Chapter 11

 

Ryder, Kyle, and Sam were lingering closer now. No one wanted to miss his answer. Carter hesitated at first, and then more than one emotion crossed his face. The strongest was sadness and confusion.

Dammit! He didn’t know.

He held both hands up to me, as if trying to appease the resting bitch face I was rocking. “I’m sorry, Charlie, I wish I knew how this happened to you. I have never fathered any other children, and know of no living direct offspring from Originals.” His eyes narrowed and I was under a shrewd sort of surveillance. “What’s special about your blood?”

He had obviously picked up on that little slip. My eyes flicked to Ryder, and he gave a slight shake of his head. Okay, we were still on the “trust no one” road. As I turned back to Carter, my mind already trying to figure out what to say to cover my tracks, my eyes brushed over Sam.

His features were more pinched than usual, and he was fidgeting, which was so unlike his normal behavior. What the hell was he hiding?

I was totally going to jump on his ass soon, and not in any sort of fun way. I would literally hold him down until he spilled. More and more I was trusting the silent and deadly enforcer, but until he fessed up to whatever secret held him so tightly, there would always be some suspicion in my mind.

Giving him squinty eyes, I let out a huff of air before turning back to Carter. He was still waiting for my special blood explanation. “Uh, I was really just hoping you’d know why the Quorum keeps ordering tests on my blood. They said I’m not showing the blood of an ash. They’re probably trying to figure out why my blood is indicative of an Original still being alive.”

I leaned closer to him, my gaze locked on. “How are you still alive?”

He let loose with that deep laughter again, the sort of laughter which makes you want to join in. “A story for another time, unfortunately. There are spies all over the city and we have already lingered for too long.” He held his hand out to my mom and she didn’t hesitate for a moment. “I’m going to keep her safe, Charlie, I promise you that. I will figure out a way to get in contact with you, no matter where you end up. Stay with your enforcers. They’re a solid team and I trust them to have your back.”

Oh yeah, I had no doubts he’d been spying on me even after I made it into the Hive.

The tears which were lingering on my mother’s thick lashes finally fell. She stepped closer, wrapping her arms tightly around me. “I love you, Charlene Anne Bennett, never forget that. Please keep yourself safe.” Her voice broke, and I found myself losing control. I literally buried my head into my mom’s shoulder and bawled my eyes out. I just kept thinking that this might be the last time her arms were around me.

While I had no doubts that Carter would do everything in his power to keep her safe, I wasn’t so sure of my own ability to survive this coming unease. Every vamp was going to be gunning for me soon. I could just feel it. Even with the sexy six at my back, it would be a miracle if we all survived.

Shit! I was not thinking like that. We would figure it out, or at least go down fighting.

When I managed to compose myself, I pulled back, brushing one hand across my mom’s bangs, pushing them off her face. “I love you too, Mom, so much. I will see you again … very soon.”

I made a mental promise to do everything I could to see her again. This was a promise I had no idea if I could keep, but I was going to try my very best.

Carter reached out and brushed a fingertip along my cheek. It was gentle, and the gesture had me fighting hard not to lose it again. I’d never had a father-figure in my life. Joanna Bennett had never been on a single date that I knew of, which was something I’d always attributed to her unwavering love for army dude. Now I knew better. It was all about this vampire and I totally understood why. A few moments with him and I could already tell I’d really missed something by not knowing Carter Atwater, Original of the fourth house.

All of the anger I held toward my father, for his abandonment of us, melted away. I could see the bigger picture now, and it was enough to know that he cared, that he had been watching out for us over the years. On impulse, I stood on tiptoes and just managed to reach his cheek to kiss it. He was a mammoth of a man, something straight out of the history books.

“Take care of her. She’s everything to me,”

His eyes were molten silver as he nodded. “I’ll contact you, Charlie.”

Then he stepped back, gathered Joanna into his arms, and started moving. He was fast, and within seconds they were gone. I swallowed a few times, trying to sort myself out. There was no time for falling apart now, we had shit to do. I needed to cure the little girl and then all of us were getting the hell out of the Hive. I was hoping all of us included Tessa, but my gut told me different.

Life recently was all about kicking Charlie in the teeth. Tessa was a vampire, Mom was in hiding with my Viking father, and the Hive was going to try to kill me soon. Pretty sure I needed to find someone to trade destinies with. Mine was faulty.

Ryder’s arms closed around me and all of sudden I was a mess of tears again. What was with all the waterworks tonight?

“I’m not tough,” I wailed, as I gripped his shirt in both of my hands. “I don’t want to handle this shit. I want to go home, build a nice fort out of blankets, and crawl into it with a good book.”

“Charlie can read?” I heard Kyle mutter. “Swear to God, when I asked her to flick through the enforcer handbook she threw it in my face.”

Ryder’s arms tightened around me and I could feel his chest shaking with laughter. Holy shit. Here I was pouring out my worries and fears and the assholes were laughing at me. I leaned back and punched him clean into his hard chest. Ouch. Okay, that was not supposed to hurt me so much.

The silver in Ryder’s eyes was dancing as he cupped my face with both hands. “Charlie, sweetheart, you are tougher than you think. And you’re not alone … never alone. We can do this together, all of us. Whatever the Hive throws at us, we’ll deal with.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “You’ve changed your tune. Usually you’re all doom and gloom.”

He cracked a broad smile and white teeth dazzled me. “You bring out the worst of my protective instincts, but I’m working on that. I’m going to focus on you as an equal member of my team. The reason my core enforcers work so well is that we are a single unit, we have each other’s backs. Complete trust. You can’t handle this shit alone, but together we can handle anything.”

Complete Trust. Hah! Except for our little Sam. Keeping his secrets.

The dark, mysterious enforcer met my squinty eyes and gave me a nod. “Soon,” he mouthed at me, and blinking a few times in shock I returned that nod. Seems he was going to finally let us in.

Turning around, I let my gaze linger on the path that Carter and my mom had just taken through the park. I let out an exaggerated sigh. “At least I know she’s going to be out of Portland, no longer available for any of the Charlie haters to use as a weapon against me.”

There were nods all around. It was one of the few positive pieces of information we had received in the past few weeks. Kyle started ushering us out of the area then, no more time to linger. There were only a few hours till dawn and we had shit to do. Plus, I still had to try and find my brainwashed, pod-person bestie tonight.

 

As soon as we exited the Humvee in the garage back at the Hive, my stomach dropped. The Quorum was standing inside, clearly waiting for us. I scanned across their group but Lucas was not there. Shit! My hand automatically went to my gun, but Ryder nudged me.

“Is there a problem?” he asked them, sounding completely unconcerned.

Allistair, aka fugly, sneered, holding out a hand, palm open. “You’re all under investigation. Please hand in your badges. You’re suspended from leaving the Hive until further notice.”

Sam’s eyes were blazing with rage. Kyle was keeping a poker face. And Ryder’s jaw was just slightly clenched as he pulled his card from his pocket.

The lead enforcer’s tone was low and deadly. “Over thirty years of service and this is how you treat me?”

A few of the Quorum members’ faces fell at Ryder’s remark, but Allistair shrugged. “If you could take simple orders this wouldn’t be happening, but ever since you started fucking Charlie you’ve changed.”

The words had barely left Allistair’s mouth before Ryder’s right arm came out of nowhere, connecting with the vampire’s jaw. The crack of shattering bone ricocheted off the cement garage walls.

Ryder moved forward to pulverize him further, but two Quorum members zoomed into action, latching onto him, pulling his arms back and twisting them until near breaking point. Sam and Kyle were already moving to intervene, but Ryder shook his head.

“Throw him in the pit!” one of the Quorum members shouted.

Shit!

“Ryder!” I stepped forward, but he just nailed me with a hard look. His lips didn’t move but his eyes said everything. The last thing we needed was all of us in the pit.

Allistair stood, holding what looked like a completely shattered jaw in one hand, and stalked over to Sam. He held out his free hand.

“Give me your laptop! Now!” His shout was garbled but understandable and it pleased me to see he was wincing in pain.

The aforementioned laptop was tucked under Sam’s arm. “Sure thing, boss,” he said.

In a move so fast I doubt most would have noticed or heard, Sam tilted his head over the side of the device and murmured, “Midnight.”

I wondered for a second if I’d even heard it, but knew there had to be a reason the tech-inclined enforcer would hand over that computer so casually.

The Quorum members took an extended second to bestow us with dirty looks, and I resisted the urge to flip them all off. With a swish, they left then, taking off with the computer, Ryder, and our access cards. My eyes remained locked on their retreating backs, and I noticed they all shifted around Ryder, keeping him deep in the center of the group—no way to snag him out of their evil grasps.

My heart was racing. How had everything gone downhill so quickly? Seriously, WTAF just happened?

“Sam, your laptop,” I whispered, anything to take my mind off Ryder.

He dropped a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Has just been wiped of all information.”

Well, hot damn. I’d been right about “midnight.” Had to hand it to the silent enforcer, he was shaping up to be the smartest one of an already elite squad of dudes.

Kyle let out a muffled shout, his fists clenched as he focused on the doorway they had just taken Ryder through. “They’re going to beat the shit out of him for what he did to Allistair.”

My stomach dropped. I hadn’t thought of that. I assumed he’d just be locked up for a while so they could prove their dominance.

Sam moved into action then, striding across the garage. “This moves up our timeline, Charlie. Talk to Tessa soon.”

I’d forgotten all about my bestie, but Sam was totally right. I had to talk to her ASAP because I needed to retrieve my boyfriend and my new ash family, and then get us all out of this hellhole.

 

After reaching my apartment, we walked in to find Oliver, Markus, Jared, and Jayden sitting in the living room, playing cards and waiting for us.

Oliver stood. “Where were you guys? The Quorum put us on suspension, took our badges.”

Kyle growled, “Us too, and Ryder is in the pit.”

Jared let a few interesting cusswords fly. Wow! Australians had seriously dirty mouths. Definitely had to visit there one day.

Jayden strode across to me. “Hey, girl. While you were gone Tessa came looking for you and she said they’ve closed off the roof track for ‘repairs.’” He finger quoted around the last word.

Those assholes. Goddamn vampires were shutting off any avenue we had for privacy. They were tightening the net around us and we were running out of time to do anything about it.

“I really need to see Tessa,” I said, all casual-like. I did not want the vampires to hear my desperation.

My eyes met Jayden’s, pleading with him. Come on, you clever BAFF, think of something.

A spark lit up Jayden’s eyes. The black blazed at me and his eyebrows were practically at his hairline. “Alright, I need to get ready for my shift at the feeding center. I wonder if Tessa will start feeding from humans soon.” He wiggled those eyebrows at me a few times.

Yes! That’s it.

“She probably will. She’s always loved all things vampire and can’t wait to suck on a human. Speaking of … when’s my appointment today?”

Okay, so I didn’t really have enough time to be smooth.

Jayden grinned at me. Damn guy loved this playacting shit. “In two hours.”

I returned that grin. Jayden would get Tessa to meet me in our feeding room in two hours. It was time to start praying she would agree to leave with me.

 

I sat in room number seven bopping my feet. Jayden had called to tell Tessa that her scheduled feeder was here, so now it was just a wait to see if she’d show up. Kyle and Oliver were standing guard outside of the feeding center, monitoring who was entering but trying not to be obvious about it. As the door handle jiggled I shot to my feet, throat tightening in anticipation.

The door swung open, revealing my bestie. She was all red lipstick and smiles. She looked healthy, perfect, and happy, happier than I’d seen her in a long time. To match the lipstick, she had on a red corset, teamed with skinny jeans and red peek-a-boo pumps. She was a knockout.

“Tess!” I crashed into her. “I’m so sorry I had to run off. My mom was in trouble.”

She pulled away. “Is Jo okay?”

I nodded, before quickly giving her the cover story, in case there were listening devices in here too. “Yeah, she wasn’t at work when I got there. I finally got a hold of her and she was halfway to California. She’s decided to head to the beach for a little holiday. Get some sun before winter hits in full force.”

“Awesome!” Tessa said, and already I could see my mom was forgotten as she bounced and grinned at me. And why was she holding her hands behind her back like that?

“Did you drink an energy drink again?” I asked in a joking way. “You know that stuff makes you annoyingly happy.” There was no way her weird behavior was about an overdose of caffeine. Not to mention she wouldn’t want to drink anything but blood now.

Tessa practically shrieked: “I’m engaged!”

She shoved her left hand in my face to reveal a huge diamond rock.

“Oh my God, Charlie, it was so romantic. I was getting a manicure at this shop at 2 am. Did you know they open the shops up for the vampires at night and we’re allowed to shop and all of that?”

My mouth was hanging open and I could only gape at the huge diamond on her hand. “Tessa! I … he … you’re…”

She squealed, seeming to take my stuttering as some sort of excited statement. “So, as I was saying, I was getting the manicure with Nadine, this new vamp friend of mine, and suddenly Blake hands the manicurist something and says to make sure to finish my manicure with this. I almost died when the lady put the ring on my finger. I knew immediately the diamond was at least three carats. Three, Charlie! Then Blake got down on one knee and proposed!”

No, no, no. “Tessa!” I was seriously pissed. It was as if she’d lost her mind, like literally pulverized the thing when she decided to jump into bed with Blake. “You can’t get engaged. You’re twenty-one years old and this guy nearly killed you changing you into a vampire freak-show.”

Tessa’s face hardened. “Why are you being such a bitch, Charlie? Seriously, you’re just jealous! Your guy took forever to even kiss you and you’re jealous that Blake isn’t afraid of commitment.”

I totally wanted to club her over the head and hide her in a suitcase under my bed until we could get the hell out of here, but she could, and probably would, kick my ass.

I had to change tactics, because my bitching crazily at her was not working.

“Okay … this is coming out wrong, Tess.” I leaned in closer and murmured my next few words. “My life is in danger and I can’t really give specifics, but I need to tell you something.”

Her face had softened a little. Taking this as an encouragement I leaned right up close to her ear.

“I’m leaving the Hive, and if you want to keep our family together, like you always proclaimed when you talked of being turned, you’re going to have to come with me.” I sucked in a deep breath. “If I don’t leave soon, I’m dead.”

As I pulled back, her face showed genuine concern. “Charlie what’s going on? Blake knows people. He can help you.”

I gritted my teeth. “No one can help me. You don’t understand everything and...” I pointed my finger to the ceiling and swung it around in a circle. Tessa’s eyes rose and she followed my gaze around the room. I wasn’t sure she fully understood what I was trying to tell her about us being spied on, but she didn’t push me further. She gave a sigh and looked at her new shiny ring.

There were a few tense moments. I wanted to reach out and shake an answer out of her. What was she even thinking about here? Finally she lifted those silver eyes and gave me a sad look.

“I’m going to stay here. Blake will take care of me.”

My heart split in two and tears filled my eyes. I had officially been replaced. She would rather be with Blake instead of going with me.

I gave it one last shot. “Think about it for another minute. Not only do I want us to be together, I can’t leave you here knowing they might use you to get to me,”

Tessa shook her head. “Charlie, I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. We’ll figure this out. I love it here. I feel like I finally belong.”

My chest began to shake with emotion. “I love you,” I managed to say, before turning into a puddle of tears. Somehow I made it out of the door and into the hallway.

“Charlie!” Tessa yelled, but I ran, bursting out of the feeding center front door. Oliver and Kyle fell in behind me as I sprinted past. Once I made it back to my apartment, I slammed my bedroom door hard, threw myself on the bed and shoved my face into a pillow.

I screamed for as long as I could into my pillow, only stopping when my head shook and I had no breath left. Everything was out of control and I hated it. Helplessness was one of the worst emotions. Powerlessness too. Because I knew that it was bad to leave Tessa here, but she controlled her own life and choices, no matter how terrible they were.

Folding my body tighter around the pillow, I cursed soundly into it, even digging up a few of my favorites from the enforcers. And yet I didn’t feel any better. For the millionth time I cursed the Hive. Seriously … fuck this place. My entire life had been turned upside down because I was born different. But it shouldn’t be this way, I was still human—well, some of me was.

I understood the vampire virus scared the humans, especially with so many dying from it, but ash weren’t contagious. It was bullshit that we were subjected to this lifestyle. It was also bullshit that vampires abused their place of power and treated us like second-class citizens. I looked down at my shaking hands. Running through these veins was a cure, a way to end all of this.

I rolled over on the bed and fought to control my breathing, focusing on the plain white ceiling. Life was weird. You grew up as a kid with big dreams. Like wanting to be a famous actress or an NBA star, then in high school you scaled those dreams down as you ended up waiting tables with some acting on the side, or hopes to play college ball.

By the time you were in college you decided to just pick a safe major and end up in accounting or marketing. Why did that happen? Why were dreams slowly whittled away until there was nothing much left but the mundane existence of get up, go to work, come home and then die. That was life.

Well, fuck that. No longer was I content to be an accountant. Life purpose had fallen into my lap, and I could feel the rightness of my convictions. I was going to take this entire system and shake it up. By the time I was done with the world of vampires and Hives, I hoped nothing would remain as it was now. Ash should be free and vampires shouldn’t even exist.

The realization that I could change things, that I was meant to, lifted a huge weight I had been carrying since I found out I was an ash, cleared away some of the agony I faced regarding Tessa and the little girl who was changed, and all the children who had suffered. One day there would be no more suffering, no more families torn asunder.

There was a soft knock at my door. I sat up, clearing my throat and wiping my face. “Come in,” I said, my voice steady.

It was Kyle and Lucas. Lucas had wide eyes and a clenched jaw. Something was wrong. Of course it was. That was pretty much the story of our lives.

“What is it? What happened?” Adrenalin flooded me, my heart beating out a rapid rhythm. If Ryder was hurt, I was going postal on everyone.

Lucas crossed the room, quickly grabbing me under the armpits and yanking me out of bed.

“Hey!” Kyle said, moving across the room in a smooth stride, gun raised toward the former Quorum member.

Lucas stopped him. “I would never hurt her.”

In a flash, he hauled me into the bathroom and turned the shower on full blast. I barely had time to suck in a breath before we were both under the freezing cold spray, fully-clothed.

I’m going to be honest here. When I first met Lucas, I might have had one or two fantasies that involved him … but being fully clothed in an Antarctic shower with him … was not one of them.

I met his feral gaze. “What the crap, dude?”

Kyle had followed us into the room still holding his gun, but his trigger finger was relaxed. He was giving Lucas a chance to prove his intentions before he shot him. Before Lucas could answer me, music blasted out of the radio in my room and Sam joined us in the bathroom. Again, not time for those early day’s fantasies. Plus, I was a one ash woman now. Ryder was everything I wanted, and as soon as I figured out what crazy pill Lucas was on, I was going to the pit to get my man.

Lucas’ voice was a low growl. “I finally figured out what the hell is up with your blood. All of the tests … dammit! The puzzle has finally been pieced together. I can’t believe you would hide that from me.”

My heart skyrocketed, and then fell when I saw the look of hurt on his face. Now it made sense, the shower, the music—my apartment was bugged. Lucas clearly had decided he wouldn’t rat me out with this information, or he wouldn’t be working so hard to cover the conversation now.

Water pounded on my back as I leaned in closer. “Do you blame me, Lucas? You’re a powerful vampire and I’m the fucking cure. I’m the one who could take away all of your power and make you weak again.”

Lucas shook his head. “You could make me human again, make me feel again.” His voice could barely be heard over the music and water.

Kyle’s gun was at his side now. “Who else knows?”

Lucas waved his hand at the enforcer. “No one. Pure luck of course. If you had told me the truth, I would have stopped all testing. As it was, the vampire scientist who had been dealing with Charlie’s blood went a little crazy when she found out. She was supposed to call me the second she got results but didn’t. Luckily, I had a feeling I should check on her and caught her right before she was about to alert all the Quorum members. Let’s just say she won’t be around to break my trust again.”

My stomach rolled at the casual way he spoke of “disappearing” someone, but part of me was grateful.

Lucas reached out and touched my face in a tender way. Kyle cleared his throat.

“You need to leave the Hive. Now,” Lucas said to me, and judging by the look on his face he was sporting a major Nutella-flavored unicorn crush.

I shook my head. “Not without Ryder.” I felt sick at the thought of him in that dingy room, without light, or food, enduring God knows what. Damn! We had to get him out.

“Yes, Ryder. Her boyfriend,” Kyle snapped out.

Lucas smiled. “Yes, I’m aware she’s taken. Still, Charlie needs to leave now and he can follow later.”

Sam shook his head. “No, we have a code. We do not leave a man behind. Ever.”

Lucas turned his angry, swirly eyes on the two enforcers. “Do you have any idea how powerful Charlie is? In a world torn apart by a virus that kills a high percentage of those infected and changes the other percentage to bloodsucking monsters, she’s the way out. They will either kill her, experiment on her, or torture her by repeatedly draining her blood.”

Sam stood to his full height now, looking absolutely deadly. “Yes, we know all of this. Give me one reason why I should let you live now that you have knowledge of her abilities.”

Holy shit. I knew Sam had my back, but wow. Threatening to kill a vampire—one strong enough to be a Quorum member—took huge, platinum covered balls.

Lucas only grinned, looking completely unworried. He turned back to me. “You’re in good hands. I’ll help you get Ryder out of the pit and then you must run. I only ask one thing in return.”

Please don’t say kiss me or some weird shit like that.

“Anything,” I replied, because if it was for Ryder, I truly would do anything.

Lucas’ entire face changed then, desperation in his eyes. “Cure me,” he said.

My mouth dropped open.

“No,” Kyle said.

“I’ll do it,” I said. Sam let out a very animal like growl. “But not today. We’re going to need someone on the inside, especially with Tess here. Are you okay with staying vamp for a little while longer? Until this war plays itself out?”

He sucked in a few deep breaths, and finally nodded. “Yes, you’re going to need my help. I’ll figure out a way to communicate with you once you’re gone. We can do much together.”

He was right, but now wasn’t the time to make those plans. We had to deal with the immediate threats. Moving as close as he could get, Sam and Kyle leaning their bulk into the shower with us, the vampire began laying out the plan for getting Ryder out of the pit and us out of the Hive’s prison gates.

All of us listened intently, throwing forward arguments on the logistics of his plan. Finally, we were all in agreement. It was a good plan, and I really hoped it was going to work.

Lucas brushed a hand across my cheek. “You have a responsibility now, Charlie, to make a change. There is so much you don’t know. I wish there was time to show you.”

I was confused. “Show me what?”

Lucas’ eyes glittered at me. “Ash aren’t privy to the inner world of our kind. Tessa will soon find out the vampires have built their kingdom on a bed of deceit, blackmail, and murder.”

Goosebumps broke out on my arms, and I swallowed. He was a hell of a scary storyteller, and I was thinking of those files in the room. How much more ugliness could there be?

Lucas waved his hand at Sam. “With your computer skills, you could find out what I’m talking about. You just have to search in the right places.”

Sam and I exchanged a look, and I knew he was thinking about that information he found on that message board, about Sanctum. I could practically see the thoughts churning through his mind. No doubt, next chance he was at a secure computer, he was going to have another attempt at finding the dirt on the Hive, following these bread trails from Lucas.

Wrapping my arms tightly around myself, I fought off the shakes, which were partly to do with the freezing water and partly with fear. My world was about to be turned on its head, and no way was I ready for it to happen.

Leaning forward, Lucas kissed my cheek. “Be safe, Charlie. I couldn’t save my wife but … I will save you.”

My eyes felt hot and damp. But before I could say anything or thank him, he was already out of the shower and gone from the room, leaving the three of us in a heavy, and uneasy silence. I wasn’t sure about the boys, but my thoughts were nothing short of tumultuous. I was not ready for this. No way at all.