That was why I’d hatedash, right up until the moment I became one. Now I realized it was wrong tohate an entire race just because of a few bad souls. Just like with humans,there were good and bad in the Hive. I could see that now, and I was more thanready to protect my newfound home and family. I was prepared to embrace my ashside and kick some ass.
Chapter 10
Ryder was grim-faced as he stared out ofhis window, seeming to be lost in thought. Kyle pulled the Humvee in behindsome trees, on the outer perimeter of the Hive fence. Blue lights and sirenswere flickering around, casting everyone’s faces in a ghostly shadowing. OurHive was in lockdown, standard operating procedure in these situations. Ryderleaned down and pulled a duffle bag out from under the seat. He rifled throughfor a moment, retrieving two pairs of hand suction cups. I recognized them fromthe training room.
“Sam, Markus, you scalethe outside windows and hang outside of Charlie’s apartment.”
He tossed them thesuction cups. Holy shit, like seriously? They were going to scale the thirty-threefloors to my apartment with only a suction cup to keep them from falling?Before I could express both my worry and incredulity of this, the boys hadalready slipped from the Humvee and taken off into the dark of night. Iglimpsed them scaling the high razor wire wall like it was no big deal. Thenthey were gone.
Ryder looked at Kyle.“You and Jared create a big-ass distraction. Drive the Humvee into the lobbyfor all I care, just make sure all eyes and cameras are on you.”
“No worries, mate.” Thesurfer dude Aussie looked completely relaxed, like he’d just agreed to ridesome gnarly waves, not crash his car into a building.
Ryder then turned toOliver and I. “Oliver, you’re with me and Charlie. We’ll head to her apartment,where I’m almost certain the Sanctum will be waiting for us, with Jayden as a hostage.”
Oliver clenched his teethand nodded. My stomach dropped. No, no, no, no! Jayden better be okay, ormercenaries or not I was killing myself some ash tonight.
“I’m coming with you?” Ihadn’t expected him to allow that so easily.
Ryder’s face was scarywarrior right now. I got legit chills. “You, Charlie, are my shadow. Where Iwalk, you walk. If I tell you to get down, you get down. If I am not satisfiedthat you are listening to me, I will knock you out and stuff you in a closet.Do you understand?”
Damn. Ryder didn’t fuckaround. “Glue myself to your ass – got it!”
He cracked a hint of asmile then and handed me a sleek black pistol. “I’m told you know how to useone of these.” He glared at Kyle, who tried to hide a smirk. No guns were usedin the culling, but subduing the ash on that call last week hadn’t been thefirst time I’d fired a gun. After my attack I took defense classes, and rightnow the cool weight of it in my hand was oddly comforting.
Ryder took a deep breath,rolling his head side to side, “Oliver, if after we get in the apartment I sayto get Jayden and Charlie out of there…”
Oliver nodded. “I getthem out.”
Ryder seemed satisfied.“Let’s do this.” He picked up the CB radio. It was time to let them know wewere coming in. Of course, they didn’t know that most of us wouldn’t be comingin the front door. “Core enforcer team inbound, ETA sixty seconds.”
Jason’s voice returnedimmediately: “Thank God. Three men breeched security, killed ten of ours, andnow can’t be found.”
Shit. Three mercenariescrawling around my home? I would never sleep again.
“We’ll take care of it,”Ryder radioed back, and looked at all of us. “Happy hunting.”
Kyle grinned. “You knowthat CB isn’t secure from the Sanctum.”
Ryder grinned back. “Iknow.”
His boots slammed down onthe asphalt, and Oliver and I followed. Thank God I decided to wear my flatboots tonight. Tires screeched as Kyle peeled out in the Humvee with Jared. Theywere our distraction. In seconds we were at the chain-link fence. Once we crossedit we’d be right outside the huge laundry room, and our best way in undetected.
I groaned as I looked atthe tall fence with razor wire at the top. “Why don’t we go in through thefront door?”
Ryder gave me a look fromthe corner of his eye. “Because of Manuel.” I raised an eyebrow, and lucky forhim he continued his explanation. “The Sanctum’s sniper. Come on. Enough talk.”
He jumped up and beganclimbing the fence. Oliver and I followed. Shit, this was harder than itlooked. My fingers were cutting into the wire and the holes weren’t big enoughfor my feet. The cold wasn’t helping at all, but at least there was no snow orrain to dampen the journey. The boys were smoother than me, but they had gloveson and I didn’t. Halfway up, I winced. My fingers looked like they were turningpurple.
Ryder looked down at me.“What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, “Nothing.”I went to reach that next section of fence when my fingers slipped. Thankfully,I caught myself at the last second. The plunge to the ground would not havebeen pleasant.
Near the top, Rydergrabbed a chunk of the barbed fence and pulled himself over. He reached down tohelp me over the last part. His strength easily hoisted me up, and I was justswinging my leg over, my butt close to his face, when I slipped again, and weboth almost fell off the side. I was about to recover my position when asnapping sound drew my attention. Ryder knocked me down again, the barbscutting into my body, and I realized what it had been. A bullet. Which hadscraped right between us, only missing because I’d slipped at that lastsecond.
Ryder wasted no time then.His huge hand basically lifted me up and hoisted me off the fence. “Softlanding and roll, Charlie!” he shouted.
I flailed for the entirefifteen-foot drop but was proud that I didn’t scream. I braced for the jolt asmy legs slammed on the ground and sharp pain shot up my shins. Apparently thesoft landing part had completely passed me by.
