Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(62)

He dropped the knife and went limp, hunching forward. I heard his curses, my heart freezing as he recovered enough to raise his gun hand. Before I could shout out a warning to Tessa, she wrapped her hand around the gun. They wrestled with it for a moment, but Tessa had surprise on her side.

Her eyes were wild as she twisted it back into his body, and no hesitation squeezed the trigger, nailing him right in the chest. The bang was deafening, and blood splattered on Tessa’s white hair. Blake’s body dropped to the ground at an odd angle.

Knowing my friend was safe now, I could finally turn toward the body on the ground, the man who had saved me. I’d known the second I saw the white coat, but even as I dived across the rocky ground toward him, my mind refused to believe it was Lucas.

A whimper left my throat as I crashed to his side, the rough ground tearing through my pants. Lucas was bleeding from his stomach and chest. I ripped off my jacket, trying not to panic at the way his breaths were coming out in short, labored bursts. I pressed my jacket to his wounds, focusing on the one over his chest.

“Medic!” I shouted, as hot tears ran down my face. This couldn’t be happening, not to Lucas. He’d sacrificed so much and had been this close to a normal life. My head spun around, trying to see if anyone was coming to help. “Help!” I screamed again.

Tessa stood there frozen, shaking from shock. She just killed her fiancé. I couldn’t blame her for not running to get help.

“Shh,” Lucas told me, and coughed as blood dripped and spluttered out his mouth.

I moved my face closer to his, keeping the pressure firm on his chest, but also needing to hug my friend.

Our gazes locked, and already his dark blue eyes looked glassy. Shit, he had blue eyes. I never knew that. He attempted to smile, but it was weak. “No, no, no,” I cried, hugging myself even closer. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to have a happy ending.”

Those big blue eyes disappeared for a second. He blinked, and it took a long time for his eyes to open again. He was fading away. Dammit! He was human. A vampire would survive these wounds. In a way, it was my cure that killed him.

Lucas reached out and stroked my cheek. “I saved you … I’m going to be … with my wife and kids now.” His breathing was raspy as he struggled for words. “I got to be human … that’s happy enough for me.”

I couldn’t hold back the sob that hit me. You know how there are moments when you’re supposed to try to be strong for those around you? This was one of those and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep myself from ugly crying all over him.

“Shhh,” he said again, and that was his last word. Life left his eyes. I clutched him closer to me, even though I knew he was gone. His body was still warm, but the essence which had always followed Lucas around was no more. He was no more.

Eventually cold hard anger replaced my sorrow. Lucas had saved me so many times. From my first day in the Hive up until now, he had been my angel. And now he was dead in an alley. He deserved better.

“Fuck!” I shouted, wiping my tears and pulling out both of my guns, replacing the cure cartridge with bullets. Fuck the cure. Any vampire left now was a dead one. They’d chosen to fight, to follow Allistair and his minion Blake. Now they would face the consequences.

Tessa looked afraid. “Charlie?”

I must have looked like a maniac, covered in Lucas’ blood, holding two guns, streams of tears still coating my cheeks.

“Humans are dying. I gotta help and you’re not safe alone. You know how to use a gun?” She sure as hell had handled Blake like an expert. I held one of my kill guns out to her and she took it, stepping even closer. Her eyes were sad as she knelt beside Lucas. She made the sign of the cross over his chest and closed his eyes. “Lucas taught me to protect myself,” she said, standing again.

Of course he did. I told him to look after my bestie in the Hive, and he did, like a fucking gentleman. The world had lost a good man.

“Stick to my ass, and if you see any vampires, shoot to kill.” I wanted these assholes to die. I wanted revenge. Blake’s death wasn’t enough. Lucas had been human, and he’d drunk the blood wine at the same time as everyone else, which had to mean most were or would soon be human. I needed to take out as many vampires as I could before they were human too.

A shout cut through my red murderous haze. As if the universe thought I hadn’t been through enough tonight, Oliver’s bellow rang through the night. “JAYDEN!”

“Oh fuck!” I shouted, and took off running like I was in the goddamn Olympics. “Oliver!” I shouted, trying to pinpoint where I’d heard the scream.

“Charlie!” Oliver screamed and when I burst out of the alley. I took a right, heading toward his voice. I kept close to the walls but bullets snapped at my feet. Shit. Sniper. I was pleased to hear Tessa’s footsteps pounding behind me. Bitch hated running, and at this speed she would probably collapse and die when we got there. But I couldn’t think about anything other than Jayden. Oliver was a badass mother, and nothing short of death would make him scream like that.

“Charlie!” Oliver shouted, and I burst into the open building. The door had been blown off. Holy shit, this was my favorite coffee shop. Oliver was crouching over Jayden’s lifeless body. Oh my God, so much blood. Jayden was lying in a pool of blood as big as an elephant. Oliver was holding his leg, which was spurting in tiny little streams.