Ash by Leia Stone & Jaymin Eve

Author:Leia Stone & Jaymin Eve [Stone, Leia & Eve, Jaymin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal & Urban, Teen & Young Adult
ISBN: 152285942X
Amazon: B019EYKWPU
Published: 2015-12-15T08:00:00+00:00

The next forty-five minutes passed in a blur as Ryder made me practice stealing a weapon from him. We ran through about ten different scenarios, depending on how my opponent reacted to our plan. I felt about twelve percent more confident than before, so I was still pretty much up shit creek sans paddle again.

I had about ten minutes of rest time before the buzzer sounded, then it was my turn in the arena. Ryder, gleaming with sweat, turned to face me. “Charlie…”

Charlie. The way he said my name this time … like there were true emotions there, a sense of reverence. He never usually spoke to me like that. I played with the hem of my shirt, unsure of what to do or say. I mean, I had a lot of things to say to him and I could be dead in the next few minutes, but I couldn’t find the right way to express all of my thoughts. Emotion overcame me and tears welled in my eyes. They weren’t tears of fear or pain though, they were angry tears. This wasn’t fair! We were just normal human kids who had free-lovin’ mothers and now we had to kill each other over it.

“This is bullshit!” I pretty much shouted.

Ryder’s hands snaked out and grabbed the sides of my face, cradling it as he brought me close to him, resting his forehead on mine. “Life isn’t fair, Charlie.” His breath tickled my nose; the delicious scents coming from him had me wanting to lean even closer, to touch my lips to his. Of course that was when he pulled away a little.

“I’ve seen a small fire smoldering inside of you since the day I brought you in. When those doors open, I need you to unleash that fire. Your opponent already has death on his hands. He won’t hesitate to do it again. You need to be ready, you need to fight to survive.”

His words roared through me like the fire he spoke of. Ryder had reminded me of the most important thing. It was simple math – the other ash or me. I nodded, relishing his warm hands on me. He left them there for one short moment and then pulled back quickly, his stoic façade falling back over his face. He tucked the throwing stars in my waist belt and opened the double doors.

“You can do this,” was all he said, before nudging me out and shutting the doors behind me.

And just like that, I was in the culling arena.

I forced down the burn of fear and bile as my eyes alighted on the spectators, their feet pounding on the bleachers above. A vampire crossed the floor toward me. He was wearing the official uniform of the judges, a flamboyant royal purple full-length silk robe, with checkering of black and white.

He checked me over to make sure I wasn’t holding any illegal weapons. I glanced across the room at my opponent, who was in the middle of the

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