Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(4)

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.