I gave Ryder my serious big girl face and was rewarded with the slightest twitch of his lips before he exhaled. “Do you have a death wish?”
“If it means giving an innocent twelve-year-old her life back, then yeah I do.”
I could see the vein in his neck throbbing and I had to push down the memory of the time I drank from him to confuse the Quorum’s blood results.
Sam stood, distracting our standoff. “There will be a time for that, Charlie, but it isn’t now. Be patient.”
Then he walked away.
What the hell? “What’s with Yoda? He’s been acting weird since he came back from ‘fishing.’” I did air quotes.
I could see the concern on the enforcers’ faces as they watched Sam leave. No one said anything. I knew they had all long ago decided to let Sam keep his secrets.
Ryder held a hand out to me. “Just put a pause on your aspirations to heal the world until after Thanksgiving, okay?”
I shrugged. “Fair enough. But I’ll bet this little girl is going to cry her eyes out knowing she can’t spend the holiday eating turkey with her family.” Never hurts to remind them what our delay was costing her.
The gravity of the situation hit us all then. The boys’ faces were somber. Life in the Hive wasn’t just affecting us, it affected all of society. When an ash was brought in or a new vampire infected, that was a family member taken away, a gaping hole left in the hearts of those people. Maybe there was a greater reason for why I was the cure. Maybe I shouldn’t be hiding it. Maybe it was time to do something.
Chapter 7
The next morning as we made our way to the garage, I realized how damn quiet the Hive was in the early hours. Vampires were probably asleep in their coffins. Okay, I was pretty sure they slept in beds, but there was no denying that they were creepy enough for coffins. At least the enclosed building, locked down with heavy shutters, felt less oppressive without the bloodsuckers around.
There were two Humvees waiting for us. Ryder suggested this in case some of the boys were called back to the Hive. At this stage, all of the sexy six, plus Jayden, were coming to Thanksgiving. Ryder cleared it with Lucas and Lucas chose not to tell the rest of the Quorum. If anyone asked, we were out on a call.
Jayden was extra hyped today. Apparently Thanksgiving was his second favorite holiday. Easter was first. My BAFF loved fluffy bunnies. I ended up in SUV #1 with Ryder, Kyle, Silent Sam, and Jared. The Australian enforcer had never celebrated Thanksgiving. Apparently it wasn’t a holiday in his home country. He’d been in America for years now. His Hive in Sydney transferred him out to the Portland Hive after the incident which will not be named, but vamps didn’t celebrate human holidays, despite the fact that once upon a time they were human, unlike ash, who were never anything other than a hybrid. Funny which one of us had kept the most humanity intact.
The sun was bright as we exited. Spending so much time indoors made the sight of the rising sun extra beautiful. You don’t realize how much you take some of these things for granted until they’re gone. This was what I was trying to tell Tessa, but my stubborn, stinky-drunk friend refused to understand what I was saying.
Thoughts of evil vampires had my mind flittering back to the little girl. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her last night, even with Ryder and Kyle sprawled out on my couch eating all my snacks and keeping me entertained. The only way I could shut my mind off was when pure exhaustion knocked me out. I ended up crashing out between the boys, Ryder’s warm arm holding me against him. We were back to no alone time or privacy, especially with the Quorum on the radar again.
“Is this the first child to ever be turned vamp?”
The small talk which had been going on died off, and all eyes were suddenly on me. Ryder’s hand snaked out and covered my mouth before I could speak again, before I could demand information.
His voice was all casual-like: “Yeah, as far as we know. The Quorum are really strict about that law. This girl was a random accident.”
I wasn’t confused at all by his sudden defense of the Quorum. He was reminding me that despite their repeated searches of the Hummers, there was a chance they missed a listening devices and we should be cautious about what we said.
Dammit!
Our speed picked up and we pretty much screeched around the corner and onto my old street. The large trees which lined the sidewalks were looking a little barren. Winter was coming, and the chill in the air told me it was going to be brutal this year. Pulling up in front of the familiar little house, pangs of homesickness shot through me hard. It was easy sometimes to compartmentalize my life, push away the losses, but seeing it again … there was no way to forget.