by Leia Stone
I had to keep myself from full on freaking out on everyone in this car. No way in hell was I leaving Jayden. “I don’t care. My best friend is still stuck in there and I am going back.”
All six of the big, scary-ass men groaned then. What? Surely they hadn’t expected I would do this the easy way.
“We should just knock her out and stash her somewhere so we can deal with this.”
I almost fell over as I realized that that had come from Sam. He had finally decided to talk, his voice low and gravely, with a faint accent. Russian or something.
“Seriously?” I threw my hands up as frustration rocked me. “You never speak, and the first time you do, it’s to tell everyone to knock me out. If any of you boneheads lay a single finger on me I am going to make you pay. Every single one of you will have hair remover in your shampoo, and wax strips stuck to your ass.” I jabbed a finger at Markus. “Even you, pretty boy man-bun. You will take me with you now, and together we will save Jayden and our Hive.”
Some of the tension left the car then. Jared’s eyes were flat-out laughing as he locked in on me, his blond curls messy as he ran a hand through them. “She’s got us there, mates, I certainly don’t want no hair grabber stuck on my arse.”
Ryder got very close to me then, his eyes boring into mine, his scent enveloping me and pretty much knocking me over. “You will stay with me the entire time, Charlie. If you can’t promise that, I won’t take you back. We go in there knowing that they plan on taking or killing you. You have to understand this before you agree.”
I swallowed, trying to remember how to speak. What was my name again? I had to blink a few times to clear my hazy thoughts. “I promise to stay close to one of the enforcers, but you also have to promise me that we will make Jayden a priority. He is my family.”
Ryder and I remained eye-locked for some endless moments, his eyes dropping for a second to stare at my lips. I wondered if he was remembering our kiss too. Finally he gave me a head nod and I knew it was settled.
Kyle threw me a grin. “We’re with you all the way. Your family is our family, Charlie. You should know that by now.”
That gave me all the warm feels. It had always been just me, my mom, and Tessa. But now my family was so much larger. Maybe becoming an ash wasn’t the curse I had always believed. Maybe it was so much more.
It was pitch black by the time we reached the outer limits of Portland. The drive had been silent. Ryder had downed a few bottles of blood before crashing out and sleeping most of the way.
“How did he managed to fight off a group of ash enforcers?” I finally asked Kyle as the familiar outskirts came into view. “And one of these Sanctum mercenaries. Is he a normal ash?”
I heard more than one snort from the crew around me, and I guess that was a pretty stupid thing to say. We all knew Ryder was beyond a normal ash by a million, but why? Was it just because he was so close to an Original? I mean, why was he so kickass and awesome and I was just … me? I was directly sired by an Original … or something. It was so confusing, because my results said I wasn’t really an ash. I probably sucked as an Original descendant because I was not one at all. The blood work was inconclusive, which basically meant they didn’t have a fucking clue what I was.
Ryder answered my earlier question. “I had more than a little motivation.” He shifted in his seat, stretching out a little, waking up. “They mentioned that you were the target, offered me the bribe, and I kind of lost it.”
“What happened to the rest of them?” Oliver asked. His tanned skin was looking even darker than usual.
“Dead,” Ryder said, his tone flat.
I actually shivered then, and it was in that moment I realized that Ryder was really scary. I mean, I’d always known he was scary, but I’d never felt the force of that emotion around him before.
The CB radio blared to life: “Core Enforcer team, come in! What’s your status? We have been infiltrated by suspected rival Hive. Although no one is in sight. Quorum is going into lockdown.”
The enforcers exchanged a glance, but none of them picked up the radio. They believed that not only was there a mercenary group hired to find me, but a traitor in our Hive. They would not give any heads-up at this stage.
Kyle spoke this time. “The Sanctum are very good at making Hives think they are under attack from countless assailants. They are fast, deadly, and kill quickly.”
My eyes darted around as I tried to take in both of the males in the front. “So we don’t know if the attack is just the Sanctum, or if there is another Hive involved as well?” All this double-talk was confusing.
Ryder’s lips curled up a little. “Doesn’t matter. Either way, our goals remain the same – rescue Jayden, get him and Charlie to safety, and then go back for the Quorum. That’s the order of business.”
I saw more than one head nod, and I was okay with that. I wasn’t going to be much use against elite mercenaries. The gates of the Hive came into view and we were all distracted. Driving in at night like this always gave me the creeps. It reminded me of that night a year ago – when everything changed.
Remembering was easier now, although it still churned my stomach and sat bile at the base of my throat. I’d been out partying with Tessa, and we’d been separated on the street. Before I knew what had happened, I was grabbed by two ash. One of them punched me in the face, and by the time I managed to pull myself together I was in behind the security fence.
They were like rabid dogs, pawing at me, trying to tear my clothes away, and I had been helpless, unable to fight, unable to even scream for help as one of them had his hand firmly clamped over my mouth.
I cut off the thoughts. I didn’t dwell on that night. I’d been saved. The two ash had been yanked off me by some guy, who then ripped their heads right from their shoulders. I didn’t know who had saved me, I only got brief glimpses of him, but he sort of reminded me of a blond Viking, with braids and feathers and shit in his hair. Probably I’d imagined that part or something, because I’d never seen a single member of the Hive who came close to his description.
My biggest regret was that I hadn’t stuck around and thanked him. All I’d thought of was escape. I dragged myself out of the compound and called my mom to get me. I’d been beat up, scratched, bruised, and bloodied. But I had not been raped or fed on, and I counted myself lucky. Other human women were not usually so lucky when it came to the ash.
That was why I’d hated ash, right up until the moment I became one. Now I realized it was wrong to hate an entire race just because of a few bad souls. Just like with humans, there were good and bad in the Hive. I could see that now, and I was more than ready to protect my newfound home and family. I was prepared to embrace my ash side and kick some ass.
Chapter 10
Ryder was grim-faced as he stared out of his window, seeming to be lost in thought. Kyle pulled the Humvee in behind some trees, on the outer perimeter of the Hive fence. Blue lights and sirens were flickering around, casting everyone’s faces in a ghostly shadowing. Our Hive was in lockdown, standard operating procedure in these situations. Ryder leaned down and pulled a duffle bag out from under the seat. He rifled through for a moment, retrieving two pairs of hand suction cups. I recognized them from the training room.
“Sam, Markus, you scale the outside windows and hang outside of Charlie’s apartment.”
He tossed them the suction cups. Holy shit, like seriously? They were going to scale the thirty-three floors to my apartment with only a suction cup to keep them from falling? Before I could express both my worry and incredulity of this, the boys had already slipped from the Humvee and taken off into the dark of night. I glimpsed them scaling the high razor wire wall like it was no big deal. Then they were gone.
Ryder looked at Kyle. “You and Jared create a big-ass distraction. Drive the Humvee into the lobby for all I care, just make sure all eyes and cameras are on you.”
“No worries, mate.” The surfer dude Aussie looked completely relaxed, like he�
��d just agreed to ride some gnarly waves, not crash his car into a building.
Ryder then turned to Oliver and I. “Oliver, you’re with me and Charlie. We’ll head to her apartment, where I’m almost certain the Sanctum will be waiting for us, with Jayden as a hostage.”
Oliver clenched his teeth and nodded. My stomach dropped. No, no, no, no! Jayden better be okay, or mercenaries or not I was killing myself some ash tonight.
“I’m coming with you?” I hadn’t expected him to allow that so easily.
Ryder’s face was scary warrior right now. I got legit chills. “You, Charlie, are my shadow. Where I walk, you walk. If I tell you to get down, you get down. If I am not satisfied that you are listening to me, I will knock you out and stuff you in a closet. Do you understand?”
Damn. Ryder didn’t fuck around. “Glue myself to your ass – got it!”
He cracked a hint of a smile then and handed me a sleek black pistol. “I’m told you know how to use one of these.” He glared at Kyle, who tried to hide a smirk. No guns were used in the culling, but subduing the ash on that call last week hadn’t been the first time I’d fired a gun. After my attack I took defense classes, and right now the cool weight of it in my hand was oddly comforting.
Ryder took a deep breath, rolling his head side to side, “Oliver, if after we get in the apartment I say to get Jayden and Charlie out of there…”
Oliver nodded. “I get them out.”
Ryder seemed satisfied. “Let’s do this.” He picked up the CB radio. It was time to let them know we were coming in. Of course, they didn’t know that most of us wouldn’t be coming in the front door. “Core enforcer team inbound, ETA sixty seconds.”
Jason’s voice returned immediately: “Thank God. Three men breeched security, killed ten of ours, and now can’t be found.”
Shit. Three mercenaries crawling around my home? I would never sleep again.
“We’ll take care of it,” Ryder radioed back, and looked at all of us. “Happy hunting.”
Kyle grinned. “You know that CB isn’t secure from the Sanctum.”
Ryder grinned back. “I know.”
His boots slammed down on the asphalt, and Oliver and I followed. Thank God I decided to wear my flat boots tonight. Tires screeched as Kyle peeled out in the Humvee with Jared. They were our distraction. In seconds we were at the chain-link fence. Once we crossed it we’d be right outside the huge laundry room, and our best way in undetected.
I groaned as I looked at the tall fence with razor wire at the top. “Why don’t we go in through the front door?”
Ryder gave me a look from the corner of his eye. “Because of Manuel.” I raised an eyebrow, and lucky for him he continued his explanation. “The Sanctum’s sniper. Come on. Enough talk.”
He jumped up and began climbing the fence. Oliver and I followed. Shit, this was harder than it looked. My fingers were cutting into the wire and the holes weren’t big enough for my feet. The cold wasn’t helping at all, but at least there was no snow or rain to dampen the journey. The boys were smoother than me, but they had gloves on and I didn’t. Halfway up, I winced. My fingers looked like they were turning purple.
Ryder looked down at me. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, “Nothing.” I went to reach that next section of fence when my fingers slipped. Thankfully, I caught myself at the last second. The plunge to the ground would not have been pleasant.
Near the top, Ryder grabbed a chunk of the barbed fence and pulled himself over. He reached down to help me over the last part. His strength easily hoisted me up, and I was just swinging my leg over, my butt close to his face, when I slipped again, and we both almost fell off the side. I was about to recover my position when a snapping sound drew my attention. Ryder knocked me down again, the barbs cutting into my body, and I realized what it had been. A bullet. Which had scraped right between us, only missing because I’d slipped at that last second.
Ryder wasted no time then. His huge hand basically lifted me up and hoisted me off the fence. “Soft landing and roll, Charlie!” he shouted.
I flailed for the entire fifteen-foot drop but was proud that I didn’t scream. I braced for the jolt as my legs slammed on the ground and sharp pain shot up my shins. Apparently the soft landing part had completely passed me by.
Soft landing and roll? Was this man for reals?
I felt Ryder slam down behind me. Oliver was there too. The three of us took off running in a zigzag, more bullets raining around us, but we were moving too fast for them to track us. We made it into the side entrance, and using Ryder’s ID badge were inside in seconds. We were on target too, right near the laundry chutes. I scanned Ryder quickly. He seemed to be unhurt, then I turned to Oliver. Holy shit. The enforcer was holding his right shoulder, which was bleeding freely. I wasn’t sure if he’d hurt himself on the fence or if he’d been hit.
“Oliver,” I said, reaching out for him.
He brushed me off. “I’m fine. Jayden is the priority.”
I hesitated for a moment, before nodding. Neither of us would worry about injuries until Jayden was safe.
Ryder moved into my personal space then. “They aren’t here to kill you, Charlie. Manuel never misses. He was aiming to hurt you, not kill. They intend to capture you alive.”
And I’d thought the sniper had missed because of our awesome dodging skills. Wait? Take me alive? I would much rather they wanted to kill me.
“This changes the plan slightly. But no matter what happens in there, you stay close to me. The boys can handle the Sanctum. They made a mistake when they brought only three. I know one will be down in the lobby investigating Jared and Kyle. So that leaves two for us, plus the sniper.”
Ah, so even though the Hive thought there were three, Ryder knew there were at least four of them…
Ryder hunched over and crept silently down the hall to the stairwell. I followed his movements to a T. I had no doubt that if anyone could keep me alive in a dangerous situation, it would be Ryder. He drew his weapon and then quietly opened the stairwell door, he and Oliver taking a side each, heads craning around first before their bodies followed. They continued moving, looking left and right. Ryder put a finger to his lips to indicate complete quiet for the rest of the trip. We all padded like cats up the thirty-three floors to the apartment I shared with Jayden. It was a very long-ass trip, and I wanted to complain like a mofo, but kept quiet. No other ash or vampire crossed our path. The Hive was on lockdown, which was a good thing as I was jumpy and would probably shoot anybody who appeared.
We finally reached my floor. Ryder took point, and was just about to hit the handle when I felt a slight shift in the air. This was my only indication that something was above us, and then a black shadow pretty much fell from the sky. My finger sort of did a spasm, and sure enough I managed to shoot out the light above us. Great, not only could I have killed someone, but I also plunged everything into darkness.
This didn’t seem to bother Ryder. He managed in one movement to spin, block the masked man’s outstretched arm, and step in front of me in a protective stance. My ash sight was advanced enough to see a gun fly off and clatter against the wall, but I couldn’t tell who it had come from. It didn’t fire at least. I backed up to the wall and stood there silently, my own weapon still grasped in my sweaty hand. I couldn’t use it. It was too dark and I wouldn’t risk hitting one of my guys.
Oliver moved in to help Ryder, swift and silent even with his injury. He kicked out, cracking the guy in the back. The black-clad man – legit dressed like a ninja, face mask and all – had been busy keeping Ryder from breaking his limbs and hadn’t seen Oliver. The ninja dropped to the ground now, and on the way managed to kick out his leg and push Oliver down the flight of stairs.
Before I could dive down the steps to see if my friend was okay, the ninja popped up and pivoted himself to the left. He practically flew across the stairwell in my direction. I started to lift my gun, which had fallen uselessly to my side, but insti
nctively knew I was going to be too slow. This guy moved like a shadow, so fast he almost looked blurry. Just as his hands landed on my throat, and I was tightening my finger on the trigger – I didn’t even care if I only managed to shoot his nuts off, that would certainly slow him down – Ryder leapt out of the shadows, moving in the same blurry way, cracking the ninja straight in the temple. As the Sanctum guy stumbled, Ryder whipped up his weapon and pressed the barrel to the back of the ninja’s head.
It was like time stopped. I could see Ryder’s hesitation. He wasn’t a cold-hearted killer. And for all he knew this Sanctum ninja was very possibly an old friend of his.
“Call off this job and I will let you walk,” Ryder said, his voice clipped.
I could see the ninja breathing deeply. “She’s worth more than any job we’ve had, and you were always too weak to be one of us.” The ninja folded himself over, doing a front flip, his feet kicking Ryder in the stomach, knocking him back. The ninja didn’t take time to fight again. He jumped up high and spun over the side of the railing, down the stairs and out of sight.
I didn’t hesitate then to scramble down the steps to Oliver. My breath came a little easier when I saw the Latino enforcer gaining consciousness. He groaned. I almost tripped over the final few stairs – he’d fallen down a set of ten – and skidded to his side.
His eye fluttered a few times before focusing on me. “I’m fine. Get Jayden!” He was all business, and I knew he would never forgive me if I didn’t leave him in this stairwell right now. Of course, if anything happened to Oliver, Jayden probably wouldn’t forgive me either.
I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “Stay hidden. Do not get yourself killed. We will rescue Jayden and come back for you.”
He propped himself up. “I’m going to try and make it to the other guys. They’ll drop me at the medical ward. I just need some blood and I’ll be fine.”