Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(46)

This was worth every second of being hunted as an ashpire. Ryder was worth everything that had happened. This one moment of being loved by him was worth more than a million as a human with someone else, and as he continued to touch me I banished all other thoughts from my mind. Right now was time for loving. The rest could wait for later.



Later arrived way too soon. Ryder and I showered together, which might have involved some more hot kisses, but eventually we had to face reality. Thankfully, reality was an awake bestie with familiar hazel eyes.

I ran to her room, skidding to a halt inside the door. She was propped up on some pillows, still thin and pale, but looking much better than yesterday. She’d brushed her hair and everything.

“Charlie!” she shrieked, flinging her arms wide.

I didn’t hesitate, diving onto her and pretty much crushing her spine as I hugged her tightly.

“I told you so,” I said into her hair, and there was a split second of silence before she cracked up laughing. It burst from her in a torrent as her body shook against mine.

“You’ve been waiting to say that since the day I turned vamp, haven’t you?”

I pulled back and met her laughing eyes. “Yes, you stupid biatch. I could kick your ass so badly, but you have no idea how happy I am to see you alive and human.”

She sobered up then, and something dark flittered across her eyes. Her weeks in the Hive had not been a happy time, and I knew it would be a long while before she was okay with what had happened.

“I’m sorry about Blake,” I said gently. “I’m so sorry.”

Her face crumpled; her hands clutched at my shirt and I could see by how white her knuckles were that she was holding on with everything she had. “I miss him. My heart literally aches just knowing I’ll never see him again … that he’ll never touch me again … that I won’t wake next to him one more time. I’m not ready to give him up.”

She broke my heart; I felt every single word. If something happened to Ryder I would … lose my mind. I had no platitudes for her. Sometimes in these deep moments of grief, people wasted words, saying “Everything’s going to be okay,” and “You’re so strong, blah blah.” I wouldn’t do that to Tessa, I wouldn’t cheapen her pain. I knew what she needed and that was for me to listen. So I did.

I nodded and stroked her back and she cried and talked about Blake, and finally when she quieted I realized she had fallen back asleep. Kissing her forehead, I slipped out of the door to find out what had happened to Lincoln. Did he turn? Had Sasha killed him yet? Did my blood do something whack to him? Turn him into a zombie? As I turned the corner and made my way out into the living room, I was relieved to see him alive, drinking orange juice and giving Sasha his finger for her to prick and do another test.

She looked up when she heard me enter and graced me with a huge smile.

“He’s being annoying. It’s his third test in three hours. All clear!”

I grinned and stepped closer to Lincoln, meeting his gaze. Why not say it twice in one morning?

“I told you so.”

He chuckled. “Yes, you did.”

Before I could reply, Kyle came running inside from the backyard. He was holding a smart phone, one of Lincoln’s guys right on his tail.

“Turn on the TV, boss,” Lincoln’s boy said.

Kyle met my gaze and just shook his head. Oh fuck. What now? Did the Hive burn to the ground? Lucas dead? The rest of the ash dead too?

The TV blared to life and the emergency warning was going off, that high pitched blaring that the government reserved for times of nuclear war and shit. Then a newscaster came on. Her blond hair was pulled tight into a bun and she looked frazzled, but was smiling holding some papers in her shaking hands.

“The associated press received some startling information this morning.” My picture popped up on screen in the upper right hand corner, a place reserved for terrorist and murders. “There’s a cure for vampirism, a twenty-one-year-old Portland, Oregon, native, Charlene Bennett. We have confirmed blood results. We are asking for your help in finding this girl so we can work toward a cure for everyone.”

“Fuck!” Ryder’s loud curse scared me from my stupor. He never said fuck, that was my word. This was bad on a whole other level.

By the time I took a step toward him, Ryder had already hauled Lincoln up out of his chair and had him against the wall. Without missing a beat, Sasha pulled her gun, pointing it at the back of Ryder’s head.

“Stop it!” I yelled. “It wasn’t Lincoln. Think about it. Anyone could have spilled this information. Fugly might have organized for someone inside the Hive to send my blood results to the humans if he died, or if the Tessa plan didn’t work. Come on, this stinks of vampire. They want the humans’ help in finding me, and then they’ll take me out before anyone even realizes.”

Ryder took a steadying breath and set Lincoln down as Sasha removed the gun from his head. Yeah, we all had some trust issues to work on. Lincoln didn’t seem fazed though, he just started barking orders at his men, and Sasha came in closer to my side.

“We need to disguise you and you need to run.”

She was right. Lincoln would have to report to his superiors again soon. If I wasn’t still with him, it would be easier for him to skirt the truth of my whereabouts. Not to mention they’d be hitting every surveillance and CCTV footage in Portland trying to find me. The picture they’d showed on TV was from college, with my long hair, but I was still easily recognizable. The eyes were a dead giveaway.