Anarchy (Hive Trilogy, #2)(35)





Thanksgiving was beyond perfect; I didn’t want it to end. We ate until we were stuffed to the brim. Everything tasted so good. On top of the food, it was the atmosphere which made it so special—relaxed and peaceful. It felt like the last few months of blood, murder, and drama in the Hive had never happened.

The enforcers made a few halfhearted efforts to duck back and forth to the Hive, but most of them spent their time snacking and napping lazily on the couch. A few of us played board games with my mom. Can I just say that Jayden is a competitive bastard—and he cheats.

Eventually, though, as the day faded out to night, and with the blood thirst gnawing at the back of my throat, we said our goodbyes. Ryder pretty much had to pry me from Tessa and my mom’s arms. It was only the knowledge that I couldn’t drag them into my shitty life that forced me to leave.

As we piled into the Humvees and drove out of my neighborhood, I looked back at my house, my heart and throat aching as I fought my tears. That life was gone. I guess I just needed to come to terms with it. A strong hand squeezed my thigh.

“It was a good day,” Ryder told me, and I could tell he was trying to ease some of my heartache. “Keep those memories safe, and I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that’s not the last holiday you spend with them.”

I managed to smile, before turning away to lock my burning eye on the world outside. I didn’t want to cry. I’d probably never stop if I started. Ryder pulled us onto the freeway and almost instantly the car sped up—like in a pedal to the metal way. I swung my head back around to see what was happening. Ryder’s face was hard now, furrows along his brow as his eyes flicked to the rearview mirror.

“Black van. Three cars back,” Kyle said from the back seat.

Ryder nodded. “I see it. Radio the boys.”

Oh shit. What now? Not on Thanksgiving. Did these people have no patriotic pride?

Sam leaned forward, close to my ear. “Buckle up, Charlie.”

My heart began to pump harder, fear burning through my body.

“Who is it?” I asked as I clicked my seat belt on.

Ryder was still moving fast, far too quickly to be safe on the roads, especially as we swerved in and out of traffic.

Kyle’s voice came from the back seat. “Sam’s running plates but nothing is coming up. Looks like humans though. My guess is that it’s a little bit of payback for our recent financial do-gooding.”

Deliverance. Those bastards had almost killed my boyfriend and now they were ruining Thanksgiving. I popped open the glove box and grabbed the gun Markus had been training me with.

Ryder gave me a side look and grinned. I think the boy liked me when I got all pissed and weaponed up.

“Hold on,” he said as he jerked the car to the right, crossing over three lanes and exiting on Murray street.

Screeching tires behind us indicated the Deliverance truck had managed to stay right on our ass. Our other Humvee, with Jayden, Oliver, and Jared inside, slotted themselves in behind the van.

“Can we call the human police? Wouldn’t they want to know these maniacs are doing this?” I was having flashbacks of a bleeding Markus and nearly dead Ryder. I didn’t ever want to relive that.

Kyle actually chuckled, before sobering a bit. “Maybe before our evil bosses stole and infected a twelve-year-old girl.”

Shit. Good point.

I was watching the rearview mirror and my stomach dropped when the van’s sunroof opened and a guy holding a large machine gun popped up.

“Ryder!”

“I see it! Hold on!”

Static sounded from behind me and I heard Kyle radio across to the other car. “Van sandwich,” he said.

Sam was at my ear again. “Brace yourself, Charlie.”

I had a split second to reach for the “oh shit” bar before Ryder slammed on the brakes. The Deliverance van’s brakes squealed and I saw the entire vehicle wobble as they tried to avoid us, but they’d been way too close. The crash was loud and hard, and I was thrown forward against my belt. At the same time, I heard a final gunning of an engine and another crash and jolt as the second Hummer smashed into the van, pinning it between the two of our vehicles.

Without skipping a beat, Ryder slammed his foot down again, our tires spinning for a second before there was a wrenching of metal on metal and we were free. A quick glance back told me that Jayden’s car had also managed to reverse out of the crash, and was now following us. I could see the slight crumple to the front of their Hummer but nothing too crazy. Okay, clearly these vehicles were army-spec reinforced, because that had been a hard hit.

Wanting to see the Deliverance van better, I tried to turn my head all the way around, wincing at the twinge in my neck. I twisted around far enough to see that the van was completely crushed and clearly undrivable. Humans were stumbling out of it.

My attention was back in the car then as Ryder reached out and gently touched my lip. “Trust me, that hurt worse for them. You okay?” As he pulled back I looked down at his thumb to see a little blood. I must have bitten my lip by accident, something which tends to happen when you go from eighty miles an hour to a dead stop.

As the metallic and sort of sweet scent of my blood filled the car, Ryder’s eyes began to slightly pulse—silver to black—the way the vampires’ did when they couldn’t resist my blood. It had been a while since anyone vamped out on me. The enforcers especially were used to my unicorn blood now. I was pretty sure there was more than blood on Ryder’s mind right then, though.

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