Beyond the
BETWEEN
Anna Webb
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and events in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2018 by Anna Webb
All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form without permission.
Cover Artwork © 2017 by Taire Morrigan
Editing by Kelly Hartigan (XterraWeb)
http://editing.xterraweb.com/
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For my husband, Nicholas.
Chapter 1 – Allyra
Chapter 2 – Jamie
Chapter 3 – Allyra
Chapter 4 – Jamie
Chapter 5 – Allyra
Chapter 6 – Allyra
Chapter 7 – Allyra
Chapter 8 – Jamie
Chapter 9 – Allyra
Chapter 10 – Allyra
Chapter 11 – Allyra
Chapter 12 – Allyra
Chapter 13 – Jamie
Chapter 14 – Allyra
Chapter 15 – Jamie
Chapter 16 – Allyra
Chapter 17 – Allyra
Chapter 18 – Allyra
Chapter 19 – Jamie
Chapter 20 – Allyra
Chapter 21 – Jamie
Chapter 22 – Allyra
Chapter 23 – Allyra
Chapter 24 – Jamie
Chapter 25 – Allyra
Chapter 26 – Jamie
Chapter 27 – Allyra
Chapter 28 – Allyra
Chapter 29 – Allyra
Chapter 30 – Allyra
Chapter 31 – Allyra
Chapter 32 – Allyra
Chapter 33 – Jamie
Chapter 34 – Allyra
Chapter 35 – Allyra
Chapter 36 – Jamie
Chapter 37 – Allyra
Chapter 38 – Allyra
Chapter 39 – Allyra
Chapter 40 – Allyra
Chapter 41 – Allyra
Chapter 42 – Allyra
Epilogue – Jason
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Artwork
Chapter 1 – Allyra
Allyra swayed to the side, carried by instinct rather than sight. A second later, an arrow flashed past, parting the air with a soft huff, missing her ear by fractions of an inch. She didn’t wait to hear it thud into the ground. She was already twisting, readying her body to deliver a fierce blow to the closest opponent and a bone-shattering kick to the one that followed.
Two more arrows punched past. Ducking below the first, she plucked the other neatly from the air, thrusting it deep into the chest of the third opponent.
Feint.
Dodge.
Kick.
Thrust.
She reveled in the movement. The feel of her muscles—taut and strong—the eager pulse of her heartbeat, and the rush of adrenaline through her veins.
Without a stutter in forward momentum, Allyra leapt over a twisted obstacle of wire stretched across the path, designed to trip her up—coils to slow her down and barbs to make her bleed. It brought her to three more opponents. She reached for the daggers belted around her waist and sent two flying. A quick flare of her Gift, a swift tug on the yellow threads of the Air Element, and the two daggers flew true, burying deep into the chests of her opponents.
Out of weapons, Allyra didn’t falter. She rushed toward her final opponent, ignoring the new volley of arrows heading her way. The rush of adrenaline spiked in her veins—a river of fire, feverish and wild.
Somewhere, in the darkest recesses of her mind, a voice whispered. No, two voices, so similar they might as well be one. They urged her on—to kill, to destroy, to obliterate. Flooding her mind with bloodlust not entirely her own. And on her wrist, the tattoo of the twin tigers twitched and came to life.
No!
Pushing the Tiger voices away, she stilled the tattoo until it was no more than a silver band drawn around her wrist. Trying to calm her mind, Allyra skidded to a halt. Having forgotten about the volley of arrows, her sudden change in momentum had them heading directly her way. She reached for her Gift but not quickly enough. An arrow nicked her arm, leaving a flash of pain in its wake.
“Shit,” she muttered under her breath, yanking the blindfold from her eyes. The sudden brightness blinded her for a moment before her eyes adjusted to the light. Even then, she had to squint slightly to see her arm under the intensity of the sun. It couldn’t be more than an hour past dawn, but that didn’t dull the ferocity of the African sun. Even from its position low on the horizon, the sun’s rays beat down on Allyra’s skin, each one a tiny arrow in its own right.
Pulling at the shredded fabric that had once been the sleeve of her T-shirt, Allyra hissed as it tugged at her torn flesh. Bright red blood had already soaked through the cotton of her shirt, flowing freely down her arm, drops of crimson forming at her fingertips before falling to the ground, swallowed up by the dark earth.
The cut was deep, but the edges were clean. The arrow was sharp enough to slice through flesh without pause. In her previous life, she might have thought the wound deep enough to warrant a visit to an emergency room for some stitches. In her previous life, she probably would have fainted at the sight of so much blood. Those days were far behind her now. In the days since her return from the Between, since fighting for her life in the Elemental Trials, Allyra had come to view such injuries with quiet detachment. A necessary outcome of training, a payment of blood and pain in return for strength and speed and survival.
With a vicious jerk of her wrist, Allyra tore the sleeve from her shirt—it was destroyed anyway. She pressed it
