Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: May 6, 2011
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Kindle E-book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 86
Series: Covenant #0.5
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
"Love in my world usually ended up with someone hearing 'I smite thee!' as she was cursed to be some lame flower for the rest of her life." 

For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals--pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.According to her mother, that's a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return-the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death... because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her.

For those that don’t know, Daimon is the short story and prequel to Half Blood by Jennifer Armentrout.  I was lucky enough to pick up a paperback copy of this at BEA last year together with Half Blood and funnily enough, at the time I was convinced that this was a book about a guy called Daimon LOL.  Having now read Half Blood, I can see that I was totally wrong.   Daimons are of course the zombie like creatures that threaten the existence of Pure Bloods and an enemy that the half blood sentinels are training to fight against. Alex being one of them.  In Daimon, we get a little taster of the natural fighting talent Alex has and the strong survival extinct already inherent within her. We get an insight into what happened when she was on the run with her mother and how and why she turned back to the Covenant.

 I’m not sure what the right answer is as to whether this should be read before or after Half Blood but I read it afterwards and it definitely enhanced the story but I don’t see what harm it could do to read this book first.   Daimon sets the scene for Half Blood and is essentially the beginning to the story.  At only 75 pages long, this is a quick but essential read for fans of the Covenant series.