Anarchy (Hive Trilogy Book 2)(39)

       
           



       

Because surely he had one waiting for me? There was no other reasonable explanation for taking us up to the very place it was impossible to escape from. A veritable trap if we were discovered.

Lucas grabbed my arm and steered me out onto the roof, hurrying us across to the edge. He grabbed the walkie from me and radioed the boys. "I'm on the roof with Charlie. Security will have seen us by now. She's going to have to jump."

I gasped. The vamp had flipped his lid-lost his freakin' marbles. Dude was officially crazy.

"Lucas, are you insane? I'm not jumping off a sixty story building! My body will turn into pudding. I don't want to be pudding. I hate pudding. It's weird and jiggly and tastes like crap."

Ryder's voice came over the speaker. "Charlie you're not just any ash. You're Carter's daughter."

Levitation. Shit. Didn't he know super powers didn't work like that? You didn't get to use them on the spot to save your life; it was too much pressure. The odds were I would become a legend-you know, a dead superhero. A door slamming drew my attention behind us to where two vampires were stalking towards us.

Lucas gave me a tight hug.

"Come with me," I begged. "They'll kill you."

He shook his head and laughed. "I'm one of the richest vampires in this Hive. I own the deed to this land, with a clause that if I'm murdered the land goes to the humans. They won't kill me, but I will spend some time in the pit."

Shit.

"I'm going to be back for you and Tessa," I said to him.

He nodded and squeezed my hand before running to confront the vampires, throwing himself at them.

Ryder's voice came over the speaker. "Charlie? What's happening up there?"

"I'm on my way," I said to him as my legs began to shake. Sixty stories was a long-ass way down. I could already hear my ankles snapping.

"Look to your right. Aim for that building which is about twenty stories high. It's the vampire parking garage. We're on the top floor waiting to pick you up."

Okay, well forty stories to drop was a little better than sixty. And seriously. WTF, the vampires got their own parking garage? The ash weren't even allowed cars! Grr. I shook that thought from my mind and focused on the building. It was far as fuck, right across the other side of the Hive grounds. Maybe ten times farther than I jumped when I'd saved Jayden in the culling. Looking behind me, I saw Lucas kicking ass, but becoming overwhelmed by numbers as more vamps arrived.

"Bitch, you can do this," my BAFF said through the radio, strong and clear.

I smiled, and with a deep breath, I jogged to the far end of the space.

I squeezed the walkie-talkie button. "Ryder?"

"Yes?" He sounded worried.

"I love you." Because I hadn't officially said it yet and there was a ninety percent chance this ended with me as pudding.

His voice came back strong: "I love you too, you know that. Do. Not. Die. That's an official order."

Hah! Bossy ash.

Dropping the walkie-talkie to the ground, I rolled my neck. Here goes nothing.

I took off in a run-like-your-ass-is-on-fire sprint, sailing past Lucas and the vampires he was grappling with. My heart was beating hella fast and my brain was screaming at me to stop, but I pushed my muscles faster. If I was going to make that jump, I needed speed. Coming near the edge, I did the most insane thing of my life …

I jumped.

"Shiiiiiit!" I screamed, sailing high into the air, higher than humanly possible. My instincts kicked in then, the heat unfurling from my center again as my body glided through the air. It wasn't the most graceful of levitation, but it was going to do the job. Tucking my legs up, with my arms out, I prepared to land as the rooftop came into view. Holy shit I was totally going to make it!

As I sailed into it like a cannonball, I caught sight of a Humvee and one other car on the roof. Tapping into more of the heat, I forced my body to glide rather than plummet as I began my descent. I found that if I straightened my legs, it slowed my fall a little. Holy fuck! I was legit flying. All too soon the cement lot crashed into my legs and there was a distinct crack as I rolled before skidding to a stop. Flying I was okay at, landing not so much.

My left leg was definitely broken  …  but no pudding.

I was alive!

Suddenly Ryder was there scooping me up in his arms and shaking his head. "Are you okay?" His voice was gruff as he tenderly rubbed his thumb over my ankle.

I winced. "My ankle is broken but I'll be fine."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You're amazing, Charlie."                       
       
           



       

I didn't have time to respond before the sound of gunfire erupted.

"Let's roll!" Sam shouted, pounding on the hood of the Humvee.

Ryder crossed the parking lot to the vehicle in a dozen quick strides and placed me in the back, reaching across and yanking up a duffle bag to prop my leg up. Even with the limb as secure as he could make it, I knew it was still gonna hurt as we tore out of here.

The second the door shut and Ryder was in the front seat we were off. Scanning the car, I tried not to bust up laughing at Jayden sitting on Oliver's lap and the little girl sitting on Kyle's. Seems they had ditched the second car at some point and all joined forces to come back and save me, which was so sweet, but it did mean we were packed into the Hummer like sardines. Sensing me, the little girl turned and peered at me with those unnerving silver eyes.

"Hi," she said, and I waved at her, taking a deep breath and trying not to hurl. Sam was driving in circles down the parking garage to the main level. Markus reached across and helped to stabilize my leg, which was both painful and relieving at the same time. Hurry up, ash genetics, work your magic.

Jayden's leaned over the seat and grasped my hand, squeezing. As I squeezed back, I was so grateful that I was leaving the Hive with my BAFF. I missed Tessa but she had chosen her path, and I still had Jayden.

"Snipers on the roof," Markus said to Sam, who nodded but didn't lose an ounce of focus as he continued to racecar-drive our asses around the tight turns.

We were out of the parking garage now and speeding across the street to the far gate that the shipping trucks used. My guess was that this exit was less guarded than the others. Bullets snapped the ground as Sam swerved the Humvee.

"Hold on," Sam yelled as he plowed through the gates. With a heavy crash, they flung wide open and that was it-we were out of the Hive. The entire car gave a collective gasp of relief.

"Come here, I want to talk to you," I said to the little girl. What was her name again? Katelynn, right. As she turned her attention to me, I patted my lap.

Kyle helped her climb over the seat and she sat next to me in the back.

"Can you keep a secret, Katelynn?" I asked her, even though I knew that in a week's time the entire Hive would know what I was. I just knew that the blood the Quorum took this time would lead them to the knowledge that I was the cure.

She nodded, leaning in to me.

I showed her my arm and the blue veins that streaked it. "My blood can cure vampirism and I can make you human again."

Her mouth made a small O shape as she continued staring at my arm.

"Really?" Her voice was so small and I couldn't even deal with how wrong it felt seeing her like this-seeing the way the virus stole an innocent little life.

I nodded. "You just take a drink and then it will start to change you back, so you can live with your family and have a long and happy life."

She licked her lips. "Will it hurt you?"

I shook my head and offered my arm. She winced for a moment, clearly grossed out at the thought of biting flesh, but in the end she latched onto my arm and began to drink. The vampire in the club who'd drank from me had fed for about twenty seconds, so I assumed that would be enough for her too.

After thirty seconds, I lightly pulled her off. Her eyes were glassy, her mouth dripping with blood. She looked like she wanted to bite me again, but regained her composure.

"Your blood!" she squeaked. "It tastes like cotton candy."

Of course it did. Stupid unicorn blood. The rest of the car's occupants, who had been wrapped in a tense silence, laughed then. Staring out the window, I noticed that Sam was taking us down a dirt road and into a deeply forested neighborhood. The sun was coming up, and that meant no vampires would be driving around looking for us today. Markus began to duct tape towels up against the back windows to keep the girl in darkness. The sun would still give her one hell of a rash, weakening her, until she was cured. Kyle draped a blanket over her as Sam drove deeper into the forest. We were taking back roads up Mount Hood.

"We're almost to the drop-off point," Sam announced, and I saw he had pulled the Humvee up a long private driveway and into a gated compound. There were humans waiting at the gate with semiautomatic rifles.

"Who are these people?" I asked.

Ryder turned around and met my eyes. "Ash sympathizers. Rare people that believe ash shouldn't be punished for what their parents did, that they should be allowed to mingle with society. Some of them had ash children, or a friend who did."