Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(6)

I closed the distance between us. “Don’t mind at all.”

He eyed my lips, and a softness trickled across his hard features. It was one of those special little things he did only around me.

Then a small smile quirked the side of his lips. “Should I be worried that Jayden just asked me if I wore boxers, briefs, or a thong?”

I busted out laughing. I loved my BAFF hard; he was exactly what these serious enforcers needed. Ryder’s smile went to full throttle, but just for a moment, before it was replaced with a strained expression.

“What’s up?” I prodded.

He sighed. “We left them, Charlie. We just left them all to the whims and tempers of the vampires.”

Tension skated across my body then and my chest got weirdly tight. Breathing was harder than it had been a minute ago. I knew exactly what Ryder was talking about, and it was something I was trying not to dwell on, but it was slowly eating me up inside.

He was worried about his other enforcers. Being the lead enforcer, he had trained every single one of them, working with many of them for years. And although he was closest with the sexy six, he still cared for all the others. They were his team.

I stepped even closer to him, our warmth wrapping around each other. “We left Tessa, Blake, and Lucas too. If there was another way, I would have taken it.”

He pulled me into his arms and I rested my head against his hard chest. “I know,” he murmured.

Most of the time I felt like a single, pretty insignificant person. But then there were these moments, like this, where I felt bigger, like I could do something grand, something unthinkable. I was the goddamn cure to our problem.

“Ryder…” I pulled back and he met my eyes. “We have to save them all. The ash. My friends. I want to bring down the Hives. Annihilate the vampires whose power and corruption is polluting our world.”

Ryder’s face was a mixture of surprise and pride. He nodded once, and I knew that even if we died trying, we would wipe vampires from the face of the Earth. This was the reason I was here.

We remained in our comforting hug for many long moments. I could sense that Ryder was as reluctant as me to part ways and get back to reality, but unfortunately, even in the middle of nowhere, real life was continuing. And we had things to do.





Chapter 2


Ryder and I walked hand in hand through the maze of containers to the boys’ room. I was shocked at how large their bunk room was, three shipping containers wide with the middle walls cut out. Each container had a set of bunkbeds with curtains between them that could be pulled for privacy. There were also couches, a pool table, and a TV in a common area. I had a feeling this was going to be the hangout part of this facility.

Becca wasn’t in the room. She must be back in the lab geeking out over my blood.

As soon as we entered, Jayden looked up from the computer.

“Charlie, you’re a 36C right?” he asked.

My eyes widened as Kyle and Jared cleared their throats. Ryder leveled a look at Jayden; it was a look I’d seen many times. It meant you should stop talking. Now.

Of course that didn’t worry my BAFF at all. He was still staring at me, so I nodded to let him know he was right.

Jayden’s hands were again flying over the computer keys and I had no doubt that in twenty-four hours there would be four FedEx delivery trucks full of Victoria’s Secret, Coach, and other goodies. Jayden was a brand whore, and he had excellent taste in everything.

Ryder was suddenly all business. “Sam. Report.” All eyes turned to the dark-haired enforcer in the corner, hunched over a laptop. He took a really long time to finally look up from the screen, and my heart dropped as I lurched toward him. Pure agony was swimming in his eyes.

What the hell had happened?

“You guys need to see this,” he said, his voice gruff. It sounded like he was on the verge of tears; his skin was sickly pale.

Everyone crowded around Sam, who was back to staring at his screen, face now void of all emotion.

“Tell us!” Ryder barked, so loud I jumped. Oh shit. This was bad, this was going to be really bad. Don’t be my mom or Tessa please.

Sam met Ryder’s eyes. “Before we left I made a back door into the CCTV at the Hive so we could watch what they were doing.”

Okay, that was creepy and genius. I braced myself for the next thing he was going to say.

Sam actually bit down on his lip. “They killed them … all of them.”

Ryder sagged against me. For the first time I saw something like fear and horror cross all of the enforcers’ faces.

“Who?” I didn’t know what he was talking about, but the boys seemed to understand. They all looked devastated.

Sam’s hands were gripped tightly into fists as he fought for control. He had to clear his voice more than once. “The enforcers, ninety-seven of them … all dead.”

No! God, no.

Jayden lost it then, cursing, crying, kicking out at things as Oliver wrapped his arms around him to try and calm him down.

Tears welled in my eyes. God dammit! Those asshole bloodsuckers were doing this to hurt us. To punish us for leaving. The enforcers had stopped taking orders once they suspended Ryder and this is what they got. Mass murder.

It took minutes – felt like hours – for Ryder to collect himself. He straightened, and the look on his face sent shivers down my spine and had my knees buckling.