Last Shadow || Deception Book III

Chapter 6 Pt.II

A/N: I lied. Updates will continue to be on Saturday. Anyways, you guys are going to love today because it's a double update. That is, if you don't hate me after these two chapters.  🙃

After I finished writing it, I realized that I'd hit 3000 words and that was wayyyyy too long. 🥲 

I was contemplating waiting for next week, but it physically hurt me to imagine myself as a reader waiting a whole week for the third part, so I decided to make today a double update. 

So I guess you're welcome. 😅

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"Luke," I tried for the sixth time. "You know I hate surprises."

"Yeah, but you've tortured me for five months. This should be nothing."

"I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize," he whispered, squeezing my hand gently. "It wasn't your decision to go."

His tone turned dark, and I fought down a flicker of hope. Was Luke finally beginning to acknowledge that this was the wrong path? Even if the cause was me and not his own belief, I'd take anything that turned him away from Kronos.

"We're here," he announced as we suddenly stopped, and gently untied my blindfold.

I blinked, a small gasp escaping my lips as I took in the view. The white, sandy beach we were standing on was ringed with lush palm trees, rocks dotting the curved crescent of the tranquil cove we were in. It was nearly sunset, and the sky was awash with rich hues of gold and pink, casting a majestic backdrop against the sparkling blue waves. And, there was no one here except for us. It was a tiny pocket of beauty, far away from the brewing chaos of our world.

"Luke . . ." I said, speechless. The wind gently ruffled my hair as I turned to see him smiling softly at me. "How did you even find this place? This isn't a public beach."

"I have my ways," he hummed, pulling me into a hug. "Anything for you."

"Don't say that," I found myself saying. "Anything is a bit of a stretch."

"No, it's not," Luke replied. "You know, I realized while you were gone just how much of me belongs to you."

"What-"

Luke pressed his fingers against my lips, silencing me as he pulled back. He pulled out a blanket, spread it on the sand, sat, pulled me down with him, and drew me close. I sighed as I felt my body relax, his warmth curling around me like a blanket, and I leaned my head against his chest. We stared at the waves lapping gently against the shore for a long moment, neither of us speaking, just soaking in each other's presence as the sun slowly descended.

"When I woke up and found you missing, I thought you'd been kidnapped or something terrible had happened," Luke rumbled suddenly. I tried to sit up so I could look at him, but he tightened his hold around me as if he couldn't look at my face. All I could do was reach for his other hand and squeeze it, telling him to go on.

Luke shuddered. "I...lost it."

"What do you mean?" I whispered, entwining our fingers together.

"I thought," he swallowed thickly, "I thought maybe the monsters did something. Or, I don't know, Atlas was angry at our failure and took it out on you. Of course, if that was the case, there was nothing I could do. But I was so scared, so desperate, that I ended up killing all the monsters on the ship."

"They're monsters-" I started, but Luke shook his head.

"I didn't just kill them."

"Oh," I breathed as what he was saying sunk in. So that was why the deck had looked darker when I came back. And that was why even Nicole, a daughter of the Underworld, had looked so perturbed. Just how many had he killed to stain the wood with so much blood?

"You probably think I'm a monster-" Luke started.

"No," I said vehemently. I twisted my head up to meet his gaze. "I would have done the same if our situations were reversed. I probably would have also stormed up the mountain to Atlas and done something stupid. So no, you're not a monster for killing monsters."

I wasn't just saying that to make him feel better, I realized as the words left my lips. If anything happened to Luke, I realized as I stared into his deep blue eyes, I really would do that. Burn the world down.

You love him, the voice in my head said. Clarianna, you are in deep shit.

Luke huffed out a breath, his eyes closing in relief. "Well, I guess that makes two of us."

"Please don't tell me you brought me to such a beautiful spot just to ask for forgiveness when there isn't anything to forgive," I muttered after a long silence.

"No, actually, I'm pissed at you," Luke said, squeezing my hand. "You, Ri, are going to kill me one day. Do you know what it was like for me? The five months you were gone?" He unwrapped his arm from my shoulders and stood up suddenly, taking a few steps towards the surf, his back to me.

I sat up straight, guilt washing over me. "Luke-"

"Please, Ri," he said to the water. "Don't give me another half-assed excuse. This isn't the first time you've disappeared on me. I know some things are out of our control," he plowed on, not letting me speak. "But don't you think you're being a little selfish?"

"You know," he continued, "when I first met you that day in the Big House, I thought to myself, she's going to kick my ass." He half-turned to face me, a wry smirk on his face. "I was right. That day you defeated me in the arena, I knew I was done for. But I didn't realize until the hellhound attacked you during that game of capture the flag. And it only got worse from there. You were almost killed by that mysterious monster thingy at camp, then you vanished before you were even healed. After, every time you went on a scouting mission for demigods without me, I wouldn't be able to sleep because I was worried something bad might happen to you and I wouldn't even know. Then you left for Miami last winter, left to find Artemis, left to find the Ophiotaurus, and now this. Sometimes giving me a heads up five minutes before disappearing, other times leaving without a word." He ran a hand through his hair roughly and rasped, "Why does it feel like you're always leaving? Every single time felt like and still feels like you're just playing with me."

Luke chuckled darkly and fully turned to face me. "Is it fun for you? To see me like this, at your mercy? Do you even know what you do to me, what you're capable of making me feel? I would crawl over burning coals for you, Rianna, but sometimes, it feels like I don't even exist to you."

Unable to speak due to the sob choking me, I shook my head as every word Luke spoke stabbed me in the heart. His eyes shone with tears as I felt mine well up and I couldn't help but think that I deserved every single word he said to me.

"I've given you everything I can, yet you can't even keep the one promise you made to stay by my side?" Luke laughed, covering half his face with a hand, his other eye bright with love and anger. "Have you ever even said I love you?"

"I can't offer you anything but my guilt and regret," I whispered, feeling my heart crack as I stared at him, the tears I was holding back breaking into rivulets down my cheeks. "And I've never said it because I was scared. Scared of what could happen to us. What it would mean. Luke, we both knew from the start that you and I should have never happened."

"But it did," he said, his voice cracking as he staggered towards me. "Can't we just be enough for each other?"

"Luke," I choked out, an invisible force yanking me to my feet to him. I pressed my hands to his chest, lifting my head to meet his gaze as he searched my eyes intently.

"Ri, why can't we just leave? Leave all of this behind and run somewhere far, far away? All I need is you, Ri. Is that too much to ask for?"