by Leia Stone
Black-haired ash was holding a samurai sword in an expert grip. I noted that his neck was bandaged, as was his ankle. These were the weak spots. The judge vamps left the field then and the fighter buzzer rang. I wasted no time sprinting toward him, prepared to meet him head on. We were separated by fifty feet of open gym, a scattering of low walls, hay bales and other shit to hide around was strewn about. It reminded me of a paintball course and it changed between every fight. Some of the floor was still lined with blue mats, other parts stone or cement.
I grabbed one of the throwing stars from where Ryder had stashed them, palming it. I would hold on to them until he was closer, especially since I had no clue how to throw them accurately.
I hesitated, even as the distance closed between us, and it wasn’t until we were about fifteen feet apart, the black of his eyes reflecting the large spotlights above us, then I chucked one. He dodged in a rapid movement and it sailed past his left shoulder. Okay, I officially sucked at throwing shit. Why had we spent so much time training with a sword? The other guy’s sponsor must have noted this, and chosen something I had barely touched.
I focused. I couldn’t let him get near me with that sword. I loaded two stars into my hands this time. When he was ten feet from me – aggressively charging – I figured I couldn’t miss him, and let them both go at the same time. One sailed right past but the other sank into the side of his injured neck. Hell yeah, luck was on my side.
He faltered, his muffled groan pain-filled as he stopped to rip the star free. Then, in the next moment, he did as Ryder and I had hoped. As he pulled the star free – my stomach churned at the chunk of flesh that went with it – he lowered his sword against his side. I ignored the blood and flesh. I didn’t have time to deal with squeamishness right now, this was my best chance to relieve him of his weapon. I took the chance that he wouldn’t expect me to come at him so violently.
I booked it, closing the gap between us, and before he could bring up the sword, I did my five step combo. It was like breathing for me now, no thought, just pure remembered instinct. My left hand flew out and sank into his jaw. I ignored the pain in my knuckles as my right fist connected with his temple. I heard the sword drop, but I didn’t allow it to break my concentration. Knee to his ribs and he keeled over. Changing my routine, I improvised and pushed his shoulders, which were at my stomach level, shoving him backwards.
Thank you, Ryder, for drilling that boring-ass combo into my head. Who knew it would be so effective.
Dropping to the ground I retrieved the sword and the crowd went wild. My opponent recovered quickly, his dark eyes narrowing and fangs flashing as he spun himself on the ground. He was faster than I expected, and used his position to kick out and trip me. I kept my grip on the sword, knowing that if I lost it now I was as good as dead. I stumbled forward, somehow managing to keep my balance. I then righted myself. He flung his legs out, doing a kick up, and was suddenly standing before me.
He dodged my first attack with the blade. He was well trained, and definitely had spent time around weapons. But something told me the sword wasn’t his first choice, just by the wary glare he gave it.
Adrenalin was flooding me, which was helpful in keeping the pure fear at bay. Fight to the death, fight to the death. I kept repeating it over and over, trying to make myself attack him again.
“You’re weak,” he spat, “and I’m going to enjoy tearing you limb from limb.” He was confident as he started circling me. But I had been sparring with Ryder for weeks now, and there was no one scarier than him. This little punk was nothing.
I centered myself, drawing on whatever ounce of badass was inside of me. The sword fit my hand like it was made for it. Sword was definitely my weapon. I struck out at him, fast and without any indication I was going to move. His eyes shuttered. Before he recovered, I had already cut three long gashes into him, two on his right arm and one on his left.
I slashed in a three-step motion again, going for the softer kill zones. Throat, chest, gut.
He threw out an arm to protect his throat and my weapon sunk into his bicep with a sickening sound and I faltered. That was so much worse than the little cuts from before.
He took advantage of my hesitation and threw a knee into my stomach. The wind rushed out of me as I keeled forward. I kept my grip on the sword, but wasn’t able to move before his foot clipped my forehead, throwing me backward. I hit the ground hard, and as his large form lunged over the top of me, I knew death was stalking me. Everything moved in slow motion then – the snarl, the fangs, the blood of his wounds raining across me. His hands were around my throat as he went in for the old fashioned kill. I knew he was strong enough to snap my neck and possibly take my head from my body. I felt the strength in his hands and limbs. But I was not prepared to die here today.
My eyes flashed across to the section where I knew Jayden and Ryder were sitting. Lucas was close by. All three of them had believed in me; there was something special in my blood. I was the first freakin’ female ash. I had to do this today. I had to be strong enough.
A surge of strength shot through me, despite the fact that I couldn’t breathe and dick ash was about five seconds from killing me. I smashed up with my sword and at the same time bucked violently managing to dislodge him a little. I shouldn’t have had so much reach from my position, but somehow I rolled to the side, tucking the sword against my body. Heat infused in my center, and I wondered if this was the fire that Ryder was talking about. I continued to roll, avoiding his heavy boot he had aiming for my face.
Time to die, asshole!
I jumped to my feet, my movements smooth and controlled for once. Must have been channeling my trainer. My opponent seemed to expect I would go for his head again, but the moment he was within arm’s reach, I dropped again. His eyes widened, and I had more than enough time to slash out at his ankles. As the hilt of my sword whacked into his injured ankle, he came tumbling down flat on the ground. I got to my feet again, wasting no time, trying to think about what I was about to do next. I was a robot. All humanity had left me. My heart pumped with adrenaline as the sword came down and bit into his exposed neck.
The blade was sharp, and cut through the initial skin like paper, but there was resistance as I fought to finish the job. I was struggling to not stop. I wanted to scream, or vomit, or throw the fucking sword far away where I couldn’t see it again. But this was kill or be killed. I had no choice, although sometimes it felt like that was just an excuse. I simply wanted to live, and today luck had fallen on my side.
My arms shook as I finally finished. The ash was still, his head connected by just by a sliver of muscle.
The crowd roared as I dropped the sword. There was a whining in my ears and I could no longer hear the shouts as my chest began to heave in shock. Suddenly Ryder was there, whisking me up into his arms. I fought him at first, but then let him take me back into the locker room. He set me down and was holding on to my biceps, his grip firm but not painful.
“Charlie!” His voice pushed past my shock.
Oh God. I killed someone. I cut his head off … I cut his … I tried to move my face away but I couldn’t. I threw up all over Ryder’s shirt.
He didn’t seem fazed, those silver and green eyes flashing at me. “Your first kill is always the hardest.”
As if I could ever get used to this. I wasn’t sure I could do that again, but if I didn’t I’d be the one missing my head.
Since the fighting was over for the day, Ryder took me to my room. I felt cold, chilled to my bones. I just walked behind him, mindlessly following and doing what he said. He sat me at the edge of my bed and handed me a bottle of blood and I drank it without pleasure. Then I lay back as Ryder unlaced my boots and I curled into a ball. He placed a blanket over me and told me to rest up until the next fight, in which I would be fighting doubles. A sliver of me was sad that I was too out of it to really enjoy this more caring side of Ryder, but I was already too far gone. I closed my eyes and the deep kiss of slee
p engulfed my mind.
A soft hand stroked my neck. “Mmm … Ryder,” I mumbled, opening my eyes.
Jayden sat before me, black eyes twinkling and shit-eater grin in place. “Oh my God, if we weren’t about to go into a battle for our lives, I would tease the shit out of you for that one.”
I sat up quickly. “Wait, we?”
Jayden grinned. “Yep, your homeboy Lucas must have some pull with all of his high-up friends, because we happen to be paired together, and we happen to be fighting the two weakest and injured guys.”
I squealed and jumped into his arms. He winced and pushed me back a little.
“Oh, damn. Sorry, Jay. Are you still hurt?”
He nodded and lifted his shirt to show stitches on his ribcage, and I noticed then that his calf was still bandaged.
“You don’t mind having a gay gimp for a partner?”
My mouth dropped open. “You’re gay?”
He rolled his eyes. “I love you, bitch.”
I smiled. “Right back at ya, bitch.”
And that was it. In our own special way we had just said goodbye.
Jayden and I stood in the training room with Bryan, Jayden’s trainer, and Ryder. On the bench sat a short dagger and a short wooden stick with a spiked ball hanging from the end. Our two chosen-by-the-other-side weapons. Freak me. I shivered.
Ryder lifted one foot and rested it on the bench seat, which from my angle only emphasized his muscular thigh and ass cheek. Damn, Ryder’s ass … not the time, Charlie.
I focused on my trainer’s words. “You two have a serious advantage here. No one in the culling becomes friends, it’s every man for himself. Even these two will be against each other, trying to get the last spots. The buzzer rings as soon as two ash die. It doesn’t even matter which two or which team.”
Jayden and I shared a look and nodded. No way in hell was I letting anyone take out my new best friend.
Bryan shifted his focus to me. “I saw your fight. Well done. Jayden is pretty badly injured, so I think he should have the spike ball. The dagger will mean you will have to get closer to your opponent…”
The rest of his sentence was left unsaid, but we all knew what the words would have been. Jayden might not survive being close enough to use a dagger.
Ryder interjected. “But Jayden is stronger. If he gets pulled to the ground he can handle himself. She can’t.”
“No, I agree. I’ll take the dagger.” I shut them all up. Ryder’s expression did that stoic, cold thing again. He seemed upset with my choice, but the buzzer sounded, eliminating any more time for arguing.
I grabbed the dagger, letting it roll in my hands, trying to ignore the dried blood at the tip. They couldn’t even wipe the blade down? Sometimes the members of the Hive were true animals.
Ryder approached me and leaned in so close I thought he meant to kiss me. Instead, he whispered in my ear: “Charlene Bennett, you are a direct descendant of the fourth house. Don’t forget that.” His words were strangely smooth and echoey, and something unfurled inside my chest, seeking, strong. Before I could say or do anything, we were thrust out into the fight.
As per the previous rounds, we were checked for unauthorized weapons, then the fight buzzer rang out. The stomping and hollering from the crowd was sickening. It rang in my ears and had the blood pounding through my veins. Crazy mofos, how could anyone enjoy this? This was not sport or entertainment, this was real live ash getting slaughtered. It was sickening. I wanted this entire goddamn Hive to burn down! I might be an ash, and I might have had ash friends now and a possible ash crush, but my hatred of the system still remained.
I forced myself to focus on the fight. I couldn’t change anything if I was dead. The two ash across from us definitely looked a little worse for wear. The shaved head ash, with his stupid pimp goatee, had his right arm in a hard cast; his other hand held the throwing stars. Great weapons choice from our sponsor. It was going to be near impossible for him to throw that with one arm all banged up. The other ash, who had long, light brown hair tied back at his neck, had a bandage over one eye and held a bow and arrow, which would totally screw with his depth perception. Still, they both had long range weapons. We needed to get in there fast.
“Stay by my side!” I roared, as Jayden and I took off. Bow and arrow guy dropped to one knee and expertly let loose an arrow. Shit! Even with sucky depth perception, he knew what he was doing. I hadn’t expected him to move so quickly and I was too close to dodge his arrow. The razor sharp end slammed into my thigh, lodging itself quite deep. I screamed, turning to find Jayden right beside me. In a flash, before I could protest, my friend broke the end off, leaving the head embedded. Holy mutha effing fuck, that hurt so badly. Luckily the adrenalin kept me moving. I followed Jayden as he dropped and rolled behind an obstacle barrier. We crouched side by side as I panted in pain.
“Plan?” I huffed. Even injured, these guys were lethal. They had not made it this far without winning fights. And they wanted this desperately.
I realized Jayden wasn’t even listening to me. His eyes were pulsing and his fangs distended. “Your blood.”
Oh shit. I looked down at my bleeding thigh. Right, of course, the weird attractiveness of my unicorn blood. Wait a freakin’ minute. The obvious answer had been staring me in the face the entire time. I knew my blood attracted these a-holes. I knew that it was some sort of special, weird, not-really-ash blood. Might be time to use this to our advantage. I wiped the blade of my dagger in my blood, letting it thickly coat the tip.
“Don’t bite me, bitch,” I said to Jayden. “This blood is going to be useful to us.”
His eyes were crazed. “Trying not to,” he said through clenched teeth.
I popped my head up and saw the two guys advancing slowly. They were close and I was confident enough to pull my arm back and let the dagger fly, giving up my only weapon. It sailed through the air and sank into bow and arrow guy’s shoulder. Try shooting me with an arrow now, asshole.
He cried out at the thud, but then, almost in the same instance, his nostrils flared and his eyes widened. Holy crap … it worked. Both guys were standing there stupidly, fighting the lure of my unicorn blood. I reached down and grabbed Jayden’s weapon.
“Stay here!” I jumped out from behind the barrier and sprinted the ten feet between us in record time. The hot burn in my thigh faded a little as my mind focused on what I had to do. Both ash twisted to face me, fangs extended, and I felt my own descend in response. Their eyes were as black as night and pulsing. I expected them to snap out of their blood haze any moment and come at me double-team style, but despite the fact they were facing me head on, they still seemed stunned, especially the one with my bloody knife in his arm. Focusing on him first, I raised my arm up and whipped the flail in the air to gain momentum, bringing the spike down across his head. He didn’t dodge it; the spike sank in with a sickening thud. Something awoke in him then and he grabbed my shoulder with a death grip, holding me in place.
I was focused on spike-head and hadn’t expected the other guy to move so quickly. But as I felt fangs sink into my neck, shock ran through me. That fucker. Hell to the no! No one got to suck my blood, no freakin’ … oh my gods. It was like a sudden rush of euphoria flooded through me and spilled forbidden pleasure into my body. I didn’t even feel his fangs any longer. All I felt was the weightless pleasure of the sucking motion on my neck.
“Charlie!” Ryder’s deep bellowing voice carried through the cheering, those low tones hanging in the air, and a semblance of sanity started to filter into my hazy brain. What … no! I kneed the guy with the spike hanging out of his head in the balls before dropping to the ground to get this neck sucker off of me. I could hear him growling and fighting like I was stealing away his favorite chew toy. What the fuck was up with my blood?! Was it Nutella flavored?
I pushed those thoughts from me as I heard Jayden come up from behind and engage neck biter. Although I was feeling a little woozy still from loss of blood and th
e last tingles of that feeding euphoria, I tracked the scene. I would admit to some surprise that the guy with the spike in his head was still very much alive. I’d hit him hard. Dammit, he was not just alive but fighting.
I attempted to dodge as he kicked out at my legs. Of course I managed to trip over my own feet, and landed hard on the mat anyways. The sharp jag of pain in my thigh increased as the head of the arrow went deeper. My eyes drifted across the floor and my heart started pounding as I realized the dagger lay five feet away. I lunged for it just as spike head caught my ankle, my fingers grazing the hilt. It was just out of my reach. Turning back, I flexed my knee and, as hard as I could, kicked at the spike which was still in his head. Was he not removing that because the injury would be worse?
As my foot connected for a second time, I gained enough distance to close my hand fully around the knife handle, and raising to my knees I leapt onto him before he could stand, slashing at the tender meat of his neck.
He was already covered in blood from the massive spike in his head, but the neck wound finished the job. I left his prone body, standing quickly, dagger still in hand as I sought desperately to find Jayden. I realized he was all the way across the gym and my heart literally stopped beating when I saw neck biter on top of him slicing at his neck with the throwing star. There was blood everywhere, doing that little spurting thing which meant something serious had been hit. I wouldn’t make it in time.
“No!” I screamed. Desperation flooded through me – I would not lose Jayden here today. I would never give up on my friend like that, and I knew he would never have given up on me. I had to make it there in time.
The heat that had begun before, after hearing Ryder’s words, started to burn in my center, like a forest fire which had just been doused with an ass-ton of fuel. I sensed that this was what everyone kept harping on about – my special blood, the unusual test, my genetic linage from the fourth house. This was what burned inside of me. Everything about my life started to make sense then, the reasons I was different. I took off to give myself a proper speed for launching, and without a second thought bent down and sprang up with all of the strength I had. I had planned on trying to jump in large leaps, closing the distance fast, but apparently the fire had a different plan.