Ash (Hive Trilogy Book 1)

by Leia Stone

  “Girl, your hair is Marilyn Monroe gorgeous,” he told her. She grinned and hugged him. My heart overflowed at my two BFFs finally meeting.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you. Thanks for dressing Charlie tonight.”

  I scowled. “What! How do you know he dressed me?”

  Tessa rolled her eyes. “Please…”

  Her next words were cut off as she finally focused on the enforcers, her eyes running across the six tall, buff, and badass guys. She lingered the longest on Ryder. Somehow she knew which one he was. She had never really met him; the last time she’d been passed out. I was a little nervous about the glint in her eye.

  Please don’t say anything stupid, Tessa.

  “So, you’re Ryder,” Tessa said. Her words made it sound like he was some important person in my life. Shit. My cheeks reddened.

  Ryder extended his hand and shook hers. As he pulled away, a vampire strode in beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. I bristled at the sight of a bloodsucker so close to her.

  Tessa smiled up at the guy with his strawberry blond curls. Damn, he was sort of a cute, sexy version of a grown-up Cabbage Patch Doll.

  “Guys, this is Blake.”

  I really did not like the idea of Tessa having a regular vampire feeder, especially not one that acted possessive of her.

  Blake nodded to all of us, then his eyes settled on the tall enforcer at my side.

  “Ryder,” he said.

  Ryder nodded back. “Blake.”

  It was clear Ryder had the respect of all the vampires, which was an achievement since they thought of ash as mongrel dogs.

  The song changed then and Tessa squealed, ducking out from under Blake’s arm and grabbing Jayden and my hands, dragging us to the dance floor. Typical Tessa, she was a sucker for Britney Spears. It felt good to let loose, and I got lost in the music for some time. After dancing inside of a Jayden and Tessa sandwich for almost a half an hour, I broke away to get some water. I was laying off the liquor for a bit. Human alcohol was pretty much a waste now anyways.

  As the crowd parted, I noticed Ryder leaning against the bar, his eyes locked on me as I approached. He lowered his glass from where he’d just taken a drink, his eyes traveling across me. I approached him slowly, taken aback by the intensity of his gaze.

  “Having fun?” I queried.

  His reached around and pulled me close to him, speaking in my ear. It was the only way to be heard in here. “What did you say? I can’t hear you over the music?” he shouted.

  His muscular thigh was partly lodged between my legs, and to steady myself I reached out and let my hand rest on his bicep. The only thing ruining this moment was the reek of alcohol on his breath.

  “Got a hold of some vamp moonshine I see,” I shouted back.

  He gave me a slow but insanely sexy smile. “I’m told I need to lighten up.”

  I grinned. Well, well, well … if I didn’t know any better, I’d think Ryder was more than a little drunk. My straight-laced, overly rigid, tough as shit Ryder. And I was starting to get the feeling that in his drunken state he wanted a piece of Charlie.

  I knew I could lean into him now … I could kiss him. But something held me back. This wasn’t how I wanted it. Tomorrow the steel door to his emotions would close again and I knew on instinct that one night with Ryder would never be enough, and I didn’t want a taste only to lose it forever.

  Before I could respond, he leaned in so close that my hair covered his face and his cheek touched mine. “I should have told you this long ago, but watching you fight in that culling was among the worst moments of my life. I was half a second from jumping in the fight and killing them all.”

  My heart beat wildly in my chest at his proclamation. Who was this ash? He seemed relaxed, his words flowing more freely than usual. He pulled back then, slipping his leg out from under me, leaning farther back onto the bar. He was then casually watching people dance like he hadn’t just said the most romantic thing in the world. I sank in next to him and ordered my water.

  After taking a few sips, I decided to be bold. “You wanna dance?” I gave him my bedroom eyes. This look had never failed me. I was wearing nipple pasties, for Christ’s sake. No way would he say no.

  He swallowed before shaking his head. “I shouldn’t.”

  Well, there’s a first time for everything. Awesome. I’m a complete loser. I noticed Kyle heading our way, and not wanting to break down like a full-on girl, I swiveled around.

  “Right, see you later.” I booked it for the bathroom, trying to remember where it was.

  Stupid, Charlie! He didn’t like me, he was just drunk and my boobs looked amazing in this shirt – he got distracted.

  I took a wrong turn down the hallway before remembering that this led to an outside patio and smoking area. Frustrated, I turned around and ran smack into a vampire.

  He caught me by the shoulders to keep me from falling. His grip was firm.

  “Oh sorry,” I said as I tried to pull out of his grasp. He didn’t let go, and my eyes shot up to his face. His hair was slicked back and jet black; he had a pointy nose, and his eyes were doing the pulsing thing.

  “I’ve been waiting all week to meet you. Your performance in the culling was superb,” he purred, tightening his hold on my shoulders.

  “Thanks, I really need to use the bathroom.” I reached up to brush his hands off. He tightened them again, his grip an iron vice. What the actual fu–

  “Ow!” I shrieked as his breathing hitched and he began to pant. Fangs slid from his upper lip. Shit. I had never fought a full-fledged vampire before. I knew they were stronger than ash, but not sure how much. I had a feeling I was about to find out.

  I put both hands on his chest and shoved him, hard. He stumbled backward a little, but my push only served to enrage him more. He smelled of vamp alcohol and had clearly lost control.

  He slammed into me before I could even track his movement. The back of my head cracked into the wall and I yelped. He had me pinned against the brickwork; we were alone in this dark hallway. His eyes pulsed from solid silver to some weird gray color.

  “Help!” I screamed again, hoping like hell someone would hear me this time. I felt the graze of razor sharp points on my neck, and I knew he was just about to pierce my skin. Pleasure chased along my spine, my body remembering how it felt to be fed on, but it was quickly doused with how awful this situation was. Vamp asshole then decided to take his time with me, slowly pushing his chompers into me. His wet mouth sucked at my neck with greed. Gross. Vampire hickey. Just what I needed. I kneed him firmly in the groin, but he just bit down on me harder.

  “Got off, asshole!” I screamed, but it was no use. He was like a two-hundred-pound mosquito.

  Suddenly Ryder’s and Kyle’s faces zoomed into focus, and before the relief even had time to hit, the enforcers had grabbed the vamp by the neck, ripping him off of me. The vamp went airborne and was slammed onto the ground. Kyle reached over and yanked me up, holding me against his hard frame as one of his hands lifted to rest against the side of my neck. Both of us froze as we watched Ryder go completely into warrior mode, throwing a series of powerful blows to the vamp’s head, his arms moving so fast I couldn’t track them. Holy shit, he was a monster. The force at which the punches connected with the vamp’s face made sounds that I was pretty sure would haunt my dreams. It was in this moment I truly realized how easy Ryder had been going on me in training. I had not even the slightest clue of his true abilities.

  Kyle held me close until my shaking stopped. “You okay, Charlie?” His dark eyes lifted from Ryder to lock on me. “Shit, sorry girl, we got here as soon as we heard you scream.”

  I tried to swallow, some of the pain in my neck easing. Kyle lifted his hand away and his eyes swirled as he stared. “The wound has closed over. You’re going to need some blood.”

  He pulled himself away from me and I realized that my blood was tempting him. I propped myself against the wall as Kyle strode across to
help Ryder. Markus, Jared, and Sam ran down the hall then, and together the enforcers helped Kyle pull Ryder off the unconscious vamp. I remained against the wall, too shaken to move yet, my focus locked in on the one man who always had my back. Ryder’s eyes were wild, his knuckles already bruised, cuts littering them. He left the vampire to his men, crossing the space to crowd into me.

  “Are you hurt?” His words were barely audible, so much feral in his gaze.

  Hurt? Oh right, I was attacked.

  My hand went up to my neck, even though Kyle had told me it was healed. “He bit me.”

  Ryder breathed deeply, his serious eyes never leaving me. He didn’t seem drunk anymore, the fight having washed away whatever buzz he’d had.

  Finally, he turned back to his guys, even though he did not shift out of my personal space. He spoke in a low voice to the enforcers, and I used the time to move off the wall. My limbs were shaking a little, the adrenalin starting to wear off. Why were these bastards always trying to bite me? It didn’t seem normal.

  Ryder turned back around, and finding me moved, stepped back into my personal space. “If he were an ash, I would kill him right here.” His hazy silver and black eyes flickered to the lump on the floor.

  Kyle nodded. He’d moved close to Ryder’s back. “I think we should kill him anyways. Who cares what the Quorum says.”

  Ryder seemed to consider this, then he grinned, catching me totally off guard. “No, I have a better idea. Throw him in the pit for a month.”

  Jared let out a low whistle. “A month in the pit. Dude is going to be fried.” Damn that accent was good. I needed to visit Australia one day. Also, note to self: Don’t get on Ryder’s bad side and find out what the hell the pit was.

  Ryder placed a hand on my lower back. “Fun’s over. Let’s go.”

  I got the distinct feeling he would not be letting me out again soon. “I wouldn’t consider being attacked by a vampire fun,” I retorted.

  He frowned. “Yeah, bad joke. Sorry.” He stopped and faced me. “Seriously, are you okay?” His hair was tousled from the fight, and the protective way his hand rested against my spine had my stomach all aflutter.

  No.

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  This was not Ryder’s problem. I was the delicious, chocolate-covered unicorn donut, and while I’d love it if Ryder were my own delicious chocolate-covered donut, the feeling clearly wasn’t mutual.

  I turned and left the hallway with Ryder hot on my heels. The night of fun was over, and we were heading back to the Hive. Back to the world of blood and vamps. If I didn’t figure this out soon, how to stop all of this blood-lusting after me, I wasn’t going to survive long past the culling anyways.

  The next day I awoke to a loud banging on my door. This wasn’t a friendly, just-stopping-by knock. It was a police-raid I’m-going-to-Taser-your-ass, bang-bang-bang sort of knock. I leapt off the bed, heart hammering and crossed the hallway as Jayden flew out of his room, eyes wide.

  “What the hell?” Jayden looked half dead. Ryder and Kyle might have brought me home early from the club, but Jayden and Tessa had stayed out with their men.

  “Open the damn door!”

  It was Ryder.

  I flung the door open and he stepped inside and slammed it behind him.

  “The Quorum is on their way.” His words were short and sharp. “They want another blood test after the culling and what happened at the club. They don’t trust Lucas.”

  My eyes went wide and Jayden looked confused. I hadn’t told him about the direct descendent thing. Not because I didn’t trust him, but because there wasn’t really anything to say. No one knew what I was, they just knew I wasn’t normal.

  “What do I do?”

  Would it be so bad for the Quorum to find out I was directly linked to an Original? No one had really explained the end results for me if everyone found out. But since Ryder looked worried and usually nothing fazed that man, there was definitely room for me to start stressing.

  Ryder tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck. “Bite me,” he declared.

  Heck yes! I mean … what?

  I raised one eyebrow as Jayden looked at me, grinning. Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I had fantasized about Ryder saying those exact words, but not in front of Jayden. And not in response to the stupid Quorum. I hadn’t fed directly off anyone before and now really didn’t seem like the right time to start – the freakin’ Quorum was on its way. I closed my mouth abruptly, trying to figure out what he was on about. “You want me to … bite you? Why?”

  Ryder grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. “Feed from me and then from Jayden, and when they take your blood it will be a diluted mix. It’s the only chance we have.”

  Holy. Shit. Was it man-candy Monday?

  Realizing there wasn’t time to ponder this, I slipped one hand behind Ryder’s neck and stood on my tiptoes as instinct kicked in and my fangs slid from my upper gums. I had about a thousand-percent more control over my fangs now than when I first turned, but right at this moment they wanted Ryder. As I leaned in, I barely even noticed that Jayden turned and left the room, giving me privacy. My nose grazed against Ryder – Mmm, he smelled so good. I lightly scraped my fangs against his neck, but paused. I had never fed from a living person. Would I hurt him? Would warm blood be gross?

  His hands clamped down on my hips. “Do it, I want you to.”

  That was all I needed to hear. I sank my teeth into his deliciously plump vein and his warm blood trickled into my mouth. We both moaned at the same time. He tasted like cinnamon and copper. Holy shit – bottled blood was like old ass compared to this. Ryder’s blood was potent and warm, filled with power and energy. It was like hitting an electrical socket and frying a thousand volts through me, but instead of pain all I got was the huge boost of power.

  I gulped greedily as his hands tightened on my hips. I lost sense of time completely, but still sort of knew that he let me feed from him for an extended period.

  Finally he halted me. “Stop, Charlie.”

  I pulled away gasping, feeling his warmth in my body, and the burning of my cheeks. I knew they would be bright red. When I met Ryder’s eyes I could see desire flashing there.

  A bang on the door ripped me from my trance.

  Ryder silently grabbed my arm and pulled me into Jayden’s room. My best friend was ready.

  “Bite me, bitch – but you better tell me everything later,” he whispered softly. I nodded and sank into his neck without any of the sensuality that I’d reserved for Ryder. It was more uncomfortable without the intimacy. Let’s just say I was much more aware that I was feeding on another person. After a few big gulps, I pulled off.

  Ryder nodded and handed me a type-O blood bottle.

  “Answer the door,” he murmured as he slipped inside of Jayden’s closet. For some reason he did not want the Quorum to know he was here.

  I chugged the bottle, throwing it in the trash as I crossed the space to answer the door. As I opened the door, strong vampire energy flooded through the entrance and I almost took a step back. A group of very pissed, very powerful looking vampires stood before me. My eyes catalogued them, wondering if I was about to find out how strong the Quorum really was.

  “Hello, Charlene, we require your presence in the medical wing,” one of them told me with a gritty voice. It took me a second, but I realized that I knew his distinct voice. This was the vampire who had spoken with Ryder outside of the medical wing when I was first brought in, who told him I would be treated like every other ash and join in the culling. He was tall, with slicked black hair and a bent hooked nose. He must have been an ugly mofo before the virus, because even with all the smoothing out he was still fugly as hell.

  I acted dumb. “Okay. What’s this about?”

  “Just a routine blood test.”

  Damn liar.

  Where was Lucas? There were – I quickly counted in my head – nine of the members here, but no Lucas. “Wow, the entire Quorum accompan
ying me to a routine blood test. I must be pretty important,” I mused out loud. I couldn’t act too dumb.

  I stepped out and they closed rank behind me, boxing me in.

  Ugly sneered at me as we walked together. “We just want to see with our own eyes that the test is done properly. Your… talents … don’t seem to line up with your lineage.”

  I tried to slow my heart rate, knowing they could sense it. “Whatever.” I shrugged. I was getting good at feigning disinterest. But in my head I was all fuck-fuck-fuck. My damn unicorn blood better not shoot rainbows when they looked at it, or I had a feeling I was a dead woman.

  I was led to a medical room, where a male doctor I had never seen was waiting in a lab coat with a needle kit before him.

  “How many doctors does the Hive need? You guys heal,” I said in the sweetest voice I could muster.

  One of the Quorum members smiled, a woman with reddish hair. “She’s bright.”

  Another Quorum member scowled at me. “They aren’t just doctors, they’re also scientists. The humans allow a small number of vampires to be privately educated. We have a highly contagious virus that the humans aren’t keen to catch. Now sit down.”

  I sat down in the red leather padded chair and hoped that my resting bitch face was on. These people were really starting to annoy me. No more words were spoken at the scientist pinned my arm down and jabbed it with a needle. I had forgotten the affect my blood had on them until the aroma hit the air and they all stiffened.

  “Why do you think her blood is so tempting?” one of them asked as his fangs extended onto his lower lip.

  The scientist holding the tube of my blood shook his head as if to clear his own lusting thoughts. “I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.”

  “Maybe because she is the first female ash,” another Quorum member offered.

  The ugly one shook his head, that crooked nose looking even more bent in the fluorescent lighting down here. “No, I think there is more to it. When will the results be ready?”