Anarchy (Hive Trilogy Book 2) (24 page)

“Thank you for rescuing me.”

Damn, I wanted to kiss him so bad, even smelling like dirty-ass pit floor. I loved that he didn’t carry on about me putting myself in danger to come down here, or go all cave-man. He just thanked me with sincerity and respect.

“You too, bud.” He turned to Kyle for a split second before his focus was back on me.

“We aren’t rescued yet. Let’s get the hell out of here before there’s a thousand vamps gunning for our ass,” Kyle said.

Shit! Gun … right. Might be time to switch out the knives for a weapon that could actually put a bloodsucker down. I slipped the blade into my boot and yanked out the pistol, even while on the run. That was how badass my clothes and accessories were. If I had time, I would have had that ash make me fifty of these outfits. One in every damn color.

We made it through the pit and back to Marty’s desk without anyone stopping us. Quorum bitch was still on the floor; the elevator was still open and waiting for us. I wondered how Marty had gotten out—maybe Kyle had called it back down when he got the blood. Either way, I hoped it was a sign that luck was on our side.

We passed the still unconscious meaties and dashed inside. As soon as the doors closed we were zooming up. Kyle immediately turned to fill Ryder in on the rest of the plan.

“So by now Oliver and Jayden should be at the first safe point. They took one of the vehicles loaded up with the blood and supplies. Jared is in the other car, waiting outside of the grounds for the rest of us. Markus and Sam were going to stage the breakout for the little girl, so all that’s left is for Charlie to cure her, then we can get her ferried away to the one of the compounds. Sam has a contact in line to pick her up.”

Sam had been working his ass off making sure the plan with the child went off without a hitch. Just like with me, she had struck a real nerve with the silent enforcer.

“How did they get out of the compound without their access cards?” Ryder asked. “And where do we find the girl now?” The lead enforcer’s eyes shifted toward the elevator panel. We were almost at the top.

“Sam rigged them to open without setting off the alarm. We timed their departure for guard shift change. Since we were in the pit, we have no idea if they made it out without alerting the vamps. Hopefully they did though. We had to get the cars out, otherwise we’ll be screwed trying to escape on foot.”

It hurt my heart to think about leaving here without Tessa. I wanted so badly to try and find her one last time, tell her that I loved her, but I couldn’t risk the rest of my family because of her stubborn single-mindedness. I just had to hope Blake and Lucas would keep her safe, especially since something told me that when the Quorum found out I’d escaped, they would be all over my friends like a bad rash
.

Ryder interrupted my morbid thoughts. “You didn’t tell me where we find the girl.”

“She should be stashed in that laundry room which opens to the outside. We figured it was the easiest place to escape from with her. Sam left us a trail to follow. There’s supposed to be a space in the fence line which will be free from alarms.”

Ryder gave a chuckle as the elevator dinged to let us know we were at the top. “What would we do without Sam?”

Kyle also laughed. “Funny thing is, he has really pulled out all of his skills since Charlie arrived. Methinks he has a little soft spot for our unicorn ash.”

Ryder nodded, and looked at me. “Who doesn’t?”

I batted my eyelashes at him. “If Kyle weren’t here and we weren’t running for our lives, I would totally—”

The elevator dinged again, cutting me off, and the boys laughed. Comic relief was like my nervous tic. As the doors to the ground level opened, we sobered immediately.

Uh oh. We had a big problem. Four hulking vamps were waiting for us, and a ton of people were running in the background.

“Plan B!” I shouted, simultaneously smashing the close and down buttons.

The four vamps rushed at the closing doors, but they had been just too far away to make it before we were cut off.

“Shit!” Ryder said, and since he didn’t swear much I knew we were extra screwed.

As the steel box made its rapid descent, Kyle looked at Ryder. “We haven’t been rock climbing in forever.”

Ryder shook his head. “No, it’s too dangerous.”

Kyle leaned around us to pull the stop button. “I don’t see any other way. This elevator only goes to two places—ground and pit. They’re clearly waiting for us on ground. It’s just lucky these shaft systems all connect between the different elevators.”

Ryder took this moment to fully check me out, from my hair down to my feet. “Can you climb in those boots, Charlie?”

I put a hand on my hip, giving him my sassiest look.

Kyle grinned. “That’s a yes.”

Ryder exhaled loudly, lacing his hands together and forming a step. Kyle moved closer and inserted his foot into the handhold and pushed off hard. This pit elevator was larger than most, with ceilings almost fifteen feet high. The enforcer managed to knock out the ceiling access panel. It clattered to the side, leaving a large gaping hole in the ceiling. As Kyle landed, he wasted no time stepping into Ryder’s hands again.

This time the lead enforcer crouched low and with an impressive display of strength, launched his best friend up through the hole. With a whoosh of air, Kyle disappeared, his mess of dirty-blond hair appearing seconds later as he stared down at us from the top of the metal box. He crooked a finger at me and I knew that meant it was my turn.

FYI, plan B sucked. This was like stupid shit they did in the movies that ended badly for everyone.

“Charlie…” Ryder motioned for me to jump up. Never one to expose my weakness, I swallowed hard and shoved my left boot in his hands. With far more power than I expected, he tossed me up into the air. My shriek got lodged in my throat as I forced my eyes to remain open, which was a big help as I grasped onto Kyle’s outstretched hands. The enforcer’s strong arms easily held my weight and he dragged me up. I chanced a quick glance down, knowing my booty-shorts-clad butt was all up in Ryder’s face.

“Enjoying the view?” I called down to him as Kyle finished pulling me through the hole. I lost sight of my dark-haired enforcer when Kyle shifted me across to balance on the metal slats beside him. He then turned back to lean through the hole.

I could hear Ryder chuckling. Then somehow he made the leap up to grasp onto Kyle’s forearms. Dude could jump like a freaking NBA superstar. It was moments like these that I realized how incredibly sexy and strong these boys were. Of course, Kyle most likely had a hernia now after pulling big-ass Ryder up, but at least he could be secure in how sexy and strong he looked.

“What now?”

I was pretty sure the muted siren had just started to blare. The Quorum would be figuring out how to break into the elevator system soon.

Ryder motioned for us to follow him as he moved across to the large cables which were keeping us from plunging to our death. “The sirens mean lockdown,” he said “All members of the Hive will be urged to go to their living quarters. All doors will be sealed, all hallways monitored by cameras, and the people hunting us will most likely have shoot to kill orders.”

“Awesome,” I said, heavy on the sarcasm.

A loud rumble rocked the floor, and I used the cables to anchor myself as another elevator passed next to us. I tried really hard not to squeal, but holy scary.

Once the metal box passed and we could talk again, Ryder said, “That’s the other system, which goes the full length of the Hive. We need to make our way across to it.”

Kyle gestured to his wristwatch. “Sam put a tracker on me, so wherever we end up the boys will be there.”

Ryder’s face was now firmly looking like that of a man with a plan. “Alright, follow me.”

Ryder’s brilliant plan was uncomfortable as hell. After almost dying from scaling our way across elevators and up cables and into the spaces between the Hive floors, we ended up cramped in the A/C duct, army-crawling on our elbows through the first floor to try and find the laundry shaft and get the kid. Jumping from the top of the elevator to scale a ten foot wall which led into the duct was pretty much the most badass and scariest thing I’ve done yet.

In the shaft, we had spaced ourselves twenty feet apart, Ryder in front of me and Kyle behind. That way we wouldn’t overweigh the metal ducting and crash through it. I kept my eyes trained forward, focusing on Ryder’s beefy shoulders skimming the side walls as he barely fit through.

I tried to calm myself again but nothing was working. Pretty much from the first moment we’d crawled in here my heart had started racing, breath stuttering. I’d learned a new thing today: I had a very real fear of being in small metal spaces.

I was distracted from my newfound claustrophobia by Ryder pausing ahead. From back here it looked like he had reached a grate. Despite the distance between us, his whisper was clear.

“This is it, the supply closet across from where the girl should be, right near the exit.”

I relayed the message to Kyle, neither of us moving as we waited for Ryder to do his thing up there. Luckily the Hive was an industrial-style building and the ducting and grates were large, although Ryder still looked like he had to wiggle to fit as he dropped down into the room. I moved then, closing in on the open grate. My head popped over the side to see a dimly-lit supply closet below. Ryder was the only one in the room, and I felt immediate relief to know I’d soon be out of the confined space. Moving across the opening, I lowered my legs down first; strong hands gripped my thighs and I let myself drop into Ryder’s waiting arms. We ended up face to face, his dark and silver eyes looking all warm and swirly.

Kyle cleared his throat, and with reluctance I stepped out of Ryder’s arms, letting him focus on guiding his friend out of the vent. The three of us were then cramped in the six by six feet space, and as Ryder flicked on the lights I saw the shelves were packed with enforcer supplies—flashlights, glowsticks, walkie-talkies, and a bunch of other shit I had no idea about. Ryder grabbed a set of walkies and matched the channels before handing one to me. It was small, maybe three inches, so I clipped it on my boot. Kyle stashed a few supplies in his pockets, before turning to his best friend.

“For over thirty years, this has been our home.” His voice was full of emotion, and it hit me then that most of the sexy six were old, some even grandpa old. Pushing those thoughts away, I slipped my hand into Kyle’s and squeezed.

“Thirty years of cullings and ash murders. It’s time for a change,” I said to him.

Kyle managed a tight smile. “It is.” He squeezed my hand back.

I looked up to see Ryder watching me with an intense gaze. “We’re lucky you came into our lives, Charlie.”

I smiled, wrinkling my nose at him. “That means a lot coming from the guy who called me ‘forty-six’ for two weeks.”

Ryder chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll own that. Okay, focusing again. Time to glue yourself to me. We need to save the little girl and ditch this place.”

Kyle nodded. “Sam will see our location, and with a bit of luck he’s waiting outside the exit door as we speak.”

We gave a three-way fist bump, the low sound of emergency sirens the background music to our breakout song. My stomach tightened with anxiety as I drew my gun and Ryder put his hand on the doorknob.

“Luckily, this is one of the few monitored doors. They don’t lock down unimportant rooms, so we will be able to get out. Hopefully Sam has exit ready for us.” He twisted the knob, and sure enough it clicked right open. “Kyle and I will go first to take down any threats,” he said as he stepped out, Kyle right behind him.

I followed a second later, striding out into a small hall, gun held up in a ready pose. This storage room really had been the perfect room to drop out of the vents. We were directly across from the laundry chute, which was where we hoped to find the girl waiting for us. Just down the hall was the exit door to the Hive, about four meters from us.

I continued acknowledging our luck right up until Ryder opened the laundry door. It was empty. Shit! Had the Quorum gotten to the girl already? Ryder and Kyle wasted no time. They were already moving rapidly toward the exit, I guess to see if there was any sign of our team or the girl.

Ryder glanced back to make sure I was following, giving me a smile as I closed the gap between us. The door clicked open easily, so Sam had definitely lifted some of the lockdown, which hopefully meant everything else was still going right. The two enforcers disappeared out into the darkness beyond. As I neared the exit myself, I was relieved to see and hear the very familiar rumble of a Hummer.

A broad smile broke across my face to see Sam’s dark beauty. He was in the vehicle, laptop on his lap. Sitting beside him was the little girl, and I wondered if they had somehow known we were in trouble and had gotten her out just in case.

Jared, who must have been patrolling, ducked into my line of sight. He opened the back door for Ryder and Kyle, since they were already out of the building and a fair bit in front of me. I was just about to make my own exit when the Australian enforcer’s face turned a sickly white color.

“Charlie, behind you!”

I didn’t even have time to turn before a familiar jolt of electricity brought me to my knees. Straight away, my mind went fuzzy and black dots danced across my vision.
Don’t pass out, don’t pass out!
If I lost consciousness, I was dead. I managed to focus long enough to see the stark fear on Ryder’s face. All of the enforcers were out of the car now, coming straight for me, but they were too far away. My uncooperative body was yanked backwards and the exit door slammed shut, buzzing as it closed. The vamps had overridden Sam, which resulted in a full and complete lockdown on this section of the Hive now too.

“Charlie!” I heard Ryder’s muffled voice, followed by pops and hard slamming sounds against metal. Bullets. The attack was no use though, the Hive was specifically built to withstand this sort of violence.