Ash(32)

My stomach rolled. Jesus this guy was a mercenary.

All of a sudden I didn’t want to hit him, or break any bones in that gorgeous face. If I didn’t have something pretty to look at every day, the Hive would be a real buzzkill. Sure, there were lots of pretty males here, but Ryder … well, he was Ryder.

He saw me falter, and the beginnings of a grin lifting one side of his lips. “You were such a pain in my ass your first few days here. It felt kinda good to zap you after you broke my ankle.”

Hah. I totally knew what he was doing. Bastard. It was working too.

Without warning, I threw the left jab. He blocked. I countered quickly with the right hook, which he let through to smash into his unprotected head. Shit. I was about to pull back, but I saw the glint in his eyes. He was daring me to continue, and he had barely flinched when I’d just hit him, so … I finished the sequence with a knee to the ribs and then crouched and swept my leg out to flip him onto his back. He jumped up just in time.

I stumbled back before shaking out my throbbing hand. His face was made of stone or something.

He appraised me. “Your frame is stronger, your blows harder – you still don’t quite have the feral push needed to kill, but that will come in the moment when you do literally fight for your life.”

I really didn’t want to think about that. I would probably throw up all over him or something.

“Again.” He put his hands out in front of him.

Dammit, why was he being so pushy with this shit? My frustrations regarding the direction my life had taken flooded through me. This was not the life I wanted. This was not the life I’d expected. I wasn’t even sure I would survive the next two weeks. I wanted to be stronger than I felt inside, I wanted to see Ryder in a position of weakness.

Instead of starting the sequence off correct, I pretended I was going to throw a left jab but instead went right for the leg sweep. Caught completely unaware, Ryder began to fall backward, then his hand snaked out and he grabbed my arm, pulling me with him. I landed on top of him as the breath whooshed out of both of us. Okay, dude was quick and I had totally not expected that to happen.

Conscious thought disappeared, and time stopped as I realized I was completely pressed against every inch of him. His hard muscles pushed into my softness and our eyes locked in a stare. So much silver flared to life in that one gaze. His eyes fell to my lips and I licked to wet them.

Before I could move though, the silver of his gaze darkened and his face turned cold. He rolled me off, jumping up to stand. “Pulling your old scrappy tricks,” he said. “Give me five laps.”

I blinked a few times, my daze wearing off in a blast of disbelief. What the hell was that? Was I crazy or had he been about to kiss me? For a split second I had wanted him to, so badly, but he clearly wasn’t interested and I clearly needed to expand my circle of friends. Hanging out only with a gay guy and this insanely sexy badass was messing with my head. Stockholm syndrome was in full effect. I jumped up and hit the ground running, burning off the sexual tension that had crept in between Ryder and I. How long had it been since I got laid? That had to be the problem. Sexual deprivation was driving me crazy. There was no other explanation.



Later that day I was on my way to the cafeteria to grab some human food when I found Lucas waiting off to the side of the double doors. As soon as he met my eyes, he flicked his head and motioned for me to follow him. He was all in white again. Did he have a problem with color or something? He was like a monochromatic painting. Perfect, but eerily white and shiny.

My muscles protested against any more running as I struggled to keep up with him. He quickly darted into an open door off of the hallway, and I followed him inside. On the other side was Ryder, Lucas, and an unfamiliar female vampire in a lab coat. She had a very short pixie haircut, her thick tresses an unusual silver color. Seriously, how many doctors and scientists did they have in the Hive?

“What the hell?” I said. Was this an ambush or something? Lucas shut the door behind me and motioned to the female.

“Everything is okay, Charlie, we just needed some privacy,” Lucas said to me. “Tell them what you told me,” he commanded, turning to the doctor.

She clutched at the few papers in her hands. “Well, sir, it’s really difficult to explain – the virus has so many variants.”

“Madeline,” Lucas said, bestowing one of his rarely seen glares on her. I noticed that Ryder’s expression was shuttered, hard to read. But still, I was sensing something in his black and silver eyes. Curiosity?

The doctor turned to me, her eyes fluttering and her expression sympathetic. “We ran the tests four times. The results keep coming back the same. Charlie appears to have been fathered by an Original. Her sire was the Original of the fourth house.”