Anarchy (Hive Trilogy, #2)(18)



After I was ready, I threw on my walkie and weapon and decided to find the other enforcers. I needed to talk about what the hell happened yesterday. Power-walking from my room, I slammed to a stop in the living room. Lucas was just casually sitting on my couch, wearing all white as usual, with a bottle of blood in his hand.

“Hey, Lucas,” I said, recovering quickly. This was another obvious “how times have changed” moment. Vamp on my couch, no problem. Blood for breakfast? Sign me up. I was turning into a regular old champion at all of this effed-up shit in my life.

“Charlie…” He nodded to me. Something in his voice gave me pause. He seemed extra stiff … mad even.

I found myself stepping closer, eyebrows raising as I tried to figure out what was wrong. “What’s up?” I finally asked, having no real clue.

Lucas took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “You haven’t been honest with me, have you?”

It’s amazing how quickly you can go from calm to full-on panic attack—heart racing, shallow breaths, weak legs. Shit. Did Lucas know I was the cure? Did I trust him? If he tried to take me, could I make it past him and to my boys?

“What do you mean?” I tried my best not to sound nervous, but dammit my voice shook.

Lucas tapped the couch and I reluctantly went to sit next to him. My gut said I could trust him. I always had this women’s intuition thing; it had never let me down before.

Lucas’s eyes pulsed silver for a moment as he inhaled my scent, but he had the grace to shake it off and continue: “Your father, the Original of the fourth house, is alive.”

I released the breath I had been holding. Okay, that. Well, I wasn’t keen on giving up the knowledge that he was still alive, but it was better than him knowing I was the cure. That shit needed to stay on lockdown.

“Oh really? I didn’t know that for sure actually. My mom told me she got some money in her account every year and assumed it was from him.” At least this was something which I could honestly answer him on.

Some of the stiffness left him then. “Yes, the Quorum acted against my wishes and tapped your mother’s bank account. They have traced the sums of money she gets every Christmas to an account in Switzerland. It was registered under a fake name. Which was enough to raise suspicion further, suspicion which started with your very strong levitation abilities in the culling. They took the last image of Carter, and using facial recognition, cross referenced all CCTV footage they could get their hands on.”

My heart was beating like crazy in my chest. What the f*ck was the Quorum doing spying on my mother’s bank account? And more importantly…

“Did they find him?”

This guy was my dad and my mom loved him, so if he was alive and walking around I wanted to know what the hell he was up to.

Lucas took a sip of his blood. “We have footage of Carter Atwater boarding a private plane in Canada.”

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed. He was actually still alive.

Lucas’ normally flawless and gorgeous face was strained and wore the lines of stress. He reached over and placed a hand on mine as he leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“Even though they have not tied him to the money transfers, they now know that Carter is alive. And, well, I think the Quorum has put two and two together about his relationship to you. Despite what I’ve managed to fake in your blood work, I’m not sure how much longer I can protect you in here, Charlie. The Quorum has been meeting in secret without me, and it may only be a matter of time before they decide you’re too much of a risk to keep alive.”

My blood chilled at his declaration. He pulled back, resting easily against the couch, and patted my hand.

“Let’s take it one day at a time, okay?” he said, still whispering. “I just wanted to make sure you were aware, and if I know Ryder at all, he’s already taken steps to ensure a timely exit if it’s required.”

Lucas’s words reminded me that I needed to share this information with my enforcer team.

I nodded. “Okay, thanks for stopping by and letting me know.”

I wasn’t sure whether it was the events with Deliverance or this new threat to my existence, but something inside of me snapped. A fight-or-flight instinct was raging within me, demanding I either confront the vamp *s or run so I never had to see them again.

I had no idea why the hell the Quorum feared the Originals so much. Why the f*ck was I—one little ash female—even on their radar? It didn’t make sense, unless they knew something about Originals and the cure or some shit. If my father was alive, maybe it was in our best interest to try and find him also, get some answers before someone decided to try and kill or kidnap me again.

One thing was for sure—these weak-ass Quorum vampires clearly had no issues with killing off someone they perceived to be a threat. And I hated to admit it, but they could wipe me out no problem if they wanted to.

I missed my old life then, and Tessa especially. I ached for her smartass comments about what I was wearing and the way she always seemed to look on the bright side of every situation.

As Lucas stood to leave, things felt a little awkward between us. He politely excused himself, leaving in a silent visage of white.

In a daze I made my way to the enforcer locker room, although I managed a chuckle when I saw someone had drawn a dress over the stick figure man on the sign stuck to the door.

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