Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(43)

“For Marc Delaney.” Ryder’s fists crashed into him and I wasn’t sure if I was hearing Fugly’s bones crack or Ryder’s knuckles. Maybe both.

“And Jason Scout.”

Ryder kept repeating his men’s names. One by one.

From the corner of my eye I could see tattoo chick next to Tessa, checking her out.

Another thud had me focusing again on the beatdown. Shit.

“Ryder!” My voice was firm, but he never looked away from Fugly.

I knew my man, and this wasn’t him. He wasn’t this dark. I needed to save him from doing something that would haunt his dreams. We didn’t torture people. Kill them, yes. Torture them by slowly beating them to death, no.

“RYDER!” I shouted, and something in my tone must have caught his attention He stilled and looked up at me.

Fugly looked to be suffocating in his own blood. Droplets were spluttering from his mouth as he tried to suck in air.

“Enough,” I said, my eyes pleading with him not to lose himself to this darkness. His chest was heaving as he stared at me, fists still clenched, blood dripping in small plops on the floor. Finally, he blinked, and some black bled back into the silver of his eyes. He nodded and took one last look down at Fugly, before cracking his neck.

I retrieved the torch then, which was still lit, making my way back and handing it to Ryder. He brought it down onto Fugly’s comatose body, lighting his hair and clothes. This fucker was clearly going to die, but this way he’d be unconscious right up until the fire finished him off. Like I said, we were civilized murderers.

There were small vents above each cell, and I assumed since the cell was made of stone and earth it wouldn’t burn down the entire Hive, but if it did, then so be it.

Zero fucks given at this point.

Ryder slipped an arm around me and we followed the tattooed girl and Tessa out of the cell, closing the door behind us. I raced to Tessa’s side and she collapsed against me. She was so thin, her hair lank and dull. They’d been starving her for some time, it was very clear.

“You better start talking,” Lincoln ordered me.

I gritted my teeth, jaw aching, and fought the urge to sock Lincoln in the throat. Fucker had punched me out of nowhere. Whether he had grounds to do that or not, it still pissed me off.

Tessa’s head flopped back, and I could see her eyes were pulsing, despite the fact she looked half dead. Her face was listless, and it didn’t seem as if she recognized me yet.

“We were going to tell you, Linc—”

Before I could finish, Tessa lunged forward with more strength than I thought she had and sunk her teeth into my upper arm, the one that was injured and bleeding.

“Christ, Tessa!” I shouted; the pain was sharp and instant. Gritting my teeth, I fought against the urge to pull her off. The wheels were turning in my mind. Let her drink. Then she’d be human and would be safe from this fucked up world. Badass chick raised her gun, her eyes dark as she watched us closely. I shook my head, stopping her.

“Allistair wasn’t lying to you. My blood is the cure. When she’s done drinking from me she’ll begin the change back to human.” I stared down at my bestie. She was calming now as the blood entered her system. By the time I looked up again, Lincoln and the remaining members of his crew looked stunned.

“Why wasn’t this the first thing you said to us?” Lincoln asked.

Ryder stepped in front of me and faced off with Blue Eyes. “Because this is a secret that has placed a huge target on Charlie’s back. She’s been hunted, and will continue to be hunted, until we can end the vampires. We have a plan. It’s going to go into action in a few days. I was going to tell you tomorrow, giving you just enough notice to rally the troops. You have to be aware that a lot of the higher-up officials are in the vampires’ pockets, paid off or blackmailed. We had to keep this one secret for as long as possible. The enforcers are retrieving some blackmail files right now that might help you control the release of information.”

I’d forgotten about that. Lincoln would know who to tell, and how to use those files in the best way. Of course, right now he was in a puddle of disbelief.

“I’m going to have to give a briefing … I have to report this. You were right to keep this quiet though. Corruption is nothing new, and the human world is rife with it. I’ll have to be careful about who I inform. This information will have to be classified above top secret.” He was sort of talking to us and murmuring to himself. Finally, he straightened and faced Ryder. “Yes, give me the files. I have a few that I trust, and for the others … we’ll work something out.”

Ryder nodded.

Lincoln turned to me then. “I’m sorry for hitting you, Charlie. You took me by surprise. I thought my people had been killed trying to save a vampire, and that’s unacceptable to me. Still, I mostly wanted to get you in the room with him without raising suspicion.”

Ryder turned on Lincoln then, and I was praying a fight didn’t break out in these close quarters. “You punched Charlie?” His voice was low and deadly. Somehow he made it seem even worse when he didn’t yell. Like he was beyond that emotion altogether.

“I fucked up,” Lincoln shot back. “But you weren’t here. Allistair was going to burn her friend. It was very clear. I did what I could to get her into the room. The vamp expected me to react like that. He knew I would be pissed at her, so he never saw the deception.”