Chapter 16

"The amazon?!" exclaimed Hazel as she stood in Reyna's bedroom next to an exhausted looking Damien.

"I know it's not ideal" Reyna started

"Not ideal?" cut in Hazel, her golden eyes wide "It is awesome" she beamed

Reyna was taken aback by her excited response "Errr, right okay" was all she could think to say

"I still like the part when Moneta bursts in and puts all those old guys in their place" smirked Damien lazily, Reyna flashed him a look and he dropped his gaze, trying to hide his smile "Sorry"

Reyna kept her face straight, she had to get them focused, the visit from the New Rome leaders had been another reminder that she had to be careful and that she was being watched by those around her and there was still those who wanted her to be removed from her Praetor position.

She straightened her shoulders "We need to leave as soon as possible, I have already booked a flight for this evening"

Hazel looked at her friend curiously for a moment, wondering when this change had happened to her and most of all why

"Reyna might I have a word in private?" she asked seriously

Reyna turned from where she was at the window "Can it wait we have to leave as soon as possible and you need to speak to your cohort before then, plus we need to find a way to get Damien out of camp without anyone noticing" her eyes scanned across the view of camp outside of her window

"You didn't tell them Damien was here?" Hazel asked in a hushed whisper

Reyna shook her head "We were too far down the rabbit hole as it was I couldn't tell them about him being here"

Damien looked between the two women, he didn't understand why this was such a big deal but he saw how it affected Reyna and he would do his best to help her

"Maybe Frank can help" interjected Hazel

"No" Reyna said looking across the room to the shorter demigod "If this goes wrong I don't want Frank being a part of this, it's bad enough I dragged you into it"

"Who says I was dragged" Hazel flashed her a quick smile

Reyna smiled weakly back "I will think of something, meet us by the entrance as soon as you can"

Hazel's smiled dropped when Reyna went back to business, she nodded slowly and smiled at Damien before leaving, closing the door softly behind her.

Damien turned, he watched Reyna as she faced out of the window, he wanted to ask what was wrong but he felt as though he already knew what her response was going to be, so instead he walked up behind her and followed her gaze out of the window and down to the ground where a few of the other demigods bustled around.

He then looked towards the roofs of the neighbouring buildings, he judged the distance and the cover that they provided, he glanced down at Reyna's face, she was deep in thought and a small crease was visible between her eyebrows. If she wasn't going to let Frank and Hazel take the fall then he wasn't going to let her

"You go, I will meet you there" he said softly

"What?" Reyna turned to him

Damien smiled down at her "Trust me" he couldn't help but gaze into her deep brown eyes, the eyes that betrayed her and showed her true feelings

"Trust is a dangerous thing Damien" she whispered, gazing up into his eyes "I can't let myself trust"

Damien's smile faltered "Then believe in me" he said "Believe I can get across the camp without being seen" he resisted the urge to take her hand, not wanting to crowd her.

Slowly she nodded, she turned grabbing her gear, she paused by the door "Damien please don't get caught" she dropped her gaze and left the room

Damien watched the door for a moment longer before returning to his vantage point out of the window, his eyes scanned the surrounding area of the building, there were not too many people around at the moment and all those who were didn't seem to be looking up at the building, why would they? None knew that he was here, this would probably be his best opportunity

His eyes kept scanning as he slowly opened the window, but still no one looked up, he needed to be fast especially seen as it was broad daylight, he waited a moment longer before taking a deep breath and swung out of the window, he leapt up grabbing the roof ledge, he hauled himself up with ease rolling onto the roof and lying flat on his back.

He paused keeping himself hidden, he inhaled deeply and counted to 120. He crawled over to the ledge and peered over carefully, nobody was staring at the building so he took that as a good sign. Now he was up here he knew what route to take as he looked out across the rooftops, he knew he needed to keep up a certain amount of speed to make the jumps, he would have to bolt for it and pray nobody would see him.

He stood and made his way to the centre of the roof, he stretched his muscles out and pulled up his hood, not that it would hide him that much but maybe conceal his identity if he was spotted. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment before dashing towards the edge, he pushed his legs as fast as they would go and he leapt, he soared through the air heading straight for the next roof, he bent his knees just at the right moment and rolled onto the next roof. He didn't slow as he continued on his way, faster and faster he ran until he was on the final building where he skidded to a stop a figure standing in front of him with their back to him.