"Thanks," Reyna began as she looked at Hylla. Her sister returned a nod. Reyna got out of the car and stuck her hands into her pockets. She walked toward the car and glanced back at her sister. Hylla waved at her before driving away. Reyna stepped in through the back door.
"Welcome back," Chiron greeted as he was the first one at the door.
"Thanks," Reyna replied as she glanced at him.
"How is your side?" Chiron asked.
"Better," Reyna answered. "I'm able to do everything I was before. I think that's what the doctor's note said."
Reyna dug into her pocket and pulled out the handwritten note from Will. Chiron smiled and took the note, "That's good. I still want you to take it easy."
"I will," Reyna promised. Chiron nodded and walked toward the bar. Reyna stuck her hands in her pockets and made her way into Clarisse's office. Her eyes widened as she saw Clarisse digging through her desk for something.
"Clarisse," Reyna began. Clarisse tensed and then stood up straight. She turned to look at Reyna. "Um."
"What do you want?" Clarisse demanded. Reyna winced from the harsh tone.
"I'm sorry," Reyna began. Clarisse just crossed her arms. "Is Chris okay?"
"He's healing," Clarisse muttered. Reyna nodded and opened her mouth. "What did I tell you two days ago?"
"I know what you said, but I'm really sorry about what happened. I-"
"What. Did I tell you?" Clarisse repeated.
"To shut the fuck up…" Reyna answered nervously.
"Then do that," Clarisse ordered. Reyna looked away and tried to ignore the sting in her chest. "I'm fucking pissed at you. Do you understand that? Chris was almost killed because of what you did, and I'm not just going to forgive that after a few days.
"If you talk to me, only talk to me about work. Got it?" Clarisse demanded. Reyna nodded once. "Good. I'm on vacation for the next two weeks. Don't burn down the fucking building. And don't be fucking late."
Clarisse stormed out of the office, leaving Reyna to stare at the wall ahead of her. She let out an angry breath and walked toward the desk. Reyna sat the backpack down and closed her eyes. Why couldn't Clarisse just accept her apology? She apologized, so that was all that should have mattered.
"Fuck," Reyna muttered. A knock caused her to glance up, and she saw Nico standing at the door. He slowly walked into the office.
"Can we talk?" Nico began. Reyna nodded and studied the vampire. "Clarisse left. I think. Can we talk in here?"
"Yeah," Reyna agreed as she sat on the desk. Nico closed the door behind him and walked toward the desk. He sat down and studied Reyna. She studied him back. "What do you need?"
"Do you remember when we talked about what Lycaon d...did to me? You said that I could talk to you," Nico began. He seemed to shrink into his aviator jacket. Reyna nodded and brought her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs.
"How do you handle it? The nightmares?" Nico whispered. "I can't sleep half the nights. The ones that I do, I have these terrible nightmares. I can't get over this fear."
"For one, Lycaon isn't going to come back," Reyna supplied in a hushed tone.
"I heard that he broke his neck from some kind of fall. I don't believe he's actually dead," Nico expressed as he looked at her.
"He didn't break his neck from a fall. I snapped it after we landed," Reyna admitted. Nico's gaze flipped up and stared at her. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"
"I won't," Nico promised. "What if his men come back for me?"
"They won't," Reyna promised. "With Lycaon gone, he left a power vacuum. His men will try to fill it, but that will lead to a civil war between them. They won't care that one of their toys got away," Reyna explained bluntly. Then, she shook her head. "No, you're not a toy. Not anymore, sorry.
"I don't have a solution for the nightmares," Reyna admitted. She hung her head. A sigh left her, and she looked at Nico. "I don't know. There are a lot of nights I have this nightmare I just can't wake from. And when I do wake up, I usually vomit. Or spend the rest of the night staring at the wall."
Nico looked down. Reyna continued, "Got any family, Nico?"
"No," Nico muttered. "My mom died when I was young. I had a sister: Bianca. The fucking hunters got her killed."
"A rogue hunter?" Reyna questioned.
"Zoë," Nico spat. The name was said with such hatred that it caused Reyna to flinch. "She got my sister killed. With Percy's help."
"And you hate them for it," Reyna presumed. Nico nodded. "I get it."
Nico crossed his arms and stared down at the ground. Reyna popped her back and stretched. A wince came as pain ran through her side, "I wish I could help more. I just kind of shoved it all down and ignored it."
"Chiron said it would help to talk to someone about it," Nico said softly. "I don't... know. Could I, maybe, talk to you about it?"
"Yeah," Reyna responded. Then, she glanced at her watch. "Not now, though. My shift starts soon. We can do it after work."
"Thank you," Nico repeated as he stood. Reyna nodded to him. Nico turned away before stopping to look back at her. "If you want to talk about it..."
"Maybe," Reyna cut off. Nico nodded and left the room. Reyna exhaled and hung her head again. Another knock recalibrated her eyes to the door. "Hey, Chiron."
"I forgot to get your size," Chiron revealed. He looked her up and down. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Reyna lied. "Just talked with Nico real quick. What did you need?"
"The charity event is coming in the next few weeks," Chiron answered. "Did you still want to participate? If so, I need your size."
"Of course. I want to help," Reyna said. She told Chiron her size before looking down at herself. Even though she wasn't too far from almost being dissected, she was a lot healthier than she had been a year ago. Hell, healthier than she had been in a few months.
"Hey, Chiron. Thank you again. For everything," Reyna spoke honestly. Chiron gave her a huge smile.
"You're welcome, Reyna. I'm glad I was able to help," Chiron said warmly. Reyna stood and followed him out of the office. She gave him a nod before making her way to the door. As she did, she stopped by Jason.
"Hey," Reyna greeted.
"Hey," Jason returned with a small smile. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," Reyna answered. She leaned on the hostess stand that was near the door. Her gaze studied Jason. "I am sorry if I upset you when I slept with Piper."
"I was a little shocked at first, but I'm over it. Piper told me it helped her. And that it helped you," Jason explained. "She didn't say how, though."
Reyna nodded but didn't elaborate. She cleared her throat, "I don't know if we're still on for it, but if you're free in the next few days..."
"Do you still want to sleep with me?" Jason asked. Reyna nodded. "Okay. Well, there's something I should tell you first."
"What is it?" Reyna asked as she studied Jason. A blush came to his face, and he tugged on his collar like he was nervous.
"I have a crush on you," Jason began. Reyna stared at him and felt her eyes start to widen before narrowing in confusion.
"A crush?" Reyna repeated. What did Jason mean by that? Jason shifted again and looked away.
"You know," Jason uttered, but Reyna didn't know. "I have feelings for you."
"Oh," Reyna said dumbly. She opened her mouth. "Um, I should get to work."
Reyna turned and headed outside before Jason could respond. She stared ahead before slowly focusing on the gathering line. Jason had a crush on her? He had feelings for her? Why? In fact, how? Reyna closed her eyes and then shook her head. She didn't have time for it. All she had time for was to focus on her job.