Before the Dawn

Chapter Four

My smile freezes on my face but I hastily cover it up by shaking Hades's outstretched hand.

"It's nice to see you again, Thanatos," he greets pleasantly in his deep rumble of a voice. I give my warrior's brother an odd look. When have we ever met before?

Declan rushes to explain, "you and Hades knew each other long before you took on your mortal form."

I nod, looking thoughtful. On the inside, however, I'm damning my decision to take on a mortal form. All it's done is be a giant pain in my ass.

My thoughts are interrupted when Hades speaks. "Arawn, Thanatos, these are my and Persephone's demigods, Andrea and Logan," the god introduces, gesturing to a couple of shy-looking demigods.

Persephone rests a perfectly manicured hand on the girl's -Andrea's- shoulder, who flinches and steps away. I like this girl.

I inspect the two of them closely. Andrea has long, wavy cinnamon hair and emerald green eyes. She's incredibly pretty, but so shy. Her eyes are glued to the ground beneath our feet. The guy, Logan, on the other hand isn't shy. His brown eyes stare boldly at Declan and I and I have to admire him for it. His hair is cropped short, accenting his angular face. I don't miss how their hands are intertwined.

Turning to my warrior, I rest a hand on his strong shoulder. "Declan, why don't Andrea, Logan and I go chat while the three of you discuss business?" I suggest with a hopeful smile.

Both Logan and Andrea look up at me with relieved looks. Declan looks amused but nods his assent.

I motion for them to follow me and I walk back into Declan's-for lack of a better word- castle. At random I pick a room, which happens to be a study of sorts. I sit on one of the sofas and motion for Logan and Andrea to join me. They sit with grateful looks on their faces. Jeez, Hades and Persephone must not be the best sire gods...

"It looked like you two needed a break from your sire gods," I explain with a small smile.

They both relax, obviously relieved that they aren't in trouble or something like that. Logan wraps his arm around Andrea and she leans into him almost unconsciously.

"Thank you, goddess," Logan says respectfully. I wince at his words.

"Please, call me Laila," I tell them both quickly. I fidget uncomfortably, not liking how they treat me like...like a goddess.

"I thought your name was Thanatos," Andrea says, speaking up for the first time.

Another small smile forms on my lips.

"Well, yes, but I don't remember my life as a goddess. I was born eighteen years ago in my mortal form. I guess I'm just used to being called Laila," I shrug nonchalantly.

Logan and Andrea's eyes widen in awe as they share a surprised look. I look between the two of them in confusion. What did I say?

Seeing my utterly lost look, Andrea explains her thoughts.

"So it's true?" she wonders in amazement, "there was really a time when you didn't love Arawn? When you weren't together?"

Understanding floods me. Is it really such a surprise that Declan and I weren't together at one point?

"I didn't know who he was," I say simply, "I didn't know who I was. I still don't."

We fall silent, lost in our own thoughts. I remember back to the first time I'd set foot at the Academy. That was the first time I'd met Declan as my newly demigod self. He'd been so very kind to me then and I was too blind to see it. How had I missed the flash of recognition in his eyes when he saw me? Declan had been perfect for me from the very start and I'd fallen for Theo anyway.

"We saw you at the Academy, only you weren't with Arawn, you were with Theo, the one we're suppose to look out for. What happened? What did Theo do?" Logan asks bluntly, though not rudely.

I sigh, hating the memories of my ex boyfriend that flash in my mind's eye at the sound of his name.

"I thought I loved him. That all changed when I followed him into the woods and found out that he was responsible for the murder of the humans at the Academy, along with the poisoning of the gods. He told me that he's really Bel, Celtic god of sun and fire. Then he tried to kill me because I was falling for Declan and not him. I ran and Declan found me and brought me here." I shrug but my heart is sad.

I miss my friends. I shouldn't be hiding in the Underworld. I should be up in the mortal world with them, figuring out a way to defeat Theo!

"You miss them, don't you? Your friends, I mean." Andrea asks me gently. I nod with a small, sad smile. "Maybe we can help. Logan and I are only in the Underworld part time. The rest of the time we're at the Academy. You could write letters to your friends and we could deliver them for you, if you'd like."

With wide eyes, I look back and forth at Andrea and Logan, both of whom look entirely willing to help me. I grin broadly, nearly trembling with joy.

"Oh, could you? That would be great! Just give me a minute," I say excitedly.

I rush over to the desk and scrounge up some paper and a pen. I write to Amora, telling her everything that happened from the moment I suspected Declan as the murderer until now. I ask her to keep me posted on everything that goes on at the academy and I also ask that she keep our messages to herself. I seal the letter within an envelope and address it to Amora. I hand the letter to Andrea and thank both of them.

"Could you keep this quiet? Don't let Hades or Persephone. . .or Arawn know, please," I ask them hesitantly. I seriously doubt that Declan would approve of me getting involved with the dangers of the mortal words again. Hades and Persephone would surely tell Declan if they knew. . .

"Of course," Logan says unblinkingly, "We should go. Hades and Persephone will be wondering where we went off to. We'll get your friend's response back to you as soon as we can."

I thank them both again and shut the door behind them as they leave. Once I'm alone, I pace around the study and gaze up at the large bookcases that line the walls. One particular wall of bookcases catches my eye.

The shelves are filled with what look like journals varying in age. Some look only a couple of decades old, which would be roughly the last time I was a goddess. Others look ancient.

Curious, I grab the oldest one and carefully open it. Every word is written in Greek but my eyes translate each word quickly. I flip through the pages and find that each journal entry is signed; Thanatos.

My eyes widen in wonder. I wrote these! All these days of my life before I decided to become mortal, here in these pages, just waiting to be read, to be remembered.

Excitedly, I flip back to the first page and begin to read.