Anarchy (Hive Trilogy, #2)(62)

I followed a second later, striding out into a small hall, gun held up in a ready pose. This storage room really had been the perfect room to drop out of the vents. We were directly across from the laundry chute, which was where we hoped to find the girl waiting for us. Just down the hall was the exit door to the Hive, about four meters from us.

I continued acknowledging our luck right up until Ryder opened the laundry door. It was empty. Shit! Had the Quorum gotten to the girl already? Ryder and Kyle wasted no time. They were already moving rapidly toward the exit, I guess to see if there was any sign of our team or the girl.

Ryder glanced back to make sure I was following, giving me a smile as I closed the gap between us. The door clicked open easily, so Sam had definitely lifted some of the lockdown, which hopefully meant everything else was still going right. The two enforcers disappeared out into the darkness beyond. As I neared the exit myself, I was relieved to see and hear the very familiar rumble of a Hummer.

A broad smile broke across my face to see Sam’s dark beauty. He was in the vehicle, laptop on his lap. Sitting beside him was the little girl, and I wondered if they had somehow known we were in trouble and had gotten her out just in case.

Jared, who must have been patrolling, ducked into my line of sight. He opened the back door for Ryder and Kyle, since they were already out of the building and a fair bit in front of me. I was just about to make my own exit when the Australian enforcer’s face turned a sickly white color.

“Charlie, behind you!”

I didn’t even have time to turn before a familiar jolt of electricity brought me to my knees. Straight away, my mind went fuzzy and black dots danced across my vision. Don’t pass out, don’t pass out! If I lost consciousness, I was dead. I managed to focus long enough to see the stark fear on Ryder’s face. All of the enforcers were out of the car now, coming straight for me, but they were too far away. My uncooperative body was yanked backwards and the exit door slammed shut, buzzing as it closed. The vamps had overridden Sam, which resulted in a full and complete lockdown on this section of the Hive now too.

“Charlie!” I heard Ryder’s muffled voice, followed by pops and hard slamming sounds against metal. Bullets. The attack was no use though, the Hive was specifically built to withstand this sort of violence.

I didn’t want to turn away from the door, away from Ryder, but I really had no choice. I faced my attackers, meaty #1 and #2, both of them looking extra pleased that they had me back in their clutches. Right behind them stood Allistair.

Well, shit.

My hands clenched into fists, the aftershocks of electricity still dancing on my skin. Focusing on fugly, I noticed a remote control type device in his right hand and an electric stick in his left.

“For an ash, Sam is quite good with computers, but this door won’t be opening again,” Allistair said, holding up the remote. Behind me, the heavy pounding on the door continued.

I weighed my options here: try to fight three really pissed-off vampires while my body was still weak from the shock, or buy time until I had strength? I had no weapons close by, the gun had been lost when the electricity hit me. Crap.

“Alright you got me,” I conceded, holding my hands up.

Meaty #1 and #2 surged forward and hauled me up by the armpits, starting to drag me down the hall. The Hive had a real deserted feel to it now; the sirens still blared.

I focused on Allistair. He was definitely the leader of this little squad. Guess it was a good sign that he hadn’t killed me outright, but what the hell was his plan now? And why wasn’t this crazy * on mandatory lockdown like the rest of the Quorum? I tried not to panic as each step took me further away from my family. Ryder and the boys would be going crazy, but I hoped they at least got the girl to safety before trying to rescue me. Yeah right.

The pace picked up, my feet skimming the ground as I was hauled around two corners and into a small medical room where a woman was waiting in a white lab coat.

Shit. Double shit.

Allistair got up in my face then, eyes pulsing silver. “What is it that’s so special about you?” he asked, his eyes locked hard on the vein in my neck.

“I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue,” I said calmly. “It’s a one of a kind skill.” His hand shot around and smacked me across the face.

Jesus Christ! Slapping hurt a lot worse than I thought. Ow! Despite the agonizing pain of what felt a lot like a broken jaw, I did not flinch or cry out. The only sign of my hurt was watery eyes as I stared him down.

“Take as much blood as you need to figure her secret out,” he said to the lab woman. His bent nose stood out starkly in the overly-bright fluorescents here. His skin looked a little thin and drawn also. I wondered if he was due to feed. That could explain his current crankiness. Oh, and the fact that he was a grade-A *.

The female vampire nodded. She strong-armed me onto the table, attempting to strap me down, and I fought her the best I could, but with my head ringing and her extra vampy strength, she eventually managed to secure my arms and legs.

It was so much harder than I expected to keep my cool, calm, and collected face. Four vamps against one ash unicorn. I was not liking those odds.

Putting on my best badass enforcer face, I narrowed both eyes at Allistair. “If you haven’t figured out my big bad secret by now, then why hire the Sanctum to capture me?”

Might as well information gather while I was stuck here.