Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(25)

Jared gave a dry laugh, not really sounding amused. “The humans have been looking for a way to get rid of vampires for a long time. This will appeal to them, because firstly the plan is to cure them, not kill, so it won’t look like a mass slaughter. This is something which has always hindered governments trying to take down vampires before, the fact that they were once human. They’re people’s family members, and the humans would revolt against a mass slaughter.”

Oliver leaned up from where he was slouched against the step. He missed Jayden terribly when they were apart, leaving him quiet and introspective. “There’s no doubt the leaders will jump at this. They’re sick of being stuck under the control of vamps. I have a few contacts in Washington and they keep me updated.”

I shifted closer to him. “When should we tell the humans?”

Kyle, who had been half-asleep in another hammock, rolled over then and landed flat on his butt. His “oomph” broke the tension and all of us had a good laugh at the confused enforcer. “Dammit, how do people sleep in those things? Roll over to swat a fly and fall on my ass.”

Ryder leaned over and punched his best friend on the arm. “Man, you should be awake. We’re only planning the end of the world as we know it.”

Kyle returned the punch before swiping a hand across his eyes. “Shit, I know. I’ve been so tired lately. Think I need a good dose of blood from the source.”

That reminded me that all of us were going to need some blood soon. I could now go a day with no worries, and the boys even longer, but we had to make sure this was all finalized before I started to lose my mind. Luckily, we had those devices from Becca, but even that supply was limited.

Sam got to his feet then, the small phone clutched tightly in his right hand. “Okay, it’s all live on the network. There’s no way for ash to post replies, but there is a button for them to acknowledge they’ve received the information, and I’m already getting positive acknowledgements across the country.”

“Are we sure that none of these enforcers are in the pocket of the Quorum?” I asked, suddenly nervous that our plan could be easily derailed by simple betrayal.

None of the boys looked worried. “Never,” Kyle said. “Ash are oppressed and murdered daily by vampires. There’s not a single one who wouldn’t jump at the chance to take them down. They don’t even pay us well.”

Oliver agreed. “Yep, and not to mention that anyone who brought this information to the Quorum would not only get themselves killed, but all ash. The vamps would start systematically wiping out all of us in a bid to maintain power.”

True. So very true. And the ash knew it. Vampires had treated us like expendable possessions for long enough. We were taking our freedom back.

“To answer your question from before, the human government is going to be a bit more difficult,” Ryder said. “Plenty of them are in the pocket of vampires. I trust Lincoln. Maybe he’ll have a thought about how to do this.”

It didn’t sit right with me that we might bring this war down on humans and never give them a heads up. I had human friends and family. I wasn’t close to any of them, but they didn’t deserve to die at the hands of a vampire.

“Maybe we wait until all the blood is done and delivered,” I said. “That way this information only has a small window of chance to be spread. The bad humans won’t have enough time to tip off their vampire allies, but the good ones can help us and warn their law enforcement agencies around the world.”

All of the boys exchanged a glance, and I didn’t love the look of it. Despite Ryder’s earlier thought of sharing with Lincoln, it now looked like he had mentally axed that idea.

“I think we play it by ear,” Markus finally said. “The ash will help us, and with some luck the humans will not be affected. I’m not sure it’s a great idea to even tell them at all.”

The other boys’ hard expressions did not change and I realized all of them felt the same way.

I stood up. “Have you forgotten who feeds you? Have you forgotten who will be looking at us once the smoke settles? The humans are everything in this plan. We need them to know that we acted with them in mind so after the vampires are gone or cured, we can settle into an easy alliance and pray that they still donate blood to feed all the ash.”

Ryder was nodding now. “She has a point. It’s good PR to let them in. We’ll always need them.”

Sam was looking at me in a calculated way.

“What?” I growled at him.

“The crooked government officials would spill our plan and ruin it…”

I began to protest but he shut me up.

“BUT … you have a point. We need to get the humans on our side. So, I have a plan…”

Sam with the plan. Always. He stared at the grass for a minute and I could see the wheels turning in his head. Then he grinned.

“Out with it!” I prodded him.

“We get a hold of the blackmail files and start making the crooked politicians work for us. Just until this battle is over. Then we send it all to the press.”

My mouth hung open. “You want to blackmail people?”

Oliver and Markus were nodding. Sam even smiled. “I do. It’s the only way to ensure their silence.”

Shit, those photos of that guy with the gag ball in his mouth, that stuff was awful. I didn’t want the bad karma of dealing with that. But … we needed all the help we could get.