Chapter 35: Luka

"You don't have to go with me," I tell Samael for what feels like the millionth time today as I gather the last of the supplies needed for my trip to Tartarus.

"Katrina would never forgive me if something happened to you down there," Samael replies gruffly, not taking his gaze away from a sphere he's supposedly entranced with.

"Ah, Katrina," I replied, rolling my eyes as I zipped up my bag before throwing it on my shoulders.

Samael is acting weird towards me today, I know I may have moved too quickly last night with him, but I couldn't help myself. I felt this magnetic force of attraction toward him. At that moment, I wanted him as much as I wanted Katrina. Fuck I still want the both of them, and in more intense ways than the vanilla shit, we did yesterday. I tried to make shit less awkward between us by joking with him about last night, but I may have gone a little too far with my joke, ya know, something about fucking my ass instead of Katrina's next time, but hey, that's just who I am. I'm comfortable with what I want, and I go for it

As a Loki Type, I know I am lucky when it comes to knowing one's sexuality. The Gods and Goddess of Choas and Mystery teach all their young that sexuality and attraction are not defined by one's gender but by the person Unfortunathemselves. Unfortunately for Samael and his cousins, their parents aren't as accepting. The main Gods and Goddesses are by-the-book type of people, they can't read between the lines, and they see the world as Black and White; there aren't even shades of gray in their world, which explains this tension between Samael and me right now.

"Samael," I begin in a tone, business-like tone, causing him to take his attention from the sphere finally.

"I already told you, Luka, I'm going with you. End of story." Samael replies, glaring at me.

"While I can't say that I am glad you're still going, that isn't why I called your name," I reply, walking a step closer toward him.

He stared straight into my eyes. I wasn't used to someone standing the same height as me, I was unusually tall due to my Norse heritage, but Samael's height matched my own.

"I'm waiting?" Samael replied impatiently, like he had something better to do.

"About last night," I started; his cheek turned an adorable shade of pink; fuck I had it bad; when did I start using the word adorable.

"What about last night?" He grumbled, looking down at the sphere in his hand again.

"Sorry if I took it too far. I know your kind isn't used to openness regarding sexuality, but it seemed like you enjoyed yourself." I reply nonchalantly, trying to make it seem like this was an everyday conversation between two bros.

"What do you mean by my kind?" Samael replied, looking up at me, his eyes swirling with his blue fire.

Great, instead of trying to make things less awkward, I succeed in angering him. With a mind of its own, my cock hardened, and the thought of fucking the anger out of him until he submitted to me began to swirl around in my mind. Last night I had let Samael be the dominant one in the room, but I also had a dominant personality, and I wasn't going to submit to him each time.

I cleared my throat, trying to calm my desire and the frustration that was beginning to rise in me, "I just meant the main gods; you know, the ones who control the four kingdoms.

"Main Gods?" Samael asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yes," I replied, rolling my eyes, irritated that I had to explain the situation when it should be something that was common knowledge.

Samael marched towards me, a fierce look in his eyes, his body giving off a soft blue hue, which I recognized as his flames trying to break free. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?" He growled once he backed me up against the wall, his face dangerously close to mine.

I couldn't help glancing down at his plush lips, which were now drawn in a thin line. I wanted to bite his bottom lip and suck it in my mouth.

I wanted to tease Samael but felt like right now it would probably set him off and not in a good way, so I held back my teasing remark, instead opting into sarcasm.

"Now, why would I ever roll my eyes at the prince of darkness." I retort.

He glanced at my lips like he too wanted to kiss me, probably to shut me up, before letting out a snarl and taking a step back. "You call me the Prince of darkness, but you don't know how dark I can get."

I hold my tongue, once again wanting to make a sexual innuendo; what was with this man and my body's reaction to him. "we should probably get going before it's too late; it is a school day tomorrow after all."

Samael lets out a chuckle before following me out the door of my storage room that I rented out in the town of Styx, not letting me in on what he found so funny.

After walking in an awkward silence toward the entrance to Tartarus, Samael speaks up once more, "So what did you mean by the main god?"

I walked in silence for a little longer, taking in the rough terrain of Styx; instead of walking through the town which I was accustomed to, Samael wanted to walk the river trail. He wanted to see if Etir had spread throughout this part of the Underworld. I pinch my nose in frustration, not at Samael but at myself. Of course, Samael hadn't heard of the main Gods; even though he'd grown up in the Underworld, he was still mostly surrounded by people with powers like his own; he had no experience of what it was like for someone who wasn't born or shared DNA with one of the main gods.

I cleared my throat of emotion before speaking, " The main gods are those connected to the four kingdoms, the lightning gods, the water gods, the earth gods, and the reaper gods. These gods all view sexuality as that of gender; a man and a woman. Gods who aren't born of this group, especially those with the divine gift of chaos and mystery, don't view sex as between a man and woman. They view sex for what it is; a form of pleasure that anyone can give."

Samael doesn't respond to my statement. Instead, he stares at the path ahead of him, like he's intrigued by the way the black sands of Tartarus meet the white sands of the Underworld.

Finally, when he does speak up, I know he's talking metaphorically about our connection - "You'd think the white sands of the Underworld and the black sands of Tartarus would clash together because of their stark contrast, but instead, it's like they're meant to be one. Their colors blend almost effortlessly."

"Sometimes, the things that make the less are actually what is meant to be. The fates collide in the weirdest of ways sometimes." I reply as we stand outside the gates of Tartarus, where Cerberus stands wagging his tail in excitement at me, drool spilling down his face on each of his three heads. As I reach up to pat Cerberus on his center head, I ask Samael once more if he's sure he wants to come with me, "The parts of Tartarus we are going to are twisted and dark. They used to call this part of Tartarus, Judecca, the final layer of the ninth circle of hell. It's the part of Tartarus that Lucifer locked Lilith in. I don't think Katrina would judge you if you sat this one out."

"I'm not letting your journey there by yourself, Luka." Samael pauses before continuing, "and I'm not going because I'm worried about what Katrina will think; I'm going because my magic calls to you. I can't stand the thought of letting you go there alone and something happening to you that I could have stopped. And no, it's not because of Katrina. It's... My body burns for you in ways I can't describe. You make me question everything I believe in, and I want to experience things with you that I've never imagined before."

My hand stills on Cerberus’ head as I take in Samael's words. He's shocked me; I never excepted him to admit our connection so openly. I thought we would have to take it slowly, primarily based on his reactions from earlier today.

"Stop staring at me like an idiot." He grumbles under his breath, sidestepping Cerebus as he enters Tartarus. "It is, as you said earlier, old man, a school night."