Ash(74)

I gasped as Laz gained the upper hand on Sam. He pulled a knife from within his black fatigues and stabbed him a few times in the gut. Ryder’s eyes practically glowed then, and with a snarl he locked his Sanctum under his arm and with the slightest twist snapped his neck. But he didn’t stop there, continuing to twist until the head was completely removed from the body. Blood spurted everywhere, slowing to a drizzle in seconds. Ash bled a lot less than humans. But seriously, what? What sort of strength would anyone have to possess to be able to literally tear a head from a person? It was inconceivable.

Ryder launched himself at Laz, knocking him off Sam. Laz pushed Ryder and took off then, heading toward the open window, and then he … jumped. I stumbled up and ran to the open window with Ryder hot on my heels. We got there in time to see Laz falling rapidly, right before he pulled a cord and a wingsuit flipped out from his black outfit, like a base jumper.

I gave a little shriek as Markus popped his head up from outside the window, hanging by the suction cups. He grinned. “Sorry, was a little tied up with the sniper. He jumped with his boss.” I noticed then the second wingsuit zooming out across the Hive grounds. “But I can head after them if you want.” His eyes flicked to Ryder.

Ryder shook his head. “No, you’ll never catch them. They will be gone before you even hit the ground.

“Shit, so they all just get away?” I asked, frustrated. “Well, except for dead guy…” Who I guessed was the ninja-clad dude from the stairwell. Since he had thrown Oliver down the stairs, I couldn’t dredge up much sadness for him.

Ryder’s hands were clenched on the window sill, but he finally turned to face me. “They’ll be back. This was just a test run. They hoped for an easy mark with me out of commission. Next time they’ll come in force.”

Great, awesome news to end this shit day.

“Not to interrupt your little powwow here, but can I get some goddamn help? Where’s my man?” Jayden had loosened his gag, and was looking pissed from his position on the floor.

Whoops, I’d never gotten around to freeing him.

I scrambled to untie his bindings, and in that same moment Oliver and Kyle appeared in the doorway. Oliver was holding about eight bottles of blood and was looking a lot better.

“I thought I said meet at the vehicle.” Ryder didn’t sound that pissed.

Oliver ignored him; his sole focus was on Jayden. My fingers fumbled a few times with the thick ropes, and before I could loosen them Oliver stepped in and softly moved me so he could take over. His eyes were dancing with silver; he looked murderous, but his hands were gentle as he cut away the binds.

“Did he hurt you?” Oliver ground out when Jayden was finally free. The enforcer reached down and hauled his man to his feet.

Jayden’s muscular arms trembled as he launched himself at Oliver. “Yes, he had god awful taste in music and his breath reeked. It was awful.”

This was why we were best friends – we both had terrible comedic timing.

Still, it worked to break the tension. Even Oliver’s expression lightened. Ahhh Jayden, the world would truly be a dark place without you. I couldn’t stop myself then from stepping into them, joining Oliver and Jayden for a group hug. Strong arms surrounded me, and I was so relieved to know that no one had been hurt badly today. My family was safe for now. We had been lucky. But I hadn’t forgotten what Ryder said. They’d be back, and soon. Would we be so lucky the next time?

Ryder stood apart from us, his jaw rigid enough that he was looking quite statue-like. He was making it very clear that he was in no mood to celebrate. His worries would not ease tonight. In the depths of his silver eyes swirled a windstorm of emotions. The worst, though, was the coldness there. This situation had done something to him … to us. I wasn’t sure what, but it didn’t feel good. I felt him going distant again, putting up the walls.

Great. Looked like we were back to the old days, treating me like no more than number forty-six in the ash culling members.





Chapter 11




Ryder inserted the code into the alarm system, which halted the lights and blaring sirens. It took two of them – Markus and Kyle – to use fingerprint and retinal scanning before the Quorum suites security gates were lifted. The elevators had been halted, and the entire Hive sectioned off during the breach. I was not surprised, but the level of security in the building was impressive. Of course, now the mercenaries knew about all of that – they had a general layout, they knew procedure – they would not make the same mistakes next time.

I was sitting in the control room, Markus stretched out on one side of me and Sam on the other. The dark-haired enforcer had gone back to being silent and deadly, not speaking to me, but his presence was as comforting as Markus’, who chatted away in his Scottish tones.