Ash(39)

“Will it get the job done for a change?” Beside the blood-wine, almost nothing else even gave me a buzz.

“My guy says if we split the whole bottle we’ll be drunk for a few hours and it’ll wear off long before the culling. Everyone is drinking it tonight.”

“Your guy?” I raised an eyebrow.

He smiled, flashing his perfectly straight teeth. “One of Ryder’s enforcers. It’s only fun right now, but it looks like I landed me a sexy six.” He winked.

Well damn, even Jayden was getting some. Which was the best thing I could hear about my best friend.

I leapt off the counter, pulling my short black dress down to cover my ass. Tessa had snuck me some sexy clothes. I really wished she was here with us now.

Jayden poured two glasses and clinked it with mine. “To surviving the next week.”

I chugged the contents and erupted in a coughing fit. “Holy shit! I feel like I can breathe fire.”

Jayden laughed and we poured more.



An hour later I was feeling damn good. The buzz had hit me hard and the walls of Base Level were spinning a little. I was drunk for the first time in a year. Hip hop blasted out of the DJ booth and I danced, rubbing my butt all over Jayden. He laughed and spun me around. Then some hottie ash came up and put his hands around my waist, pressing me into him and grinning.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered. His hair was shaved close to his head. I think he was blond, and like all ash he was hot as hell. Of course I was looking at him with moonshine eyes, so he had extra hottie points. Was he in Ryder’s crew? He wasn’t a sexy six, but he might be in the extended group of enforcers. He did look familiar.

“Hey there,” I said as I danced up on him. Maybe he would be my special friend tonight. Might as well have some fun before dying tomorrow.

“Johnson, back off,” Ryder’s growly voice echoed behind me.

The ash, who had just placed his hands on my waist, went rigid and backed away, before turning tail and scurrying off.

I spun around, almost falling on my face, but managed to right myself at the last moment. Ryder was standing a few feet away, his expression unreadable.

“Uh-oh, you’re no fun,” I slurred.

Ryder narrowed his eyes as I continued to dance by myself, swiveling my hips and feeling the beat.

“You’re drunk,” he stated. “The males in here are like any other men. They will take advantage.”

I gave him what I hoped were bedroom eyes and danced closer. “Maybe I want to get taken advantage of,” I purred, and pressed myself into him.

He placed his hands on my hips and looked down on me. Was that a groan?

“Charlie… ” I could see something stirring in those silver and black eyes. “You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” His voice went so low I almost wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. Did Ryder just say I was beautiful? My Ryder? Try to kill me and push me away constantly Ryder? I swallowed hard, but before I could answer, he deposited me back a few feet. Okay, this was the Ryder I recognized, and I was sobering up quickly with him pulling out his usual bullshit.

“You’ve got issues,” I stated. The flirtation left me, and I was hit with this weird ache in my chest.

His face took on a haunted expression. “I just came to tell you that you were a top pick, and slated for the last round of the individual fights.”

Shit, he was here to give me some positive news, and I’d danced all up on him and practically thrown myself at him. Apparently moonshine made me drunk, slutty, and bitchy.

“Ryder…” I reached for his hand, but he turned and walked away. I remained where I was, half frozen on the dance floor, half wishing I was brave enough to run after him. My attention snagged on Jayden then. He was dancing with – holy shit, Oliver, the hot Latino sexy six. He really had scored one of the core group of enforcer hotties. The pair of them were watching me now, and that better not be pity I was seeing in their gazes.

I drifted closer. Ryder was gone from sight, but I still felt his presence out there. “What’s his problem?” I said too loudly. Oliver’s very dark eyes turned to the direction which Ryder had disappeared.

“Don’t stress on it, Charlie. But you might want to give that one up as a lost cause. He’s notoriously single, which is not a huge surprise after everything that happened.”

My stomach dropped. I knew from his hot and cold behavior that he had demons littering his past, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to know about them. Still, I had to ask. “What happened?” I was getting soberer by the second.

Oliver sighed and lowered his voice. I had to strain to hear it over the music. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you’re Jayden’s best friend, and I promised I’d look out for you. When the boss man first found out he was an ash, the night he turned he was strong. Too strong.”