Read The Immortal Game (book 1) for Free Online Page B

the breeze that skimmed her body. A slight metallic taste had replaced the moisture in her mouth.
    A rope slid past her. “Grab it,” Ash yelled down to her, “I’ll pull you up.” She reached for the nylon rope, solid, not stretchy, and soon she was upright again. Ash pulled her with a strong steady rhythm.
    “Incredible!” She beamed as he pulled her over the side of the bridge and back onto the railroad tracks, which now felt as steady and stable as any flat ground.
    He smiled at her, his eyes a luminescent blue. She stared back, wanting to kiss him more now than she had before. He pointed to her hips, and she felt her already flushed face become hot. Then she realized that he was waiting for her to take the harness off so he could have a turn.
    He deftly adjusted the harness and the bungee to his size and weight. He winked at her and turned to the abyss. There was no scream from him, only the sound of a single breath leaving his lungs as he pushed off into nothing.
    He fell gracefully away from her and then flew back up on his own rebounds. She remembered that feeling in the core of her being. Terror and joy and relief. Relief that it wasn’t the day she would die.
    She smiled and screamed for him.
    …
    The thin fabric of Ruby’s curtains did little to keep out the bright morning sunshine. She pulled her pillow over her head and then pushed it away again, caught in a half-conscious battle between wanting darkness and needing oxygen.
    She thought of the day before, bungee jumping, and grinned into her pillow. She tried to picture Ash and found it almost too easy. Too easy to see the exact way sunlight lit up the crest of his dark curls, too easy to see how his bright eyes stood out against the backdrop of the blue sky, too easy to see how his red lips flattened into a wide smile.
    She thought of the sensation of his hand on hers, the way the conversation flowed, and the disappointment of watching him walk away from her in the muted twilight when he suggested they go to Athenaeum and she said that she needed to study—really, this time.
    Then a dark, half-remembered dream floated into her thoughts. Someone warning her away from something. Something she wanted. Something she needed . She winced and tried to think of Ash again, hoping to regain the feel of him. Instead doubt crowded in and blotted out everything else.
    What is he doing even talking to me?
    She thought of the women who swarmed around him at Athenaeum, hoping he would notice them, though he never seemed to. What is he playing at?
    Her hold on the blankets slackened. She hadn’t made it to the study group and she had found it nearly impossible to concentrate on chemistry after a day of bungee jumping.
    She had to do well on the test.
    Her eyes flew open. She glanced to the alarm clock, suspiciously silent in the bright morning light. Seven-fifty! She hadn’t set it? A flash of a memory shot through her: brushing her teeth, getting ready for bed, and thinking of him.
    Dr. Reed did not admit latecomers to exams.
    “ Stupid!” She said to no one. She glanced at the pictures of her mother and her father on her nightstand. Their chance to make a difference in the world was gone. Ruby couldn’t throw hers away. She gave her muddled head a quick shake. She looked at the clock again: seven-fifty-one. Nine minutes.
    She threw off the covers and grabbed a pair of crumpled jeans from the lavender-colored carpet. She pulled the jeans up over the boy shorts she had slept in, grabbed a shirt from one of the many piles, and sniffed at the green fabric—clean enough. She pulled it on over the cami-tank she was already wearing as she ran down the stairs.
    Her messenger bag sat by the door, still fully packed, evidence of her neglect. She grabbed it and looked at her bike, but ran out the front door instead.
    The sidewalk near campus was nearly empty, allowing her the room she needed to run and reminding her of how late she truly was. As she approached Hawthorne