The Elect: Malevolent, a Dystopian Novel (19 page)

Life.

Choices.

I look up, into Jay’s eyes. I see a stranger. But I also see the boy I fell in love with, the one who lay next to me on that deck and told me his secrets as we stared at the stars. This is the boy who led me through the dark.

But he brought me into the light.

He extends a hand, palm up. “Trust me, Eva. Come with us.”

I gaze at his hand. Those are the fingers that made me feel alive for the first time in my life. They made me shiver and shudder and quake. They also taught me how to protect myself.

I lift my hand.

Should I go with him?

Or should I run?

I’m faced with an impossible choice.

I stare at him.

A choice. Choices.

And then I realize…I had been deceived all this time, told I had choices. Who I would marry. How we would live. But in reality those weren’t real choices. I’d been born in Riverview. I would have never left if I hadn’t been chosen for the Elect. I would have worked on a farm. Every day. Until I was too weak, too tired, too old to continue, and then I would have died.

And all of that would have been their plan.

Except it wasn’t.

The Amiga selected me for some reason. Then they gave me an illusion of a choice, allowing me to decide between three options. Only three. All of them served their purpose, not mine. Not ours. Not humanity’s, but our masters’.

I thought I had a choice to succeed or fail, that I had chosen to stay and fight for my family, for the money I could give them and the freedom that would buy, but in reality, I had no choice. The NDA would decide my future for me. Amiga would decide my future just as it had my parents’.

But that wasn’t good enough anymore.

I’ve learned something since joining the NDA. I’ve grown. Because of the tests and challenges, the terror and the joy, I am no longer a blind little girl. I am a woman. And I can see beyond the wall.

This choice I will make for myself, for my future. It is mine alone. And it is real, not an illusion.

I place my hand in his and nod.

The End

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*****

Please turn the page for a special sneak preview of Tamryn’s best selling novel, HOPELESSLY BROKEN.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

High school drop-out, full time novelist, and now mother--and father--to her younger brother, Jenn Reynolds doesn't have time for anything anymore but work, work, work. Not school. And definitely not a social life. Dating? Yeah, right. No matter how hard she tries to put her life back together, it keeps crumbling apart. The first blow--the sudden death of her parents--started the destruction. Now, her life is spinning out of control, and she has no one to turn to. She is about to lose the only thing that matters anymore—her brother.
But there's one option--one incredibly risky, terrifying solution. If Jenn can find someone she can trust he just might be able to help her stem the devastation.

Maybe.

But who would it be? Aeron, the totally mysterious, totally dangerous stranger she has just met? Or Bobby, the devastatingly gorgeous guy who has already broken her heart once?

Depending upon what their secrets are, they both might make things worse. Much, much worse.
Genre: New Adult/Young Adult Romance (contains minor paranormal elements)

SAMPLE:

Her door swung open and banged against the wall,
blam
.

Jenn, standing next to her dresser whirled around. “Aeron?”

“Dammit, Jenn.” His eyes were wild, dark, feral. Tension pulled at his features, his mouth, his jaw.

She couldn’t move. She was frozen in place. Like a doe caught in the scope of a hunter’s rifle. “What’s wrong, Aeron?”

He charged at her like a furious bull, shoving a chair out of the way. He halted inches from her, nose flared, breathing swift.

Her heart rate spiked. She searched his eyes, trying to push through the dark shadows. “What is it? Are you angry at me?”

“No.” His hand jerked up, cupped her cheek. And her skin sizzled under his touch. A little jolt of electricity charged through her system, locking her muscles, freezing her in place. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move. Her gaze drifted down, to his mouth. That perfect mouth. His lips looked soft yet strong. Would she ever know how they tasted? “I…I’m trying.”

“Trying to do what?” she whispered.

“To stay away.”

“From who?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. All day she’d found herself flirting with him, stealing glances, smiling at him as he played with Logan. And he flirted back for a moment. Everything was wonderful. She felt alive and beautiful and happy.

But then he suddenly jerked away, his tone chilly, his eyes like dark river ice. Over and over that cycle repeated until at last he grumbled, “Excuse me,” stomped upstairs and locked himself in his room.

It was strange and confusing. Why was he acting so hot and cold?

“You.” His thumb grazed her lip, and a shudder of need quaked through her. She curled her fingers around his wrist, holding onto it to steady herself. Her breath caught in her throat. Need pulsed through her system, firing her nerves like little white-hot firecrackers.

It was just like her book, exactly like it. She’d never dreamed it could be so wonderfully painful, such longing, such wanting.

“Why?” she heard herself say. “Why stay away?”

“Because I have to. Because all I can do is hurt you.” Despite what he was saying, his head tipped, inching closer.

Was he going to kiss her?

She let her eyelids drift down and held onto his wrist with an iron-tight grip.
Kiss me
, every bone in her body demanded.
Kiss me now.
“I don’t believe you.”

“You have to.”

His breath was sweet. Intoxicating. Warm and gentle. The hand flattened against her cheek pulled her forward, easing her toward his waiting lips. Closer. He was coming closer yet. Almost there. His breath was fanning over her mouth.

But no kiss.

Seconds throbbed by.

“Aeron?”

“Tell me to stop,” he murmured. “Tell me now.”

“Kiss me, Aeron.” Using the hand gripping his wrist, she pulled until his mouth found hers. The instant her lips made contact with his, it felt as if the world was spinning, whirling, dipping. Brilliant lights exploded behind her closed eyelids. Blasts of heat raced through her body. She threw her other arm up, looping it around his neck, and pressed her body against his.

Oh, the agony.

Oh, the aching.

More. She had to have more. When a whimper pushed up her throat and past her parted lips, his tongue dipped inside her mouth, filling it with his sweet flavor. She practically sank to the floor.

A strong arm circled her waist and held her in place. His other hand slid around to cup the back of her head. His tongue caressed hers, plunging in and out in time to the throbbing heat crashing through her.

Dizzy, breathless, she let her legs collapse, falling into his embrace.

Tamryn Ward is an Amazon and USA Today bestselling author of New Adult/Mature Young Adult fiction. She turned to writing after deciding being an engineer without an engineering degree wasn't a great way to make a living. Writing, on the other hand, is her passion, especially writing romantic stories with an edge. She has an absolutely useless bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts, and when she isn't writing, she spends her time hiking in the woods with her (not so cooperative) husband and kids, and snapping photographs of anything or anyone willing to sit still long enough for her to get a decent shot. She's still a little slow with the photography thing. Thus, her favorite model is, of course, the slug--though you would be surprised by how fast those little buggers can move.