Chapter 1

 

 

What the actual fuck? I sat inside of the shipping container house that was now our new home and stared at Rebecca … the other unicorn ash. She was gorgeous in that nerdy adorable way and I was pretty sure she didn’t know it. Her black and silver eyes were hidden behind dark-framed hipster glasses and her blond hair was in a tight braid with an actual scrunchie holding the end. Yes, a scrunchie. I didn’t know they were still being made.

“I’m sorry,” I huffed. “I…” What the hell was I supposed to say? My glare turned on Sam; no doubt my eyes were screaming at him “You sneaky mofo. Liar extraordinaire!”

He had the decency to look nervous and I decided that I very much wanted to lash all of my anger out on him. Now.

Standing, fists balled, I let him have it. “I thought I was a freak. It’s been a struggle since day one trying to figure out what was so special about my blood before someone decided to kill me over it. You watched me get attacked and bitten by a vampire. And the entire time you knew! Or at least had some answers.”

Ryder and the boys were silent. They knew he deserved this.

Sam was now in his quiet, stoic mode, no expression, although his eyes did look a little turbulent.

“Are there more, Sam? Are you hiding an entire fucking army of unicorns? What else are you hiding?” My rage was starting to wane; I was really hoping he’d fight back with me. He was just standing there not saying shit. Just taking it.

Becca stood timidly. “Don’t be mad at Sammy. He was trying to protect me, and he tried to get you out of there loads of times, but the timing wasn’t right.”

The boys and I shared a look. Sammy? I suppressed a grin. Sam was totally riding this unicorn.

Sam turned his unreadable expression on Rebecca and there was a softness there for a split second, but when she looked back at him it was gone. Replaced with his cold hard stare.

Finally, he decided to engage with me, stepping closer and holding both hands out to the side. “I’m sorry, Charlie. But how safe would this place be if it were crawling with vampires? I did what I had to do knowing that in the end both you and Becca would be safe. Hate me if you want, I don’t care. At the end of the day I’d never have let anyone hurt you. I always planned to get you out, it just wasn’t that easy.”

Then he stormed from the room. Dammit!

With a shuddering breath I faced Rebecca. She had taken off her puffy winter coat. The inside of this building was surprisingly well insulated and she was wearing a white lab coat beneath. Okay, so the cool nerd girl thing she had going on was starting to make sense. She was a scientist or something.

Time to cut the bullshit. “I don’t want to be lied to any longer. There’s some seriously bad shit going on back in our world. Ash are dying every single day, so I think you better explain exactly what this place is, and how you and I even exist.”

Her very dark, thick brows rose up and scrunched on her furrowed forehead. Her eyes, which were far less silver than mine, widened. She wasn’t used to anyone coming at her so bluntly. Well, get used to it, scientist princess.

She recovered quickly though. “I will tell you everything I know,” she said matter-of-factly. “My name is Dr. Rebecca Leander and I hold a PHD in genetics and molecular biology. I have been studying my own blood for many years, trying to work out what it is that created such an anomaly as a female ash. Was it a gene sequence? Was it an immune system response using the pathway—”

“Whoa!” I held up my hand to halt her. She was getting into some smart girl stuff here, which was awesome, but I needed other details first. “Maybe start at the beginning. Your life before being an ash and then how you got to here.”

Her expression morphed into something more human then, less robotic. “Oh, right. Of course. I forget sometimes how to talk to people, I’m so used to my computers.” She gave a laugh and I was having a hard time being mad at her. She was so damn nerdy and adorable.

I saw some of the enforcer guys exchange smiles. Jayden’s eyes were flat-out laughing. Clearly she amused them. But for the most part the males remained silent, letting me lead the questioning. My eyes locked onto Ryder, the only one not smiling. That one look was enough for my heart to clench tightly in my chest. His eyes were blazing silver, his dark gaze stormy. He was angry with Sam, and so much more, but for now he was containing that fury.

I spun back to Rebecca as she moved toward a large sofa. The room we were in was near the front of the strange square shipping container that made up this scientific research center. Or at least that’s what the logo on the side of the building said it was.

This particular space was set up as a living area, with a few sofas scattered around, and some other miscellaneous furniture. Everything looked cozy; a heating panel along the far wall was the reason for the warmth in here.

As Rebecca sat, she patted the seat next to her, inviting me to sit also. I cautiously made my way over to the sofa, leaving about a foot between us. The guys straightened and stepped closer. Their protectiveness was a little amusing considering Rebecca looked about as scary as a skittish bunny.

“So, I grew up in a small town in the countryside of England, born in 1964.” She had taken me seriously, starting her story right at the start. And considering she should be over fifty now, she didn’t look a day above early twenties. Got to love ash genetics. “Life was normal. Both of my parents were academics, and they worked in the local university. I was homeschooled and ended up finishing high school at fifteen, and by the time I was twenty I already had my PHD. I was going to be a leading researcher into genetic anomalies, and the way we are shaping our genome through the viruses which have swept through our world.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “You were focusing on the Anima Mortem virus.”

She nodded twice. “Yes, it has been one of the major changes to the human race. It acts fast, killing many, and changing the rest into something which is no longer human. I found the subject utterly fascinating, and I was hoping to be able to present a thesis on it at the end of my research period.”

“So what happened?” Ryder’s voice was low and controlled, but I could hear the angry currents lacing each word. “There’s no record of a female ash before Charlie, so clearly you were able to hide your existence.”

Rebecca didn’t seem to even notice. “Yes, actually, it was a lucky set of circumstances which allowed for me to be saved. When I was twenty-two I decided to leave the lab for a few hours and visit the zoo. I have always loved animals, the way that their evolution can be as easily mapped as humans. It’s where I go to relax.”

Holy moly. This chick was the real scientist deal. I was kinda digging her smart talk. I loved to see badass chicks taking on the world with brains as well as brawn.

“I hadn’t been feeling that well, or more like I felt strange. For example, two days before I had stayed up forty-eight hours in my lab and never even realized. I was not tired at all. I also had not eaten anything, and every time I tried to drink it tasted bad, so I ended up sucking on a few ice cubes.”

Oh yeah, I remembered that all too well. That unquenchable thirst.

“I stayed at the zoo for an hour before my eyes and head started to hurt. I was dizzy and knew my lack of nutrition over the past week was starting to catch up with me. I tried to make it back to the bus stop, but must have collapsed before reaching it.”

Sam suddenly appeared. His deep voice washed across the room: “She fell at my feet, literally on top of them. It was almost like fate directed her to me, to make sure I could keep her safe.”

The dark-haired enforcer stood propped against the doorframe. I had no idea how long he’d been there, I’d been so focused on Rebecca and her story.

Sam continued: “I don’t even know why I went to the zoo that day. I was in England fleeing some trouble in the States. This was about fifteen years before I joined the Portland Hive, and for some reason the zoo drew me.”

“Which was lucky for me. Probably saved my life,” Rebecca said, a sweet smile lighting up her face. “Sam recognized what was happening to me, and for some reason decided to help me rather than turn me over to the authorities. This was the 80s. England didn’t take in ash. They just…”

He growled, low and slightly scary-like. “I couldn’t stand by and see them execute a female, or worse, experiment on her. If I brought her to the States, then they would have thrown her in the culling. I could tell right away that Becca wasn’t a fighter like Charlie. She’s an academic.” His eyes blazed. “They would have torn her apart.”

Hmmm, I might not have a PHD, but pretty sure Sam just called me stupid. Meh, whatever.

“Okay, so Rebecca’s just gone all ash, Sam happened to save her and ferret her off to his secret lair or something…” Jared’s Australian accent was mild as he summed up the story so far. “Then what happened? How did you end up in the ass-end of the icy wilderness?”

Rebecca and Sam exchanged a look, before the blond female started talking in her factual way again. “It was rough for a while there. Sam had to steal us blood, and I was stuck in hiding. My eyes would have immediately given me away, and contacts back then were not designed to hide the silver of our eyes. So even when I learned to control my hunger, I could never go back to my job. But I was determined to continue my research, and I now had the perfect candidate to test on. Myself.”

She let out a gust of air, sucking in another deep breath. “I knew of this abandoned research center out here in Alaska. It was used initially to study climate change, but then funding ran out and it got forgotten. So I applied for a permit to use it and was granted twenty years. No one cares what I do here, and no one checks up on me. My parents died several years ago, and basically I was forgotten.”

I leaned closer to her, our faces inches apart. “Have you figured out how there are only two female ash?”

Her eyes flicked up for a second to Sam, before they came back to me. “Yes, I figured that out quite early on. Helped in part by my family history.”

I nodded at her, waving my hand in a hope that it would hurry her up. I had been waiting for this information for months and she was the first person who seemed to have any answers.

“Well, the truth is there are no female ash. And there never will be. The facts are irrefutable. The X-carrying sperm do not survive the change.”

Well, then what the hell were we? This was the third option I kept trying to figure out.

I held my breath as she continued.

“You and I are not ash, we’re something different altogether.”

Pretty much what Lucas had told me when they first tested my blood. “So … if we aren’t ash and we aren’t vampires, then what are we?”

Tell me the damned third option!

“You’re what I like to refer to as an ashpire,” Sam said with a little twinkle in his eye.

The room got very silent then, and I knew more than one of us was confused.

Rebecca quickly started talking: “Basically, my mother was attacked when she was seven months pregnant with me. Vampires got her and would have torn her to pieces if a crowd of humans hadn’t jumped in and managed to pull them off her. It saved my mother’s life, but not before the vampires’ blood splashed all over her body. Over all the open wounds from the attack.”

We all winced then, an open wound around a bleeding vampire was a death sentence. Becca continued: “It was feared that the virus had entered her system. She remained in the hospital under lockdown until they could figure out what this meant for her. Would she turn or die? They were the only two options. But then nothing happened. She had a fever for a day but didn’t turn. They tested her blood, and tested it again, over and over almost right up until I was born. She never had any of the virus in her.”

“How is that possible?” Markus asked.

Rebecca shook her head. “It isn’t possible and yet it happened. They were saying it was a miracle, or that maybe none of her attackers’ blood landed on her wounds.”

Okay, this story was going to get all weird and sciency now. I just knew it.

“I have studied this virus now for many decades, and I’m starting to see the pattern. It’s smart; it develops and learns. It seeks out the strongest and wants to form bonds with that genetic pattern. Shape those cells. So when a pregnant woman receives the virus, it goes to the life it can shape the most, the fetus. But because a fetus is such a fast growing being, I was shaping and changing and fighting the virus every minute, every second. I was pumping out the cure to my mother, which is why she only had a fever for a day. Even being seven months developed in utero, the virus still managed to bond to my genome, and basically start the process of making me a born vampire, which in a way is like a cross of ash and vampire.”

Okay then. Ashpire was making much more sense now.

“It still takes a long time for the change to kick into effect, which is where we mimic the ash males, but we’re not ash. Our blood is different. Because the virus matures within our body and bloodstream during our early development, we create these antibodies to the virus as a natural part of our system. In a way, it’s almost as if we have cured the virus, and what was left was the best version of a vampire, something which mimics the ash.”

Holy shit. Hooollly shit. I remembered my mom’s story about being attacked when she was very early stages of being pregnant with me. She said that Carter Atwater, Original of the fourth house had saved her, but that he had been injured. Some of his blood must have mixed with hers, which is why I turned into an ashpire. Dammit, that meant the abusive dick of a father who had been in the army was really my biological dad.

I worried at my lip, unhappy about that. My hair color was from him after all. Still … in lots of ways Carter was as much my father. His blood was what changed my genome as I developed in the womb. I had been little more than a single cell when I received his blood. My mom hadn’t even known she was pregnant yet.

I needed more information. “So the antibodies we have is why my blood can cure vampires. Does it cure ash as well?” I had been wondering for a long time what would happen if an ash bit me.

Rebecca shook her head. “No, because ash don’t have the virus. They’re born of a mutated genome and technically never actually received the virus. Therefore, there’s nothing to cure.”

My brain sort of shorted out then because that shit made no sense to me, but she was super smart and it made sense to her so I just nodded.

“Can you cure vampires as well?” I asked. It would be so great if there were two of us helping to try and deal with the war that was no doubt going to explode in our world.

I was tense as I waited for her answer, and when she shook her head my heart sank a little. “Not really, not permanently. I have some curative properties, which I have been trying to manipulate for many years. Basically, if a vampire drinks from me, they’ll partly return to human form. They can walk in the sunlight, and enjoy human food, but unless they continue to drink from me, the virus reasserts itself and they return to vampire.”

My eyes found Ryder’s and I could see the questions in his as well. “I don’t actually know if my blood can long-term cure either, but the vampire we found was definitely human. And had been for a week or more.”

Rebecca’s eyes lit up. I could see her brain ticking away as she analyzed me and thought about that. “I need to test your blood. We might finally have the secret to this virus. To figuring out how to stop it.”

She looked like a kid in a candy shop, ready to drain my blood in the name of science. But curiosity was a dominant trait in my personality too, so hell yeah, let’s figure out how to cure these bloodsuckers. I nodded and she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

“Come, I’ll show you my lab!” Her glasses had fallen on the bridge of her nose and she pushed them up, looking 150% an adorable nerd.

And Sam had noticed.

He was watching her like she was some fascinating creature that he wanted to touch but knew was off limits. Did Becca even realize he felt something for her? Did she feel something for him? Had they hooked up? If not, which one of these idiots was the hold-up, because life was way too short. Even for ash.

Becca walked us back through a narrow hallway that opened up into a huge science lab, all stainless steel benches, fluorescent lighting, massive machines, and shelves filled with beakers, vials, and other science paraphernalia.

“I have all of the latest technology, and I get blood donations from a local blood bank under the guise that I’m researching human diseases. Which I do on the side for fun.”

Of course she did. Jayden and I shared a smile.

She continued: “That’s how we’ll get our food. I have more than enough blood to feed us and continue my human research.”

My eyes were roaming over all of the expensive equipment when I saw Sam pick up a white lab coat off the far wall and pull gloves on. Oh hell no. If Sam was mysterious, sexy, a pilot, and a smarty pants, I was going to lose it.

“How do you pay for all this? You said your grant was only twenty years? It must have run out by now.” I glanced around the room again, chuckling as Kyle touched a heated coil and pulled his hand back, getting burned. Dumbass.

“Sammy funds all of my research now,” she said guilelessly.

Of course he does … probably hacks into crooked politicians’ bank accounts to pay for it.

I met Sam’s eyes and he winked, confirming my thoughts. He was a bad boy to the core.

“Sam, can you ready the centrifuge?” Becca asked, opening a blood-drawing kit.

Sam nodded and walked over to a big machine and began tinkering with it. Wow, I couldn’t imagine these two playing lab partners for decades and not having tumbled between the sheets at least once. I was actually dying to know, and when I looked at Jayden I could see him trying to figure it out too. I knew my BAFF; his gaze was all over these two.

In a smooth, relatively painless move, Becca took a sample of my blood. The moment it exited my veins and entered the tube, the scent of it hit the air. Her nostrils flared, eyes pulsing as she looked at me.

“Incredible! I have the urge to bite you. It’s my immune system wanting the cure! It must be worse for full-fledged vampires…”

Okay ... homegirl was cute and totally socially awkward. I was kind of beginning to like her.

“There’s something you should know,” I said as she pulled the needle from my arm. “My vampire father or sire or whatever is an Original.”

I waited for her shock, but she just smiled.

“I know. Sammy told me. That’s why I’m so eager to get a look at your blood.”

My jaw dropped as I pinned Sam to the wall with my glare. “You told her!”

His expression did turn slightly regretful, but before he could speak, Becca stuck up for him. Again. “Don’t be mad. We’re best friends, he tells me everything.”

What sort of fucking alternate universe was I in? Sam was sitting around some shipping container in Alaska with a hot-ass nerdy doctor, spilling his secrets. I had known him months now and he had said about fifty-six words. Fifty-four of them in the last hour. FML.

Ryder moved then, approaching Sam, who was just placing my blood vials into the centri-whatever thingy.

“Lots of secrets, bro,” Ryder said, sounding casual, but we all heard the undertones.

Oliver had Ryder’s back. “Not cool.”

For the first time in forever I saw Sam look vulnerable, like an orphaned puppy. Eyes wide, bottom lip turned under.

Sam met Ryder’s eyes. “You know my story. You know why I keep secrets.”

What the hell? I wanted to know his story.

Ryder sighed. “I know, but we’re your brothers. You can trust us. Always.”

My heart broke a little then. Ryder’s voice was filled with emotion. A lot of which felt sad. His best friend had been hiding an ashpire for decades. Hiding information which could have helped me in the early days when we were playing in the dark with my magical blood. A part of him had to be feeling betrayed by this, I knew it.

Sam gritted his jaw. “The less you know, the safer you are.”

Kyle came around behind Sam. “Only one way to settle this.”

Jared smiled. “I got first round.”

Becca looked alarmed. “What’s going on? You’re not going to hurt him, right?”

 

Ten minutes later we all stood around the kitchen and dining room. It was a skinny galley kitchen that opened up to a large dining space that could easily fit twenty seats. These shipping containers were super cool, and with the high-quality finishes inside you totally forgot you were in a metal box. My guess was that this lab was built for an entire research team and once fully stocked could house dozens for many months.

A cheer went up then as the male-idiots in the room continued their games. Sam had already beaten Markus and Kyle in arm wrestling. Now it was Oliver’s turn. Oliver put his game face on as Jayden gave him a little tap on the butt to cheer him on.

Becca looked confused as she leaned into me and whispered. “I don’t understand. What is this solving?”

I smiled. “Sam lied to everyone. Trust has been broken, feelings hurt, so they’re hashing it out this way.”

Becca’s thick eyebrows drew together. “Still makes no sense.”

I sighed. Homegirl had some serious social catching up to do. She clearly wasn’t used to being around a bunch of burly males.

“Okay, it’s like animals in the wild. One of the wolves in the pack does something to piss off the alpha, they need to put him in his place.”

A slamming sound had both of us looking up. Oliver was rubbing his arm; it looked rather red around the wrist.

Becca finally nodded, seeming to like my animal analogy. “So Sam’s the alpha right? He’s winning.”

I grinned. Ryder hadn’t had a turn yet.

Jared was next. “You’re going down, Sammy.” He was trying to rile him up by using Becca’s term of endearment.

Sam wasn’t fazed. He actually chuckled and held his arm up.

“Go!” Ryder called, and Sam slammed Jared’s hand down in seconds.

“Wait, wait. I wasn’t ready!” Jared pleaded, but Ryder just moved him along.

“Jayden, you want a go?” Ryder asked my BAFF.

Jayden grinned, showcasing all of his beautiful white teeth. “I’ll pass, dear. I’m secure with the length of my manhood.”

Becca’s mouth dropped open.

Oh snap! God I loved that man. Ryder just shoved the comment off and sat in front of Sam. They engaged in an epic staredown. This was the battle of the alphas, and just like wolves, neither looked away.

“You could have trusted me with this,” Ryder finally said.

Sam sighed. “It wasn’t your burden to bear. You had enough going on.”

I knew he was talking about Molly, Ryder’s fiancée.

Sam held up his hand and Ryder gripped it tightly.

Sam leaned himself over the table. “You know this isn’t a fair fight. You’re a descendent from the house of strength.”

Ryder grinned his cockiest of grins. “What’s wrong? Scared?”

It was on; they both flexed their muscles and Sam’s hand started shifting backwards. He grunted and I thought the veins in his face might burst if he kept this up much longer.

With a slam, in the end Ryder won with ease.

Sam looked resigned. “I should have told you.”

Ryder nodded and clapped Sam on the shoulder. Just like that, everything was great between the boys again. My animal analogy was really not far from the truth; men had changed very little over the thousands of years of humanity.

Jayden ran forward. “Group hug!”

Oliver laughed as Jayden tackle-hugged a bewildered Sam and Ryder and I decided why the hell not and got in on the pileup. Sam was still sitting in the chair so we ended up just sitting on him or hugging him from the back. Jared reached forward and yanked a hair off Sam’s head.

“Ow! Did someone pull my hair!” I heard the silent enforcer yell.

“It was me, mate. Payback.”

Gotta love Australians and their payback.

Becca stood there awkwardly and I felt bad for her. She didn’t seem to quite fit in with our group yet. But something told me she would, one day.

Sam’s muffled voice came out again: “Okay, you’ve tortured me enough. I’ll never lie again. Please, God, just get off of me.”

We all laughed and backed away from the Sam love pile. A weight lifted from my chest. Sam was forgiven and we were back to being one big happy family again. I was so relieved to know that I could stop worrying and doubting one of my guys. It was us against the vampire world, and we had to have total trust in each other. Speaking of…

“Okay, now that all of this is worked out, Sam, I need you to find out what’s going on back at the Hive. Is Tessa safe? What happened to Lucas? Has Carter updated with anything about him and my mom?”

Sam smoothed back his mussed hair and nodded. “I have a secure computer here.”

Jayden pointed at Becca. “You.”

Becca paled. “Me?” she all but squeaked.

Jayden nodded. “You need to take me shopping. I refuse to wear this…” He was at a loss for words to describe his sweatpants and flip-flops. “Any longer.”

Becca smiled. “You won’t like any of the shops in town, but we get deliveries out here. So you can order anything online.”

Jayden’s mouth popped open and his eyes almost rolled back in his head. He looked like he was having a mini-orgasm.

Becca handed him a credit card. “Spend however much you need. Sam has us well funded.”

Again I raised my eyebrows at Sam and wondered if this wasn’t one of the “charities” that had received money from Deliverance.

Jayden’s hand shook as he took the card. His eyes were wide and a little crazed. “Unlimited online shopping? Everyone give me your sizes. I’ll be in my room for the next three days.”

I smiled. Jayden was officially in heaven, but I was hoping they didn’t sell nipple pasties online.

Becca held up a hand. “Right. Rooms. We have mostly bunkbed-style shared barracks, but there are two private rooms. One’s mine, so ... the other…”

Ryder stepped forward. “Charlie and I will take the other one.”

Oh my GAWD. Did he just do that? I was trying to decide if it was too forward or the hottest goddamn thing ever. I went with hot. I grinned.

Wait, did Ryder just ask me to move in with him?

Jayden and Oliver gave us glares. I waggled my fingers at them in a half-wave. Sorry, bitches. I earned this.

 

The room I was officially sharing with Ryder was small but cozy, and most importantly it had a soft bed with a thick down comforter. I had been starting to worry I’d be stuck in a sleeping bag on a cot. I had all of seven worldly possessions at the moment, and so after putting away my cheap plastic toothbrush, plastic package of cotton granny panties, and one extra t-shirt, I went to find the boys.

Turning from the bed, I saw that Ryder was standing in the doorway watching me. His gaze was hard to read, but damn he looked sexy. Even in cheap sweatpants and a t-shirt the guy could be on a billboard.

“Hey,” I said.

He stepped in and looked around the small room. Queen bed, bookshelf, and nightstand.

“Hope you don’t mind I claimed the room for us.” His eyes were saying a lot more than his words.

I closed the distance between us. “Don’t mind at all.”

He eyed my lips, and a softness trickled across his hard features. It was one of those special little things he did only around me.

Then a small smile quirked the side of his lips. “Should I be worried that Jayden just asked me if I wore boxers, briefs, or a thong?”

I busted out laughing. I loved my BAFF hard; he was exactly what these serious enforcers needed. Ryder’s smile went to full throttle, but just for a moment, before it was replaced with a strained expression.

“What’s up?” I prodded.

He sighed. “We left them, Charlie. We just left them all to the whims and tempers of the vampires.”

Tension skated across my body then and my chest got weirdly tight. Breathing was harder than it had been a minute ago. I knew exactly what Ryder was talking about, and it was something I was trying not to dwell on, but it was slowly eating me up inside.

He was worried about his other enforcers. Being the lead enforcer, he had trained every single one of them, working with many of them for years. And although he was closest with the sexy six, he still cared for all the others. They were his team.

I stepped even closer to him, our warmth wrapping around each other. “We left Tessa, Blake, and Lucas too. If there was another way, I would have taken it.”

He pulled me into his arms and I rested my head against his hard chest. “I know,” he murmured.

Most of the time I felt like a single, pretty insignificant person. But then there were these moments, like this, where I felt bigger, like I could do something grand, something unthinkable. I was the goddamn cure to our problem.

“Ryder…” I pulled back and he met my eyes. “We have to save them all. The ash. My friends. I want to bring down the Hives. Annihilate the vampires whose power and corruption is polluting our world.”

Ryder’s face was a mixture of surprise and pride. He nodded once, and I knew that even if we died trying, we would wipe vampires from the face of the Earth. This was the reason I was here.

We remained in our comforting hug for many long moments. I could sense that Ryder was as reluctant as me to part ways and get back to reality, but unfortunately, even in the middle of nowhere, real life was continuing. And we had things to do.