Anarchy (Hive Trilogy, #2)(22)
“How dare you get hammered without me.” I joked, and she laughed before promptly rolling over and vomiting. A blond curl bounced out of her ratty bun and I snagged it, pulling it back as she puked. Because what are friends for if not for times like these.
“Oh good,” I said, trying not to gag as I laughed. “The one thing your homeless look was missing was the smell of vomit.”
Despite the dry heaving, she laughed with me then. It warmed my heart to know that in a few days I would be stuck with my mom and this crazy chick for Thanksgiving. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I sat with her for longer than was usually allowed in feeding times, but eventually she had to leave the Hive. Jayden called my mom to pick her up and Oliver and Kyle helped me get her into the car.
My heart felt both overfilled and fractured at the sight of my beautiful mom. I used to see her at least once a week, and now we could go a month with nothing more than a few emails. It’s not as if I couldn’t arrange to meet up with her on rare, secret, occasions—like the upcoming Thanksgiving trip. Ryder would definitely figure out how to get around those rules. It’s just that it felt wrong to drag her into this dark world—people chasing me, trying to kill or kidnap my ass, knowing I was the cure and it was only going to get worse. How could I keep her close when she could easily become a possible victim or target in all of this?
I couldn’t. So distance was the key. But that didn’t make my heart ache any less.
Just before she left, my mom gave me a tight hug. “I can’t wait to see you for Thanksgiving. Remember to be there early so we can cook together.”
I nodded. We would have this day together, me, Mom, and Tessa. Just like old times, one last perfect holiday memory. It was so hard to release her; she smelled like home, like everything good and familiar, and I relished the close contact.
“Take care of Tessa, she’s just having a hard time adjusting to this.”
My mom nodded, and for the first time I noticed the strain in her face. “We all are, dear. I wish the rules were different. I wish the ash were allowed to come home. It’s not like you’re contagious.”
She kissed my cheek and got in her car, but what she said replayed in my head long after she drove off.
“Oliver, why don’t the humans let the ash live among them? Only the vampires risk spreading the virus, and surely many of the ash families would prefer they stayed with them rather than being killed off in the culling.”
Oliver gave me a side glance. “It wasn’t the humans that made that rule. I think the vampires like having us around to do all their dirty work. They declared that once the ash transformation took place, they were no longer classified as human and had to follow the rules of the vampire world. The humans were powerless to fight against it.”
My stomach threatened to bring up my lunch. WTAF! I thought there were no choices, that the humans wanted nothing to do with ash and that the culling was the best chance at survival. Were they seriously telling me it was the vampires keeping all ash from being with their families? From me possibly having my mom and Tessa permanently in my daily life, all so I could work for them, fight and kill for them? Oh hell no.
There’s only one word for the feelings that were rising up inside of me. Anarchy. Fuck the vampires and f*ck the Hive. How many years had this been going on? Killing their offspring, using us as their foot soldiers? They kept us weak and scared, killing off most of us in the cullings and then making the survivors think they were lucky to be part of the Hive world. Mind-screwing bastards.
If the humans never rejected the ash, or relegated them to the Hives, then we should be joining forces with them, rising up to demand that the vampires stopped their barbaric practices. My head was aching with all of these thoughts and questions, the anger smashing inside until I felt like I was going to go crazy.
My two bodyguards remained with me while I watched my family drive off, back to the human part of Portland, back to normal, leaving me here in blood-soaked crazy town.
Chapter 5
The next day was on the depressing side. Seeing Tessa like that and thinking about the sucktastic life for us ash … well, it had shaken me.
Seeking some sort of comfort, I found myself ditching my guards—they thought I was just ducking to the feeding room—so I could take a minute to myself outside in the garden. My new badge was all kinds of awesome, allowing me access to areas I had never been allowed to go alone before. I began wandering aimlessly, bypassing—avoiding—the many groups of ash scattered around. I couldn’t be bothered dealing with the males of the Hive today. I was still the unicorn ash, and the only thing which kept me from being harassed a lot was the fact that my wolf pack was a bunch of killer enforcers.
Knew those guys would come in handy for more than brooding and chiseled abs.
I traveled further than ever from the imposing Hive building. The grounds were quite extensive, and I knew from the “welcome” package, which was as dreary as the ones you probably got in prison, that there was about ten acres of land here. A large chunk was taken up by the enormous building, but still plenty of nature remained. The government had forbidden the vamps from building more housing or extending the Hive. They were trying to keep the numbers contained.
I found myself in a section of the forest which I’d never been before, the canopy thick and dense, and it was dark and cold on the ground level. Winter was so damn close I could feel the chill in the air, smell the fresh scent which usually meant ice or snow was around the corner. As I strolled further through the tightly-packed forest, I fought for a sense of … something. I was lost. On the other hand, things were actually okay in the Hive. I had Ryder and the guys, I was going to be an enforcer— which was a hell of a lot better than “hello, can I take your call”—but still, this feeling of unease remained.