Ash(23)

I cracked open one eyelid to see Jayden peering at me. His dark eyes flashed and he looked worried.

I sighed. “I feel like shit.” My thirst knocked into me as Jayden handed me a bottle of blood from our refrigerator.

His full lips straightened as he frowned at me. “Yeah, skull fractures take a while to heal.”

My eyes widened as I sat and chugged the glorious blood, moaning a little. I couldn’t help it, blood was so damn good now. But seriously … I had a skull fracture? I thought I was supposed be training, not getting completely broken beyond repair.

After downing the bottle, I looked at Jayden. “Did everyone see? Did all those assholes laugh?”

He chewed his bottom lip. “Not really.”

I could already tell when he was lying. His luscious lashes fluttered around like they were butterfly wings trying to take flight.

“Liar,” I said, wanting to roll my eyes, but figuring it would probably increase the ache in my head.

He leaned into me a little more. “Well, they might have at first, but Ryder put a stop to that fast. He threw one of the trainers across the room and into the stadium.”

Well, that was interesting.

The blood started to work its magic and I was already feeling a bit better. I sat up, ignoring the faint throbbing in my skull.

“So I’m definitely a dead person once the culling begins. Awesome.” I gave two thumbs up.

Jayden shot me a weak smile. “I don’t think so. I heard that after seeing you get your ass kicked, and throwing around a few members of the Hive, a certain scrumptious badass offered to train you himself.”

I swallowed hard, my heart picking up. “Ryder is going to train me?”

Jayden nodded.

I was sort of intrigued about that. Why would Ryder offer to train me? And did I even want him to? I was slowly starting to forget that electrocuting me thing he’d done. I was falling victim to that chiseled jaw and those damn elusive dimples.

Jayden extended his hand. “Come on. I have something to make you feel better.”

I took it and let him help me up. The room spun for a minute.

“A margarita?” I asked, and he chuckled.

I followed him out of our room and into the long hallway. We journeyed along the corridor and got into the elevator. When he pressed the ground floor button, I had a burst of insight, and excitement started to tingle in my blood. Were we going outside? Please oh please, I missed the sun, trees, air…

He saw my face and chuckled. “Just because the vamp bitches can’t handle sunlight doesn’t mean we should stay cooped inside.” He was as flamboyant as ever.

“Yay!” I hung onto his big bicep, giving him a side hug. I was so used to the outdoors. Oregon had so many gorgeous lakes and rivers and trees, it was impossible to stay inside when that beauty beckoned you. The Hive was nice, but there were no windows. Everything was closed except at night. It made me feel stifled and I wanted some freedom. Just for a while.

Jayden led me out of the elevator near where another ash sat as receptionist. Guess vampires couldn’t be this close to possible sun exposure. My roomie signed some type of log. I leaned over his shoulder and saw that he had put our numbers, twenty-one and forty-six, and the time and date.

The receptionist raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Be back in an hour,” he said.

We nodded and I wondered what happened if we weren’t back in an hour. The windows near the outside had the roll-down shutters like the rest of the Hive, so when Jayden opened the door and the sunlight hit me, I was temporarily blinded. Raising my arm up to shield my eyes, I walked outside.

Within moments my eyes adjusted and I almost cried. A large strip of forest lay before us, thick tall trees with green moss growing up the trunks. Bushy green ferns and fallen logs littered the forest floor. Even though it was cold, the scents were still strong … the rich soil and earthy foliage. I sighed. Home.

Jayden began to walk and I silently followed him. I noticed a few other ash sprinkled around. Glancing over my shoulder, I was blindsided for a moment by the high wire fence that surrounded the Hive, and on the other side a human guard station. No one came in or out of the Hive without a record of it. Of course, the fence reminded me of that night. I remembered gripping it as I was wrenched past the empty guard station. No one had been around to hear me screa—

I cut those thoughts off again. I would not live in the past any longer. Somehow I had this moment to enjoy the feel of the life-giving sun on my skin, and I was taking it without regret. Twigs and branches snapped under my feet as I followed Jayden. My headache was gone. The sunlight and fresh air had finished up the healing which the blood had started.