as warm honey, “isn’t this precious?
The last stand of the elemental saints, I mean souls.
I must say, Ra, you have a flair for the dramatic.
I expected more subtlety from you. And yet here we are—an audience, a stage, and a sacrificial lamb.
” He smirked at Aurora, who met his gaze with silent boldness.
Ra felt the blood oath tug harder, a physical force now, like hands at his back shoving him forward.
His skin crawled, his soul howling in protest. The others began their chant, the words ancient and low, twisting around the circle, the power building—a white-hot roar beneath the surface of the world.
The royal elementals remained hidden, their strength threading through the ritual, but Viscious’s gaze slid past them without so much as a flickering of acknowledgment.
Viscious paced, circling, his boots leaving deep impressions in the sodden ground.
His voice rose, arrogant and gloating. “Did you really think you could outmaneuver me with tricks and borrowed power? You’ve always been so predictable, Ra.
Girl gets taken to underworld, you go rescue her, oh and fall in love.
Girl gets taken to hell again, guess what?
You head off to attempt to rescue her again!
Plot twist, another girl is in danger, and now we’re back to predictable again, because here you are attempting to rescue her again.
A bleeding heart, a misplaced sense of loyalty.
Did you ever think about what it means to win?
Or have you always been content to play the martyr? ”
His gaze flicked to the soul-bonded pairs, lips curling.
“Look at you all—so eager to play hero, to stand in the way of progress. You should be thanking me, should be thanking all the dark royals. We have united the elements. We were weak while separated, but look at what we’ve accomplished together. ”
“I wouldn’t say turning demons loose on humans is really something to be proud of,” Aurora said, her voice soft but firm.
Viscious smiled at her indulgently. “That’s because you’re a child who knows nothing of this amazing world you’re about to become a part of.”
As he spoke, Ra’s vision shimmered at the edges, the world narrowing to Aurora’s face, the lines of her jaw, and the stubborn set of her mouth.
He felt Shelly—her voice, soft but fierce, threading into his mind like a lifeline.
“Not yet, Ra. Don’t move . Wait for my word.
The moment is coming. You’ll know it. Hand her over when I say—he won’t be able to touch her. ”
His whole body trembled with the strain. The oath wanted him to move, to step forward, to shove Aurora toward Viscious and be done with it. He squeezed his fists, nails digging into his palms, fighting to keep his feet planted.
Viscious finished his monologue with a flourish, spreading his arms wide. “You can’t stop me. You never could. All you can do is watch as your world burns and know you were the one who handed me the match.”
The golden cord pulsed, light flaring brighter, the chanting rising. Ra’s ears rang, sweat prickling down his spine. He shot a look at Shelly—her eyes locked on his, her jaw set, her whole body thrumming with focus and love and terror. He felt her will wrap around him, bracing him.
“Almost. Almost.”
Time slowed, every heartbeat a lifetime. The ritual crescendoed—a blinding flare of light that set the stones aglow, the air crackling so hard Ra thought his skin would split. Shelly’s voice lanced through the chaos, a single word that cut through the blood oath like a blade:
“Now.”
Ra’s body moved. He took a step away from Aurora, everything inside him screaming. His throat closed around a sob, his eyes stinging. He wanted to run, to fight, to do anything but this. But he had made a promise, and the universe demanded its due.
Aurora turned, her eyes searching his. She saw everything—his horror, his regret, his love, and his terror. For a breathless moment, the world fell away, and it was just them, two souls bound by blood and fate and choices that could not be unmade.
Tears spilled down Ra’s cheeks, hot and silent. His lips trembled as he forced out the words he’d never wanted to say. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—Aurora, I?—”
She stepped close, tipping her chin up, her gaze soft and unflinching. “Whatever it is, Ra, it’s okay. I can feel the goodness flowing out of you just like I can the rest of them.” She motioned around the circle. “I know your heart. I don’t blame you. Not for this. Not for anything.”
Her hand brushed his, warm and steady, and he clung to her touch like a drowning man as she added, “You’re my family. No matter what happens, no matter where we end up. You hear me?”
He nodded the tears blurring his vision. As he looked at the dark fire king. “I’m giving her to you, Viscious. Take her.”
The golden light swirled around them, Viscious shouted in triumph, thinking victory was at hand.
But Ra’s heart broke and mended all at once, Aurora’s forgiveness a balm and a blade. He stepped aside, heading for his Shelly, his soul screaming in silent agony.
All around them, the world held its breath, the storm gathering for the final reckoning.
O siris braced himself, every muscle strung tight as Ra’s voice cracked through the circle. “I’m giving her to you, Viscious. Take her.”
The words soured the air, and Viscious’s smile twitched wider as he reached for Aurora, savoring his victory. “You see, this is what you get when you try to be the hero, Ra. You lose, and I get the girl.”
But then a shout split the tension, wild and furious like the storm that rolled in the dark sky above them.
“Like hell you do!” Rory’s voice, raw with defiance, cut through the circle.
She broke from the line, golden magic sparking at her heels.
The circle’s light snapped, the wards groaning as the ancient protection fractured.
“Rory, what are you doing?” Gabby yelled, voice pitched high with panic and irritation. “We had a plan! You’re blowing the whole plan! She’s totally blowing the plan.”
“We heard you the first time,” Tara called back, though sounding less panicked than Gabby. Perhaps because it was too late. Rory was already in motion.
Aston’s curse was lost in the chaos as he just barely missed her hand, but Rory was fast and determined to get to her sister.
In seconds she was there, wrapping Aurora in a fierce embrace.
“Hold on, Rora,” Osiris heard her say. Her head whipped up when Viscious snarled and took a step towards where she had her body blocking her sister’s.
Rory’s voice rang out as she stepped further out of reach of the dark fire king, “Sepheron, now!”
The portal opened with a roar—heat, fire, and the scent of dragon magic—Sepheron bursting through in a storm of scales and fury.
“You do have a flair for timing, Rory,” the dragon king rumbled as he scooped up Rory and Aurora in a massive claw, wings beating, fire licking at the edges of the portal as he disappeared with them.
Viscious’s roar of rage was magnified by the fire that licked up and down his arms as his power reacted to his emotions. “You fool!” His eyes turned on Ra as they blazed red with fury. “Are you really willing to damn your soul so that you don’t have to live with a little guilt?”
“I am no fool,” Ra said, his voice deep with conviction. “I am exactly who I was created to be, and I am doing exactly what I was created to do.”
Osiris forced his focus, channeling white-hot power alongside Kimba to hold Viscious in place.
But the broken circle was bleeding magic, and the air thickened with shadow as suddenly the other dark royal elementals surged forward, portals yawning wide as demons poured in, joining them.
The battlefield fractured, the soul-bonded pairs shifted from holding the line to fighting back-to-back as the boundary between survival and surrender blurred.
“Left, Bri!” Rush called, ducking a demon swipe.