"Enjoying the view?" I called down to him as Kyle finished pulling me through the hole. I lost sight of my dark-haired enforcer when Kyle shifted me across to balance on the metal slats beside him. He then turned back to lean through the hole.
I could hear Ryder chuckling. Then somehow he made the leap up to grasp onto Kyle's forearms. Dude could jump like a freaking NBA superstar. It was moments like these that I realized how incredibly sexy and strong these boys were. Of course, Kyle most likely had a hernia now after pulling big-ass Ryder up, but at least he could be secure in how sexy and strong he looked.
"What now?"
I was pretty sure the muted siren had just started to blare. The Quorum would be figuring out how to break into the elevator system soon.
Ryder motioned for us to follow him as he moved across to the large cables which were keeping us from plunging to our death. "The sirens mean lockdown," he said "All members of the Hive will be urged to go to their living quarters. All doors will be sealed, all hallways monitored by cameras, and the people hunting us will most likely have shoot to kill orders."
"Awesome," I said, heavy on the sarcasm.
A loud rumble rocked the floor, and I used the cables to anchor myself as another elevator passed next to us. I tried really hard not to squeal, but holy scary.
Once the metal box passed and we could talk again, Ryder said, "That's the other system, which goes the full length of the Hive. We need to make our way across to it."
Kyle gestured to his wristwatch. "Sam put a tracker on me, so wherever we end up the boys will be there."
Ryder's face was now firmly looking like that of a man with a plan. "Alright, follow me."
Chapter 13
Ryder's brilliant plan was uncomfortable as hell. After almost dying from scaling our way across elevators and up cables and into the spaces between the Hive floors, we ended up cramped in the A/C duct, army-crawling on our elbows through the first floor to try and find the laundry shaft and get the kid. Jumping from the top of the elevator to scale a ten foot wall which led into the duct was pretty much the most badass and scariest thing I've done yet.
In the shaft, we had spaced ourselves twenty feet apart, Ryder in front of me and Kyle behind. That way we wouldn't overweigh the metal ducting and crash through it. I kept my eyes trained forward, focusing on Ryder's beefy shoulders skimming the side walls as he barely fit through.
I tried to calm myself again but nothing was working. Pretty much from the first moment we'd crawled in here my heart had started racing, breath stuttering. I'd learned a new thing today: I had a very real fear of being in small metal spaces.
I was distracted from my newfound claustrophobia by Ryder pausing ahead. From back here it looked like he had reached a grate. Despite the distance between us, his whisper was clear.
"This is it, the supply closet across from where the girl should be, right near the exit."
I relayed the message to Kyle, neither of us moving as we waited for Ryder to do his thing up there. Luckily the Hive was an industrial-style building and the ducting and grates were large, although Ryder still looked like he had to wiggle to fit as he dropped down into the room. I moved then, closing in on the open grate. My head popped over the side to see a dimly-lit supply closet below. Ryder was the only one in the room, and I felt immediate relief to know I'd soon be out of the confined space. Moving across the opening, I lowered my legs down first; strong hands gripped my thighs and I let myself drop into Ryder's waiting arms. We ended up face to face, his dark and silver eyes looking all warm and swirly.
Kyle cleared his throat, and with reluctance I stepped out of Ryder's arms, letting him focus on guiding his friend out of the vent. The three of us were then cramped in the six by six feet space, and as Ryder flicked on the lights I saw the shelves were packed with enforcer supplies-flashlights, glowsticks, walkie-talkies, and a bunch of other shit I had no idea about. Ryder grabbed a set of walkies and matched the channels before handing one to me. It was small, maybe three inches, so I clipped it on my boot. Kyle stashed a few supplies in his pockets, before turning to his best friend.
"For over thirty years, this has been our home." His voice was full of emotion, and it hit me then that most of the sexy six were old, some even grandpa old. Pushing those thoughts away, I slipped my hand into Kyle's and squeezed.
"Thirty years of cullings and ash murders. It's time for a change," I said to him.
Kyle managed a tight smile. "It is." He squeezed my hand back.
I looked up to see Ryder watching me with an intense gaze. "We're lucky you came into our lives, Charlie."
I smiled, wrinkling my nose at him. "That means a lot coming from the guy who called me ‘forty-six' for two weeks."
Ryder chuckled. "Yeah, I'll own that. Okay, focusing again. Time to glue yourself to me. We need to save the little girl and ditch this place."
Kyle nodded. "Sam will see our location, and with a bit of luck he's waiting outside the exit door as we speak."
We gave a three-way fist bump, the low sound of emergency sirens the background music to our breakout song. My stomach tightened with anxiety as I drew my gun and Ryder put his hand on the doorknob.
"Luckily, this is one of the few monitored doors. They don't lock down unimportant rooms, so we will be able to get out. Hopefully Sam has exit ready for us." He twisted the knob, and sure enough it clicked right open. "Kyle and I will go first to take down any threats," he said as he stepped out, Kyle right behind him.
I followed a second later, striding out into a small hall, gun held up in a ready pose. This storage room really had been the perfect room to drop out of the vents. We were directly across from the laundry chute, which was where we hoped to find the girl waiting for us. Just down the hall was the exit door to the Hive, about four meters from us.
I continued acknowledging our luck right up until Ryder opened the laundry door. It was empty. Shit! Had the Quorum gotten to the girl already? Ryder and Kyle wasted no time. They were already moving rapidly toward the exit, I guess to see if there was any sign of our team or the girl.
Ryder glanced back to make sure I was following, giving me a smile as I closed the gap between us. The door clicked open easily, so Sam had definitely lifted some of the lockdown, which hopefully meant everything else was still going right. The two enforcers disappeared out into the darkness beyond. As I neared the exit myself, I was relieved to see and hear the very familiar rumble of a Hummer.
A broad smile broke across my face to see Sam's dark beauty. He was in the vehicle, laptop on his lap. Sitting beside him was the little girl, and I wondered if they had somehow known we were in trouble and had gotten her out just in case.
Jared, who must have been patrolling, ducked into my line of sight. He opened the back door for Ryder and Kyle, since they were already out of the building and a fair bit in front of me. I was just about to make my own exit when the Australian enforcer's face turned a sickly white color.
"Charlie, behind you!"
I didn't even have time to turn before a familiar jolt of electricity brought me to my knees. Straight away, my mind went fuzzy and black dots danced across my vision. Don't pass out, don't pass out! If I lost consciousness, I was dead. I managed to focus long enough to see the stark fear on Ryder's face. All of the enforcers were out of the car now, coming straight for me, but they were too far away. My uncooperative body was yanked backwards and the exit door slammed shut, buzzing as it closed. The vamps had overridden Sam, which resulted in a full and complete lockdown on this section of the Hive now too.
"Charlie!" I heard Ryder's muffled voice, followed by pops and hard slamming sounds against metal. Bullets. The attack was no use though, the Hive was specifically built to withstand this sort of violence.
I didn't want to turn away from the door, away from Ryder, but I really had no choice. I faced my attackers, meaty #1 and #2, both of them looking extra pleased that they had me back in their clutches. Right behind them stood Allistair.
Well, shit.
My hands clenched into fists, the aftershocks of electricity still dancing on my skin. Focusing on fugly, I noticed a remote control type device in his right hand and an electric stick in his left.
"For an ash, Sam is quite good with computers, but this door won't be opening again," Allistair said, holding up the remote. Behind me, the heavy pounding on the door continued.
I weighed my options here: try to fight three really pissed-off vampires while my body was still weak from the shock, or buy time until I had strength? I had no weapons close by, the gun had been lost when the electricity hit me. Crap.
"Alright you got me," I conceded, holding my hands up.
Meaty #1 and #2 surged forward and hauled me up by the armpits, starting to drag me down the hall. The Hive had a real deserted feel to it now; the sirens still blared.