Jayden’s hand shook as he took the card. His eyes were wide and a little crazed. “Unlimited online shopping? Everyone give me your sizes. I’ll be in my room for the next three days.”
I smiled. Jayden was officially in heaven, but I was hoping they didn’t sell nipple pasties online.
Becca held up a hand. “Right. Rooms. We have mostly bunkbed-style shared barracks, but there are two private rooms. One’s mine, so ... the other…”
Ryder stepped forward. “Charlie and I will take the other one.”
Oh my GAWD. Did he just do that? I was trying to decide if it was too forward or the hottest goddamn thing ever. I went with hot. I grinned.
Wait, did Ryder just ask me to move in with him?
Jayden and Oliver gave us glares. I waggled my fingers at them in a half-wave. Sorry, bitches. I earned this.
The room I was officially sharing with Ryder was small but cozy, and most importantly it had a soft bed with a thick down comforter. I had been starting to worry I’d be stuck in a sleeping bag on a cot. I had all of seven worldly possessions at the moment, and so after putting away my cheap plastic toothbrush, plastic package of cotton granny panties, and one extra t-shirt, I went to find the boys.
Turning from the bed, I saw that Ryder was standing in the doorway watching me. His gaze was hard to read, but damn he looked sexy. Even in cheap sweatpants and a t-shirt the guy could be on a billboard.
“Hey,” I said.
He stepped in and looked around the small room. Queen bed, bookshelf, and nightstand.
“Hope you don’t mind I claimed the room for us.” His eyes were saying a lot more than his words.
I closed the distance between us. “Don’t mind at all.”
He eyed my lips, and a softness trickled across his hard features. It was one of those special little things he did only around me.
Then a small smile quirked the side of his lips. “Should I be worried that Jayden just asked me if I wore boxers, briefs, or a thong?”
I busted out laughing. I loved my BAFF hard; he was exactly what these serious enforcers needed. Ryder’s smile went to full throttle, but just for a moment, before it was replaced with a strained expression.
“What’s up?” I prodded.
He sighed. “We left them, Charlie. We just left them all to the whims and tempers of the vampires.”
Tension skated across my body then and my chest got weirdly tight. Breathing was harder than it had been a minute ago. I knew exactly what Ryder was talking about, and it was something I was trying not to dwell on, but it was slowly eating me up inside.
He was worried about his other enforcers. Being the lead enforcer, he had trained every single one of them, working with many of them for years. And although he was closest with the sexy six, he still cared for all the others. They were his team.
I stepped even closer to him, our warmth wrapping around each other. “We left Tessa, Blake, and Lucas too. If there was another way, I would have taken it.”
He pulled me into his arms and I rested my head against his hard chest. “I know,” he murmured.
Most of the time I felt like a single, pretty insignificant person. But then there were these moments, like this, where I felt bigger, like I could do something grand, something unthinkable. I was the goddamn cure to our problem.
“Ryder…” I pulled back and he met my eyes. “We have to save them all. The ash. My friends. I want to bring down the Hives. Annihilate the vampires whose power and corruption is polluting our world.”
Ryder’s face was a mixture of surprise and pride. He nodded once, and I knew that even if we died trying, we would wipe vampires from the face of the Earth. This was the reason I was here.
We remained in our comforting hug for many long moments. I could sense that Ryder was as reluctant as me to part ways and get back to reality, but unfortunately, even in the middle of nowhere, real life was continuing. And we had things to do.
Chapter 2
Ryder and I walked hand in hand through the maze of containers to the boys’ room. I was shocked at how large their bunk room was, three shipping containers wide with the middle walls cut out. Each container had a set of bunkbeds with curtains between them that could be pulled for privacy. There were also couches, a pool table, and a TV in a common area. I had a feeling this was going to be the hangout part of this facility.
Becca wasn’t in the room. She must be back in the lab geeking out over my blood.
As soon as we entered, Jayden looked up from the computer.
