Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(16)

Taking off my goggles, I slipped across the torn up area to reach Markus. As I crashed to my knees beside him, he started groaning. I ripped off my gloves, trying my best to feel around for his injuries. The enforcer surprised me by grabbing at his groin and rolling off on his side, panting.

“Little prick kicked me in the goodies!” he growled. “Then when I doubled over, he knocked me out cold.” The Scottish accent was strong in his voice. I could barely make out his angry words.

Ryder almost looked like he was holding back a smile. “Sanctum have no rules.”

Markus was sitting up now, leaning on my outstretched arm. “It’s a code, a universal code between all males. You DO NOT go for the junk.”

Ryder’s smile came through this time, before disappearing again as he picked up his walkie-talkie, radioing Sam, Jared, and Kyle.

“We’ve got the enemy down and Markus is okay. Rendezvous at base camp.” His cold words cut through the tension now that the immediate danger was over, and I had to admit this military talk was sexy AF.



When we all got back to the house Jayden was waiting, a blubbering nervous wreck. He inspected each of us, including Becca, who arrived back from the hospital at the same time as us, and determined we were all okay.

“Are Lupita and her father okay?” I asked the blond ashpire, hoping there had been no other problems.

She nodded, reaching out and squeezing my hand, which was a lot of emotion for the normally reserved chick. “Thank you, thank you so much. They’re my friends, have been for many years. I saved their oldest daughter when she got sick and they have repaid me a million times over in love, friendship, and cake. If they had lost him, well, it would have been devastating for all of them. He’s the backbone of the family.”

Shit, there must be some debris in my eyes or something, because they were suddenly watering like crazy. Or I was hormonal. Yes, that was it. Stupid ashpire hormones had me leaking and stuff.

I smiled. “I’m really glad I was here to help.”

Ryder’s voice broke over all of us. “Meeting time. Let’s gather in the main room. Hands up for first scout and patrol duty.”



Ten minutes later I was settled into the couch and warm again. Finally. Felt like you could literally freeze your butt off up here in seconds. All of us, except for Markus and Jared, who were stationed on the roof watching our backs, were gathered around in the main room again, and the atmosphere was grim.

Ryder, who was still decked out in enforcer gear, had the floor. “We need to run. We can’t risk the Sanctum coming back to check on their missing guy, or worse, alerting the vampires to where we are.”

“I … what? I can’t leave. I need my lab to create the cure…” Becca’s voice was surprisingly strong for someone who’d just had her world turned upside down. She was a little tigress about things she loved. I liked it.

“How can you be sure there was only one scout?” Sam muttered through gritted teeth. The silent enforcer’s mind was calculating our next move. I knew it.

Ryder didn’t seem surprised by the question, even though his jaw clenched harder, and the corner of his lips thinned out. “Because I used to be one of them, remember? I’ve done scouting missions. When you aren’t sure where a target is, you spread out, five or six guys at different locations where you suspect they may be. Scout and report back. They would have monitored all of us over the time they’ve been watching Charlie, gathering intel. They know you take these trips away, so it was logical to check out Alaska. My guess is you’re usually very circumspect about coming to this particular location though, so he didn’t know exactly where you went. That’s what the fire was all about, a way to draw us out of wherever we were hiding so he could confirm a sighting. Sanctum wants evidence. They wouldn’t send all their people here on a hunch. Probably didn’t expect you’d immediately pick up on the scent of the accelerant used in the fire.”

Jayden frowned, holding up his hand like he was in kindergarten.

“Jayden,” Ryder called on him.

“Okay, I get this whole life or death issue is serious, but I refuse to go on the run until my internet shopping shipments come tomorrow.” He crossed his arms defiantly, and despite the heavy mood, we all smiled.

Sam nodded. “I think two or three nights here is safe, but then we need to get on the move.”

Becca’s mouth was hanging open. “Sam…”

Sam’s expression softened as he looked at her. “I’m sorry I brought this to your door. I didn’t think they were watching us so closely, or that anyone beside these guys would notice all the years I came out here, but I guess someone did, and they opened their big mouths.”

No wonder Sam was always so silent. It was pretty much the only way to ensure a secret remained that way.

Becca shook her head. “I don’t care about that, but I want to help Charlie wipe all of the vampires out, and for that I need my lab.”

Sam nodded as if he expected this. “Start packing up what you need. I have a safe house about fifteen clicks from here. Nobody knows about it. It’s from my human days.”

Damn, homeboy always had a plan B.

My eyelids were dropping. I was exhausted.

“Get some sleep. We’ll plan our next move in more detail in the morning,” Ryder called out, and we all nodded.