Filed To Story: Sunrise on the Reaping Book PDF Free
“Oh, I’ve got piles of food, but tragically, no silverware.”
One side of her mouth curls up. She pulls a pocketknife and a fork twisted out of a piece of wire from her pocket. “We’re covered.”
“Well, that’s a game changer. Are you free for dinner? Because I’m in possession of two very fine potatoes. Raw, but potentially bakeable. You?”
“Three slices of dried beef and half a can of olives. Fifty-fifty?”
“Close your eyes a minute.”
Maysilee squints at me. “Why?”
“Just do it.” She closes one. “Both of them.” When she does, I pull out my glass, which has heroically survived the day, empty the rest of the bottle into it, and hold it out. “Okay, open up.”
At the sight of the elegant glass, the rich grape juice, she gives a little gasp. “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s yours. A thank-you for saving my life.”
She grins. “Fifty-fifty or no deal.”
“Done.” Because really, I want that juice like all-fire. “But you first.”
Maysilee takes the glass, sniffs the bouquet like it’s a fine wine, and takes a sip. Tears actually come to her eyes. “Oh, my word. Never thought I’d taste home again.” She hands it back. “Now you.”
Evening falls as we take our time passing the glass back and forth, savoring every drop. I make sure she gets the last mouthful. She wipes out the glass with her handkerchief and tries to return it.
“No, you keep it. It belongs with your table setting.”
She carefully stows it away in her pack. I lean back against the log, spent. “So, I’ve barely seen a soul. What’s going on out there?”
Maysilee thinks a minute, fingering a burn on her arm. “Hard to say. The arena’s on the blink, but I’m sure you’re aware of that. If you mean the other tributes . . . for all I know, we’re the last two left.”
“Well, if it comes to that, I’m on borrowed time anyway. Don’t think twice about using those darts.”
“You think I couldn’t?”
I look her straight in the eye. I remember all the years of meanness, but I also factor in how she’s transformed since the reaping. Defending Louella, helping Ampert, looking out for the Newcomers. “I think you couldn’t.”
For just a second, a look crosses her face. Young and vulnerable. “Thanks for that. I don’t think you could either.”
Just before the moment gets too embarrassing, the anthem begins to play. Our heads tilt up.
“By my count, we were at twenty-six last night,” Maysilee says.
“Yeah, mine, too. If I keep track of the overall number, can you try to remember who’s gone? You’re better at details.”
“I’ll do my best.” Maysilee’s fingers entwine in her necklaces as she homes in on the sky.
Panache appears first, followed by all four kids from District 2.
The fingers on my right hand press into the pine needles. “Bad day for the Careers.”
But then Ampert leads off his entire team. Every single kid from District 3 is history.
“Bad day for everybody,” says Maysilee.
Next the boy and girl I just killed from District 4. Seems like the first time I’ve ever looked at them. I feel sick, thinking of their families. Self-defense, I know. I focus on the head count. “We’re up to eleven.”
A boy and a girl from District 5. “Five’s out now,” says Maysilee.
One of my doves, Atread, who’s the last boy from District 6. A boy from District 10. The girl from District 11 who isn’t Chicory. Blackout.
“Sixteen,” I say. “That leaves ten of us.”
“Only two Careers left. Silka from One and Maritte from Four. Eight of us Newcomers. You, me, Hull, and Chicory from Eleven.” Maysilee takes a deep breath, concentrating. “Ringina and the other girl from Seven, I think her name’s Autumn. Two more. Who am I missing?”
“One of my doves from Six.”
“Right, Wellie. And someone else. Can’t place them right off. A boy, I think. He’s dressed in red. District Ten,” she concludes.
I remember Ampert swinging his lariat around in the gym. A boy from 10 had made it for him. . . . “Buck?”
“That’s it.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.