The Case of Dena Johnson: A Character Dissection
She's me, but not, but is...but also kind of isn't. And she might be a ghost or something...(read The Last Son to find out more!!)
This character is not only the heart of the Last Son of Danu, she’s personal. Dena Johnson is me from my 20s, but not a polished version. Not prim and perfect and everything I wanted to be.
Nope…She’s a hot mess.
Dena’s the aching, too-soft girl I used to be. The one who believed that if she gave enough, someone would finally choose her. Loudly. Publicly. With everything.
Someone who would say this is my girl and mean it.
My mother always made note of my weight in a way that said “you’d be prettier if you weren’t fat.” That messes with a girl and makes you think no one will want you. This is a lady who asked her teenage daughter, “How can you see your ‘stuff?’ over my stomach. You can’t imagine how embarrassing and painful something like that is. Or that time she called me a pig under her breath because she was upset her boyfriend married some other chick.
That shit was rough.
Anyway, to her, I was fat, and that meant I was unworthy of the kind of attention other girls got. That I was lucky if someone liked me. That I should try harder to be the kind of girl someone would want.
I wasn’t a princess. I like video games. I watched Star Trek like it was my job. I had a very weird crush on cartoon Egon on The Real Ghostbusters. I was odd, and I should have been happy being just me. I wasn’t, though, because Mom wanted me to be a mini-version of her, and she was none of those things.
So I learned to perform.
To smile even when it hurt. To accept the bare minimum if it came with a compliment.
What I wanted wasn’t a David when it came to romance.. What I wanted was someone who would hunger for me, not just sexually, but spiritually. Someone who saw me as beautiful because I was me, not despite it.
Dena was born from that longing.
She isn’t trying to be hot. She wants to be seen.
And now she is in the world of Crimson. For better or for worse.
If you need a Dena-esque mood, here’s Good Days by Sza. That about sums it up.
WHY I MADE HER SO MUCH LIKE ME
Um, if you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a lot of buxom black girls in fantasy/romantasy stories being haunted by handsome fairy princes. So I figured, why not? Until the day Lucien from ACOTAR comes and sweeps me away, this is what a girl has to do, okay?
WHO IS DENA NICOLE JOHNSON?
Dena Johnson is a young woman from Baltimore—an only child born to a mother with a substance abuse problem and what’s probably a personality disorder, though no one ever said it out loud. Especially not her mother.
She grew up too fast. Started off as her mother’s pretty little accessory. The girl with the bows and the dresses and the sugar-sweet smile. But when she got old enough to talk back, to form her own opinions, to question the bullshit, that’s when things turned. That’s when the gloves came off.
Dena’s smart. Maybe not a genius, but her instincts are sharp and her empathy runs deep. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, even if it sometimes bows under the weight of everyone else’s expectations.
She’s a geeky girl at heart, more comfortable in jeans and an oversized tee than heels and lashes. She plays video games, reads too much (is there such a thing?!), and forgets to eat or sleep when she’s focused on something that matters. She can get dolled up if she wants to, but the truth is, she doesn’t feel like she has anything to prove. Not anymore.
People have always been drawn to her. Maybe it’s the smile. Maybe it’s the way she listens. Or maybe, it’s the magic in her blood that she doesn’t even know she has.
She made friends easily growing up, but kept most people at arm’s length.
Because getting close meant risking disappointment. And she wasn’t sure if it was her potential disappointment, or theirs.
Romance? That always felt just out of reach.
So when David came along—handsome, charming, confident—she was stunned. Flattered, even. No one like him wanted girls like her. She took everything he gave, even when it didn’t feel quite right. Because part of her still believed that being chosen—even wrongly—was better than not being seen at all.
Dena's Backstory Summary
Only child to a mother who wanted a doll, not a daughter.
Raised under judgment. Praised only when she looked cute, stayed quiet, or did what was expected.
Her father? A mystery. Her mother’s weapon.
Her cousin Zahrah was her everything—the only person who made her feel wanted without a price. Zahrah died in a house fire when Dena was five or six.
After Zahrah died, Dena stopped asking to be held.
WHAT EVEN IS SHE (The More than Meets the Eye Edition)?
Dena Johnson has always felt different, and not because of her geeky ways. Sometimes it’s like the world reacts to her in ways she doesn’t fully understand. What she doesn’t realize is that something inside her is stirring, and it’s beginning to show. Because one thing Crimson is good at is bringing out the Other in anyone.
Subtle Signs She Gives:
Magnetic Presence – People tend to open up to her, drawn to her warmth and sincerity. It’s not just charm. It’s something deeper, something primal.
Unseen Hunger – Emotions feed her spirit, though she has no idea she’s taking them in. What feels like connection may be something far more powerful.
An Intoxicating Aura – Her joy can be infectious. Her smile can warm the coldest heart. And her snort-laugh can charm even the most surly (Kay never even had a chance!).
Something Sleeping – There’s a fire she doesn’t yet understand simmers beneath it all, waiting for the moment it awakens. It has always been there, but Crimson is an alarm call her spirit isn’t able to ignore. And that something is drawing Kain Knightstone to her like a moth to a flame.
WHY IS SHE DRAWN TO KAIN?
Dena’s always loved magic. Not just the fantasy of it, but the idea that maybe, somewhere, there was more than what she’d been given. Something beautiful. Something powerful. Something that didn’t hurt.
Kay is made of that magic.
From the moment she met him, he felt like a story she wasn’t sure she was allowed to read. Quiet. Strange. Full of power but soft in his edges with her. He listens with infinite patience, like her words are spells worth waiting for.
He offers instead of expects. He asks instead of assuming. And when she’s with him, she doesn’t feel like she’s too loud, too much, too needy. She feels like someone worth knowing.
He makes her laugh—real, belly-deep laughter. Silly little snorts and sly grins that pull her out of herself.
And maybe more than anything, Kay is safe in a way no one else has ever been.
When she’s scared, he shows up.
When she’s hurting, he finds her.
He would drop everything to protect her.
But that’s not all…
He’s brutally hot. Not in a flashy, performative way, but in that quiet, devastating way only old gods and wild things can be.
He moves like he was made for the woods and the shadows. There’s grace in him. Danger too. A sensual predator that commands her attention every time he enters a room.
But when he looks at her? He’s gentle.
WHAT MAKES HER SEXY?
It’s not the curves (though she has them…more than I do, in fact!).
It’s not the face (though she’s adorable with her big brown eyes and round, youthful face).
It’s the way she leans in when you talk. The way her laugh feels like a secret made just for you.
She’s sexy because she gives you a glimpse of something real. And you’ll do anything to see it again.
HER KINK?
Dena’s kink is being wanted so deeply it undoes her.
She isn’t bound by labels. Not dom. Not sub. She’s a true switch—someone who craves surrender when her heart is earned, and who, in the heat of her darker moments, aches to bind her lover, to make him plead for her touch.
At her core, she longs to be both fragile and fierce. To be held down and lifted up. To give in without feeling small. To take control without losing herself.
What turns her on more than anything is knowing she’s desired—not just casually, but hungrily, desperately. She thrives on praise, on being seen as irresistible, as worth chasing into the shadows and backing against the wall until she can’t say no.
And Kay? He’s perfect for it. Powerful enough to take her apart, patient enough to let her burn through her fire, and gentle enough to piece her back together when she finally surrenders.
CHARACTER VICES
Self-Sacrifice – She gives too much. Every time.
Avoidance – She’d rather break herself than confront someone.
Craving Control by Losing It – Sex, relationships, and giving herself away became the one place she felt powerful… even when it left her emptier.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DENA (Beautiful but Broken)
Dena’s mind is a hall of mirrors. Every reflection is shaped by who’s standing next to her.
Her mother made her feel like a burden.
David made her feel like a drug.
Kay makes her feel like a person.
She is deeply empathic, always attuned to others, always adjusting. That makes her a healer. A lover. A force of nature.
But it also makes her easy to break.
She wants love, but doesn’t believe she deserves it.
She wants power, but is terrified of losing control.
She wants to be herself, but doesn’t know who that is yet.
THE FINAL VERDICT: A GODDESS IN THE MAKING
Dena Johnson is more than she realizes. More than anyone expects. Her sweetness hides a storm, her softness masks a fire. She is a woman made of contradictions—docile yet commanding, fragile yet fierce, tender yet devastating.
Her power isn’t just in what stirs beneath her skin. It’s in the way she makes others feel. Safe. Desired. Seen. She is a seductress without trying, a goddess in denial of her own divinity.
With Kay, every facet of her shines brighter. He awakens the parts of her that ache to surrender and the parts that long to command. He proves that she doesn’t need to choose between being cherished and being feared, between being adored and being obeyed.
Dena’s verdict? She is the kind of woman who can break your heart with a smile, heal your soul with a kiss, and undo your entire world just by letting you close.
Read more about Dena’s story in The Last Son of Danu. By the way, the story is DONE! I’m working on the sequel…or rather redoing it.
Enjoy the first six short stories set in the Crimson universe in Tales Dripping in Crimson: Volume One, available on multiple platforms. You can even get the paperback on Amazon!
For all my other works, check out my bookstore!