Chapter 21: Damion

I look around in surprise. It feels like only seconds ago I closed my eyes, and now I stand in the middle of a bedroom decked out in black and ruby red. The windows are wide open, surrounding me in thick, humid air and covering the room in light that looks borderline unnatural.

A large four poster bed sits on one side, a black frame with red bed clothing perfectly made. Paintings line the dark wallpaper, and the furniture looks to be a mix of vintage items and items that look like they were pulled straight from the catalog.

"Oh shit, it worked."

I turn around to find Callyx – no, Zain – behind me. "What worked?"

"We were actually able to bring you here. I didn't think it was possible since you've slept next to Amri before and never showed up, but I guess something changed."

I scratch my head, my eyes catching on the large mirror behind him. "And, um, where are we?"

"You're in the underworld. My bedroom, to be precise."

I jump at the sound of a voice behind me. When I was checking out the room before, there wasn't anyone there, but now stands a man almost as tall as Zain. His dark black ear curls around his ears, highlighting his pale skin and the scar splitting his eyebrow in two. He's dressed immaculately in a dark suit, the tie thrown over his shoulder as he stands perfectly still, staring at me.

I stare back. If there's anything I learned while working in a mental institution, it's to not let anyone know they get under your skin. The patients there will use your fear, confusion and worry as a weapon.

The man reaches up and fingers the diamond cross earring he has in his ear, the earring matching the one Zain is currently wearing. Actually, how did that earring not get taken away during intake? Patients aren't allowed to have jewelry.

I shake my head, dispelling the random thought as the man finally opens his mouth to break the silence.

"Damion, I presume."

I nod.

He tilts his head in a way that seems more like a tick than a tilt of acknowledgement. "Figured. You're the only other one that I've granted access to."

He walks past me to a mini bar near the mirror and I watch as he pours himself a rather large glass of what looks like whiskey. The bottle is in another language so it's completely illegible to me; but the coloring is right.

Zain turns and follows him. "You granted him access."

The man, the Reaper, nods and drinks the whole glass without taking a single breath.

I go over what I know about him in my head as he pours himself another glass just as large as the first and throws it back in a few gulps. He's different than I imagined. I don't know why I had a mental image of a skeleton man with a blade in my head knowing good and damn well that Amri would not be with him if he was only skull and bones.

Zain puts his hand on the Reaper's shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

The Reaper shakes his head as he takes a deep breath. "Just…politics."

"Anything you want to talk about?" The Reaper shakes his head no as Zain begins picking up the different bottles, looking at about four of them before finally deciding on one and pouring himself a drink. He offers me one, but I decline.

"I don't drink but thank you."

"I suppose it's good that at least one of us doesn't. Actually, I don't know if Amri does or not."

The Reaper turns around and looks around the bedroom. "Where is Amri?" He turns back to Zain and me, "Wait, why are you here? It's the middle of the day. I sent Amri back to you for training."

Zain waves his hand for me to explain. I chew on my lip for a moment, trying to determine how to break it to Death that someone he loves got hurt, and technically under my watch. He probably won't even let me in this ‘mating' thing anymore and then I'd lose Amri for good.

"Um, Reaper – "

"Call me Vincent, please. You're one of us now." He shoots me a small smile and then motions for me to continue.

"After Amri left you earlier and woke up…she was attacked." He stands up straighter and I watch as fury fills his dark eyes. I hurry to continue. "She's okay, just a small cut on her head and she…she got hit with a tranquilizer."

"Who did it? "

Zain speaks up from beside the mini bar. "Royce Odin."

I flinch at the sound of breaking glass and look over to see the whiskey glass shattered into pieces and falling to the floor from Vincent's grasp. He walks over to the mirror, glass crunching underneath his shoes, and I watch as he speaks Royce's name into the mirror until a picture of Royce appears.

No, not a picture. It's actually Royce. He's pacing in solitary, a smile on his face as he talks to himself. I see a few scratches on his arms where Amri must have got him a few times with her nails.

"Little hellcat." I whisper, smiling to myself, the proof of her fight on his skin.

"Zain, you and Callyx need to take care of this. Immediately."

Zain shakes his head. "We were going to, but Nurse Man here brought up a good point. If I do that, I get discharged. Then Amri doesn't get trained."

"Fuck getting discharged! He attacked her! He deserves to pay!"

Zain steps forward, "You told me to up her training, with no explanation! You can't be a fucking hypocrite and take that back now! We'll find another way to deal with him!"

Vincent throws his hands in the air. "How!"

Sighing, Zain shakes his head. "That I don't know." He looks to me, "Nurse Man, is there anything you can do?"

"For one, my name is Damion. And second…not really. I went to my boss to try and get him discharged but apparently, he has friends in high places. She refuses to let him go."

"Fuck." Vincent shakes his head. "This right here is what makes it so hard to love humanity. They're willingness to bypass what's right for greed."

"From what you've told me, the same politics exist here." Zain points out.

Vincent nods. "Yeah, they do, but this is the Underworld. You expect things to be violent and nasty. Earth is supposed to be different. More often than not, though, you meet worse demons up there than you do down here."

I take in his words, surprised that a Reaper, one who collects souls and instills fear into the heart of even the most powerful man, is concerned with the state of the world. Maybe he's not too bad after all.

"So, what are we going to do?" Zain walks over to the bed and sits down, sipping on his whiskey.

"I don't know, but we have to figure out something."

We all take seats around the room, Zain staying on the bed, me taking the couch in the far corner, and Vincent taking the bench at the end of the bed. It's silent, except for our breathing and the occasional sound of Zain swallowing some more of his drink. No one comes up with any ideas, no one speaks, but the worry in the air is palpable as minutes tick by without Amri showing up in the bedroom with us.

"I'm going to look for her." Zain stands up, setting his glass down on the bed table and walking over to the mirror.

"Where would you even look?" Vincent looks skeptical, and rightfully so. How does someone look for someone else in a dreamworld?

"She gets stuck in a dream sometimes. I want to go make sure she's not there."

"What dream, Zain? "

Zain doesn't answer, instead he walks through the mirror, and my eyes widen as I watch it ripple until the surface calms enough to show the bedroom's reflection.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"Zain ignored me, as per usual."

"No, not that. How did he do that with the mirror?"

"Oh." Vincent stands up and walks over to the mirror, putting a single finger through it. I watch in awe as it ripples again. "It's a portal for the dreamscape. It can take you anywhere, but if you think of someone specific then it will either show you them, or show you their dream, depending on what you want to see."

I walk over to him, "So, why didn't we come through the mirror when we first fell asleep?"

"You can only get to this room if I invite you in, which is why you could sleep next to Amri before but not enter. I can feel when someone is waiting to enter, so I get here as soon as possible but sometimes I'm out collecting souls. I really should take down the barrier for you three, though, so you can come and go as you please." He walks over to the mirror and begins to wave his hand and flick his fingers in different directions. I'm confused until I see the soft shadows of runes showing in the mirror. He must be taking down that barrier he spoke about.

He continues his ministrations but turns to look at me while his hands continue to move, "It's a weird magic but a great security measure. There are things you couldn't even imagine waiting in the dreamscape for the perfect chance to attack someone like me."

I narrow my eyes, confused at his choice of words. "Someone like you?"

"Damion? "

Both me and Vincent turn around, running toward Amri when we see her standing next to the bed.

"Oh, my God, Ree. I was so worried about you." I wrap my hand around her head and immediately bring her in for a hug. I lay my head on top of hers, breathing in her scent and squeezing her tightly against me.

When I finally pull away, Vincent is looking at me with an amused look on his face. " We were worried about you, siren."

He brings her in for a hug as well, and I watch as he plants a soft kiss on her lips.

It hits me then, that we're doing this. I'm doing this. Her, Vincent, Zain and Callyx. I have made the decision to share her with them, to share her mind, her love, her body and her soul. I have made the decision to die not only for her, but for them. But it also hits me that the possessiveness I felt for her when I first learned about Vincent, and when I first met Callyx and Zain, is no longer there toward them. I know, if anyone else were to touch her, I would protect what's mine. With them, though, watching him kiss her. Knowing her and Callyx had sex last night…that's no longer hard to swallow. It feels…right.

"I'm okay, I promise. Pissed, but okay." She smiles at us both. I pull her in for another hug and kiss the top of her head.

"Amri!"

I look up to see Zain running out of the mirror, stopping just in time before he runs into us.

"Come here, bunny."

She walks over to him. He looks her up and down, spinning her around to look at the cut on her head and grimacing when he peaks under the bandage. He turns her back around and places her face between his hands.

"You're okay?"

She nods.

"Even mentally? I know that must have brought up past memories."

She shakes her head. "Really, I'm fine. At first…" She looks down, twisting her fingers between themselves. "At first, I got scared. Overwhelmed with fear. I froze. But then I realized I didn't want to be the same victim I was before. I wanted to fight. So, I did. But it wasn't enough…"

"And I'm sorry for that, bunny. I should have put more effort into your training."

She takes his hands in hers. "No, it's not your fault. I wasn't taking the training seriously. I am now though."

He nods, smiling at her as he gently pushes some of her hair back behind her ear and leans in to give her a kiss. It's just as gentle as his touch was, but I can clearly see the passion behind it. Her back arches as she leans into him and I sit down on the bed, watching the two of them interact. She whispers something to him too low for us to hear, and I see him nod before clenching his fists. His body gets tense and seconds later his shoulders roll back.

"Hey, kitten. You grew claws, again. I like it." She stretches up and places another kiss on his lips, this one rougher than the first, but none of the passion is lost in translation.

Callyx. She asked for Callyx so she could kiss him, too.

I smile to myself, watching her. Admiring her. Her strength. Even with her past, she fought to get out of the situation she was in earlier. She didn't let herself fade into her past self. I couldn't be prouder. This girl, standing in front of me, wants to live. No longer does she want to jump from a bridge into freezing cold water.

She pulls away and turns toward me. "I didn't get a kiss from you."

I shake my head, "No, you didn't."

She walks over, putting her arms up on my shoulders and wrapping them around my neck before she leans in and kisses me. Her lips taste salty with dried tears, but her lips feel firm against mine. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her into me and pushing all my worry, all my love for her into the kiss. Slowly, she pulls away. Her blue eyes are shining bright as they meet mine, and a smile graces her lips.

She's not just strong. This woman, my woman, is beautiful. The freckles along her face frame her eyes, making them stand out even more against her pale skin. I can tell she's been crying, as her eyes are bluer than normal, but it only serves to make her more beautiful. She can be struggling, learning how to love herself, and she still has room for me. For us. She loves so wholly. She's given each one of us attention, gave a piece of herself to each one of us. And I've given myself wholly over to her.

She looks around, looking at each one of us before taking a shaky breath in. "Well, since you're all here, I have something I want to say."