Chapter 12

Reyna was exhausted, her and Damien had spent most of the night up on that roof top, they hadn't said much after they talked about his nightmares, they had just watched the stars, their hands entwined until Reyna could barely keep her eyes open and fearing if she fell asleep up here that someone would see them in the morning.

Damien had nodded and helped her back into her bedroom, his hands lingering on her body for a little longer than necessary, his gaze holding hers for a long time, Reyna wanted to move closer but her Praetor brain told her that she couldn't and she stepped away.

"Thank you Reyna" he had whispered

She now sat at her desk looking over some paperwork, she had just gotten to the fifth request form that Samson had put in for his new medical experiments, she sighed and placed it with the others before pulling up her budget plans on her laptop, she couldn't not give him an answer no matter how much he had pissed her off over the past few days.

She tapped away as her eyes scanned the screen, seeing what area was spending more of New Rome's money than necessary, of course most of the funds were going into the army, into expeditions to find more Imperial Gold and travels for quests.

After a couple of hours she thought she may have found a solution but it would mean taking funds away from other areas of the medical section, but there was no other way

"Rebecca" she called out, the younger Demigod opened the door and waited for her instructions

"Can you summon Samson please" she asked, Rebecca nodded and closed the door gently

Reyna didn't have to wait long before there was a knock at her door, she took a breath to prepare herself for dealing with him

"Enter" she answered, her Praetor voice and posture coming back to her as she ignored how exhausted she truly was.

Samson entered looking a little smug, knowing he was finally getting his way, it pissed Reyna off a little that all the children of Apollo were so cocky, but this was part of what a Praetor's job, being fair to everyone.

"Praetor I trust you have thought through my request" he said sitting down, not even waiting for Reyna to offer him a seat "And have come to a decision"

Reyna bit her tongue slightly "Yes I have, but there are some conditions that I want to run by you"

Samson nodded "Of course Praetor"

Reyna pulled up the chart on her laptop and spun it so she could show it to the head of the medics, she gestured to the screen

"To be able to fund your expedition to get the items you require, it would mean taking away from the other areas"

Samson just stared at the screen

Reyna frowned but continued "So the medical supplies would have to be cut slightly and…" she stopped realising that Samson hadn't moved, not even blinking "Samson? Are you okay?" she asked, but there was no reply

Reyna stood slowly and moved round to stand beside him, when he still didn't move her hand instinctively went to her dagger

"He will be fine"

Reyna whirled around and was instantly disarmed by a strong being, her dagger flying across the room to embed itself into her bookshelf, her eyes found the intruder, her jaw dropping.

Before her stood a handsome man dressed in a well-tailored suit that fitted his form well, he had jet black hair and piercing golden eyes that watched her closely, but most of all the huge black wings that draped over his shoulder took her attention, looking at his features he looked very familiar. Then she understood why, why he looked so familiar to her, his son was almost the spitting image of him, just a little less well dressed.

"Lord Letus" she said, bowing her head slightly in respect

"Letus…" he said musingly "Yes that is my Roman name, but at the moment I am in my Greek form, Thanatos"

Reyna couldn't take her eyes off of the god, he was beautiful, Hazel had met him once before and said that he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Reyna couldn't deny it, she could certainly see where Damien got his good looks from

"Yes Lord Thanatos" she swallowed a little intimidated by the god before her, he may be handsome but there was a certain air about him that made Reyna's spine shiver "Your son is here, I can take you to him"

Thanatos raised his hand, stopping her words "Damien cannot know I am here, it is dangerous for him here, Mnemosyne should have never brought him back here and this is why I have come to you Reyna Ramirez Arellano"

Reyna couldn't believe what he was saying "My Lord if I may, he needs you right now, he has been tortured and is still being tormented by a son of Morpheus"

"I know very well what he has been through Miss Arellano" he snapped, his eyes flaring gold "Do not think for a moment that I do not know what has happened to him or where he had been over the last 10 months"

The god took a breath and smoothed back his hair getting his composure back

"I am not here to talk about that Praetor" he turned to face out of the window "You have been set a quest by the Titaness Mnemosyne, one of the muses has been kidnapped, I have already seen the effect it has had on the mortal world"

"Effect?" asked Reyna

"Yes, the mortals need the arts to live, it seems trivial but it's true, everything is connected to some form of arts" he said turning back to her "More and more mortals are taking their own lives, even now as I am talking to you, my mind is still taking others to the doors of death"

Reyna's mind went dark for a moment, but she had to focus, the doors of death she thought to herself

"My Lord has anyone come out of the doors of death just before Euterpe was taken?" she asked

Thanatos sighed and nodded slowly "Indeed someone has escaped, a mortal from long ago, I was tricked by Hyacinth and he brought someone back through the doors, with all the death I had to deal with over the last few weeks my mind has been stretched so far and I am ashamed to say I was tricked by a lesser god"

"Hyacinth?" Reyna thought back "Lover of Apollo?"

"Yes he released a mortal, giving him the power to walk the earth again, normally I would retrieve them myself but I cannot reach them, if I do the world would be damaged by the amount of souls roaming the living world" he explained "Find Hyacinth and you may find the one you are looking for"

A shadow cast across the room and there was a rumble from beneath the earth, Thanatos closed his eyes for a moment "I must go now, I have been away from my post too long" he looked down at her "Remember Damien cannot know I have been here"

"But why?" she asked, but he was gone