I blinked a few times as he left in a swirl of vampire energy. Pulling myself together as best I could, I crossed to where the four guys were waiting. As far as I could tell, Lucas was telling me the Quorum was acting very out of character, and that he was worried for my safety, which meant time was running out for us to decide what to do. My eyes fell on Tessa, who thankfully was back to looking like my beautiful bestie … more beautiful actually, if that was even possible. The virus was working through her body, making her strong and immortal—not to mention evil and bloodsucking. Shit. Forget first world problems, we now had Hive world problems.
Her timing really couldn’t have been worse. These Quorum problems were going to be tenfold once she woke up. Tessa was about to find herself right in the midst of vamp politics. And possibly a war.
When I reached Ryder, I found myself snuggling into his side. “Thank you.”
He didn’t say anything, but as his warm hand ran across my lower back in a comforting gesture, I realized how much he meant to me, how far he’d wiggled into my life and my heart. He was the first man I’d been comfortable with since my attack, and I was the first woman he’d cared for since his fiancée. Were we perfect? Nope, but together I was hoping we would find something perfect to hold on to in all this chaos.
“How long will she be unconscious for?” I asked, not having a clue how long it had even been since I was knocked out by Sam.
“It generally takes a full day for the transformation once it has started.” Jared’s accent was strong at the moment, which usually meant he was upset. “Since the plasma, which was four hours ago, she’s already well into the change. She’ll be screaming for blood in another four or so hours.”
Okay, so that meant we had time to get to the roof for a team meeting. Ryder must have seen the determination in my eyes, and somehow knew what I wanted. “Jared, you okay to stay here and keep an eye on Tessa while the rest of us check in with the enforcers?”
The Australian nodded once, before settling into the chair which Lucas had just vacated. I leaned down and kissed the smooth, porcelain cheek of the unconscious girl in the bed. “I’ll be back for you soon, Tess,” I whispered, turning to exit with the boys.
No one spoke as we made our way to the elevators, and the silence remained even after we reached the rooftop. It was daylight again, which was a relief; it felt as if the sun was my friend now, the big baddie that kept the vampires away.
Ryder led the way, his stride strong, face locked in the pissed-off range of emotions. He must have had this already planned, because as we rounded the corner, out of the doorway line-of-sight, Markus and Sam came into view. They were camped out, laptops in front of them, a cooler at their side.
My dry mouth increased then, and I sensed eyes on me as I pretty much drooled. Markus had the lid up and bottle in his hand before I even made it to his side.
“Thought you might be thirsty. Grabbed you some O-negative.” The Scottish enforcer was as serious as I’d ever seen him, and his accent was strong. Emotions deepened their accents, and right now we were at our emotional peak.
“Sorry about … your head.” Sam’s low words sounded quite emotional too, for him anyway.
I waved. “All good. I know why you did it. But if Tessa hadn’t made it, you and I would be having a completely different conversation.”
Sam just gave me a single nod, as if to say he’d have been okay with that too. I knew that even at the time, in the heat of that highly emotional moment, he’d weighed up the risks and had decided my life was worth more than hers—which was sweet, but not his call to make.
I wasted no more time as the burn in my gums signaled my fangs descending, and as they pierced the top of the bottle I chugged down the blood; relief to my parched throat and mouth was instant. It annoyed me that we were so reliant on this now. Sure, even as a human I’d needed water and food, but for the most part I could get that from anywhere. We would never easily find enough blood for us all to leave. The Hive had us trapped.
Wiping my mouth, I discarded the empty bottle, reaching for another. “How much blood will we need if we run? It would have to be what … a pint a day, each?” I expressed my concerns to the enforcers, shifting the icy bottle. “Lucas pretty much just told me that the Quorum is acting strange and we need to be ready to run, but how the hell can we?” My brows pinched together as the pure enormity of the situation crashed into me. I couldn’t drag the boys into this.
“Charlie, get that damn look off your face.” Ryder towered over me; his eyes were almost pure silver. “We will have no sacrifices, no martyrs, and no heroes running off on their own.”
I jabbed my finger at him. “Get out of my head. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe, and being around me is not safe.”
Sam stood then, and because he was such a presence—he had badass down almost as well as Ryder—we all turned and stared at him.
“I have a plan. You need to trust me.”
He sat back down then, and I gave Ryder the side-eye. What the eff?
“You have twenty humans willing to travel with us to a safe place and go on a rotation of donating blood?” I asked.