The Hour of Dust and Ashes Read Online Free PDF Page A

mine. Bryn was afraid. Afraid to be alone, afraid of what she was capable of, and more determined than ever to uncover her lost memories. Her guilt in possibly aiding or even directly causing Aaron’s death was eating away at her faster than her addiction to
ash
.
    “Okay,” Rex said after we’d passed the store. “You can say it.”
    “What? That you promised to stay in the temple?”
    “No, not that part. The part where you tell me how awe-inspiring I was back there. You know”—he slid a look my way—“you might make a pretty good sidekick one day.”
    Oh my God.
    “Rex …” I paused, forgoing the lecture because it wouldn’t make a damned bit of difference anyway. “What am I going to do with you?”
    A slow grin spread across his face. “Now
that’s
one hell of a question.” He threw an arm around my shoulder and picked up our pace. “So glad you asked. I have plenty of ideas. First …”

3

     
    A slow, familiar zing snaked through me as I entered the crowded plaza where Mercy Street, Helios Alley, and Solomon Street converged, and made for the wide concrete steps that would take us Topside. Like the first jolt of a drug-induced high, the Charbydon genes inside of me responded to the forty-mile swath of darkness that hovered above Atlanta and its outskirts.
    I hated that I was getting used to it … that, little by little, I was coming to terms with the inevitable. The Charbydon and Elysian DNA that had been given to me as I lay dying ten months ago was altering me from the inside out, changing me into something new, or something old if I believed Aaron’s “divine being” theory.
    But it wasn’t the darkness that made me stop in the middle of the plaza.
    It was Alessandra’s comments about Hank that had quietly tunneled beneath my confidence, making fine cracks in my trust.
    Just like she’d intended.
    People passed by, conversations came and went along with the sounds of traffic from the city above. And I just stood there, knowing I should keep walking, that I should have some measure of belief.
    I bit down hard, grinding my teeth together with indecision. But when you’ve been burned before …
    I cursed under my breath and turned away from Topside, heading toward my new path: Helios Alley. Damn her.
    “Uh, Charlie?” Rex said from behind me. “We told Bryn we’d pick Em up at ten.”
    Was Hank really in bed recuperating? And, worse, how totally pathetic was I for having to check? “I know. This won’t take long. I just want to check on Hank.” I cleared my throat. Since when did saying his name become so uncomfortable?
    “Oh,
really
?”
    I didn’t need to look at Rex to know he was smirking. I sidestepped a baby stroller. “Yes, really. Someone should go check on him.”
    “No one needs to check on him. You were there when the chief told us the deal. He’s in a self-induced coma. Doesn’t need to eat, drink, or take a piss … When he wakes, he wakes. What are you going to do, stand there and moon over him?”
    My stride increased. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
    “What the hell are you getting so defensive about?”
    “I’m not getting defensive.”
    “You sound defensive.”
    “No I don’t.”
    “Yes you—”
    “Rex!” I stopped, letting him see just how tired I was of being provoked. “Knock it off.”
    He held up his hands in surrender. “Just trying to figure out which way the wind blows these days.”
    I growled and kept walking. Rex could think whatever the hell he wanted. Hank was my partner and I had every right to check on him.
    I knew Hank had his secrets. He was close-lipped about his Elysian history and why he’d come here. He evaded personal questions as easily as picking lint from his sleeve. Sure, he was entitled to his privacy, his secrets, like everyone else. But at the same time, we’d been partners for three years. I’d welcomed him into my world, shared my home, my life, my trust. We’d become friends. And recently,