The Reaping of the Gods

Chapter 9

I talked to Josie at breakfast and she told me that the girls would get over it. But it currently seems like I'm the most hated girl in here. I mean I know I am. But I can't let them get me down because I have a date with Luke today. and Set. I'm excited about my date with Luke the most though.

"Luke is here, Larissa." Josie says peaking in the door from the hallway.

I head downstairs to see Luke standing in the front door. Black Shirt, navy blue pants. He's holding a picnic basket in his hands.

"We going on a picnic?" I ask.

"Yeah, I thought we could go on a walk and have a picnic somewhere along the way." He holds out a hand for me to take. I slide my hand into his and he holds it and lets them drop to his side. I guess we are at hand holding.

"That sounds awesome."

We head out the door and head the same way we did last time. reaching the outer limits of the city, walking along the wall. With conversation that didn't seem at all forced. This all just seemed easy with him. Lost in my thoughts I feel a tug at my hand and realize Luke has stopped. I turn to look at him.

"I have a surprise for you but you'll need to trust me." he smirks at me and without a second thought I nod. In one swoop he lifts me up in his arms and starts running. He starts running full tilt towards the wall.

"Luke what are you doing?" I start smacking his chest in fear. Just as we're about to hit the wall I feel him jump and then we fall. Farther than just a simple jump. Then I feel us hit a net or something. I open my eyes and we have landed in a Trapeze net at the bottom of a steep embankment. Looking up I can see the wall at the top of the embankment. Did he jump over the wall? Luke hops down off the net and then helps me down. I look around seeing we are in the forest. We shouldn't be here.

"I thought we weren't supposed to be in here. Isn't there like a law against it?" I question.

"I consider those more of suggestions. You scared we're gunna get caught?" Luke smirks back at me. He motions for me to follow him. I catch up to him as we walk further into the forest. Luke treks through the thick woods with ease. I, on the other hand, have never been much of a hiker so I start slowing down. Although the view from behind him is pretty good. The slight flex in his muscles when he climbs over a rock or log. The way the sun shines in his red hair. He looks like an angel. I mean he might be.

"We are almost there." He says as he helps me climb over a log.

I nod, trying to catch my breath. The farther we get into the woods the more uncomfortable I get. The feeling of being watched creeps in. I start to swear I can hear twigs cracking behind us.

"I think someone is following us." I say grabbing Luke's arm getting him to stop for a second.

"Did you see something?" he asks rubbing my back, his touch relaxes me a little.

"No, it was just a feeling. Maybe I imagined it."

"Well if you feel it again let me know, okay?" His reply makes me feel better. He might not believe me but he wasn't completely throwing my feelings aside. I've come to know that people here don't take me seriously. I can't change into a wolf or have magic powers like Josie. But he's at least pretending to take me seriously.

We walk about 50 more feet and we come into a clearing. A meadow. Wildflowers everywhere, the sound of bees buzzing about them, and then just beyond the meadow was a lake. Not huge but beautiful and calm.

"It's gorgeous."

"It is. This is where the council used to convene before the Great Divide." I look around the meadow and see that there are remnants of large stone thrones in a circle. Most too crumbled to be used now but still discernable.

We set up our picnic and had amazing conversations about everything and anything. There was no awkwardness. No long pauses. I think if he asks me to marry him at the end of this week I would say yes. That's how easy everything is with him. But there was one thing that's bothering. One thing I hoped he'd admit himself but hasn't.

"Luke's not your real name is it?" I blurt out, out of nowhere.

Luke coughs a bit of the drink he was drinking.

"No, but I don't like using my real name." He looks sad not angry. I could tell that him using the name Luke wasn't out of deceit.

"You don't have to explain. I'm sorry." I apologize hoping to take some of the sadness from his face.

"Don't apologize. I should be apologizing to you for lying. My name was given to me by my dad and we had a falling out. I just choose to go by my own name." He explains and it makes sense.

"I'm sorry. It was none of my business. If you ever want to talk about it, I'm a pretty good listener." I reach out and grab his hand.

"Thanks but I think maybe that's a story for another time." He stands up and holds his hand out for me to get up. Still holding my hand he leads me towards the lake. Holding his hand felt so right. I wonder if kissing him would feel right too? We spent the next half hour walking along the lakes edge, holding hands and talking. Every once in a while he'd stop to skip rocks. There was something beautifully simple in it all.

Standing with my feet in the water, I suddenly feel a shiver go up my spine. I turn towards the woods searching for the cause of the same creeping feeling. I think I can see shadows moving among the trees. I am startled when I feel a hand on the small of my back.

"Is everything okay?" Luke asks. Turning to face where I was staring.

"Do you see shadows moving in the trees?" I ask still unsure of what I'm looking at.

"We should go." He grabs my hand and starts walking towards the woods, leaving our picnic in the meadow. We barely made it into the treeline when we heard the twigs snapping around us. Luke quickly lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. He was running now, making the hike back to the wall with ease. We can still hear and see things moving in the woods around us. Before long we are standing at the net at the bottom of the bank.

"How do you get back up there?" I ask.

"Don't be afraid okay?" Don't be afraid. I got the strange sensation of dejavu. I nod and with a swift movement he jumped into the air and in mid-air his shirt burst into flames around him. Although warm the flames did not burn me. Then wings. Giant black wings emerge from his back and he takes flight. I look down at the ground and see dark floating shadows staring up at us. we fly up over the wall and land on the other side.

"What the hell was that?" I yell smacking him on the arm as I place my feet on the ground.

"I'm sorry." His wings retreat back into wherever they go. Leaving him shirtless and me, breathless.

"We hiked all that way when we could've just flown?" I say smacking him again.

He bursts out laughing. I also start laughing.

"You are full of surprises my little human." He smirks and then pulls me in for a hug. The hug was firm but comfortable. It was warm and embracing. The smell of him enveloped me and I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me. He lifts his head so we are face to face. Please kiss me. He leans forward and I close my eyes waiting for our lips to touch. Please kiss me.