Ash(71)

Jason’s voice returned immediately: “Thank God. Three men breeched security, killed ten of ours, and now can’t be found.”

Shit. Three mercenaries crawling around my home? I would never sleep again.

“We’ll take care of it,” Ryder radioed back, and looked at all of us. “Happy hunting.”

Kyle grinned. “You know that CB isn’t secure from the Sanctum.”

Ryder grinned back. “I know.”

His boots slammed down on the asphalt, and Oliver and I followed. Thank God I decided to wear my flat boots tonight. Tires screeched as Kyle peeled out in the Humvee with Jared. They were our distraction. In seconds we were at the chain-link fence. Once we crossed it we’d be right outside the huge laundry room, and our best way in undetected.

I groaned as I looked at the tall fence with razor wire at the top. “Why don’t we go in through the front door?”

Ryder gave me a look from the corner of his eye. “Because of Manuel.” I raised an eyebrow, and lucky for him he continued his explanation. “The Sanctum’s sniper. Come on. Enough talk.”

He jumped up and began climbing the fence. Oliver and I followed. Shit, this was harder than it looked. My fingers were cutting into the wire and the holes weren’t big enough for my feet. The cold wasn’t helping at all, but at least there was no snow or rain to dampen the journey. The boys were smoother than me, but they had gloves on and I didn’t. Halfway up, I winced. My fingers looked like they were turning purple.

Ryder looked down at me. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head, “Nothing.” I went to reach that next section of fence when my fingers slipped. Thankfully, I caught myself at the last second. The plunge to the ground would not have been pleasant.

Near the top, Ryder grabbed a chunk of the barbed fence and pulled himself over. He reached down to help me over the last part. His strength easily hoisted me up, and I was just swinging my leg over, my butt close to his face, when I slipped again, and we both almost fell off the side. I was about to recover my position when a snapping sound drew my attention. Ryder knocked me down again, the barbs cutting into my body, and I realized what it had been. A bullet. Which had scraped right between us, only missing because I’d slipped at that last second.

Ryder wasted no time then. His huge hand basically lifted me up and hoisted me off the fence. “Soft landing and roll, Charlie!” he shouted.

I flailed for the entire fifteen-foot drop but was proud that I didn’t scream. I braced for the jolt as my legs slammed on the ground and sharp pain shot up my shins. Apparently the soft landing part had completely passed me by.

Soft landing and roll? Was this man for reals?

I felt Ryder slam down behind me. Oliver was there too. The three of us took off running in a zigzag, more bullets raining around us, but we were moving too fast for them to track us. We made it into the side entrance, and using Ryder’s ID badge were inside in seconds. We were on target too, right near the laundry chutes. I scanned Ryder quickly. He seemed to be unhurt, then I turned to Oliver. Holy shit. The enforcer was holding his right shoulder, which was bleeding freely. I wasn’t sure if he’d hurt himself on the fence or if he’d been hit.

“Oliver,” I said, reaching out for him.

He brushed me off. “I’m fine. Jayden is the priority.”

I hesitated for a moment, before nodding. Neither of us would worry about injuries until Jayden was safe.

Ryder moved into my personal space then. “They aren’t here to kill you, Charlie. Manuel never misses. He was aiming to hurt you, not kill. They intend to capture you alive.”

And I’d thought the sniper had missed because of our awesome dodging skills. Wait? Take me alive? I would much rather they wanted to kill me.

“This changes the plan slightly. But no matter what happens in there, you stay close to me. The boys can handle the Sanctum. They made a mistake when they brought only three. I know one will be down in the lobby investigating Jared and Kyle. So that leaves two for us, plus the sniper.”

Ah, so even though the Hive thought there were three, Ryder knew there were at least four of them…

Ryder hunched over and crept silently down the hall to the stairwell. I followed his movements to a T. I had no doubt that if anyone could keep me alive in a dangerous situation, it would be Ryder. He drew his weapon and then quietly opened the stairwell door, he and Oliver taking a side each, heads craning around first before their bodies followed. They continued moving, looking left and right. Ryder put a finger to his lips to indicate complete quiet for the rest of the trip. We all padded like cats up the thirty-three floors to the apartment I shared with Jayden. It was a very long-ass trip, and I wanted to complain like a mofo, but kept quiet. No other ash or vampire crossed our path. The Hive was on lockdown, which was a good thing as I was jumpy and would probably shoot anybody who appeared.