“Let’s hope it’s an alternate universe and we can expect this room filled with sexy man cooks in frilly aprons to stick around,” I murmured. I turned to her and waggled my eyebrows up and down.
We both burst out laughing then, and I was so distracted that I never even noticed Ryder duck around the kitchen island, until he was right in front of me. He looked hot as hell, even with the streak of flour on his cheek and the pink and lavender frilly apron around his waist.
“You’re not laughing at me are you, Charlene?”
Ugh. No doubt he was taking great pleasure in using my full name. He knew how much it grated on my nerves.
Of course I’d give him no satisfaction by reacting. I smiled. “Lace really suits you. I think you should think about incorporating it into the enforcer unif—”
Quick as a flash he lightly palmed my face with flour. My mouth dropped open—damn, no doubt he’d been waiting for the perfect moment to do that. Before he could coat me any further, I quickly tackled him, laughing as he still somehow managed to rub more on my face.
Suddenly Mom was standing over us with a huge grin. “So he’s the one? I was trying to figure out which one of these good looking fellas had caught my daughter’s attention.”
Ryder scrambled to pull me upright, and wiped his palms on his apron.
“It’s nice to officially meet you, ma’am. I’m Ryder Angelson.”
Whoa! Ryder had a last name? Ash and vamps tended to just stick with first names, most of them shedding that last formality of their human persona. I’d never even thought to ask him for a full name.
My mother gave me an approving look. “A boy with manners, I like it. You can call me Jo.” She shook his hand. I could tell immediately that she wasn’t just saying the words, she really did like Ryder. My mom was a great judge of character; she’d already looked past the lead enforcer’s outer persona of tall, dark, and deadly to see the man beneath. Glancing between my mom, Ryder, and around the rest of the kitchen, my heart filled with enough joy to last a lifetime.
Thanksgiving was beyond perfect; I didn’t want it to end. We ate until we were stuffed to the brim. Everything tasted so good. On top of the food, it was the atmosphere which made it so special—relaxed and peaceful. It felt like the last few months of blood, murder, and drama in the Hive had never happened.
The enforcers made a few halfhearted efforts to duck back and forth to the Hive, but most of them spent their time snacking and napping lazily on the couch. A few of us played board games with my mom. Can I just say that Jayden is a competitive bastard—and he cheats.
Eventually, though, as the day faded out to night, and with the blood thirst gnawing at the back of my throat, we said our goodbyes. Ryder pretty much had to pry me from Tessa and my mom’s arms. It was only the knowledge that I couldn’t drag them into my shitty life that forced me to leave.
As we piled into the Humvees and drove out of my neighborhood, I looked back at my house, my heart and throat aching as I fought my tears. That life was gone. I guess I just needed to come to terms with it. A strong hand squeezed my thigh.
“It was a good day,” Ryder told me, and I could tell he was trying to ease some of my heartache. “Keep those memories safe, and I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that’s not the last holiday you spend with them.”
I managed to smile, before turning away to lock my burning eye on the world outside. I didn’t want to cry. I’d probably never stop if I started. Ryder pulled us onto the freeway and almost instantly the car sped up—like in a pedal to the metal way. I swung my head back around to see what was happening. Ryder’s face was hard now, furrows along his brow as his eyes flicked to the rearview mirror.
“Black van. Three cars back,” Kyle said from the back seat.
Ryder nodded. “I see it. Radio the boys.”
Oh shit. What now? Not on Thanksgiving. Did these people have no patriotic pride?
Sam leaned forward, close to my ear. “Buckle up, Charlie.”
My heart began to pump harder, fear burning through my body.
“Who is it?” I asked as I clicked my seat belt on.
Ryder was still moving fast, far too quickly to be safe on the roads, especially as we swerved in and out of traffic.
Kyle’s voice came from the back seat. “Sam’s running plates but nothing is coming up. Looks like humans though. My guess is that it’s a little bit of payback for our recent financial do-gooding.”
Deliverance. Those bastards had almost killed my boyfriend and now they were ruining Thanksgiving. I popped open the glove box and grabbed the gun Markus had been training me with.
Ryder gave me a side look and grinned. I think the boy liked me when I got all pissed and weaponed up.
“Hold on,” he said as he jerked the car to the right, crossing over three lanes and exiting on Murray street.