Annihilate (Hive Trilogy Book 3)

by Leia Stone

  Tessa’s head flopped back, and I could see her eyes were pulsing, despite the fact she looked half dead. Her face was listless, and it didn’t seem as if she recognized me yet.

  “We were going to tell you, Linc—”

  Before I could finish, Tessa lunged forward with more strength than I thought she had and sunk her teeth into my upper arm, the one that was injured and bleeding.

  “Christ, Tessa!” I shouted; the pain was sharp and instant. Gritting my teeth, I fought against the urge to pull her off. The wheels were turning in my mind. Let her drink. Then she’d be human and would be safe from this fucked up world. Badass chick raised her gun, her eyes dark as she watched us closely. I shook my head, stopping her.

  “Allistair wasn’t lying to you. My blood is the cure. When she’s done drinking from me she’ll begin the change back to human.” I stared down at my bestie. She was calming now as the blood entered her system. By the time I looked up again, Lincoln and the remaining members of his crew looked stunned.

  “Why wasn’t this the first thing you said to us?” Lincoln asked.

  Ryder stepped in front of me and faced off with Blue Eyes. “Because this is a secret that has placed a huge target on Charlie’s back. She’s been hunted, and will continue to be hunted, until we can end the vampires. We have a plan. It’s going to go into action in a few days. I was going to tell you tomorrow, giving you just enough notice to rally the troops. You have to be aware that a lot of the higher-up officials are in the vampires’ pockets, paid off or blackmailed. We had to keep this one secret for as long as possible. The enforcers are retrieving some blackmail files right now that might help you control the release of information.”

  I’d forgotten about that. Lincoln would know who to tell, and how to use those files in the best way. Of course, right now he was in a puddle of disbelief.

  “I’m going to have to give a briefing … I have to report this. You were right to keep this quiet though. Corruption is nothing new, and the human world is rife with it. I’ll have to be careful about who I inform. This information will have to be classified above top secret.” He was sort of talking to us and murmuring to himself. Finally, he straightened and faced Ryder. “Yes, give me the files. I have a few that I trust, and for the others … we’ll work something out.”

  Ryder nodded.

  Lincoln turned to me then. “I’m sorry for hitting you, Charlie. You took me by surprise. I thought my people had been killed trying to save a vampire, and that’s unacceptable to me. Still, I mostly wanted to get you in the room with him without raising suspicion.”

  Ryder turned on Lincoln then, and I was praying a fight didn’t break out in these close quarters. “You punched Charlie?” His voice was low and deadly. Somehow he made it seem even worse when he didn’t yell. Like he was beyond that emotion altogether.

  “I fucked up,” Lincoln shot back. “But you weren’t here. Allistair was going to burn her friend. It was very clear. I did what I could to get her into the room. The vamp expected me to react like that. He knew I would be pissed at her, so he never saw the deception.”

  That was very true. Ryder didn’t seem to care though; he advanced on Blue Eyes. I needed to defuse the situation, now.

  “His actions probably saved Tessa’s life. It was pretty genius.”

  Although a small part of me was plotting revenge, my jaw would heal and Lincoln had saved Tessa from being charred bacon.

  Ryder growled long and low then; the sound echoed around the cavern. Hair rose on my arms at the pure menace, the animalistic nature of his response. Lincoln took a step backwards, and it was the first time I’d ever seen the composed SWAT leader look concerned. Before Ryder could react though, my groan distracted him.

  I was feeling faint now. “Help,” I murmured, because I wasn’t sure I could pry Tessa off myself.

  Ryder, his eyes still flaming silver, moved like a swift wind. Leaning down, he covered Tessa’s nose and palmed the back of her head to dislodge her from my arm. She only fought for a second before slumping toward me. Ryder reached out and supported us both.

  Tessa lifted her head to stare at me, and I could see the way her eyes flared to life with swirls of silver. “Shit, Charlie. I’m…”

  The rest of her words were incoherent as she started bawling. I reached out to comfort her.

  Lucas cleared his throat. I’d sort of forgotten he was even there. “With Allistair dead, I can take control of the Quorum again. No one liked him, but he had too many secrets on us.”

  Ryder nodded.

  Lucas leaned forward, dropping his voice. “Let me know the day the plan goes into action. I’ll do everything I can to make sure this Hive is ready.”

  I patted the still sobbing Tessa on the back, before handing her off to Ryder and standing to meet Lucas head on. “My promise to you holds. Thank you, friend. I appreciate everything you’ve done and sacrificed for me.” Lucas was one of the rare vampires who didn’t lose oxytocin. There was no other explanation for his kindness.

  The smile he gave me then was like nothing I had ever seen on him before. I realized then that he loved me, in some weird small way. The way his eyes roamed tenderly over my broken jaw to my lips. I quickly looked at Ryder and the look on his face said that he saw it too. It didn’t matter; I would never be with Lucas, I would always belong to Ryder. We would bring the vampires down and I would make sure Lucas had his cure, had his human life back.

  We all made our way back to the golden elevator, climbing over broken-necked vampires. The SWAT member we had lost was gone now too. Someone must have retrieved him already.

  Once we got to the elevator I turned to Lucas. “Are you sure they’ll take you back?” I asked uneasily, eyeing the bodies behind him. Surely they would wake up and talk, right? I couldn’t bear it if Lucas died because of me.

  Lucas gave me a sly grin, holding up the torch. “I’ll have to burn a bit more evidence, but yes, they will. Most of the vampires are under lockdown, they’ll have no idea what actually went down tonight.”

  Okay then. It was hard to believe that Fugly was gone. That bastard had made my life hell, all of our lives hell. Good riddance.

  “Thank you,” I said, squeezing his hand. He nodded and squeezed back. After stepping into the elevator, we selected the ground floor.

  “Kyle?” I asked Ryder.

  “Fine,” he said.

  Tessa had been quiet this whole time, but was managing to walk on her own. I turned to face her. “You’re coming with us. By tomorrow you should be human.”

  She surprised me by bursting into tears again. “Blake,” she said.

  Fuck Blake. “He can’t come,” I ground out. That bastard wasn’t down in the pit with Lucas trying to help us, so I didn’t care about him anymore.

  She nodded. “I know … he’s dead. Allistair got to him.”

  Oh fuck. I was totally kidding before when I said he’d better be dead. Dammit. That explained a lot. That’s probably what got her thrown in the pit. A story for another time. I wouldn’t ask her about it now in front of everyone.

  I just held her as the elevator doors opened. Kyle was waiting on the other side, and the sight of him made my heart soar. My family was okay. We could get through this. We could get through anything.

  An hour later we were all back at Lincoln’s house. Sanctum had bailed right after the fight, but we’d see them again pretty soon. They already had a lot of their members stationed in the hospitals and blood stations. The others were heading off to join them.

  The clock had started now, and we were on a three to four day countdown.

  At the moment, Ryder, Kyle, and I were being interrogated as Tessa slept off her vampire hangover in the guest room. Tattooed chick’s name was Sasha and she was officially my woman crush Wednesday. She had already stitched up her own thigh wound and was now eye screwing Kyle every second she got.

  It was definitely clear she had these boys by the balls. In
the last fifteen minutes she had gone around to collect blood samples from all the SWAT team. I guess it was protocol after a bloody fight with the vampires to get checked and make sure no one was infected. She had some type of handheld machine, and she came over to Lincoln, who was mid-sentence.

  “…I have about thirty minutes before I have to report everything that went down tonight. We lost a man—”

  Sasha grabbed his finger and poked it, letting a few drops fall onto the wand before sticking it into the meter. Then she walked away as Lincoln sucked his finger, and I became very aware that I was thirsty as hell; we hadn’t had blood in a while.

  Ryder shifted his stance. “Our plan all along was to have the help of the human government. We have no idea what will happen in the few hours after the plan goes into effect. The cure is not instant, and vampires can do a lot of damage in a short time. But it’s imperative they don’t find out before the plan goes into action, otherwise we’re all screwed.”

  Lincoln seemed to consider me, staring at my forehead like it would unlock something.

  “You really think you can cure them all? All of them?” He really stressed the last few words.

  I sighed. “Well, obviously not every single one. But the vampires live in controlled little societies. The Hives. And they live on one thing, blood, so I’m pretty damn sure we will get 95% of them.”

  He seemed pleased with that answer. “A vaccine you say?”

  I nodded. “My blood is the cure. Once Tessa wakes up you’ll see.”

  “Boss…” Sasha entered the room with the machine, and for the first time she looked out of control. Her hands even looked to be shaking. “You’ve been infected.”

  Lincoln swayed on his feet, and now that she had said it, I noticed he was looking ashen, fine beads of sweat on his face. Shit.

  “You know protocol. Call it in,” he stated, his expression calming as he managed to hide his shock.

  Sasha reached for her phone, but before she could dial I threw both of my hands in her direction, waving like a crazy person. “Calm down, everyone. Let’s talk this through.” Sasha stalled, holding her phone. “You call this in and they will drop him off at the local Hive. The Hive he just helped slaughter.”

  Sasha shook her head. “No, it’s standard procedure in our specialized units. We don’t go down the bloodsucker route. We sign waivers and documents stating this much. He’ll be…” She didn’t finish, but I heard her loud and clear.

  My mouth popped open. “They KILL you?”

  Lincoln nodded. “It’s what I want. I don’t want to be a bloodsucker. No offense.”

  Been there. Got the shirt. And vamp was so much worse than ash.

  “Then let me help you. I’m the cure, remember?”

  Lincoln seemed to consider it. “You still have yet to prove that.” He gestured to the room where Tessa was recovering.

  I levelled a glare on him. “Option one: you think I’m a liar and call this in and get yourself killed. Option two: you trust me, inject some of my blood in your arm, and have the rest of your life as a human. What do you have to lose by trusting me?”

  He still hesitated, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Men. Seriously. Idiots.

  I crossed my arms and looked at Sasha. This woman had power; she needed to use it. She met my steely gaze and gave me a curt nod before getting in her boss’s face.

  “Do it. If it doesn’t work by morning, I’ll kill you myself,” she said bluntly. They stared at each other for a painfully long amount of time. Finally, he nodded.

  “Do it!” He outstretched his arm and I could see the beads of sweat on his brow were increasing. The fine veins in his eyes were already bloodshot.

  The virus was brutal. No wonder more humans died than were turned. Sasha took my blood and transferred it into Lincoln’s arm. Here’s hoping the human part of him didn’t react to the different blood-type before the cure part got going on the virus. I’d never cured someone who wasn’t fully turned yet.

  I guess we’d find out tomorrow. Not to mention that tomorrow was the day we’d meet up with the rest of the sexy six and kick our plan into action. The next few days would either be the final for us, or the vampires. I know who I had my money on. All five dollars of it.

  Chapter 10

  Morning came around way too fast. It felt like by the time I did multiple checks on Tessa and Lincoln, the sun was already starting to rise. Sasha eventually kicked me out of the “sick room,” and barely conscious I showered off the debris from the last twenty-four hours and crawled into bed. Ryder’s warm body slid in beside me soon after.

  I slept like the dead for a few hours, no dreams, just pure unconsciousness. Ryder’s alarm roused us around 9 A.M. We needed to get moving this morning, no time to sleep the day away. Of course, that didn’t mean we had no time at all for some activities to increase the pleasure of waking up. I found myself caged under Ryder as he held himself above me. His dark hair was tousled, tawny skin bare to my roving eyes. The silver in his eyes was light but swirling. Some of the agony and guilt over the death of his men had abated. He felt like my Ryder again.

  We still had a lot to talk about, him taking off like that and everything that had happened yesterday, but right now I needed some us time. The last few weeks had been crap. I was taking this happiness while it was possible.

  Lowering himself onto his left elbow, our bodies were now deliciously aligned, naked skin pressing together everywhere. I swear my eyes pretty much rolled back in my head. Could anything feel better than this? Doubtful. Ryder reached out and gently cupped my face before leaning down and pressing soft kisses to the line of my jaw “All healed,” he said between caresses. “Still thinking about killing Lincoln.”

  I chuckled, starting to squirm beneath him. My body was on fire. I needed him to hurry this up, because as perfect as those kisses were, I needed more. I needed him. Lifting my legs up, I wrapped them around him and pulled him down into me. The movement shifted his face, and as his lips met mine I let out low groan. The kiss started soft but quickly turned into a blazing fire. His lips moved against mine, gently but also firm, his tongue sweeping into my mouth and caressing mine.

  This was worth every second of being hunted as an ashpire. Ryder was worth everything that had happened. This one moment of being loved by him was worth more than a million as a human with someone else, and as he continued to touch me I banished all other thoughts from my mind. Right now was time for loving. The rest could wait for later.

  Later arrived way too soon. Ryder and I showered together, which might have involved some more hot kisses, but eventually we had to face reality. Thankfully, reality was an awake bestie with familiar hazel eyes.

  I ran to her room, skidding to a halt inside the door. She was propped up on some pillows, still thin and pale, but looking much better than yesterday. She’d brushed her hair and everything.

  “Charlie!” she shrieked, flinging her arms wide.

  I didn’t hesitate, diving onto her and pretty much crushing her spine as I hugged her tightly.

  “I told you so,” I said into her hair, and there was a split second of silence before she cracked up laughing. It burst from her in a torrent as her body shook against mine.

  “You’ve been waiting to say that since the day I turned vamp, haven’t you?”

  I pulled back and met her laughing eyes. “Yes, you stupid biatch. I could kick your ass so badly, but you have no idea how happy I am to see you alive and human.”

  She sobered up then, and something dark flittered across her eyes. Her weeks in the Hive had not been a happy time, and I knew it would be a long while before she was okay with what had happened.

  “I’m sorry about Blake,” I said gently. “I’m so sorry.”

  Her face crumpled; her hands clutched at my shirt and I could see by how white her knuckles were that she was holding on with everything she had. “I miss him. My heart literally aches just knowing I’ll never see him again �
� that he’ll never touch me again … that I won’t wake next to him one more time. I’m not ready to give him up.”

  She broke my heart; I felt every single word. If something happened to Ryder I would … lose my mind. I had no platitudes for her. Sometimes in these deep moments of grief, people wasted words, saying “Everything’s going to be okay,” and “You’re so strong, blah blah.” I wouldn’t do that to Tessa, I wouldn’t cheapen her pain. I knew what she needed and that was for me to listen. So I did.

  I nodded and stroked her back and she cried and talked about Blake, and finally when she quieted I realized she had fallen back asleep. Kissing her forehead, I slipped out of the door to find out what had happened to Lincoln. Did he turn? Had Sasha killed him yet? Did my blood do something whack to him? Turn him into a zombie? As I turned the corner and made my way out into the living room, I was relieved to see him alive, drinking orange juice and giving Sasha his finger for her to prick and do another test.

  She looked up when she heard me enter and graced me with a huge smile.

  “He’s being annoying. It’s his third test in three hours. All clear!”

  I grinned and stepped closer to Lincoln, meeting his gaze. Why not say it twice in one morning?

  “I told you so.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, you did.”

  Before I could reply, Kyle came running inside from the backyard. He was holding a smart phone, one of Lincoln’s guys right on his tail.

  “Turn on the TV, boss,” Lincoln’s boy said.

  Kyle met my gaze and just shook his head. Oh fuck. What now? Did the Hive burn to the ground? Lucas dead? The rest of the ash dead too?

  The TV blared to life and the emergency warning was going off, that high pitched blaring that the government reserved for times of nuclear war and shit. Then a newscaster came on. Her blond hair was pulled tight into a bun and she looked frazzled, but was smiling holding some papers in her shaking hands.