I followed him out of ourroom and into the long hallway. We journeyed along the corridor and got intothe elevator. When he pressed the ground floor button, I had a burst ofinsight, 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 andchuckled. “Just because the vamp bitches can’t handle sunlight doesn’t mean weshould stay cooped inside.” He was as flamboyant as ever.
“Yay!” I hung onto hisbig bicep, giving him a side hug. I was so used to the outdoors. Oregon had somany gorgeous lakes and rivers and trees, it was impossible to stay inside whenthat 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 wantedsome freedom. Just for a while.
Jayden led me out of theelevator near where another ash sat as receptionist. Guess vampires couldn’t bethis close to possible sun exposure. My roomie signed some type of log. Ileaned over his shoulder and saw that he had put our numbers, twenty-one andforty-six, and the time and date.
The receptionist raised aperfectly shaped eyebrow. “Be back in an hour,” he said.
We nodded and I wonderedwhat happened if we weren’t back in an hour. The windows near the outside hadthe roll-down shutters like the rest of the Hive, so when Jayden opened thedoor and the sunlight hit me, I was temporarily blinded. Raising my arm up toshield my eyes, I walked outside.
Within moments my eyesadjusted and I almost cried. A large strip of forest lay before us, thick talltrees with green moss growing up the trunks. Bushy green ferns and fallen logslittered the forest floor. Even though it was cold, the scents were stillstrong … the rich soil and earthy foliage. I sighed. Home.
Jayden began to walk andI silently followed him. I noticed a few other ash sprinkled around. Glancingover my shoulder, I was blindsided for a moment by the high wire fence that surroundedthe Hive, and on the other side a human guard station. No one came in or out ofthe Hive without a record of it. Of course, the fence reminded me of thatnight. 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 offagain. I would not live in the past any longer. Somehow I had this moment toenjoy the feel of the life-giving sun on my skin, and I was taking it withoutregret. Twigs and branches snapped under my feet as I followed Jayden. Myheadache was gone. The sunlight and fresh air had finished up the healing whichthe blood had started.
Jayden walked to a hugefallen tree trunk and sat down as I took a seat next to him.
We sat in comfortable silence.“Thank you,” I whispered. “This was just what I needed.” He rested a hand on myknee and smiled, but didn’t say anything else. My heart swelled and also sankat the same time. There was no way I could fight Jayden in the culling. Even tosave my own life. This whole culling situation was bullshit.
“Spit it out, girl.”Jayden must have seen that I was wrestling with something.
I chuckled. “Why are youbeing so nice to me?”
He nodded as if he understood.“I had a really hard time in middle school when it was apparent that I wasdifferent.”
God, middle school wasawful. I had braces, weird boobs, and a fascination for rap music. I couldn’timagine being gay on top of all that.
He winked at me. “Right,so I guess I understand the position you’re in. You’re very different. It makesme think of myself when I had no friends and no one to understand.”
My throat tightened withemotion. I wasn’t prepared for Jayden’s honest reply. I squeezed his hand, butbefore I could respond, a loud snap of a twig behind us caught my attention.Just as we were spinning to see what was up, a steely voice cut through thetranquility. “Well, well, if it isn’t the queen and the unicorn.”
Jayden and I jumped up.Three large ash were stomping towards us. I scanned their jumpsuits, able tomake out the smaller numbers which were stitched into the upper right side oftheir chests. Numbers eleven, three, and thirty-seven. Two had black hair, andnumber three was a redhead.
Jayden turned to me. “AmI the unicorn?”
I nodded. “Of course youare, you have magical eyelashes. Besides, I’ve always thought I was a queen.”
One of the black-hairedboys bent and scooped up a thick, sharp branch. Straightening, he glared at us.“You know it’s common practice to thin out the weak ash before the culling.”
I very much doubted that.The vampires wouldn’t like to lose their special type of fight clubentertainment. Still, as they advanced on us, it didn’t seem like these ashcared much. I swallowed hard, knowing that any hopes I had of us not gettingjumped had just went up in flames.
Jayden bent over andpulled a knife from his boot. Damn son!
“Who you calling weak,bitch?” Jayden’s voice had lost all gayness and was pure deep hardass. Idecided he was my new BAFF. Best ash friend forever.
Jayden positioned himselfin front of me as I grabbed a big a rock with a sharp point. I was more likelyto injure myself with it, but I had to have something.
The redhead scanned mewith droopy eyes and a sloppy grin. “Let’s kill him first and then have somefun with her.”
Fear ran through me as mygrip on the rock tightened. I was feeling seriously pissed at my mom forgallivanting around with Carter right about now. I should be with Tessa scopinghotties at Starbucks, not this. Jayden lunged as two of the black-haired ashwent for him.
The redhead snaked aroundhim and came right for me. I was ready. I used the self-defense technique of“never let them get their hands on you,” skirting quickly to avoid his grasp,before managing to fling the rock straight at his forehead. It hit with a dullthud, and my strength was more than I expected as the skin split across hisbrow-line. His features hardened.
“Bitch!” he roared,stumbling for me.
His hands grasped myshoulders and he hauled me up and slammed me back against the tree. I cried outas I felt a crack in my side. It felt a lot like a broken rib or two.
