Chapter 17

Reyna paced in front of the entrance nervously, she hated waiting at the best of times but now waiting to see is Damien would appear the other side of the river or if she would get summoned to New Rome for her dismissal. She wrung her hands as she waited, Hazel watching her pace, she too was a little nervous about her friend's safety, they didn't know his plans or how he was going to get out of camp without being seen, they didn't know when to expect him.

Reyna checked her watch again "This is taking too long" she said abruptly "I have to go find him"

Hazel's eyes scanned the horizon "Reyna" she said

But Reyna was already grabbing her bag about to set off before a small hand grabbed her arm, she whirled around and looked down at the smaller woman, but her golden eyes were watching something in the distance. Reyna's heart stopped as she turned fearing the worse, but as she found the focus of Hazel's gaze her breathing returned to normal, because there he was wading through the water looking as tired as ever.

As he trudged his way up to them it looked like he wanted to collapse

"Hey" he said breathlessly

Reyna wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him but she held herself back and simply nodded, turning away so they could not see her face

"We need to keep moving" she said as she set off into the cave

Damien and Hazel shared a look, the daughter of Pluto seeing the pain in the man's eyes, neither truly understood why Reyna had changed so drastically in the past couple of days. They did not know about New Rome watching her every move, or the people at camp feeding them information to remove her from Praetorship

So Reyna carried the burden alone, it weighed on her shoulders as she walked through the caves, they made it to the mortal world in less than a few minutes, from there they hailed a cab to take them to San Francisco International Airport.

Hazel found herself in the middle of the two of them again, in a silent cab journey, Damien stared out of his window as Reyna's eyes watched ahead, Hazel was really starting to hate the awkward silences. She really wished she had Frank with her, even though he would have stayed as awkward and quiet as these two, at least he would be there with her. She hadn't been able to see him much over the recent das and she hadn't even been able to tell him why, all she could say was for him to trust her and he did with all his heart, he knew that whatever was going on it was very important and Hazel needed to be there for Reyna.

Hazel closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat trying to relax as they made their way into the city, but before long the honking of horns forced her eyes opened, she looked out of the front window to see multiple cars heading towards the main terminal drop off point. Hazel thanked the gods that they didn't have these cars in New Rome, she would hate to have to try and drive one of these confounded machines.

The three scrambled out of the cab as he stopped in a zone you were clearly not supposed to stop, other cars honked and drivers swore, but the cab driver just accepted his fair and pulled out into the mayhem.

"I will never get used to that" muttered Reyna as she turned to start walking into the terminal, it was so busy there and instantly they were in a sea of mortals

Damien and Hazel followed Reyna's lead as they weaved their way through the people, she seemed to know where she was going

"How much has she been here?" Damien asked Hazel quietly

"Oh she hasn't" smirked the shorter woman "She's just got a good sense of direction"

Damien looked back to Reyna as she powered through the airport "Girl of many talents" he smiled to himself, checking her out, instantly stopping once she turned back to them, he silently prayed he didn't get caught staring at her.

"We're over here" she said gesturing to the gate

"Manaus?" Damien asked, not knowing the name

"It's the closest city in Brazil with an airport to where we need to go" She replied, going into her bag and pulling out three tickets "It was last minute so I couldn't get all of us sat together, so do you two wanna take the seats next to one another"

"No, it's okay" Hazel cut in "You should sit with him, keep him out of trouble"

"Hey" He argued back softly "what kind of trouble do you think I can possibly get myself into on a plane"

"I dread to think" winked Hazel "Plus Reyna you have that fear of-

"Hazel" she snapped "I am perfectly capable"

Damien looked between the two girls for a moment "Okay… well shall we" he held his hand out like a gentleman signalling that the girls should go first, as Hazel passed she flashed him a quick smile and he winked back at her.

They queued up and waited patiently as the women at the gate checked everyone's tickets and allowed them through, the blonde there took a very long time checking Damien's ticket while also allowing her eyes to wander up and down is body, Damien just nodded kindly and followed the raven haired Praetor to their seats.

She insisted on taking the aisle seat, so Damien sat next to the window, he had never been on a plane before and he worried slightly when the engines roared to life, something clamped down on his hand, looking down he saw Reyna's hand clasping his tightly on the arm rest. He glanced up at her to see her jaw clenched tightly, eyes fixed on the back of the seat ahead, she was taking deep breaths.