Chapter 5

Damien now clothed sat in a chair in the bathroom as Reyna ran a comb through his hair, she tried to concentrate but she could hardly believe he was back let alone in her bedroom again.

"So…" Hazel started feeling Reyna's hesitation "What happened to you?"

Damien sighed "It's been… difficult" he began "I made my way to San Diego, that was probably my first mistake"

"How so?" asked Reyna as she began snipping at his shaggy hair

"Elena was from a very wealthy family down there, her uncle owns most of the businesses and it wasn't long before her brother Elliot found me, he had apparently put a bounty on my head after I disappeared from San Diego"

"A couple of Demigods found me after the first night, they jumped me and shoved a bag over my head, next thing I knew I was tied to a chair in their mansion. Let's just say he was not too happy to see me… not that I could blame him"

"Hey" Reyna said, hand lingering on the back of his neck "Elena's death was not your fault, it was a car accident" she brushed her fingertips against the base of his hairline

Damien allowed his eyes to close for a split second enjoying the contact, before opening them and staring straight ahead an uneasy feeling in his stomach

"Technically yes but I was supposed to protect her, that was my one job in this world…" he felt a stinging at the back of his eyes but he would not let it show "Plus she wouldn't even be at the spot at that time if it was not for me… I took my punishment, but then he started torturing my mind"

Hazel stood slowly allowing her abilities to sense the magic in the air "How?" she asked as she searched his body for magic

"Elena and her twin brother Elliot are children of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, they both had the power to manipulate people's dreams, make them see what they want to see, kinda like the mist only while you are asleep..." Damien's mind flashed back to a different time "Elena used to give me dreams when we were together, she said she enjoyed giving people beautiful dreams… her brother on the other hand was not so pleasant, he was such a contrast to Elena, he was very controlling when it came to her and he had the power and money to enforce it"

Reyna's hands slowed as she listened to his story, the marks across his body making more sense, he had been Elliot's personal punch bag, her grip tightened on the scissors as her anger bubbled

"He made me see things… he made me do awful things in those dreams, he would trick me" Damien rubbed his hands together, he pulled a pen knife out of his pocket and twisted it in fingers "Sometimes I didn't know if I was awake or still dreaming, I had to figure out a way to find out what world I was in and eventually I found one, it took me a long time and I was close to giving up but I found one"

In one swift movement he stabbed his own hand, letting out a grunt of pain

"DAMIEN" Reyna yelled in shock, she moved into action and easily disarmed him and grabbed the towel that had been wrapped around his shoulders, pressing it against his bleeding hand

"What in Jupiter's name do you think you are doing?" she demanded looking up into his eyes

He shrugged "In dreams the dreamer can't draw their own blood..." he looked up at Reyna "I had to be sure you were real"

"Of course I'm real" she said

"Y'know you've said that a lot in my dreams" he murmured "Anyway about a week ago I got out, it took a lot out of me, I've been dodging bounty hunters ever since"

There was a moment of silence, Reyna looking into his eyes, there was a look she knew well in those golden-brown eyes. She knew what he had had to do when he escaped

"And the smell?" asked Hazel, she made a gesture as if she were drinking from a bottle

Damien hung his head slightly "Yer… that, it helps the nightmares go away, makes it so I can sleep for a few hours" he shrugged sadly "I'm not proud of it, but I did what I had to do to survive and if that meant finding the bottom of several bottles just to keep myself sane…"

"Nobody is judging you Damien, we've all done things we are not proud of" Reyna said moving back around to finish cutting his hair

"So…" Damien said trying to change the subject "How exactly did I get here?"

Hazel cocked an eyebrow "Do you not remember?"

"I wasn't really in the best state last night" he admitted

Hazel nodded slowly and met Reyna's sad gaze, she could see the way Reyna remained behind Damien, no doubt trying to hide her reaction from him.

Reyna and Hazel proceeded to fill him in on what they knew, they told him about being visited by Moneta and her daughter's disappearance and the quest that the titaness had assigned to them and Reyna told them that Moneta had given them a map of places she was not, which was only partially helpful

"Where was she taken from?" asked Hazel

Reyna shrugged "Moneta didn't say and I have no way to contact her" she finished up with his hair, not really that proud of her work "We are on our own from here"

Hazel moved to the door "So where do we start Praetor?"

Both set of eyes turned to her, she taking her usual role as the leader, it was what she was good at

"We find out everything we can about Euterpe" she stated, following Hazel from the bathroom with Damien in tow and setting to work in Reyna's bedroom.