Before the Dawn

Chapter Twenty

I pry my eyes open groggily and lift up my heavy head to look around. Squinting, I gaze up at the sleeping face of my Warrior. A sleepy grin stretches across my face. He is so completely adorable when he's sleeping.

I snap out of my admiration when I'm reminded of what woke me in the first place; my phone rang.

Carefully, I climb out of Declan's arms, trying not to jostle him. I freeze in place when he frowns and shifts in his sleep. He settles back into his slumber and I let out a silent sigh of relief.

Grabbing my phone off of the night stand, I open up the message from Amora that I'd just received and begin to read.

Morning, Laila! Aubrey's friend, Lena, is back from her hunting trip and wants to meet you, if you're up for it. Eight o'clock at the old tree sound okay?

My eyebrows nearly touch my hairline. A hunting trip? That's where she'd been all this time? Now, Laila, I remind myself sternly, Lena is the demigod of Artemis - the Greek goddess of hunting and wilderness. It's only natural that she'd like to go out hunting.

I roll my eyes over to the clock with a yawn. 7:40. I send a quick text to Amora, telling her that I'll be there. Next I write a note to Declan to let him know where I'll be so he doesn't get worried and think I've run off again. I leave that on his bed, next to the shirt he'd let me borrow.

After slipping on my full moon circle dress -minus the diamond overdress- I leave the room, scurrying through the halls and over to Olympus Hall. Once there, I strip off the dress and open up my closet doors. I stare at my options with pursed lips. What does one wear to meet the demigod of a Greek goddess of the hunt?

Undecided, I glance over at the clock and see that I'm running out of time. I sigh. It doesn't matter anyway, she'll think whatever she wants about me. An outfit isn't going to change that.

Dressing in a pair of dark blue jeans and a light blue button up top, I'm out the door in under five minutes. My blue converse thud against the floor as I race out of Olympus Hall and into the courtyard. I spot Amora at the tree next to Aubrey and a blonde girl who I assume is Lena.

"Laila! Hey," Aubrey says cheerily, surprising me with her enthusiasm. She'd never been this happy to see me before. Maybe it has something to do with me setting her up with Adam, I think. I wonder if they're still together.

"Hey," I greet with a smile.

Aubrey surprises me yet again by pulling me in for a quick hug. I return it whole heartedly, realizing that I'd truly missed Aubrey, despite her past bitterness towards me. When she pulls away, still smiling, she gestures to the blonde girl by her side.

"Laila, this is Lena Sparks. Lena, this is Laila Rose," she introduces, prompting her friend to stick out a hand in greeting. I shake Lena's out stretched hand, glancing over the demigod calculatingly.

She's tall, intimidatingly so, with a lean, muscular build. Long, platinum blonde hair falls into jade green eyes that dart all around like a predator feverishly hunting for its prey. Her naturally pouting lips are set in a firm line as those wild eyes eye me up and down, as if gauging whether I can be trusted or not. I stare right back into her hard gaze, not about to let this girl scare me. I'm death, I shouldn't be afraid of anything.

Finally, Lena drops her stare with an almost smile on her lips. She lets out a soft chuckle and murmurs, "funny, you don't look like the kind of girl that could start a war."

I gape at her with wide eyes -like a fish out of water- and stutter, "a-a war?"

Since when am I involved in a war? Didn't you have to have many people on both sides to have a war? As far as I know, Theo is working alone. I voice my question to Lena, earning a pitying laugh.