Ash(31)

Mental note: Don’t. Bleed. Ever.

The male vampire with braids cleared his throat and bagged the specimen. “We will send across the results. Lucas, you’ll be able to plan your culling schedule and make sure she’s training in her specialty areas.”

Since my finger had already healed and the unique scent of my blood was gone, the vampire’s eyes were back to normal.

“I don’t have any specialties. You don’t need a DNA test to know that. Just watch me get my ass handed to me every day in training.”

Lucas smiled in one of those full, breathtaking, rows of pearly whites. My breathing stuttered a little. He was potent when he wanted to be. “If we know who your sire is, then we know what your specialty is. Each of the ten houses has a specialty. More specifically, each vampire Original had a specialty which they passed on in diluted versions to their descendants. There is much we can discover from your ancestry.”

Whoa. Interesting. The doctor left the room then, samples tucked into a lab bag. Lucas reached out and I took his hand, but still got to my feet without help. A part of me just wanted to hold his hand and see if he gave me the same tingles that Ryder could induce with just one of his famous stoic looks.

It was nice, no denying it, but not exactly the same. Staring into his silver eyes, I suddenly felt very brave. “Tell me what happened to the Originals,” I blurted out.

He sort of froze, his human façade, which vampires tried to maintain, disappearing altogether as some sort of feral predator rose in his eyes.

“Even though they escaped the early cullings, they were eventually wiped out by humans,” he said. “The blood of an Original is where the virus is strongest. It has been diluted down through the years, and now all that remains are the ten houses. We are very distant descendants.”

His tone was clipped, as if he were reciting the standard brochure on the Originals or something.

“I thought after those initial years things got better between vampires and humans, so why were they wiped out?” I had to ask.

Lucas pulled his hand from mine and started to walk toward the door. I didn’t think he was going to answer. He pressed down on the handle and clicked open the door.

But then he swiveled his head back around and gave me a pointed stare. “For a long time there was a lot of misinformation and fear. Even though the original vectors, the bats, were gone, the humans still feared getting the virus from a cough, a touch, anything. On top of that, newly changed vampires didn’t appreciate being weaker than the Originals. We believe a group of vampires coordinated an attack with an extremist group of humans. They came in the middle of the night and wiped out the entire Original lines.

My mouth fell open. Okay, yeah, I didn’t exactly love the bloodsuckers, but killing off the bunch of them in the night was akin to genocide. They had all been humans before the virus, and I knew that they still had many human traits even now.

“After this loss of leadership the Quorum was formed, and some semblance of order has remained ever since. Ryder is the closest ash or vampire in the Hive with a direct link to an Original.”

Whoa. My training instructor had just got that much more interesting.



“Again!” Ryder yelled as I pounded on the boxing mannequin.

I groaned. I was sweating bullets, my pinky was broken, and I was bored out of my mind. It had been three days of this shit and I was considering killing myself so I didn’t have to continue this insane regimen. Of course, soon I wouldn’t have to worry too much about killing myself. Someone else was sure to do it in the culling.

“I can’t,” I confessed. “It’s maddening. I need a change.” My muscles ached from the weightlifting session I’d had before training, but I couldn’t deny the definition forming in my arms and legs. Ash built muscle easily, and I was halfway home to a six-pack.

Ryder seemed to consider my words. He walked over and grabbed the mannequin, wheeling him to the far wall.

“Thank you, sweet baby Jesus!” I practically shouted. Finally this guy was listening to me.

Ryder planted himself opposite me, arms in front of his face. “Again.”

I stared into his gorgeous face and cracked a smile. “You want me to kick your ass?” Oh man I had been dreaming of this day. This good-looking, smug bastard had electrocuted me – I was totes never letting that go – had kicked my legs out from under me, and made me work my ass off all week. He deserved some payback.

He tilted his head to the side in that observe-me-like-a-lab-rat way of his. “You’re a little too happy about trying to hurt me.”

I rolled my eyes. He waved me closer. “You think you’ve done the five steps enough? Let’s see how you do with the real thing. I’m going to do basic blocks, but I will let you hit me. It’s important you get used to the feel and sound of skin hitting skin, and bones crunching under impact.”