“BUT … you have a point. We need to get the humans on our side. So, I have a plan…”
Sam with the plan. Always. He stared at the grass for a minute and I could see the wheels turning in his head. Then he grinned.
“Out with it!” I prodded him.
“We get a hold of the blackmail files and start making the crooked politicians work for us. Just until this battle is over. Then we send it all to the press.”
My mouth hung open. “You want to blackmail people?”
Oliver and Markus were nodding. Sam even smiled. “I do. It’s the only way to ensure their silence.”
Shit, those photos of that guy with the gag ball in his mouth, that stuff was awful. I didn’t want the bad karma of dealing with that. But … we needed all the help we could get.
“How do we get the files?” I asked. Last time I checked they were in the basement of Portland Hive.
“Lucas,” Ryder said. Our man on the inside.
My sweet vampire that had a major ashpire crush would do anything to help us.
Sam busted out his secure laptop. “I’ll get word to him. If he can scan the files and upload them to my secret server, then burn the originals, we would be in business.”
That was a lot to ask my vampire ally. We had already asked enough of him, but this could really seal the deal with the humans. If we could cut off all outside help and control the Hives fully, we had a shot at taking them all out.
“Okay let’s do it.”
We barely slept, Sam was up all night counting responses from the Hives on the network and communicating back and forth with Lucas on a secure server. Lucas had agreed to do it. He was going to have a trusted ash infiltrate the filing room so that it couldn’t be traced back to him. He said things were getting rough in the Hive and that Fugly was getting closer to Tessa. I didn’t like that shit. At all. I wanted to drive down there and get her ass out of the Hive, but obviously that wouldn’t work.
Jared’s buddy had already left to catch the morning waves, and as much as the golden-haired enforcer wanted to join him, he stayed with us so we could plan our next move.
“I think we should split up,” Ryder said. “A few of us will meet with Zack, give him back the phone and make sure their Hive is up to date with the plan. Meanwhile, Charlie and some of the guys pack up our stuff here so we’re ready to move out.”
I glared, hoping he didn’t think I was too stupid to realize what he was doing. Making sure he kept me safe in the beach house. Whatever.
“Move out where?” I asked. What was our next move?
Ryder’s expression was calm, but his eyes were swirling. “While we wait for Lucas to get the files to us, we need to get a vampire or two to Becca so she can test the cure serum. We have to be ready to distribute it through the hospital systems before the Christmas shipments go out.”
Sam nodded. “Becca tells me she has a few batches ready to go. But she does need some test subjects.”
Well, that should be easy. Just kidnap a vamp or two and hope for the best.
When did this become my life?
Chapter 6
Ryder, Kyle, and Sam took off for the little café again. They had the secure device with them, and they hoped Zack would be there so they could figure out a way for us to communicate directly with him. That way he could keep the ash around the world updated as the plan progressed. Sam said the phone had locked him out again. Zack had allowed us our one chance to post and now he was back in control. I knew the silent enforcer was impressed with that. “Always have a backup plan” was his motto.
After they left, the rest of us sat around, waiting. Markus, Oliver, and Jared were better at it than I was. They were soldiers, and knew when to burst into action and when to conserve their energy. Meanwhile, I was a mess of worry. Tessa, Lucas, Becca. Every single one of them occupied a huge part of my mind as I tried to figure out how this was all going to play out.
Bouncing on the couch, I turned to them. “What’s the plan to kidnap vampires? How the hell are we going to get them back to Alaska? I mean, the airlines might notice if we drag gagged, cuffed, and unconscious vamps onto the plane.”
Markus flashed me a broad grin, before chuckles escaped from him. “Ah, lass, you’re good for this old ash’s heart. I think Sam plans on chartering a private plane and flying us all out again. There’s a settlement of vampires in Canada which we’ll target.”
Okay, that made sense.
“So vampires to Becca first, then files from Lucas, then get the cure to the blood banks, then we alert the humans and shit.” My words were fast and jumbled together, but for some reason I felt calmer when we had a timeline, when I could focus on the next task and know where it was all heading.
The boys exchanged grins. “Sounds about r—” Jared was cut off by an explosion ripping through the side of the house.
