Chapter 1
Rounding the corner ofthe path, I pushed myself harder, red and gold fall trees blurring in myperipherals as my legs demolished the last mile of my run. I was totally goingto break my record. My best time so far was five miles in thirty minutes. I wasso beating that today.
Ibreathed deeply, finishing the last few yards at a slow jog, and as I glanceddown at my watch, I had to stop for a second before looking closer.
Twenty-fiveminutes …Okay, that’s ridiculous.
I’donly started running a year ago … after that night, the night when everythingin my world changed. Since then – running, self-defense, gun training – Iwouldn’t be a victim again, that was for damn sure. But to be smashing out fivemiles in twenty-five minutes – I wasn’t even breathing hard.Notexactly normal.
AsI jogged up the steps into my dorm building, a breeze ruffled my long blackhair, refreshing against the light sweat I’d worked up. It was late September;the fall days were beautiful and it was just starting to get cool at night.
Pushingopen the door, I crossed the common room quickly and hopped up the three setsof stairs to reach my room. My university, Portland State (PSU), was in northwestPortland, which happened to be my home town. I would have loved to have gone tocollege in New York or LA, but we couldn’t afford it and I couldn’t leave mymom. I was almost finished now though; this was my last year – four years of majoringin marketing. God knows why I chose that. I was twenty-one and still had noclue what I really wanted to be when I grew up. Everyone else I knew had thenext ten to twenty years of their lives mapped out. Me? I had nothing. So fornow, marketing seemed like a good ticket to an interesting job.
“…totallyan ash. They were fucking gorgeous.”
Twogirls pushed past me going in the opposite direction, their voices loud andexcited as they chatted about the newest batch of ashes at our university.Personally, the vampire/human hybrids didn’t do it for me, but I was in theminority there. The blond girl giggled, and I kind of wanted to bitch-slap her.“Yeah, they must have been on their way back to the Hive,” she twittered away.
Itmade my blood boil the way humans got all crazy over the Hive compound, likethey’d do anything to make their way inside. I’d been inside those gates onetime, and there was absolutely nothing good there for any human. We werenothing to those creatures, lower than animals, just food, plain and simple. Iwas lucky I got out with my life and my blood intact.
Ishook off those thoughts as I removed the key from my sports bra and opened thedoor to the apartment I shared with my best friend Tessa. We’d grown uptogether, both of us from single parents, and we were as close as sisters. Istepped into the semi-dark room, slamming the door behind me.
“Thereis something seriously wrong with you, Charlie.” Tessa was leaning across oursmall, round, piece-of-shit dining table, her blond curls mussed everywhere.She wasn’t exactly a morning person. “No sane person gets up and jogs, it’sjust not done. Plus, you’re not even sweating. Why the crap don’t you get allred and blotchy like the rest of us?”
Sherubbed at her eyes, before downing the rest of the tar she called coffee. “I’mstill betting you just run around the corner and sit in Starbucks checking outhotties for thirty minutes.”
Ilaughed, crossing to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. I took my firstswallow, but strangely the water didn’t seem to quench the non-stop thirst I’dhad the last few days.
“Idon’t know what’s up with me,” I said, taking the seat next to her. “Youremember what I was like when I first started jogging. I almost had a heartattack and nearly had to be resuscitated.”
Tessasnorted. “Oh, I remember. You limped along for about half a mile beforecollapsing in a heap and declared that the next person who suggested jogging asa way to relieve bad memories was going to get cut.”
Ihadn’t been kidding about that either. Running was like torture to me back then,but it did help chase the mental demons away. “Yeah, and not even twelve monthslater I’m running five miles in twenty-five minutes and I barely even break asweat.”
Actually,it was really only in the last month I found this whole exercise and defense thingeasier. Maybe I was just starting to get it. My muscles knew what to do.
“Comeon,” I said, jumping to my feet and hauling her up after me. “Comm skills is inthirty minutes, and it’s gonna take you half of that just to fix that rat’snest.”
Sheflipped me off but didn’t argue. I waited to make sure she actually made itinto her bedroom before I dashed across and entered my domain. I had time for asuper-quick shower, then I’d have to haul ass to get dressed and out the doorin time to jog across campus.
We made it to class justin time. I’d only managed to drag on some jeans and a tank-top, but lately myhair and skin had been doing some awesome stuff on its own, which was veryuseful during those late rushes to class. Tessa was next to me, propped up onher elbow. Her desk was empty of anything but her takeaway cup of sludge.Unlike me, she’d managed to style an outfit, fix her hair, and smooth out anyflaws with her perfectly applied makeup. I had on lip gloss and mascara andthat was an achievement.
“Doyou think they’ll be in class today?” Tessa said as she turned her head towardthe doorway.
Ishrugged, trying to pretend I wasn’t also watching the door, but for acompletely different reason. Two ash were normally in this class. They sat nearthe front, kept to themselves, and probably tried to ignore the fact thatninety percent of the females spent the hour staring at them. The ash werepretty much physical perfection. That’s of course if you ignored that fact thatthey were part bloodsucker. I watched the door hoping like hell they had beenhit by a car today and would never make it to class again.
Twoperfect heads of golden brown stepped through the door and moved toward their specialseating.Fuck.A chorus of feminine sighs echoed through theroom and I tried my best not to roll my eyes.Smug, gorgeous assholes.Nocar accident and the Hive hadn’t burned to the ground last night.Oh well,there’s alwaystomorrow. I’m pretty sure I was the only one in theroom who hated the beautiful bastards.
“Settledown.” The graying professor stepped up to his lecture stand, dropping a bunchof paperwork onto the table. “Okay, so we’ll be picking up from chapter eighttoday…”
“Iswear to God, Charlie, I would totally blood-whore myself for one of thoseAsh.” Tessa’s hazel eyes were hooded as she ran her gaze along the two elegantmales.
“Iseriously wish you would stop saying that. They’re animals, Tess. Who knowswhat they do to their donors.”
Asif he’d heard me, the golden ash closest to us turned his head and fixed hisdark eyes on me. All of them had the same eye color, black with a ring ofsilver right around the pupil. It was just one of the many things which setthem apart from us. From humans. I refused to lower my gaze, sensing mainlycuriosity from him, before he dismissed me and turned back to the professor.
Ishuddered, counting slowly in my head to calm down. Those eyes reminded me ofthat night. When the nightmares came, it was always black with rings of silver.Tessa knew some of what had happened to me, but I hadn’t wanted to go intodetail about the attack. Let’s just say the nightmare stories about vampireswere not all fiction.
“Youknow, Charlie, we should be thanking the gods. They gave us a race of perfectionand every single one is male.”
