"And Ryder?" my voice shook just a little, but since I was almost totally focused on the driving I was doing, I managed to stop myself losing it too badly.
"I'm counting twelve bullets, six in the abdomen, five scattered about his extremities, and one grazed his temple, which is why he's out for the count right now."
I could sort of see in the rearview mirror that Kyle was applying a thick pad or pressure cloth to his best friend's stomach.
Our eyes met in the reflection. "Just keep driving, Charlie," he said. "I won't let him die. We just have to get back to the Hive."
I slammed my foot down even harder. Horns blasted at me as I sailed through a red light, but I seriously did not give a single fuck right now. I was a woman on a mission, and I was getting our asses back to the Hive in record time.
I still couldn't believe what had just happened? Massive shootout, dead humans. The six ash we had gone to save were dead. Not exactly the first day on the job that I imagined. Those Deliverance assholes … they were totally insane, and so much more ruthless and deadly than I expected. Ryder clearly had not been expecting it either; the boys might have had their weapons out, but there had been no real urgency, as if they never anticipated the others would retaliate with deadly force.
Fury washed through me again as I wrenched the wheel and pretty much drifted around the corner. The slickness of the roads would have been scarier if I hadn't been angry enough to set the car on fire. I'd been a bit on the angry side lately. Most of my ire was reserved for the selfish vampires who thought ash were their personal entertainment and slaves. But now there was some space in the Charlie-is-pissed vault for these religious extremist humans.
Everywhere I looked, ash were being shit on and killed by others who thought our lives were not important, that we didn't warrant the basic rights of survival. I knew that once upon a time I had been someone who cared very little for ash or the Hive. It was something I regretted. The ash were my friends and my family; the discrimination had to stop, and it had to stop right now, because as the Hives around the world filled further, there would be less and less room for ash, and even the few rights we had would disappear.
Guess there was now at least six spots freed up in our Hive, assuming those six had been from Portland. Gah, I was turning into a psycho. Seemed the moment my shock had faded out, I was less of the "human shaking and crying" and more of the ash "pissed and ready to kill".
As the Hive came into view, I was relieved to see the gates were open. One of the boys had called ahead. Which was good because I wasn't stopping. I screeched up the path and into the garage, my instincts urging me to go as fast as I could and slam on the brakes to stop. But knowing that might cause more injuries to the guys, I curbed those instincts and took my time to slow smoothly.
I threw it into park, and by the time I was out the door Kyle and Oliver were already moving. It took two of them to carry Ryder; they held him between them and were sprinting for the entrance. Jared and Markus were slower, but at least the Scottish enforcer was only limping. He didn't seem to be in mortal danger.
"Go, Charlie, I'll be fine. Ryder needs your support." Markus waved me off and I threw him a quick smile before I scrambled across the concrete garage.
The second the door to the Hive opened there were medical staff with a stretcher ready to care for Ryder. All vampires. WTF? Were ash not smart or something? Why were all of the medical staff and scientists full-on bloodsuckers? I'll bet it was because they didn't want us to be in control of any of the top-secret lab stuff. Wouldn't want us figuring out what bullshit was going on behind the scenes.
The vampires took charge, heaving Ryder onto the stretcher and hauling ass down the hallway and to the medical wing. Since I totally did not trust these vamp bitches, I followed close. There was no way I was leaving my man crush Monday with them. Oliver had dropped back to help Jared with Markus, but Kyle kept pace with me and the medical team.
Once we reached the door to the operating room, a tall blond woman put a hand out on my chest, stopping me.
"You'll have to wait outside." She was polite but glaring with her squinty-ass eyes.
I pushed her hand off smoothly. "Not a chance."
I stepped forward as she stood there with her mouth open. These people treated us like shit, put cameras up to spy on us, bugged our rooms. There was no way in hell I was leaving Ryder weakened and alone with them.
One of the male vampires that had begun cutting Ryder's shirt open narrowed his eyes at me as well. Still I refused to move, secure with the heat of Kyle at my back.
"Operating room is for the patient only," the male vampire growled.
Kyle and I moved further into the room, pushing the blonde out of the way. She didn't try to stop us.
Kyle was all casual as he leaned against the wall. Despite his stance, I could see the determined fierceness in his gaze; he would not be leaving his best friend either. "We're not leaving, and if he dies I'll kill you all, so I suggest you stop talking and start saving his life."
I heard the enforcer's teeth clank as he slammed them together. His eyes were wild, and the way his right hand was twitching over his gun should have been worrying the doctors. Even if it was a bit of a suicide run trying to take on three vampires, for Ryder, Kyle and I would not even hesitate. Striding to his side, I put on my best tough-unicorn face, leaning on the wall and crossing my arms.
The male vampire's nostrils flared as he prepared to retort, but the third scrub-attired vampire in the room, a female who looked kind of familiar, placed a hand on his arm. "You'd do the same. Besides, this one is the Quorum's favorite. We better do all we can to save him."
I remembered then where I'd seen her. She was one of Lucas' confidants. Often seen with the Quorum leader. That sort of had me feeling like we might have a slight ally in the room.
The male vamp looked like he was going to ignore her. He paused with a scalpel in hand and continued glaring at us. You mother effer! If he didn't start patching Ryder up in two seconds, I was going to go postal.
He sighed and shook his head. "Let's do this, he's bleeding out fast."
The breath I had been holding left me and I nearly burst into tears. As the first cut was made, I decided to find a spot in the room to stare at because there was no way in hell I could watch this. Even the knowledge they were slicing into Ryder had me on the verge of losing my shit and falling to the ground in tears.
I felt a strong warm hand take mine, a lifeline which pulled me back from the edge.
Kyle.
I wasn't alone. Holding on to him as tightly as I could, I decided on two things. One: life was too short to live half-assed. If you wanted something, you needed to go for it. And two: I was a hundred percent most definitely falling in love with Ryder. And who could blame me?
The next twelve hours were some of the most painful and scary of my life. The medical team kept asking for more blood to be hung. Not to mention all the cursing as Ryder's stomach continued closing over the surgeon's hands before he could patch up the damage inside. Even with the ash's advanced healing, the organs needed to be properly stitched together, bullets removed. Just like my broken leg had to have the bones set properly before healing or it would have fused together crookedly.
Kyle and I sat on the operating floor, against the wall. We were slumped together in a ball, my head on his shoulder. The surgery seriously felt like it had been going on for years, when the doctor finally stepped away from Ryder and rolled his neck to work out the kinks.
He met my eyes. "He'll be fine."
He turned then and made his way to a hand-scrubbing station. That was it, all the information I was getting, but it was all the information I needed.
I jumped up, my heart slamming against my chest as relief flooded me.
"Thank you!" I said, as gratefully as I could. Still hated the assholes, but they had saved Ryder's life.
I followed as the vampire female whisked Ryder down the hall and into a recovery wing. There were three other ash in there, all hooked up to blood and curtained off from each other. A wheelchair was set up next to Ryder's bed.
The nurse gave me some clear liquid in a syringe. "He can go home in an hour or so when he wakes. This will help with the pain. Stick it in his leg."
My eyes widened and Kyle nodded before thanking her.
Once we were alone with our boy, I exchanged a look with Ryder's oldest friend, a look that said Holy shit we just survived something crazy and thank you for being there with me. But we didn't say a word. Sometimes there are no real words that can describe what you've just gone through.
Kyle wrapped a warm hand around my shoulder; he looked exhausted and ready to drop. I, however, was so jacked up on adrenaline there was no way I was sleeping until Ryder was awake and talking.
"You want me to bring him to my apartment and take care of him?" Kyle asked.