In answer to Writersmagnet's comment, there WILL be more action it's just there's a lot going on and you might actually miss the fluff in the next book SINCE THERE ISN'T GOING TO BE ANY. Ships are most definitely sinking. Terribly. Horrendously. This might actually be worse than the ending of UnKnown and what happened in UnTamed... you can decide when we get there :)

Chapter Quote:
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."
~Maya Angelou
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Chapter 14: We Don't Like Rasputin

Luke

Brady was sitting in the armchair, Bradley was sitting on the coffee table. Luke leaned against the doorway in case he heard Bryn get up. Derek was in the other room watching over Hallie and Silena. All three boys were staring at the god who had woken up four hours ago but had said nothing. He simply stared at them, a small smirk on his face.

However, at the slightest sound coming from the bedroom, he finally broke his silence, saying, "I think your girlfriend might be up."

Luke wanted to say something nasty back to the guy but chose against it. He entered the bedroom to find his girlfriend massaging her head, eyes shut tight.

"Bryn?" Luke whispered, shutting the door behind him so the god couldn't see what was going on. "You awake?"

"Mmmm..." she replied quietly. "Massive, massive headache."

"Here, let's get you some nectar," he suggested. Luke walked over to the nightstand where he pulled out a small flask of the godly liquid from the drawer. He handed it to Bryn who gulped it down. It took a few moments to take effect but when it did, she sat up. Bryn tried to use her wrist that was still tied to the bedpost. She started yanking at it, demanding, "Why am I tied to the bed?!"

"Sorry, it was a precautionary measure," Luke explained bashfully, hastily untying her wrist.

"A precautionary for what?"

"You don't remember?"

"No. I remember having a very weird dream though. That Rasputin look-alike was there and he said something to Silena and Hallie who then started acting drunk and I tried to get them out of there but then Rasputin did something to me and I remember him trying to kiss me but I told him he wasn't you. He asked to see a picture of you and I showed him and then when I looked up, all of a sudden it was you and then we started kissing but then you showed up and punched him and-" Bryn stopped, staring at her boyfriend. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Um... that wasn't a dream. You were put under some spell by that Rasputin guy and the boys and I tried to come get you girls out of there. Derek and Bradley got Silena and Hallie out. I tried getting you out but you kissed me and I got put under the same spell until Brady and Bradley found us with the former literally shocking me back into my senses. You've been out for fifteen hours."

"Fifteen- oh gods..." Bryn blinked, horror crashing over her face. "That means I really did kiss him and that you really saw... oh gods, I'm so sorry Luke! I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. I promise you."

His words hardly seemed to faze his girlfriend though who started walking around with one hand on her head and one hand on her hip, appearing absolutely mortified. But that all disappeared the moment the Rasputin guy called out, "How's she feeling?"

Her expression went murderous as she asked, "Is that him?"

"Yeah. We took him back here to interrogate him but that's the first thing he's said since we've been here.

"I'll make him talk," she growled. Throwing the door open, Bryn stalked towards the guy, throwing out her hand and sending a never-ending lightning bolt into him.

"Bryn stop!" Brady ordered, grabbing onto his sister. She ripped her arm out of his grip only to be grabbed by both twins at the same time. Rasputin was now yelling in pain and Luke could tell he wasn't faking it.

"Luke, a little help here?!" Bradley requested.

"I'm all for her torturing him actually," Luke said. "You do realize he drugged her, Silena, and Hallie?"

"Yes, but we won't get any answers out of him if she kills him," he argued.

"He's a god, I can't kill him!" Bryn pointed out, sending a new lightning bolt at him.

"Cat Woman, let them ask questions. When we have the answers we need, then you can torture him, okay?" Luke offered.

"What's going on?" Hallie queried tiredly from the doorway.

"Your friend just tried to kill me," the hostage stated.

"Oh. How unfortunate."

"You too?"

"You drugged me and made out with me after making yourself look like my boyfriend. But you know what, on second thought, I'm glad she didn't kill you. Because that's too easy of a way out."

"Where's Silena and Derek?" Bryn queried.

"Bathroom. She'll be in here in a moment."

"We're here," Silena announced, appearing behind Hallie with her boyfriend.

"Who are you?" Brady asked, his voice eerily calm.

"How about an old moniker I'm quite fond of: Rasputin," the guy answered.

"Wait a second, are you telling me that you really are Rasputin?" Bradley questioned.

"Yes."

"That explains why it took so much to 'kill' him. The guy was a literal god."

"Yes, yes, I'm Rasputin. My real name is Dolos. God of-"

"Trickery and guile," Bryn finished. "Why did you go after me and my friends in the hotel?"

"Because you were pretty."

"No, tell me the truth. If it had been because we were pretty, you would've gone for us the moment you saw us."

"How about because your boyfriends were nearby and wouldn't have let me approach you?"

"You pretended to need help with bags and groceries. You could've asked for all of our help. So why me and the girls but not the boys?"

"Because you three are the most dangerous ones. A daughter of Zeus with three other divine relatives, a granddaughter of Poseidon and Athena, and a daughter of Hades whose upbringing has given her the ability to be wholly independent."

"Luke has the same heritage as Silena. Why is she more dangerous than him?"

"Because she thinks with her head, not with her heart. Not to mention I knew the moment you kissed him up there he'd be under the spell as well. Was planning on the other girls doing the same but that didn't happen."

"They guys are physically stronger than us though."

"Exactly, physically. Mentally, not so much. Derek here has severe inferiority issues, the twins have this desirous need to impress their big sister because you abandoned them more than once; and your boyfriend here is having issues when it comes to his powers."

Lightning sparked from Bryn's fingertips; barely containing her rage as she snarled, "I didn't abandon my brothers. I would never abandon them."

"Right, so when you died for Mr. Ken Doll here, you didn't abandon them?" Luke felt rather insulted because he knew being called 'Mr. Ken Doll was not a compliment from this guy.

"I was going to die before I met them."

"And what if you had met them before you made that decision to save your boyfriend? Would you have continued to keep your identity a secret from your brothers and save Luke, or would you have chosen them over him?"

Everyone's eyes rested on Bryn at that moment. Luke was worried his girlfriend was actually about to snap on the guy because he was pushing into dangerous territory, but Luke couldn't help but wonder what her answer was.

"I never would've told them who I was if I'd met them before making my decision to save Luke. They had done just fine without me up until the point I met them and they would continue to be okay without knowing who I was. I didn't want to hurt them. I didn't want to hurt my parents."

"So why tell them who you were when you recruited them when you knew you were going to die? Because it looks like no matter what, you still abandoned them in the end."

"I didn't abandon them!" Bryn shouted, trembling with rage. "I wanted to protect and make sure none of them got into the mess I'd gotten myself into!"

"Leave our sister alone," Bradley growled.

"All she's ever done was try and protect us," Brady added.

"Yet she had no plans on telling you that she was going to die? I don't remember you two taking it that well. Refused to speak to her for a bit unless necessary, didn't you?"

"We were processing it. We'd gotten close to her in a short amount of time and we're not exactly good with losing people."

"She still abandoned you for this boy right here."

"Stop saying I abandoned them!" Bryn ordered harshly.

"But you did. All because you had a school-girl crush on a coward that let you die for him twice."

Bryn snapped. She struck the god with such a powerful lightning bolt that he and his chair flipped through the air towards the wall. Brady and Bradley barely managed to stop him from crashing. Had her brothers not been there, Rasputin might have gone through the wall into the next room.

"Luke, get her out of here," Derek said.

"Bryn, come on," Luke coaxed, gently grabbing her by the arm and tugging her towards the bedroom. It didn't take much for her to listen to him because of the state she was in. He shut the door to prevent Dolos from hearing anything that he could use to further provoke Bryn. Upon turning around, he found his girlfriend braced against the desk in an obvious attempt to regain control of her emotions.

"Bryn?" Luke queried.

"Don't come near me... don't..." she breathed. "My powers are trying to go haywire and I don't want to hurt you. You're the last person besides my brothers I want to hurt right now. I've done that enough..."

"Hey, don't think like that," Luke consoled, leaning against the desk next to her but making sure he respected her request not to be touched.

"Dolos was right. I abandoned my brothers. More than once. I know I did it to save you and I wouldn't change that. I know what nearly losing you did to me and the gods know how I'd react if you actually died... if any of you died for that matter, but I hurt my brothers. I never should have told them who I was when I recruited them because all that happened was that they got hurt. All I've ever done is hurt the ones I love..."

"Don't say that," he said. "Listen to me, did you hurt me in Paris?"

"I know we had a lovely time but now is not the time to-"

"No, I'm being serious. Answer the question. Did you hurt me in Paris?"

"No..."

"Did you hurt Derek when you went to talk to him the day we held our graduation party?"

"No."

"Did you hurt Silena or Hallie when we were on Snake Island?"

"No."

"And did you hurt me when I came to your house the night Tucker died?"

"No."

"Exactly, you-"

"But I'm the reason that the ship sank on our first quest together. I was a complete ass to Silena in the beginning of the trip to save you from Hannah. I knew about Derek's powers and did nothing to help him learn about them which caused him and Silena to temporarily break up. I was the first friend Hallie ever had and then I go and die on her, even if just temporarily but that doesn't make it any better. I let you get kidnapped by Hannah's minions. I-"

"Stop. Just stop. You could figure out a way to make every way we've ever gotten hurt your fault and I'm not letting you do that to yourself because there are some things you can control, and there are some things you can't. I'm not going to lie. Yes, you've hurt us, but we've hurt you too. No relationship, friendship or more, can go completely without people getting hurt. You're not at fault for the cruise ship sinking. That's Amphitrite and Triton's problem because they threw a fit that a demigod from Zeus's descent was on their turf. That was nothing but petty. If it weren't for you running away from us at Lupa's, who knew how long it would've taken Derek to figure out his powers which let's be honest here, he's saved our butts quite a few times because of his powers. And sure, I know you were being rude to Silena on the trip to save me but from what Derek told me, she wasn't completely innocent in the whole situation either. Hannah went for me that night because I was an easier target than you. Do you realize that everything you're blaming yourself for, I'm able to twist it into a way that makes it not your fault? It's all perspective. I can't take the guilt away from you completely, only you can do that, but I want to at least try and help you do that."

"I want to go back in there," Bryn stated. "I have questions for him and I'm not leaving until they're answered."

"If he starts getting to you, come back in here and calm down, okay?"

Bryn stood up, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry..."

"For what?" Luke queried.

"For breaking down like that."

"That ass in there got into your head because that's what he's good at. I don't think he'll try it again since you tried to send him into another dimension with that lightning bolt of yours."

"I kind of wish my brothers hadn't stopped him," she chuckled, wiping a stray tear off her cheek. Luke pulled her into a hug, kissing her on the top of her head. She let out a shaky breath before saying she was okay.

A few moments later, they went back into the living room where the twins were extremely red in the face. Derek and Hallie looked about ready to kill someone. The only one that seemed to be okay was Silena.

"What did we miss?" Luke questioned.

"He's good at getting under our skin," Derek muttered.

Bryn stared at the god. "How did you know about everything that happened between me and my brothers?"

"Gossip, sweetheart," Dolos answered with a smug grin.

"No, that's not gossip. That was a personal thing between me and my brothers and I know they wouldn't have told anyone about it. So how did you know?"

"You told me last night when you were under my spell."

"No I didn't. It might feel like a dream but I remember it clearly, and I know the only thing I told you was about Luke. Now tell me the truth."

"He's stalling," Silena stated, walking up. "He keeps getting under our skin to avoid the questions being on him because he knows something we don't want to find out."

"Well his tactic nearly got him killed even though gods can't die," Hallie said. "So what's worth hiding that he'd risk that?"

Silena braced herself on the arms of the chair, staring intently into Dolos' eyes, asking, "You're trying to protect what we're after, aren't you?"

"Wait, you think he's protecting one of the gods' weapons?" Brady queried.

"It would explain a lot. It would explain why he didn't immediately go for us when we were in the lobby because he didn't know if we were a threat or not. When he figured out we were, that's when he struck. As for the information he gathered about what happened to Bryn and her brothers, it makes me wonder if whoever he's serving somehow figured it out and told him? Amphisbaena was terrified of the thing that told her to protect the helm and he probably is too."

"It would make sense why a random god was in the exact place we were," Bradley remarked.

"You're not serving Hannah, are you? She hasn't made a comeback has she?" Hallie prodded.

At that, Dolos let out a laugh. "Gods no. She's as good as gone thanks to you seven. No, the thing I serve is much more powerful, and much more deadly. It makes Hannah seem like a power-crazed toddler. It doesn't matter if you find all the gods' weapons because they're still going to win anyway."

"So if it doesn't matter if we get it or not, why not tell us where the next item is hidden in the caves?" Silena countered.

Dolos cocked his head at her, appearing rather proud. "For the sheer fact you figured out my game, I'll tell you. It's in the Titanic Grotto in the ice caves you are headed to. I won't tell you where. I'll just let you have fun with that. Now are you going to let me go?"

"Why would we let a dangerous man like you go?" Hallie asked, giving him an 'are you crazy' look.

"Because if you don't, I'll just get under all of your skins to the point you might go crazy. There's a reason I'm the god of trickery and guile." He peered around Silena to look at Bryn again. "You're really fun to mess with. All those emotions broiling inside you. I mean I understand why you took offense. For one I was right. Second, you have this nasty habit of losing people, don't you? First your parents, then the love of your life on more than one occasion, your best friends... what did you do in another life to deserve this torment?"

Bryn got up and left, causing Dolos to laugh. "She's too easy. And I thought she was mentally strong."

"Oh she is. She has two options, let you stay strapped to a chair or hurt you. Her not hurting you, and taking the high ground, trust me, she's being much stronger than you could ever realize," Luke retorted.

"I suppose. If you were in her position, you would've just started using that power of yours to force the answers out of me, wouldn't you?"

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "How'd you know about that?"

"Can I tell the others about it? Since they don't seem to know?"

"What is he talking about?" Hallie questioned.

"Something he knows nothing about," Luke replied shortly.

"On the contrary, I know quite a bit about you Mr. Jackson. What would you do if I told them? Would you use it on me to prove my point or would you be a coward, as usual, and just let me torment you? Either way, I win. Because that's what I always do. That's what my boss always does. That's why-" Dolos suddenly stopped talking. His mouth kept moving but it wasn't because he was talking. It was more like he was gasping for air.

"Luke, are you doing that?" Silena inquired hesitantly.

"No. I'm not doing that."

"Which one of you is?" he gasped out. His face was now turning a bright red, his eyes were watering, and for a god, he suddenly seemed very human.

"Whoever's doing it, stop," Derek commanded. However, when it didn't, Derek rushed over to figure out what was wrong, only to back away gasping himself. He at least seemed to get his breath back but the moment he was away from Dolos, the god stopped choking.

"Which one of you did that?" he demanded.

"What's going on?" Bryn inquired, stepping into the room. "I felt Brady and Bradley start panicking."

"Someone, or something, just started choking Dolos," Hallie explained.

"Was it you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"If I had, I would've done it much, much sooner," she replied coldly.

"What should we do with him?" Silena queried.

"The bonds will be wearing off soon. We need to figure it out quickly," Brady warned.

"Can we give him to the gods?" Hallie suggested.

"They can figure out what to do with him. I'm sure none of them will take it too kindly when they find out he drugged three demigods and that he's working for someone who's trying to destroy the gods," Bradley noted.

"Good point. I'll use the helm to take me and Silena to Olympus. We'll drop him off, explain the situation, then come back here," Derek said. The others agreed. Bryn grabbed the helm from her backpack, handing it to her friend. He put it on, grabbed onto Silena's hand and the back of Dolos' chair before disappearing into the shadows. Once they were gone, Bryn turned around, going back into the bedroom. Luke started to go after her but the twins stopped him, saying, "Let us talk to her. He got to her because of us."

Luke nodded, sitting down on the couch. The twins walked after their sister, shutting the bedroom door. Hallie sat next to Luke on the couch and asked, "Bryn wasn't the only one that Dolos got to. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. He was starting to go after me but that stopped when... whatever it is that happened to him did. I'm just worried about Bryn. He really got to her. She was about to lose control with her powers."

"Last time she actually lost control, she was trying to prevent telling you her big secret."

"I know. She's not hiding anything from us, but that's how I know how bad he got to her. You seem to be in-tune to her moods more so than even her brothers, Derek, and Silena. If for some reason I'm not around to calm her down-"

"I've got it," Hallie assured. "What do you say we go get some food? I think it's best we go in boy-girl groups now and since Bryn is talking to her brothers, I think we're safe to go grab food. There's a small place just around the corner that I think would be okay."

"Let's do it."
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Action will happen next chapter, I promise :) Enjoy!