Edyn (The Essence Project Book 1) Read online

  Jax threw up his hands defensively, still holding the tablet in one of them. "Alright, alright, but if she’s here with you then she’s in this somehow. I’m just saying." He glanced at Stella, and then his gaze shifted to me for the first time. "Whoa, who is this hot little thing?"

  Before I could say anything, Ryker shifted me behind him, blocking me from Jax’s view. "She’s none of your concern," he said, his voice deadly.

  Jax backed up and bumped into the table behind him. "Jesus, Ryker. How the Hell am I supposed to know that when I’ve never seen her before? Don’t cut my head off."

  "Am I good?" Ryker demanded.

  "Yeah you’re good, just go ahead and pay your fee. I take it you don’t need a knife?"

  Ryker shrugged off his jacket and pulled a blade from his belt that looked exactly like the one he’d given me. He handed me his jacket, and I took it without a word. He unsheathed the knife and the board reflected off the perfect blade. Jax squatted down and reached his hand out, holding an empty glass bowl tinted in a shade of red. Pressing the knife to his left forearm, Ryker drew his hand back, drawing a line of thick blood in the same shade as the bowl.

  "Ryker!" I gasped, but he didn’t look at me.

  He held his arm over the bowl, and his blood ran down into it. After a few seconds with his face screwed up in concentration, the blood from his arm began to glow a faint blue. Soon the glow faded, and Jax tossed him a roll of gauze and some medical tape. Ryker put the tape in his mouth while he wrapped the gauze around his arm. Biting off a strip of tape, he secured the bandage in place and tossed the rest of the roll back to Jax.

  Jax caught it one handed. "Now, get going, asshole. The fight starts in ten minutes." He tapped his finger on his tablet a few more times and the board flashed under Pit 12. Now it read "Evans, Ryker" where Zak’s name had been, and his name was blue instead of white. To the right it read: "2 Souls-Life".

  Ryker put his knife back in his belt and grabbed my hand, leading us toward a tunnel to the right. The crowd around the tables grew louder when they saw the change to the board, and Ryker's name seemed to be on everybody's lips.

  "Why the Hell did you just do that to your arm?" I demanded.

  "I had to pay my fee."

  I stopped in my tracks. "Did you just give up your soul?"

  He tilted his head. "Yes and no."

  "Yes and no? You're going to have to do a Hell of a lot better than that."

  Glancing down at the blood tinged bandage on his arm, he said, "I gave up two of the souls I’ve obtained over the years. Neither were the one I was born with."

  I merely shook my head as shock and anger coursed through me. "So you give up two souls, and this Asher guy gets those plus two more if he wins."

  "He won’t." Stella finally broke her silence.

  Whirling around to face her, I said "How do you know?"

  She merely shrugged. "Because, Ryker’s never lost."

  I turned my head to look at him. "There's a first time for everything, isn’t there?"

  "Ever," she added behind me.

  Ryker still wasn’t looking at me, so I placed my hand on his cheek and turned his face towards me. He closed his eyes and exhaled.

  "I told you I didn’t want you to come with us," he said. "While your safety was my utmost concern, I really didn’t want you to have to see this." He leaned into my hand and covered it with his own. "I’m sorry," he said. He opened his eyes and dropped his hand. Grabbing me at the waist, he pulled me hard against him and slammed his lips into mine.

  My heart disintegrated in my chest, and I could feel it dripping down into my feet. I tangled one hand in his hair, and clutched at his back with my other as hard as I could. Letting go of him was not an option for me. How could I let him do this?

  "We have to go," he said and tugged on my hand.

  Stella was right behind me, and though she was no longer crying, she didn’t say another word. We half walked, half ran down the tunnel, and along the way I caught glimpses of open spaces filled with crowds of people. Above the entrance to each opening, a number was spray painted in red.

  We reached a smaller cavern than where the entry platform was. Above the opening was the number twelve. In the center was a dirt floor outlined in white powdered chalk as we approached the ring. I could see bloodstains here and there in the dirt, and I swallowed hard.

  "Everyone listen up!" a voice boomed out, and everyone quieted just a fraction. A huge man with closely cropped hair was holding a tablet in front of him. "Zak Smith has been replaced by Ryker Evans. Fighters, take your places."

  An excited murmur went through the crowd, and every head turned. Zak was making his way through the bodies towards us, and Stella ran to him. She threw her arms around him, and I could see Zak give Ryker a curt nod.

  Ryker led me by the hand over to them. He clapped Zak on the shoulder. "You two get her out of here. Wait for me back at the other end of the tunnel. This shouldn’t take long."

  "No," I said. "I’m not leaving you!"

  "Go with them," he said. "I’ll be there in a few minutes. You do not need to see this, and I don't have time to argue."

  I could feel tears spilling from beneath my eyelids and making their way down my cheeks. "I can’t—" my voice broke.

  Ryker pulled me close again for just a moment, and whispered, "It’ll be okay, really. I’ll be right there. I love you."

  "Evans!" the man with the cropped hair bellowed out.

  Ryker let go of me and put my hand in Zak’s. "Do not let her out of your sight," he said to him before he threw his jacket to Stella and made his way to the ring.

  "Come on," Stella said, and Zak tugged me along behind them.

  They were practically dragging me down the tunnel. I turned my head to try and glimpse through the bodies and see him one last time, but I couldn’t.

  "Fight!"

  That word rang in my ears and slammed into my soul. People were hurrying down the tunnel towards the fight as we were leaving. Someone said, "Evans hasn’t fought in months. Wonder if he’s lost his edge?"

  The other guy with him said, "Nightly doesn’t stand a chance either way. Evans could kick his ass one handed and blindfolded…"

  Zak tugged on my hand again to keep me moving. Cheers erupted behind us, and I froze.

  "Ryker," I whispered.

  Closing my eyes I took a breath.

  "Shit!" Zak yelped and let go of my hand. "What the Hell?"

  I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was clutching his hand. When he looked at me his eyes went wide, and he staggered back.

  Stella grabbed at his hand, "What happened?"

  Lifting his other arm, he pointed at me and Stella turned. Her hands flew to her mouth in horror. I looked down at my hands and saw their fire.

  Shit.

  I grabbed my hair and examined the ends. More light was shooting out, just like that night in the tunnel with Ryker when we were outnumbered. I opened my mouth to speak, and when I did the tunnel was illuminated as if someone had turned on a light.

  "What the Hell are you?" Stella whispered.

  Another cheer filled the tunnel, and I spun on my heel. I was off and running before I could stop myself. Zak and Stella were too shocked to stop me. Slamming through bodies, I tried to fight my way to the ring. Everyone I came in contact with screamed out in pain and fell away from me. On the other side of the ring, people were still cheering for the fight, not yet noticing this crazy glowing girl running through the crowd.

  I couldn’t breathe. All I could think about was getting to Ryker and protecting him. It was an odd feeling because he’d always been the one protecting me. I couldn’t control my own body anymore though. My feet were programmed to take me straight to him and do anything and everything to keep him from harm.

  Bursting through the screaming and terrified bodies, I staggered on my feet at the edge of the ring. The loudest cheer so far rose up and mingled with the screams surrounding me. Directly in front of me, Ryker
was holding Asher Nightly several inches off the dirt floor by the handle of his knife. The tip of the blade was protruding from Asher’s spine, and Ryker’s hand holding the knife was soaked in blood.

  People behind me were running and scrambling to get away from me, and I found it funny in a horrific sort of way that they would be running from me instead of Ryker who had just driven a knife under another man’s ribcage.

  Ryker lowered his hand until Asher’s feet were on the floor, and he yanked the blade out of him. Asher’s already lifeless body hit the floor in a heap and kicked dust up in the air.

  I was frozen in place, taking it all in, shocked myself. Ryker was standing with blood running down his arms, breathing hard. Every muscle in his body was rock hard as adrenaline coursed through him. He stood staring down at Asher’s body for a moment as if they had been alone in the room. By now though, everyone had noticed me, and the air was filled with endless screaming. It seemed to shake Ryker out of his own head, and he turned his face. When his eyes locked on mine, I could see that they were filled with that blue fire that I’d seen when he had confronted his father in the tunnels. That fire left them quickly as they widened at the sight of me.

  I reached out my hand for him, and he shoved his knife into his belt, not bothering to wipe the blood off. He grabbed my outstretched hand and started running. I could feel the stickiness of the blood between our skin, and I shuddered.

  The room was chaos. People were running every which way, still screaming. Whenever we got too close to someone they would fall away in either fear or pain, I wasn't sure. Ryker was in front of me, and I could see my hand in his, stretched in front of me. The light emanating from my hand was spreading up his arm like a white translucent film. He didn’t seem to notice, but as people came into contact with him, they fell back in pain like they did when they touched me.

  "We’ve got to get Topside. Too many people," he yelled back at me and tugged me down a small tunnel that everyone else had seemed to overlook.

  This tunnel was dark without any lights ahead, but we had no trouble seeing because I had enough light emanating from my body to reveal our path. Ryker's grip remained tight on my hand as we ran. Soon we reached a ladder, and he started clambering up it. I followed him as quickly as I could. The sound of heavy steel grating on asphalt rang out overhead, accompanied by a grunt from Ryker. Sunlight poured down on us from a now open manhole. Ryker hoisted himself out and threw his hand back down for me. I took it, and he pulled me up with unimaginable strength, as if I weighed less than nothing. Then he kicked the manhole cover back into place and took my hand before running again.

  "I thought those were supposed to be heavy?" I asked, my gaze taking in the manhole cover.

  "They’re not bad," he said. "We’ve got to get somewhere out of sight and fast. Keep your head down."

  We ran for a few minutes and came to an old run down warehouse. Out front, a cracked and faded sign read: Sweet Water Brewing Company. There was a chain link fence around it, and the front door was boarded up. Ryker grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up to grab the top of the fence. I hauled myself over it and when I let go, my feet hit the ground, and I landed in a crouch. A second later, I felt Ryker hit beside me, and when I focused on him, he was standing out of a crouch as well.

  "Do you regularly scale fences?" he asked.

  I shook my head. "I try not to make a habit out of illegal activity."

  He took my hand again and we jogged around the side. Most of the windows had been boarded up but there was one near the back where the board had fallen off. Ryker jumped through and turned to help me, but I was already through and on my feet.

  "Damn you’re quick," he said. "Come on."

  His hand found mine yet again, and I couldn’t help but think that he was determined to hold onto it forever. It was mostly dark inside the building, the only light coming in from the few windows that weren’t boarded up, and the glow percolating from my own body. Adrenaline was singing to every nerve-ending throughout my body, and I wondered if it was fueling whatever this light was within me.

  "Let’s go upstairs to somewhere more remote," he said, leading me to a rusted metal stairway.

  It creaked and moaned under our weight. "Do you think this will support us?"

  "If we move quickly it should."

  I didn’t say another word and tried to step as lightly as I could while we hurried upward. We walked along an equally decayed metal walkway towards a door in the wall next to a dirty window looking into a smaller room.

  The walkway shifted, and I felt dizzy as I glanced down between the steel. It didn’t seem like it would be sturdy even if it was new. I couldn’t make out anything on the other side of the window through the grime, so it didn’t seem like it would give us away should anyone come looking. We reached the door and Ryker pushed it open. Inside was a small office. Dust covered everything. There was an old desk with a few yellowed papers scattered on its top and several chairs. A rusted metal filing cabinet stood in the corner and a bookshelf with its shelves collapsed was positioned along the other wall. The window behind the desk to the outside was boarded over, and only a sliver of light peaked through the plywood. A torn sofa sat under the window overlooking the inside of the warehouse, the pattern on its fabric unrecognizable with age.

  I was still illuminated so I cast everything in a white light that was starting to finally fade. Ryker propped one of the chairs under the doorknob behind us.

  "No one should find us here, but just in case," he said, and reached for me.

  His hands and forearms were still caked in dried blood, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to be in the protection of his arms. My hands clung to the back of his shirt, and I didn't want to ever let go.

  "What’s happening to me?" I whispered.

  He kissed the top of my head. "We’ll figure it out, I promise. It doesn’t seem like it’s hurting you though, you know?"

  I pulled away just enough to look at him. "No, it’s not. I don’t even really feel much when it happens. My body just gets warm. Supernatural hot flashes maybe?" I said with a halfhearted laugh.

  "Funny," he said.

  I took a step back and looked at my hands. The glow was nearly gone. "How about my eyes?" I asked. "Almost back to normal?"

  He cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow. "Well your eyes have never been normal."

  I lightly smacked him on the arm. "I’m serious."

  "So am I." This time he dodged my fist. "They nearly are. They’re actually pretty cool looking… in a ‘terrifying-what-the-Hell’ kind of way. The green is back but your pupils are still as white as the rest of them."

  Sighing, I said, "Thanks a lot," and plopped down onto the sofa. Dust flew up all around me, and I coughed.

  Ryker laughed. "I’m going to go see if there’s any running water in this place. I want to get all this blood off me. Stay here?" He eyed me like a parent wanting to scold a stubborn child.

  "I want to go with you."

  He shook his head. "Absolutely not."

  I crossed my arms over my chest, and a touch of anger laced my voice. "I thought you said we were safe?"

  "We should be, but—"

  I cut him off. "Do you suddenly think I can't defend myself?"

  "No, I—"

  "Did you forget who saved our asses on the way home from the park?"

  I could feel that unfamiliar warmth seeping through my body.

  "No," he emphasized and placed his hands on my shoulders. "But take a breath. You’re glowing brighter." Before I could say anything else he continued. "I know you can handle yourself, believe me, I do. The thought of something happening to you just guts me. Remember how you felt in the Pits when you found out I was going to fight?"

  My anger started receding, and I pulled back.

  He had me there.

  "Fine, fine, I’ll stay here. Just don’t take too long."

  Placing a kiss on my cheek, he quietly said, "Thank you," before crossing t
o the door. Then he pulled the chair away and walked outside. I could hear his boots on the groaning catwalk.

  Looking at my hands, I shook my head.

  What am I? Am I even human?

  There was dried blood on them too from holding onto Ryker’s. I wiped them furiously on my jeans before letting my hands fall into my lap, and sighed. Whatever was wrong with me didn’t actually feel wrong. Like I’d told Ryker, it just filled my body with this warm sensation. It made me feel lighter, yet powerful. This, whatever it was, felt like it had the potential to be an intense energy that yearned for release, but the only time it had ever reached that level of fervency was when we were nearly attacked in the tunnel. There it had been released, knocking those assailants off their feet. It took over my body and filled me with fire, a righteous all-consuming blaze. Even now thinking of protecting Ryker, I felt a quiet surge threatening to bubble up under the surface of what I assumed was my soul.

  Ryker.

  Every time this had happened to me it had to do with him. Protecting him. Fiercely loving him. It was always these completely engrossing emotions that were tied to Ryker that seemed to fuel this, this thing inside me.

  But what if he was somehow hurt by this?

  My heart seized up at the thought.

  I have no idea how to control this.

  What if he gets caught up in the crossfire?

  I felt my pulse take off and my breathing quicken.

  Could I really take that chance? Could I stay with him and risk losing everything?

  I heard the complaining of the metal under his feet as Ryker came back into the room. When I looked up at him, I saw his face darken. He was at my side in two steps and sat next to me, sitting a cup of water on the floor.

  "Hey, baby? What is it? We’re safe here." His thumbs wiped tears off my face that I hadn’t even realized were falling. "Talk to me."

  I recoiled just slightly, terrified of what my body could do to him.

  His anxiety skyrocketed; it was clear by the widening of his eyes and the concern behind them. "What?"

  I felt like I was shaking my head at everything nowadays. "I… I… How can I ever live with myself if something happens to you? If I hurt you with this?"