Chapter 39: Samael

The additional weight of Luka throws off my balance somewhat, and I find myself hovering at a weird angle above the lava, my arms are wrapped around Luka tightly, and the urge to wrap my blue flame around him to keep him bound to me runs through my mind. My blue flames would hurt him, but the lava below would surely kill him.

"You need to distribute the extra weight evenly." Luka states, always the teacher, "We can line our bodies up evenly; my eyes staring into the depths of your soul through your eyes, our lips almost touching, our chest evenly matched against each other, our thighs gently caressing, our..."

Dear Almighty Luka, please don't dare finish that sentence; I can feel myself beginning to harden; it's hard to concentrate with his warm breath against my neck and his lucid description of disturbing our weight."Luka moves his face from my neck, smiling at me for not continuing what he was about to save; my rapid breaths evident that he'd caused my body to react towards him.

"Although, I wouldn't be able to see the entrance I was looking for that way. So I think it would be best if you tried and leaned off to one side while I leaned the other way. It's okay if we're slightly angled, but I'd rather not end up horizontally in the air."

I nod in agreeance, not trusting my voice not to crack and show Luka how much his words had affected me. Luka leans his body off to the right, my dominant side, knowing I'll be slightly stronger, and I try to distribute my weight to the left. I exhaled, sighing in relief when I noticed that we weren't dangly downward toward the pool of lava.

I looked down at the lava, trying to locate the lost entrance to Pele's home. All I could see were ripples in the lava. I glanced toward the Smog hovering just a few feet below us, right above the riverbank. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fly to Lilith's prison, but it was a risk I was thinking of taking if we didn't find the entrance soon. I wasn't going to stay here a sitting, err... floating duck if we had a chance at escape, even if it was a slim possibility.

"I'm going to try something." Luka speaks up, turning his head towards me, " I need you not to freak out, and I need you to tighten your grip on me; use your blue flame to tighten your hold on me, if you must."

"What are you..." I start to ask, but the sudden onset of dark light streaming from Luka's hands has me opening and closing my mouth in confusion. The darkness sprouting out of him reminds me of the darkness that comes from Katrina when her demonic powers try to take over.

I watch in awe as the dark power flows through Luka's body and spouts out of his hands, targeting the lava below. When the darkness hits the lava, it starts to separate the river in half, showing the ground underneath, right in the center of the Lahar river, where the lava had flown freely and was the entrance to Pele's volcanic layer.

"Samael, I can only contain this power for so long; I need you to dive toward the door as quickly as possible; the moment we're at the same level as the Smog, it will try to overtake us; I am going to release my power on the lava once we reach that level.No matter what, you need to keep heading towards the door. Do not pull up no matter what."

"But, the lava will burn you."

"Not if you fly quickly enough." He replies, smiling at me, "Just remember my fate is in your hands."

What a fucking Asshole. I fight the urge to argue with him as I see the sweat dribble down his face, the use of this unknown dark power already taking its toll on him.

I wrap my arms tighter around him as I lean us downward, almost closing my wings entirely, aiming toward the door that would grant us safety. Within seconds, I see the Smog head toward us, watching as the lava starts to flow back to its original position. We will not reach the door quick enough; I will dive straight into the lava. It's flowing too quickly back to its original form; I extend my wings again, not to pull upward but to wrap them protectively around Luka; I know they won't offer enough protection, though; there are too many gaps between the feathers, lava will still seep through burning through Luka's unprotected skin and eventually killing him. I do the one can think of; I call on my divine gift, the blue flames of the underworld, and let the flames wrap Luka and me into a cocoon of protection. My flames will injure him, but he'll survive their burn; he has enough godly blood. I can think of; I call on my divine gift, the blue flames of the underworld, and let the flames wrap Luka and me into a cocoon of protection. My flames will injure him, but he'll survive their burn; he has enough godly blood. I look down at Luka in my arms once more, feeling him become weightless, the use of his power knocking him out, and it terrifies me at how much it hurts my heart to think about causing him injury.

When my flames wrap around Luka and me, the lava returns to its natural state, covering both of us as it sinks us to the bottom of the river. With my flames now protecting Luka, I unfurl my wings, planning on using them to push us through the lava, but the pressure of the lava is too heavy, and my wings cannot move. Reluctantly I release Luka from my hold, letting my flames hold him against me as I begin to swim through the lava. I'm moving slowly, but the lava acts as a partial shield between Luka and myself, protecting us from the Soulless.

The soulless are slowly catching up to my strides, but the door to Pele's home is close. I use the rest of my strength to outswim the Smog closing in on us. I start to panic a little at the thought of trying to lift Pele's door with the lava holding it down. Still, the moment my hand brushes the knob, the door disappearsdisappearsAs soon as my feet touch the floor of the Volcano, I release Luka from my fire, setting him down gently on the ground. I turned my attention toward the entrance to Pele's house; I didn't trust that the sacred ground of Pele's home would keep us safe When the Smog began to disappear, I let out of sigh of relief as it took the soulless with it. . I quickly turn my attention back to Luka, wanting to check over the injuries that my fire caused

My gaze wanders down Luka's body, and I am shocked to see that h,e doesn't have a single injury on his body; the only person besides my immediate family that didn't sustain injuries from my flame was Katrina. Could being mated to Katrina give Luka immunities against my gift? Luka's eyes start to flutter, and I feel the knot in my chest disappear. Luka is safe. We are safe.

Luka's hands fly to his chest, and he begins to pat down his body. "Why am I not injured?" He asks, "Why do I feel like I've been given a healing potion from the Goddess Isis herself."

"I don't know," I answer as Luka stands up, taking in his surroundings, "My flames only aided in protecting you. I'm honestly baffled that you don't have a single injury on your body.

"So this is Pele's home," He states, swirling around and staring at me, looking me in the eye for the first time since he woke. "What's wrong?" He asks as he steps toward me, cupping my cheek in his hands, his eyes filled with concern.

I want to take a step back and pretend that Luka's care toward me didn't affect me, but the moment I start to place a step, my body is overtaken with an immense amount of pleasure. I look into Luka's eyes and see them swirling with desire. It's not my pleasure I feel rolling through my body, but that of our mates.

So Katrina has let down her walls and has finally decided to claim Miles." Luka states, a smile on his face.