I wrenched the door openagain. Ryder was still in the same position, his eyes almost purely silver now.We stared for a few long moments, and he didn’t speak as the energy stretchedbetween us. Finally, he held out a hand, asking me to take it, and jerked hishead to the hallway, asking me to trust him, to follow him.
I swallowed roughly,before nodding in a jerky moment. “Just give me a second.”
I dashed away from himinto the bathroom, where I brushed my teeth in record time. I managed to tamethe rat’s nest hair I had going on, and even threw on a clean shirt. Mine had afew blood wine stains on it.
When I stepped back intothe living area, Ryder was still in the same spot, just standing there waitingfor me, as if he had not even moved an inch while I was gone. I couldn’t stopmy feet from crossing to him. My hand slipped into his like it had been made tofit. He led me from the room, silent, his body heat and spicy scent envelopingme as we walked side by side.
I had a lot of things tosay and so many things to ask, but for now I was content to just be by his side,holding his hand. Ryder ended up leading me to the elevator, and we descendedto the ground level. Stepping through the rubble of the entrance hall, most ofthe damage from our “car crash distraction” had been repaired, but not all ofit. Once we were outside I recognized the place he was taking me. It was thatsame green area Jayden and I had sat long ago, before the culling, where theash had attacked us. Ryder and his men had stepped in.
“I never thanked youproperly for that day,” I said, breaking the silence. We were outside, standingtogether in the sun, the thick forest surrounding us. I loved the feel of thewarmth on my face, the breeze as it ruffled my hair.
Ryder shifted his head tostare into my eyes, and then he graced me with a full-on grin. My heart sort ofstopped, or stuttered at least. Ryder so rarely smiled like that, a true smile.It was all kinds of sexy and beautiful. Who was this new Ryder and could I keephim?
“That first night I sawyou in the club, I knew you were trouble.” He turned away again to stare offinto the trees. “The days before the culling only cemented my view.”
I barely heard his wordsover the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.
“You were so stubborn andwillful, fighting me every step of the way. Resisting training, resistingkilling, even though it was to save your own life. Like I said to you before,watching you fight was torture. Every single second. Knowing you could be culledbefore I had a chance to discover more of the hidden fire that fills you.Charlie, I have been emotionally dead for a lot of years, doing my duty,fighting the pain of who I am, of what I did. Not allowing anyone in. Well, I’mdone fighting it. I can’t with you.”
My breath hitched at hisadmission.
He reached out, gentlytucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You came along out of nowhere and you completelydisarmed me. You made me feel. And now I don’t know what the hell to do aboutit. I don’t know what I’m ready for…”
I leaned into him, ourbodies melting together. His honesty took me completely off guard. “We don’thave to make any rules now, Ryder. You have to find peace about what happenedto Molly. Otherwise that is a cloud which will live over us forever.”
I got all brave then,raising up on my tiptoes to press my lips to the corner of his mouth, his deliciousscent and taste drawing me in. “This is enough for me, for now,” I whisperedagainst him, and with a groan he yanked me closer, our bodies slamming intoeach other.
“Never enough with you,Charlie.”
Then he was kissing me,like the night in the karaoke club, but this time tinged with so much moredesperation. We had been through a lot since then. That night in the Hive withthe Sanctum had cemented the ties between us. Ryder had protected me and Iwould never forget it. There was a hunger in the way he kissed me, like hewould never get enough.
“Is this why you weretrying to keep me from coming back to save Jayden?” I asked as we pulled backfor air.
His swirling eyes lockedin on mine. One of his hands ran up and down my back, as if he just wanted tobe touching me. “I was angry with the situation, but also with myself. I knew Ishould not bring you back to the Hive, but I couldn’t say no to you when youneeded me to say yes. I don’t like that sort of weakness. I should always beable to do the right thing, even if it is the hard thing to do. I should beable to protect you and my team without giving in to you just because you flashthose gorgeous silver-black eyes at me.”
I smiled, dropping to myfeet, my heart still rapid as I tried to adjust to this sudden change in Ryder.He was so open. So free with his words. I wanted more of this. I wanted all ofit. But I also understood what he was trying to say.
“You did the right thing,Ryder. Any relationship works two ways. You have to trust I’m strong enough tohandle the bad as well as the good. I would rather walk into battle by yourside than cower in the car while my best friend is killed.”
He smiled again. “I’mstarting to see that, and having you by my side feels right.”
A shadowy figure steppedout of the trees then, and Ryder tensed for a moment before he realized it was afriend, not foe.
“Hey, bro, unicorn, I’vebeen looking for you guys.” Kyle loped across to us, all happy and casual-like.He was out of enforcer black, wearing dark blue slacks and a button shirt. Itwas the most formal I’d seen from Kyle. Even his unruly dirty-blond hair wasbrushed back, emphasizing the defined cheeks and broad features in his handsomeface. “Everyone is gathering in the stadium. It’s time to say farewell to ourfallen soldiers.”
Ryder didn’t say anythingmore, but as we turned and followed Kyle, things felt right between us. Westill had a long way to go. I had no idea what Ryder wanted in the long termfrom us, but this felt like a positive step in the right direction.
The Quorum were dressed in their finest attire.It seemed nearly all of the Hive was assembled. The stadium that held theculling was now completely transformed into a clean and peaceful ceremonialhall. White and blue silk draped the walls. The bloodstained fighting mats thathad covered the ground had been pulled up to reveal polished wood floors. Alarge chandelier hung in the middle of the room, giving an elegant ambiancethat had been missing from my days in this room. Before us all lay ten goldurns. Odd that the place these men fought for their lives would also become theplace they were laid to rest. A podium with a microphone stood empty, and Rydersqueezed my hand before approaching it. I stayed behind, leaning against thewall, next to Kyle and the other enforcers. My eyes remained locked on Ryder ashe sidled through and around the masses of gathered Hive members. He never evenglanced at the beautiful faces of our people around him. His focus was solelyon the enforcers he had lost. When he reached the podium, he stood very stillfor a few long moments. No one made noises or spoke. The silence felt bothrespectful and heavy. People had lost friends, and loved ones. After this timeof silence, Ryder cleared his throat and all eyes were on him.
“For centuries the ashhave laid down their lives to protect the Hive, to protect the vampires and theQuorum that govern it. These ten men died doing their jobs … protecting all ofyou. They will be remembered! They will be honored!” His voice grew strong andloud toward the end. These words were met with applause. This Hive hierarchyreally confused me. They made us kill ourselves for the opportunity to livewith them. Then, even though the vampires were physically stronger, they madeus fight to protect them. But we outnumbered them ten to one.
“These enforcers are mineto protect!” Ryder was all deadly now, his long arm pointing to all of usleaning against the wall. “And I will protect what is mine.”
There was no mistakingthat threat. Whomever the mole was should be shaking in their boots right now.I held a little hope, too, that since he so readily grouped me in with them, itwas time to mention that I really wanted to be an enforcer. Maybe he’d actuallyconsider it at this point. Please, God, don’t make me answer phones for therest of my life.
A group of enforcerswalked out military-style in a perfect line. They picked up the vases, and asthey turned to march from the stadium, golden urns cradled in their hands, theystopped only once to salute Ryder. The heaviness broke then and Ryder indicatedthat people could leave. The Quorum disbanded, and a few members trailed overto talk to the lead enforcer.
Kyle and I strolledwithin earshot, stopping in the pretense of waiting, but we were reallylistening in. I knew of most of the Quorum members now, but except for thatlovely day where they forced me to go with them to the medical wing, I had notreally met them.
