Chapter 13

 

Ryder’s brilliant plan was uncomfortable as hell. After almost dying from scaling our way across elevators and up cables and into the spaces between the Hive floors, we ended up cramped in the A/C duct, army-crawling on our elbows through the first floor to try and find the laundry shaft and get the kid. Jumping from the top of the elevator to scale a ten foot wall which led into the duct was pretty much the most badass and scariest thing I’ve done yet.

In the shaft, we had spaced ourselves twenty feet apart, Ryder in front of me and Kyle behind. That way we wouldn’t overweigh the metal ducting and crash through it. I kept my eyes trained forward, focusing on Ryder’s beefy shoulders skimming the side walls as he barely fit through.

I tried to calm myself again but nothing was working. Pretty much from the first moment we’d crawled in here my heart had started racing, breath stuttering. I’d learned a new thing today: I had a very real fear of being in small metal spaces.

I was distracted from my newfound claustrophobia by Ryder pausing ahead. From back here it looked like he had reached a grate. Despite the distance between us, his whisper was clear.

“This is it, the supply closet across from where the girl should be, right near the exit.”

I relayed the message to Kyle, neither of us moving as we waited for Ryder to do his thing up there. Luckily the Hive was an industrial-style building and the ducting and grates were large, although Ryder still looked like he had to wiggle to fit as he dropped down into the room. I moved then, closing in on the open grate. My head popped over the side to see a dimly-lit supply closet below. Ryder was the only one in the room, and I felt immediate relief to know I’d soon be out of the confined space. Moving across the opening, I lowered my legs down first; strong hands gripped my thighs and I let myself drop into Ryder’s waiting arms. We ended up face to face, his dark and silver eyes looking all warm and swirly.

Kyle cleared his throat, and with reluctance I stepped out of Ryder’s arms, letting him focus on guiding his friend out of the vent. The three of us were then cramped in the six by six feet space, and as Ryder flicked on the lights I saw the shelves were packed with enforcer supplies—flashlights, glowsticks, walkie-talkies, and a bunch of other shit I had no idea about. Ryder grabbed a set of walkies and matched the channels before handing one to me. It was small, maybe three inches, so I clipped it on my boot. Kyle stashed a few supplies in his pockets, before turning to his best friend.

“For over thirty years, this has been our home.” His voice was full of emotion, and it hit me then that most of the sexy six were old, some even grandpa old. Pushing those thoughts away, I slipped my hand into Kyle’s and squeezed.

“Thirty years of cullings and ash murders. It’s time for a change,” I said to him.

Kyle managed a tight smile. “It is.” He squeezed my hand back.

I looked up to see Ryder watching me with an intense gaze. “We’re lucky you came into our lives, Charlie.”

I smiled, wrinkling my nose at him. “That means a lot coming from the guy who called me ‘forty-six’ for two weeks.”

Ryder chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll own that. Okay, focusing again. Time to glue yourself to me. We need to save the little girl and ditch this place.”

Kyle nodded. “Sam will see our location, and with a bit of luck he’s waiting outside the exit door as we speak.”

We gave a three-way fist bump, the low sound of emergency sirens the background music to our breakout song. My stomach tightened with anxiety as I drew my gun and Ryder put his hand on the doorknob.

“Luckily, this is one of the few monitored doors. They don’t lock down unimportant rooms, so we will be able to get out. Hopefully Sam has exit ready for us.” He twisted the knob, and sure enough it clicked right open. “Kyle and I will go first to take down any threats,” he said as he stepped out, Kyle right behind him.

I followed a second later, striding out into a small hall, gun held up in a ready pose. This storage room really had been the perfect room to drop out of the vents. We were directly across from the laundry chute, which was where we hoped to find the girl waiting for us. Just down the hall was the exit door to the Hive, about four meters from us.

I continued acknowledging our luck right up until Ryder opened the laundry door. It was empty. Shit! Had the Quorum gotten to the girl already? Ryder and Kyle wasted no time. They were already moving rapidly toward the exit, I guess to see if there was any sign of our team or the girl.

Ryder glanced back to make sure I was following, giving me a smile as I closed the gap between us. The door clicked open easily, so Sam had definitely lifted some of the lockdown, which hopefully meant everything else was still going right. The two enforcers disappeared out into the darkness beyond. As I neared the exit myself, I was relieved to see and hear the very familiar rumble of a Hummer.

A broad smile broke across my face to see Sam’s dark beauty. He was in the vehicle, laptop on his lap. Sitting beside him was the little girl, and I wondered if they had somehow known we were in trouble and had gotten her out just in case.

Jared, who must have been patrolling, ducked into my line of sight. He opened the back door for Ryder and Kyle, since they were already out of the building and a fair bit in front of me. I was just about to make my own exit when the Australian enforcer’s face turned a sickly white color.

“Charlie, behind you!”

I didn’t even have time to turn before a familiar jolt of electricity brought me to my knees. Straight away, my mind went fuzzy and black dots danced across my vision. Don’t pass out, don’t pass out! If I lost consciousness, I was dead. I managed to focus long enough to see the stark fear on Ryder’s face. All of the enforcers were out of the car now, coming straight for me, but they were too far away. My uncooperative body was yanked backwards and the exit door slammed shut, buzzing as it closed. The vamps had overridden Sam, which resulted in a full and complete lockdown on this section of the Hive now too.

“Charlie!” I heard Ryder’s muffled voice, followed by pops and hard slamming sounds against metal. Bullets. The attack was no use though, the Hive was specifically built to withstand this sort of violence.

I didn’t want to turn away from the door, away from Ryder, but I really had no choice. I faced my attackers, meaty #1 and #2, both of them looking extra pleased that they had me back in their clutches. Right behind them stood Allistair.

Well, shit.

My hands clenched into fists, the aftershocks of electricity still dancing on my skin. Focusing on fugly, I noticed a remote control type device in his right hand and an electric stick in his left.

“For an ash, Sam is quite good with computers, but this door won’t be opening again,” Allistair said, holding up the remote. Behind me, the heavy pounding on the door continued.

I weighed my options here: try to fight three really pissed-off vampires while my body was still weak from the shock, or buy time until I had strength? I had no weapons close by, the gun had been lost when the electricity hit me. Crap.

“Alright you got me,” I conceded, holding my hands up.

Meaty #1 and #2 surged forward and hauled me up by the armpits, starting to drag me down the hall. The Hive had a real deserted feel to it now; the sirens still blared.

I focused on Allistair. He was definitely the leader of this little squad. Guess it was a good sign that he hadn’t killed me outright, but what the hell was his plan now? And why wasn’t this crazy asshole on mandatory lockdown like the rest of the Quorum? I tried not to panic as each step took me further away from my family. Ryder and the boys would be going crazy, but I hoped they at least got the girl to safety before trying to rescue me. Yeah right.

The pace picked up, my feet skimming the ground as I was hauled around two corners and into a small medical room where a woman was waiting in a white lab coat.

Shit. Double shit.

Allistair got up in my face then, eyes pulsing silver. “What is it that’s so special about you?” he asked, his eyes locked hard on the vein in my neck.

“I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue,” I said calmly. “It’s a one of a kind skill.” His hand shot around and smacked me across the face.

Jesus Christ! Slapping hurt a lot worse than I thought. Ow! Despite the agonizing pain of what felt a lot like a broken jaw, I did not flinch or cry out. The only sign of my hurt was watery eyes as I stared him down.

“Take as much blood as you need to figure her secret out,” he said to the lab woman. His bent nose stood out starkly in the overly-bright fluorescents here. His skin looked a little thin and drawn also. I wondered if he was due to feed. That could explain his current crankiness. Oh, and the fact that he was a grade-A asshole.

The female vampire nodded. She strong-armed me onto the table, attempting to strap me down, and I fought her the best I could, but with my head ringing and her extra vampy strength, she eventually managed to secure my arms and legs.

It was so much harder than I expected to keep my cool, calm, and collected face. Four vamps against one ash unicorn. I was not liking those odds.

Putting on my best badass enforcer face, I narrowed both eyes at Allistair. “If you haven’t figured out my big bad secret by now, then why hire the Sanctum to capture me?”

Might as well information gather while I was stuck here.

Allistair crossed his arms, glaring at me. “First day you arrived on our doorstep I voted to lock you up in the pit and drain you of blood, plasma, and spinal cord fluid over and over until you were eventually dead, but it was vetoed.”

Nausea churned my stomach.

“So I thought if I could make it look like a third party wanted you, when you were kidnapped, no one would blame me. That way I could do my experiments in private. The only reason I haven’t killed you is because I know you’re born of an Original and I expect your blood to give me some sort of powerful boost.”

Ah hah. The reason the vampires wanted me alive. Well, this creepster at least.

An enjoyable thought brought a smile to my face. “Why don’t you just take a drink and find out.” I exposed my neck. Please do us all a favor and drink so you can become a weak human and I can kill you, I was mentally saying. Allistair’s eyes locked in on my neck, a longing filling his silver eyes.

Before he could move though, the medical vampire strapped a band across my biceps, and starting jabbing at my veins. “I would advise against that. We still don’t know enough about her.” The rough bitch finally managed to find some blood, after making a mangled mess of my arm, and in a quick succession she filled two tubes before inserting a third.

Before Allistair could gloat more, the door flew open and a smoke canister filled the room. Within seconds the place was filled with an acrid and densely white smoke. I coughed, my eyes burning; it was impossible to see more than six inches in front of me.

I heard a scuffle of feet, and lifting my head I tried to see what was going on. Thankfully, before I could freak too much, the straps holding me down were released and the needle removed from my vein.

Strong arms wrapped around my shoulders and I was being hauled up over my bed and into someone’s arms. I started to fight, and only stopped when we made it through the doorway and into the deserted hall. Lucas was holding me. At his side was Blake and Tessa. My head spun as the door to the medical room slammed shut. Blake quickly screwed in some bolts and a metal panel to keep it closed. Dude must have power tools tucked into his damn pants or something.

The Cabbage Patch Doll looking vamp turned to face me. “That should buy you ten minutes,” he said, as Lucas set me down.

I swallowed hard. “Thanks.”

Just like before with Kyle’s two words, my one said so much more. Basically I’d just said: “You mother fucker, you changed my best friend into a vampire and then proposed to her and didn’t tell me. I hate you. But thanks for saving my ass.”

My glare-off was interrupted by Tessa. She body-slammed into me with a big hug. “Lucas told me everything and I want to help,” she whispered.

My heart picked up a beat at her response. “Oh thank God! Let’s go,” I said, pulling her hand to follow Lucas, but she stayed cemented.

“Oh no, Charlie. I want to help you from inside the Hive with Lucas and Blake…”

My eyes shot to her boyfriend. Blake had really done a number on Tessa. She was head over heels for this guy. Still, despite recent questionable decisions, my friend wasn’t a complete idiot, so maybe I was being too hard on him.

I squeezed her hand. “When we were twelve, we promised to buy houses right next to each other, to knock down the back fence and share a backyard.” The memory had tears glistening in my eyes. Tessa’s eyes began to leak as well.

“That’s not going to happen in a world like this,” she murmured.

She was right. The best we would get now was a meet-up at the feeding room.

“We’re too exposed,” Lucas prompted. “We have to go.”

Tessa pulled me in for another bone-crushing hug and I whispered in her ear. “If you and Blake ever want a human life together, I can help you with that.”

Pulling back, I saw shock on her face. She probably didn’t fully understand what I was saying, but it was enough that she knew the option was there.

Lucas had my arm now, and Blake swooped in to pull Tessa the other way. As we were dragged in opposite directions, our eyes remained locked.

Tessa smiled, her beautiful, familiar grin. “Stay alive, bitch, and try not to dress like a boy so often.”

I laughed and sobbed at the same time. “Don’t get married without me.”

She nodded and that was it. We were no longer in sight of each other. Lucas let me go, allowing me to walk on my own. I fought to suck back my tears. It was so much harder than usual; there was no easy way to deal with leaving my oldest friend, a piece of who I was, to live her own life without me. Heartbreak didn’t even begin to describe my feelings.

Trying not to slow our pace, I reached into my boot and pulled out the walkie-talkie. Pressing the button, I hoped to reach my boys. “It’s me. Are you guys okay?”

After a short burst of silence, Ryder’s voice came over the speaker: “Jesus, Charlie! I’ve been going crazy. I didn’t want to use the walkies in case they heard and took it from you.”

“I’m okay. They took some of my blood but I got out.” We were in the stairwell now on the first floor. “Is this line secure?”

“Yes, for now.” Was his reply.

Lucas pulled the little black device from my hand. “Sam!” he said tersely.

“I’m here,” Sam came back.

“Can you open the south entrance stairwell door on the ground level?”

My eyes were pinned to the exit sign hanging over the door.

The walkie crackled and Sam sounded resigned. “No, I’ve been blocked. I can no longer access any of the Hive controls.”

Lucas cussed and his eyes met mine. “I have a crazy idea, Charlie. Are you with me?”

You know, a year ago I loved crazy ideas, because they mostly involved Tessa daring me to down a bottle of tequila. Now … not so much.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve had enough crazy to last me a lifetime.”

Lucas gave me a resigned grin, before sighing and taking my hand. “It’s the only way,” he said, sounding almost like he was trying to convince himself.

Walking up one flight of stairs to the second level, he brought me to a door I had never noticed before. Opening it revealed a golden elevator door. For reals? How many secret Batman lair elevators were in this place?

“Special Quorum elevator,” he said. “I doubt they have had time to revoke my fingerprint clearance with the strikes going on.”

He pressed his thumb to a button and it glowed green. The door slid open.

The Hive was definitely filled with secrets. “Strikes?”

He didn’t answer as we entered the elevator. I blinked a few times as he hit the button for the roof. How could we escape from the roof?

“Since Ryder and his core enforcer team have been suspended, the other ash enforcers have gone on strike. They refuse to take orders from anyone but Ryder. It’s keeping the Quorum awfully busy.”

My throat tightened with emotion and I felt horrible that we would be leaving all of these helpless ash behind. Hopefully I’d live long enough to try and change their circumstances.

The Quorum’s private elevator was a speed demon, and in what felt like seconds it was opening up to a secluded section of the roof, an area I had never been before.

I turned to Lucas. “Where is the helicopter?”

Because surely he had one waiting for me? There was no other reasonable explanation for taking us up to the very place it was impossible to escape from. A veritable trap if we were discovered.

Lucas grabbed my arm and steered me out onto the roof, hurrying us across to the edge. He grabbed the walkie from me and radioed the boys. “I’m on the roof with Charlie. Security will have seen us by now. She’s going to have to jump.”

I gasped. The vamp had flipped his lid—lost his freakin’ marbles. Dude was officially crazy.

“Lucas, are you insane? I’m not jumping off a sixty story building! My body will turn into pudding. I don’t want to be pudding. I hate pudding. It’s weird and jiggly and tastes like crap.”

Ryder’s voice came over the speaker. “Charlie you’re not just any ash. You’re Carter’s daughter.”

Levitation. Shit. Didn’t he know super powers didn’t work like that? You didn’t get to use them on the spot to save your life; it was too much pressure. The odds were I would become a legend—you know, a dead superhero. A door slamming drew my attention behind us to where two vampires were stalking towards us.

Lucas gave me a tight hug.

“Come with me,” I begged. “They’ll kill you.”

He shook his head and laughed. “I’m one of the richest vampires in this Hive. I own the deed to this land, with a clause that if I’m murdered the land goes to the humans. They won’t kill me, but I will spend some time in the pit.”

Shit.

“I’m going to be back for you and Tessa,” I said to him.

He nodded and squeezed my hand before running to confront the vampires, throwing himself at them.

Ryder’s voice came over the speaker. “Charlie? What’s happening up there?”

“I’m on my way,” I said to him as my legs began to shake. Sixty stories was a long-ass way down. I could already hear my ankles snapping.

“Look to your right. Aim for that building which is about twenty stories high. It’s the vampire parking garage. We’re on the top floor waiting to pick you up.”

Okay, well forty stories to drop was a little better than sixty. And seriously. WTF, the vampires got their own parking garage? The ash weren’t even allowed cars! Grr. I shook that thought from my mind and focused on the building. It was far as fuck, right across the other side of the Hive grounds. Maybe ten times farther than I jumped when I’d saved Jayden in the culling. Looking behind me, I saw Lucas kicking ass, but becoming overwhelmed by numbers as more vamps arrived.

“Bitch, you can do this,” my BAFF said through the radio, strong and clear.

I smiled, and with a deep breath, I jogged to the far end of the space.

I squeezed the walkie-talkie button. “Ryder?”

“Yes?” He sounded worried.

“I love you.” Because I hadn’t officially said it yet and there was a ninety percent chance this ended with me as pudding.

His voice came back strong: “I love you too, you know that. Do. Not. Die. That’s an official order.”

Hah! Bossy ash.

Dropping the walkie-talkie to the ground, I rolled my neck. Here goes nothing.

I took off in a run-like-your-ass-is-on-fire sprint, sailing past Lucas and the vampires he was grappling with. My heart was beating hella fast and my brain was screaming at me to stop, but I pushed my muscles faster. If I was going to make that jump, I needed speed. Coming near the edge, I did the most insane thing of my life…

I jumped.

“Shiiiiiit!” I screamed, sailing high into the air, higher than humanly possible. My instincts kicked in then, the heat unfurling from my center again as my body glided through the air. It wasn’t the most graceful of levitation, but it was going to do the job. Tucking my legs up, with my arms out, I prepared to land as the rooftop came into view. Holy shit I was totally going to make it!

As I sailed into it like a cannonball, I caught sight of a Humvee and one other car on the roof. Tapping into more of the heat, I forced my body to glide rather than plummet as I began my descent. I found that if I straightened my legs, it slowed my fall a little. Holy fuck! I was legit flying. All too soon the cement lot crashed into my legs and there was a distinct crack as I rolled before skidding to a stop. Flying I was okay at, landing not so much.

My left leg was definitely broken … but no pudding.

I was alive!

Suddenly Ryder was there scooping me up in his arms and shaking his head. “Are you okay?” His voice was gruff as he tenderly rubbed his thumb over my ankle.

I winced. “My ankle is broken but I’ll be fine.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re amazing, Charlie.”

I didn’t have time to respond before the sound of gunfire erupted.

“Let’s roll!” Sam shouted, pounding on the hood of the Humvee.

Ryder crossed the parking lot to the vehicle in a dozen quick strides and placed me in the back, reaching across and yanking up a duffle bag to prop my leg up. Even with the limb as secure as he could make it, I knew it was still gonna hurt as we tore out of here.

The second the door shut and Ryder was in the front seat we were off. Scanning the car, I tried not to bust up laughing at Jayden sitting on Oliver’s lap and the little girl sitting on Kyle’s. Seems they had ditched the second car at some point and all joined forces to come back and save me, which was so sweet, but it did mean we were packed into the Hummer like sardines. Sensing me, the little girl turned and peered at me with those unnerving silver eyes.

“Hi,” she said, and I waved at her, taking a deep breath and trying not to hurl. Sam was driving in circles down the parking garage to the main level. Markus reached across and helped to stabilize my leg, which was both painful and relieving at the same time. Hurry up, ash genetics, work your magic.

Jayden’s leaned over the seat and grasped my hand, squeezing. As I squeezed back, I was so grateful that I was leaving the Hive with my BAFF. I missed Tessa but she had chosen her path, and I still had Jayden.

“Snipers on the roof,” Markus said to Sam, who nodded but didn’t lose an ounce of focus as he continued to racecar-drive our asses around the tight turns.

We were out of the parking garage now and speeding across the street to the far gate that the shipping trucks used. My guess was that this exit was less guarded than the others. Bullets snapped the ground as Sam swerved the Humvee.

“Hold on,” Sam yelled as he plowed through the gates. With a heavy crash, they flung wide open and that was it—we were out of the Hive. The entire car gave a collective gasp of relief.

“Come here, I want to talk to you,” I said to the little girl. What was her name again? Katelynn, right. As she turned her attention to me, I patted my lap.

Kyle helped her climb over the seat and she sat next to me in the back.

“Can you keep a secret, Katelynn?” I asked her, even though I knew that in a week’s time the entire Hive would know what I was. I just knew that the blood the Quorum took this time would lead them to the knowledge that I was the cure.

She nodded, leaning in to me.

I showed her my arm and the blue veins that streaked it. “My blood can cure vampirism and I can make you human again.”

Her mouth made a small O shape as she continued staring at my arm.

“Really?” Her voice was so small and I couldn’t even deal with how wrong it felt seeing her like this—seeing the way the virus stole an innocent little life.

I nodded. “You just take a drink and then it will start to change you back, so you can live with your family and have a long and happy life.”

She licked her lips. “Will it hurt you?”

I shook my head and offered my arm. She winced for a moment, clearly grossed out at the thought of biting flesh, but in the end she latched onto my arm and began to drink. The vampire in the club who’d drank from me had fed for about twenty seconds, so I assumed that would be enough for her too.

After thirty seconds, I lightly pulled her off. Her eyes were glassy, her mouth dripping with blood. She looked like she wanted to bite me again, but regained her composure.

“Your blood!” she squeaked. “It tastes like cotton candy.”

Of course it did. Stupid unicorn blood. The rest of the car’s occupants, who had been wrapped in a tense silence, laughed then. Staring out the window, I noticed that Sam was taking us down a dirt road and into a deeply forested neighborhood. The sun was coming up, and that meant no vampires would be driving around looking for us today. Markus began to duct tape towels up against the back windows to keep the girl in darkness. The sun would still give her one hell of a rash, weakening her, until she was cured. Kyle draped a blanket over her as Sam drove deeper into the forest. We were taking back roads up Mount Hood.

“We’re almost to the drop-off point,” Sam announced, and I saw he had pulled the Humvee up a long private driveway and into a gated compound. There were humans waiting at the gate with semiautomatic rifles.

“Who are these people?” I asked.

Ryder turned around and met my eyes. “Ash sympathizers. Rare people that believe ash shouldn’t be punished for what their parents did, that they should be allowed to mingle with society. Some of them had ash children, or a friend who did.”

Most humans hated ash. I don’t know why, they just did. It was nice to know there were a few out there who got what we went through, who cared.

Sam pulled the Humvee into a dark garage and I saw two oddly familiar faces there. It took me a few moments to place where I remembered them from. My eyes dropped down to the blanket covering Katelynn. Right!

They had been on the news when all hell broke loose. They were her parents. The garage closed then, enclosing us in darkness. Kyle and Markus held their guns close, with the safety off. Ryder popped out of the car and opened the back door, pulling the blankets off the girl. As she sat up, she surprised me with a hug.

Did her skin already look a little less pale? Her eyes a bit less silver?

“Thanks,” she whispered, and then jumped out into her parents’ arms.

Ryder addressed her family and the few surrounding sympathizers. “She’s been inoculated with the cure and will be human within the next few weeks. Don’t ask me how, I can’t tell you. Until then, you must take precautions with the sun, and she might need some final blood to help her heal.”

He dropped a bag from our precious supply into one of the humans’ hands.

Katelynn’s parents looked at Ryder in shock and broke down into tears. The mother wailed, clutching her daughter closely. Tears sprang up in my eyes as I realized what a difference my blood had made in this girl’s life. Never again could I just sit on the sidelines and hide. I had to figure out a way to take who and what I was and use it for the greater good.

I wasn’t used to humans looking at us with anything other than contempt. Most of these sympathizers just looked utterly baffled, but there was no hatred.

“There’s a cure?” rang out from more than one of them.

Ryder nodded, but his expression did not soften. He would not reveal my secret, and we’d be long gone by the time the humans could quiz Katelynn. “No more questions. Thank you for arranging this meet-up with the girl’s family.”

Despite the fact they looked like they wanted to protest, the humans just gave us lingering stares before turning and retreating. The garage door opened and Ryder shut the back hatch, getting into the car, and we were gone, heading down the long driveway and back out onto the road to Mount Hood.

Ryder turned to the driver. “Okay, Sam, I have trusted you this far, but now I need to know where we’re going.”

Sam gripped the wheel, staring out onto the main road. “We drive to Bend, take a private plane from there to north Canada, and then charter a helicopter to our final destination.”

Ryder frowned. “And where is our final destination?”

Sam met Ryder’s eyes for a moment, but then shook his head.

“I can’t tell you, brother. You’ll just have to trust me a little while longer.”

Jayden caught my eye and we both scowled. Sam wouldn’t be leading us into a trap, would he? But Ryder nodded. Clearly he trusted Sam with his life. With all of our lives.

 

After a three-hour drive, my ass was asleep. My leg was partially healed and we had already gone through fourteen bottles of blood. As we pulled up to the small airport in Bend, Oregon, I was getting an uncomfortable and heavy feeling in my stomach about Sam’s secrecy. Were we all just expected to follow him out of the country into Canada with no other details and a dwindling supply of blood? Apparently so.

There was a small white plane waiting in a massive hanger. The boys began loading our supplies into the cargo holds while Ryder came to help me get inside.

“Who’s flying this thing?” I asked.

“I am,” Sam said, as he took my other arm and helped me up into the plane.

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re a pilot?”

“Yes,” he said, in his limited word usage way.

In such close proximity to Sam, with beams of sunlight filtering across the space, I could see he had the lightest smattering of freckles across his nose. Just another thing I hadn’t known about him. After getting me up the small steps and into the plane, I was deposited into one of the large tan leather seats scattered about the main cabin. There were about ten chairs in total, so it was not a very large area.

I grabbed Sam’s hand before he could leave.

“I’m a girl with daddy issues, Sam, so I don’t trust easily. Why aren’t you telling us where we’re headed?” My pulse was racing as I prayed this didn’t turn into a big confrontation.

Sam looked sadly at me and kneeled down, coming close. “I have no way of knowing if we are being overheard. What if the Quorum sewed listening chips into our clothing? Our duffle bags?”

My stomach rolled at the thought. Oh God. Were they on their way here now? I wanted to rip my clothes off and check the seams or something.

“There are some things in life worth risking everything for. I’m willing to risk all of you not trusting me or being mad at me if it means I can keep this secret destination safe.”

Ryder’s hand grasped Sam’s shoulder. “You’ve never steered me wrong before. I trust you.”

I squeezed Sam’s hand as the rest of the boys began to file into the small plane. “I trust you too, Sam.”

I realized that was totally the truth. These boys were my family now, and if you couldn’t trust family you were screwed. Sam nodded and went into the cockpit. Ryder kissed my forehead before leaving so he could slide into the co-pilot chair beside Sam.

Jayden plopped down in the seat next to me and leaned over on my armrest and whispered, “Sam’s a pilot? Good lord, that boy is sexy.” Jayden fanned himself and I smiled. Resting my head on my BAFF’s strong shoulder, I drifted off to sleep.