A Dark Grave (Elysium Chronicles, .5) (3 page)

I blink again and then he’s tugging on my
arm. “Come on. I don’t think you’re supposed to be sleeping with a
concussion.”

“I wasn’t sleeping,” I protest, but it’s
only half-hearted.

He laughs and pulls me up to my feet.
“Whatever you say, Sleeping Beauty.”

Grateful he doesn’t appear to be angry at me
anymore, I lightly punch him on the arm. At least, that’s the
intention, except instead of tapping his shoulder, I miss by
several inches and pitch forward.

“Whoa!” He quickly catches me and keeps his
arm under mine to steady me.

“We should keep walking. Find a way out of
here.” My voice is barely a whisper because of how tired I am. “The
sooner we get out of this cave, the better.”

Connor nods and starts forward, keeping his
arm around my waist. I’m grateful he’s not mad at me anymore.
There’s no way I’d be able to keep walking without his support.

I don’t know how long we spend walking, but
it feels like days. I’m feeling sicker by the minute, and I’m sure
we’re no closer to finding our way out than we were when we first
got lost.

Damn wounds. Damn fall. Damn, effing
island!

Half the time, it feels like my whole body
is boiling, the rest of the time I’m freezing. My shoulder and head
scream at me to just stop. To give up. But I can’t. I have to get
home and take care of my family.

If I die, there’ll be no one to bring home
food for them. Tristan’s still too young to bring back the big game
and I haven’t spent enough time teaching him what he needs to
know.

I make a promise to whoever’s listening that
I’ll take the time as soon as I get back. And that I’ll do more to
make Mom happier. I’ll even try to spend more time ‘working on my
social life.’

Just as I think I can’t walk any further, we
hit a dead end. I want to groan.

Connor shines his light at the dead end and
I blink when I see that the dead end isn’t a dead end at all. It’s
a door!

The question is, where does it lead?

Conn places his hand on the handle, and
feeling of dread erupts in the pit of my stomach. But before I can
stop him, Conn’s tugging on the door.

“Conn!” I yell as he slowly pulls the door
open.

Loved this prequel? Then read on! Find out
what’s behind the door in:

RENEGADE (Tor Teen)

Available now wherever books are sold!

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old
Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the
underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of
children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that
everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller,
accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s
forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is
a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t
under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a
monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape,
only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb… and Mother
has one last secret that will destroy them all.

And don’t miss book two of the Elysium
Chronicles (Tor Teen)

Available Fall 2013

About the Author

J.A. Souders was born in the heartland with
an overactive imagination and an over abundance of curiosity that
was always getting her into trouble. She first began writing at the
age of 13, when she moved to Florida and not only befriended the
monsters under the bed, but created worlds for them to play
together.

Because she never grew up, she decided she’d
put her imaginary friends to work and started writing. She still
lives in the land of sunshine and palm trees with her husband and
their two children and is an active member of the RWA, CFRW, YARWA
and SCBWI.

Visit J.A. Souders at her website
www.jasouders.com
or on
twitter @jasouders.