This rig was of the super deluxe variety. I had always wondered what the inside of one of these looked like, and this one did not disappoint. It was like a motel on steroids.
Ryder was in the captain’s chair, expertly controlling the massive semi and wearing his Cellway blood lab group vest. Kyle and I were behind him, playing cards on a table set up in the mini five foot living room. Yes, a freakin’ living room! Also in here were two couches that faced each other and a tiny kitchenette equipped with all the mod cons, including sink and the cutest tiny microwave you ever saw.
It was well over a day’s drive to Dallas, so we decided to take shifts sleeping and driving and just go all the way through. We were stopped a few times during Ryder’s shift, when we needed to weigh our load, but luckily no one looked too closely at me.
When Kyle switched with Ryder, I found myself snuggled in my boyfriend’s arms. Both of us squished on the little twin-size couch. I knew he was exhausted from driving, but he still tucked me into his body, facing him, and played with my hair.
His silvery eyes locked onto mine, staring at me in that way he had, where I knew I was the only thing he saw. I didn’t say anything, cherishing this time we had together. It might be the last snuggle before hell broke loose.
“Charlie…” His voice was gruff.
“Yes?” I said, resting my hand against his face.
“Have you ever been to Hawaii?” His eyelids were drooping, but my laugh had them snapping open again.
“No. Random. I have not been to Hawaii.” Hello, I grew up with a single mom. I had barely ever left Portland unless Tessa was paying.
He graced me with one of his insanely sexy smiles. “There’s this little cove. It’s a secret only locals know about. It’s full of turtles. I want to take you snorkeling there when this is all over.”
A huge smile broke out onto my face at the thought of walking hand in hand on the white sand beaches of Hawaii with Ryder. The sun high in the sky. Not a care in the world. Yes, I wanted that. His eyes were closing again and I knew he was seconds from sleep.
“I’d like that.” I kissed his chin and let his rhythmic breathing lull me to sleep.
Chapter 11
Kyle’s deep voice awoke me from what had been a surprisingly restful sleep. “Wake up, kids! It’s almost show time.”
I peeled my eyes open to see Ryder staring at me. Had he been awake watching me? Creepy or cute? Hmm … little bit of both. I sat up, pretty sure that my gothic makeup had officially dripped all over my face and I now looked like a half dead zombie.
Ryder sat up as well. “How far out until the hospital drop?” he asked as I fiddled in my bag for my toothbrush.
“About three miles out. I got a text from Sanctum. They’re in place.”
And just like that my stomach scrunched with nerves. Brushing my teeth quickly in the tiny sink, I decided it was best not to try and find a mirror. Adjusting my nose ring, and running my hands through my hair would have to count as “getting ready.”
After Ryder brushed his teeth, he opened the small fridge and passed around some bottles of blood. “Drink up. We need to look as normal as possible if this is going to go down.”
I guzzled the blood and then we all made sure our contacts were in. Kyle and Ryder still looked way too gorgeous to be normal humans, but hopefully they would pass for really hot models that happened to have side jobs truck driving.
It could happen.
As Kyle maneuvered through the streets, which was easy with the huge lanes here, we all kept an eye out for University Medical Centre, which was the hospital in this region that handled blood for the Hives. The moment the distinctive building came into view, I shrugged on my Cellway vest and settled myself in near the back of our rig. No need to draw attention to the clown makeup goth girl. I’d let the boys handle any security.
Part one of our plan went off without a hitch. Sam had detailed maps explaining the back entrance and how we get to the loading docks. Besides two rent-a-cops on the entrance gate, we had no one stop us and soon we were pulling up to the large, industrial space. Kyle swung himself out of the rig and took some time to chat with whomever worked these docks. Ryder let him go, waiting for the signal to start unloading.
Kyle’s blond head popped in through the now open back door. “All set, let’s unload the bottles.” Ryder got out straight away, but I knew I was to remain hidden, although I might have snuck over to peer out the window. My eyes were immediately drawn to the five men standing on the edge of the dock. They were wearing white lab coats, and three of them had glasses. They looked very much like Becca in her science lab glory, but I recognized at least four of them as Sanctum people. Not that there was anything immediately obvious, but I knew some of their faces, and I also recognized the way they moved. Ash did not move in the same way as humans, they were more like jungle cats. Not to mention they were all gorgeous.
They prowled. Took control. Sat at the top of their jungle abode and disdainfully stared down at everything rushing past them. It was also how I knew at least one of those five was a human, an actual lab person who would probably, unknowingly, help to add this cure to all Hive blood.
I could hear them chatting through the window. “All the humans are here, in the back area,” a Sanctum male said. “We’ll give them the flu shot and then the bus ships them out in four hours.”
The humans were going to be injected with a version of the cure – under the pretense of a vaccine to keep them healthy – which would reproduce in their blood, and as long as they were fed on within the next month or so, the vampire would get a full dose. The bottled blood was going to be the time-consuming part. The donated blood was stored in bags in the refrigerators. Each of those bags was used to fill the UV bottles, which were then delivered to the Hives. Apparently it took a full day for them to distribute the blood into the bottles with special machinery. The bottles were then sealed, a process which mixed the cure and blood cells together, before going into the refrigerated containers and onto private jets which dispatched to all the Hives.
It was a huge job. But there was no other option.
Ryder and Kyle were offloading the wooden pallets from the back of the rig. There were hundreds of pallet crates, and within each was a thousand cure-laced bottles.
The human was right there in the midst, unknowingly helping us take down the vamps. Sanctum wore game faces, but they were excited, I could tell. They wanted us to take out the vampires.
