Excerpt #4 from The Reaping Chronicles ~ Inception

As soon as Lucas had made the decision, he fell asleep, but Gabby came to him in his dreams.

'And, damn, they were good dreams.'

He was able to touch her face, her hair, lean in as she was looking into his eyes, softly press his lips to hers, and wrap her safely in his arms.

He didn't know why he felt so protective of her, why he felt she was in danger. But he couldn't deny the threat he felt to her when Mara appeared. It was strange. Mara had proven she wasn't to be trusted and could be violent, and she had certainly creeped him out the last time he saw her prior to yesterday's encounter. But would she come after Gabby? It was a possibility after what she'd done to Gran. He didn't want Gabby to have anything to do with the girl.

'Ever.'

"So, how was the rest of your day yesterday?" Lucas asked. It was a lame question, especially with all the others rattling around in his head. But it wasn't the right time to ask those.

Gabrielle smiled as though she knew it wasn't what he really wanted to know, but she answered anyway.

"It was good."

She didn't say anything else for a few seconds, just let her eyes fall to their hands, still clasped together. She seemed to frown a little, but it was so slight and fleeting that he wasn't sure. It didn't make him feel very confident though when, as soon as the expression passed, she let go of his hand, acting like she needed to search something out in her purse, mumbling things to herself. He couldn't quite understand what she was saying.

'She's speaking in a different language.'

Languages had always come easily to him. He even spoke a few fluently, and whenever he tried to learn one, it came easy—too easy—just like so many other things in his life had. But this language, even though it tickled his ears with familiarity, was one he was sure he'd never heard before.

Then, she said a couple of words he thought he recognized.

"What's reckless and dangerous?" he asked.

Gabrielle stopped searching her purse abruptly and looked up at him, brows raised. Those amazing green eyes of hers were ablaze with curiosity. Lucas felt like she could look into his mind and find out everything she wanted to know, all of his secrets, if she desired to.

"What did you ask me?" Gabrielle's eyes questioned him as much as her words.

'Man they're intense—intense and mesmerizing.'

"I asked, what's reckless and dangerous? I thought I recognized some of what you were saying, but I'm not sure. I'm pretty good at languages . . . that's all." Lucas stopped talking. Now, those green eyes were framed by a scowl. He didn't like what he was seeing in them—distrust. He could see it in her expression, but he felt it, too. He could feel her.

'But . . . how? And what did I say to make her look at me like that?'

Everything outside of her car seemed to slow as she stared harder, deeper.

Students running to get out of the rain were now in some kind of a cross between barely moving and a walk. The rain that was coming down so hard that he could barely see more than the blur it caused was now almost frozen—he could clearly see each drop falling. Even the small splash each drop made when it hit something could easily be seen as it came up, then slowly descended to rest again. The tiniest ripples he'd ever seen were everywhere.

'Everything is almost suspended.'

Then Gabby looked away. Just like that, the spell was broken. Everything moved in real-time again. Things had gotten very strange, very fast.

'Damn. I'm afraid to say anything after that. Did I imagine everything slowing down? If the world really did almost completely halt, how?'

He ran through the conversation prior to her letting go of his hand in an attempt to figure out where his foot plowed into his mouth. But there was . . .

Nothing.

Nothing that he could put his finger on, anyway.

Gabby was looking out the window, still silent, and he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Gabby, what's wrong? What did I say? Whatever it was, I didn't mean to offend you. If you were trying to keep your thoughts to yourself by speaking a different language, I didn't mean to intrude, and I promise I didn't understand anything else you said."

Gabby finally looked back at him; the same expression was on her face, but the intensity in her eyes had ratcheted back considerably.

Smiling slightly, still seeming confused about something, she finally answered.

"It's okay . . . I'm sorry. It's just that, well, I had said those two words. I never expected you to understand them. I was speaking a very old form of Hebrew. You might be good at languages, Lucas, but very few hu—people would understand any of what I just spoke."

Lucas could tell she wasn't finished speaking. She looked at him closely for several seconds, and he worried she was about to do that intense thing again. Instead, she asked him a question.

"Where did you learn the words I spoke?"

Lucas scowled as he tried to think. He focused back on her face and gave her the only answer he had to give.

"I don't know, Gabby."

She stared at him a little longer, then seemed to let it go when the first bell for school sounded. He didn't know why she did, but he was glad. He was feeling a bit odd about it himself, now.

'How did I know?'

"Well," she said with a more familiar smile, "I guess we can talk more later. Looks like we're going to get a break in the rain."

Lucas looked out the window. The rain had all but stopped just as the world outside the car had minutes before, but now, the students continued to move as they normally would; rain fell as rain should fall; he was still sitting with the most beautiful, intriguing girl he'd ever met. Only he felt like maybe he should have just put a toe in first and tested the waters before diving into the deep end; he felt he may be in over his head.

'Way over.'
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