Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(47)

Sasha pulled my hand and led me into the bathroom. She then retrieved a black makeup case with a skull on it, and after rummaging through she pulled out a small hoop earring the size of a dime.

I busted out laughing. “An earring? That’s your disguise? Might as well walk around naked in downtown Portland.” I hadn’t known her long, but I knew I could joke with her; she had that type of personality.

“Sometimes the best way to stay hidden is to stick out.” She messed with the earring and then slipped it between my nose like a septum ring. I sneezed as it scraped my skin, and then turned to look at the mirror. “I’m going goth?” I asked in disbelief. Jayden would shit himself. But if I was honest, this ring was kinda hot.

She smiled and nodded. “You’re going goth.”

The next fifteen minutes were spent giving me thick black eyeliner and dark purple lipstick, so dark it looked black in certain angles. Then she braided three small cornrows on one side of my hair and spiked up the back with gel.

I turned to look at myself in the mirror and gasped. Holy shit, I didn’t recognize myself! “You’re good,” I said, turning left and right to get the full view.

“We learned this in training.” She quickly changed topics. “So I wanted to ask you something … your friend Kyle…”

I gave her a half-grin. “Totally single, and he’d be so into taking you on a date,” I assured her.

“Really?” She seemed pleased with my answer.

Seemed even hottie badass chicks had moments of doubt. She had nothing to worry about. I’d seen the way Kyle looked at her.

She was lost in thought; her face went solemn. “We’re not allowed to date ash.”

I shrugged. “You don’t seem like the type to follow the rules.”

She chuckled. “You know me so well already.”

“Besides, I think rules will be changing once the vampires are gone,” I said. Her face brightened, and then we were busy finishing my new look.

After cutting the feet off of black tube socks and making them into arm warmers, Sasha put me in a miniskirt, black fishnets, a red corset, and black boots.

“You just have this shit lying around?” I asked her

She smirked. “We all carry disguises. Comes with the job. And since I’m the only chick, it seems I’m always playing ‘the hooker’ or ‘hot distraction.’ Men, they’re pigs, but I love their dumb asses.”

Right there with you, sister.

Finally Sasha and I exited the bathroom and I crossed back into the living room, where everyone slowly noticed my presence and stopped talking. Ryder was staring at me with his jaw half open, eyes a blaze of silver and lust, that made me think he wanted round two, STAT.

I cleared my throat and they all went back to what they were doing. Sasha slipped outside to get something and Kyle and Ryder walked over to me.

“You’re fulfilling a fantasy for me,” Ryder said.

I laughed. “Really, gothic?”

He just nodded, eyeing my dark lipstick, no doubt imagining it staining his body.

Kyle meanwhile was staring out the door Sasha had just exited through. I lowered my voice so no one would hear: “If you ask her out, she’ll say yes.”

He jerked his head back round to face me. “What … who?”

I gave him a look, one which called him on his bullshit. His eyes flicked back to the door but he didn’t say anything. He was intrigued, I could tell.

Ryder put a hand on Kyle’s shoulder, clearly seeing the same thing I had. “Great news, buddy. News which you can act on after we take out an entire race of vampires. Right now we need to focus on keeping my girlfriend alive for the next couple of days.”

Kyle was attentive again. “Right.”

The bromance was back on track. I was so happy to see these two had worked out their differences. Kyle had been pretty mad at Ryder when we first showed up here, but clearly a few life and death situations had smoothed that all over.

Lincoln joined us then. “I’m receiving intelligence that the vampires are leaking all information they have on you. Including the fact that you were working with us last night. People are going to start sniffing around soon, looking for you. You’re welcome to stay here, but…”

Ryder clapped Lincoln on the back. “You’ve been more than enough help. We need to rendezvous with the rest of our group to execute the plan. Just be ready to help when we call.”

Lincoln nodded and then looked at me. “Thank you, Charlie. I owe you one.”

I didn’t take that lightly. I knew he meant it, and that it must have been hard to say.

“We can’t take Tessa with us. She’s human now and—”

Lincoln cut me off: “I’ll keep her safe. Protect her as though she were my own.”

A fifty-pound weight lifted off my shoulders. Thank God I wouldn’t have to worry about her while trying to save my own ass from the legion of greedy humans that were about to go Charlie hunting.

I ducked back into her room, and Tessa, who was laid out on her bed reading a magazine, let out an almighty shriek. “Holy shit, Charlie. You’re goth … hot as heck goth, but still … you have on black lipstick. If I hadn’t known your cute ass my entire life I doubt I’d have recognized you.”

I laughed. “That’s the entire point. The humans are gunning for me now. They know I’m the cure. I need to stay incognito for at least another couple of days, until the plan goes into place.”