After Dusk

Chapter Eight

We make it back to the academy just in time and meet the rest of the group -including Amora, I note happily- at the willow tree. Everyone's there, including Declan, who's chatting with Adam, though he looks up and meets my eyes for just a moment when I arrive. Amora snatches me away from Theo to ask how the date went. I happily tell her everything that happened, except when the siren girl talked to me. That was just too bizarre to try to explain and, frankly, I'd like to forget about it.

We set off into the woods, chatting and laughing amongst ourselves. Amora and I stick together, as I tell her about my date with Theo and she happily dissects every detail of it, though there isn't much to dissect.  The date was sweet and simple, exactly what I needed to rid of some of the heartache and homesickness that has set up camp in my chest. After a bit of a hike, we make it to a secluded lake surrounded by trees and other vegetation. It's beautiful. The way the sunlight shines through the trees makes the green of the vegetation so vibrant and the sounds of the forest around us has a calming effect. Distantly, I hear the sound of rushing water. A waterfall?

Everybody separates, some taking seats around a bonfire pit that lacks flame, others off towards the water. Seraphina and Theo gather a small pile of wood in the fire pit and I ask if we have matches or something to get it started. The two of them just smirk and stick their hands out over the firewood. I'm about to ask them what they're doing when I hear a loud crack and fire ignites.

I jump a little in surprise, still not use to the whole teenagers-with-superpowers thing. Trying to be casual about it though, I plop down on a log near the fire. Amora follows suit a moment later. I lean over to her, perplexed, and ask, "who's Seraphina's sire goddess?"

"Pele," she answers immediately, though her eyes are for only Egan, who sits across the fire from us, "Hawaiian volcano goddess."

I nod absently, staring back and forth between the two demigods. Is there something going on between them?

"Amora, come with me," Egan calls from across the open flames. He motions for her to join him with his hand and begins to walk towards the woods. Amora gives me a confused and, vaguely afraid, look before getting up and scurrying over to him. I wonder what he wants, I think, staring after them as they disappear into the trees.

"Laila! Get your ass over here!" Seraphina yells from the edge of the lake. Adam, Wade, Theo and Declan stand by her in their swim trunks only. Well, that's not entirely true, Wade has floaties on, which, strange as it seems, totally fits him. By the tree-trunk size of his arms, I wonder where he could have possibly found floaties big enough to fit around his massive biceps. 

I grin and jog over to them, eager to join in on the fun. Glancing over my shoulder, I open my mouth to call Amora over but find that neither she nor Egan is anywhere in sight. I frown in concern. I hope they're okay.

Seraphina and I slip off our shorts and tank tops, and I'm glad that I thought to put on my brightly colored bikini, which, thankfully, still fit since it'd been a few sizes too big when I bought it, before I left earlier. I run into the water alongside my demigod friends and immediately regret it. The water is freezing. Goose bumps raise on my skin at the chill. 

"Someone warm up the damn water!" someone shouts, probably Wade, by the sound of it. Theo grins and holds out a hand an inch above the water. His blazing golden eyes meet mine as a sexy half smile forms on his lips and the water immediately heats up. Shouts of joy sound around me as it does so. I roll my eyes at Theo and he swims over and asks if he could take me out again sometime. Of course, I tell him I'd like that, because I'd definitely like that. Part of me is glad that he'd asked me out first, before Declan because Theo is safe. He seems like the kind of guy that can help me mend my heart and would never do anything to cause it damage, but Declan . . . Declan is another story. He's trouble, plain and simple. He has an intensity and a passion to him that scares me. He's one walk on the wild side that I'm not willing to take. Theo and I talk for a few moments after that, before Wade and Adam call him over and I'm left alone.