Ash (11 page)

Since my finger had
already healed and the unique scent of my blood was gone, the vampire’s eyes were
back to normal.

“I don’t have any
specialties. You don’t need a DNA test to know that. Just watch me get my ass
handed to me every day in training.”

Lucas smiled in one of
those full, breathtaking, rows of pearly whites. My breathing stuttered a
little. He was potent when he wanted to be. “If we know who your sire is, then
we know what your specialty is. Each of the ten houses has a specialty. More
specifically, each vampire Original had a specialty which they passed on in
diluted versions to their descendants. There is much we can discover from your
ancestry.”

Whoa. Interesting. The
doctor left the room then, samples tucked into a lab bag. Lucas reached out and
I took his hand, but still got to my feet without help. A part of me just
wanted to hold his hand and see if he gave me the same tingles that Ryder could
induce with just one of his famous stoic looks.

It was nice, no denying
it, but not exactly the same. Staring into his silver eyes, I suddenly felt
very brave. “Tell me what happened to the Originals,” I blurted out.

He sort of froze, his
human façade, which vampires tried to maintain, disappearing altogether as some
sort of feral predator rose in his eyes.

“Even though they escaped
the early cullings, they were eventually wiped out by humans,” he said. “The
blood of an Original is where the virus is strongest. It has been diluted down
through the years, and now all that remains are the ten houses. We are very
distant descendants.”

His tone was clipped, as
if he were reciting the standard brochure on the Originals or something.

“I thought after those
initial years things got better between vampires and humans, so why were they
wiped out?” I had to ask.

Lucas pulled his hand
from mine and started to walk toward the door. I didn’t think he was going to
answer. He pressed down on the handle and clicked open the door.

But then he swiveled his
head back around and gave me a pointed stare. “For a long time there was a lot
of misinformation and fear. Even though the original vectors, the bats, were
gone, the humans still feared getting the virus from a cough, a touch,
anything. On top of that, newly changed vampires didn’t appreciate being weaker
than the Originals. We believe a group of vampires coordinated an attack with an
extremist group of humans. They came in the middle of the night and wiped out
the entire Original lines.

My mouth fell open. Okay,
yeah, I didn’t exactly love the bloodsuckers, but killing off the bunch of them
in the night was akin to genocide. They had all been humans before the virus,
and I knew that they still had many human traits even now.

“After this loss of
leadership the Quorum was formed, and some semblance of order has remained ever
since. Ryder is the closest ash or vampire in the Hive with a direct link to an
Original.”

Whoa. My training
instructor had just got that much more interesting.

“Again!” Ryder yelled as I pounded on the
boxing mannequin.

I groaned. I was sweating
bullets, my pinky was broken, and I was bored out of my mind. It had been three
days of this shit and I was considering killing myself so I didn’t have to
continue this insane regimen. Of course, soon I wouldn’t have to worry too much
about killing myself. Someone else was sure to do it in the culling.

“I can’t,” I confessed. “It’s
maddening. I need a change.” My muscles ached from the weightlifting session I’d
had before training, but I couldn’t deny the definition forming in my arms and
legs. Ash built muscle easily, and I was halfway home to a six-pack.

Ryder seemed to consider
my words. He walked over and grabbed the mannequin, wheeling him to the far
wall.

“Thank you, sweet baby
Jesus!” I practically shouted. Finally this guy was listening to me.

Ryder planted himself opposite
me, arms in front of his face. “Again.”

I stared into his
gorgeous face and cracked a smile. “You want me to kick your ass?” Oh man I had
been dreaming of this day. This good-looking, smug bastard had electrocuted me
– I was totes never letting that go – had kicked my legs out from under me, and
made me work my ass off all week. He deserved some payback.

He tilted his head to the
side in that observe-me-like-a-lab-rat way of his. “You’re a little too happy
about trying to hurt me.”

I rolled my eyes. He
waved me closer. “You think you’ve done the five steps enough? Let’s see how
you do with the real thing. I’m going to do basic blocks, but I will let you hit
me. It’s important you get used to the feel and sound of skin hitting skin, and
bones crunching under impact.”

My stomach rolled. Jesus
this guy was a mercenary.

All of a sudden I didn’t
want to hit him, or break any bones in that gorgeous face. If I didn’t have
something pretty to look at every day, the Hive would be a real buzzkill. Sure,
there were lots of pretty males here, but Ryder … well, he was Ryder.

He saw me falter, and the
beginnings of a grin lifting one side of his lips. “You were such a pain in my
ass your first few days here. It felt kinda good to zap you after you broke my
ankle.”

Hah. I totally knew what
he was doing. Bastard. It was working too.

Without warning, I threw
the left jab. He blocked. I countered quickly with the right hook, which he let
through to smash into his unprotected head. Shit. I was about to pull back, but
I saw the glint in his eyes. He was daring me to continue, and he had barely
flinched when I’d just hit him, so … I finished the sequence with a knee to the
ribs and then crouched and swept my leg out to flip him onto his back. He
jumped up just in time.

I stumbled back before
shaking out my throbbing hand. His face was made of stone or something.

He appraised me. “Your
frame is stronger, your blows harder – you still don’t quite have the feral
push needed to kill, but that will come in the moment when you do literally
fight for your life.”

I really didn’t want to
think about that. I would probably throw up all over him or something.

“Again.” He put his hands
out in front of him.

Dammit, why was he being
so pushy with this shit? My frustrations regarding the direction my life had taken
flooded through me. This was not the life I wanted. This was not the life I’d
expected. I wasn’t even sure I would survive the next two weeks. I wanted to be
stronger than I felt inside, I wanted to see Ryder in a position of weakness.

Instead of starting the
sequence off correct, I pretended I was going to throw a left jab but instead
went right for the leg sweep. Caught completely unaware, Ryder began to fall
backward, then his hand snaked out and he grabbed my arm, pulling me with him.
I landed on top of him as the breath whooshed out of both of us. Okay, dude was
quick and I had totally not expected that to happen.

Conscious thought
disappeared, and time stopped as I realized I was completely pressed against
every inch of him. His hard muscles pushed into my softness and our eyes locked
in a stare. So much silver flared to life in that one gaze. His eyes fell to my
lips and I licked to wet them.

Before I could move
though, the silver of his gaze darkened and his face turned cold. He rolled me
off, jumping up to stand. “Pulling your old scrappy tricks,” he said. “Give me
five laps.”

I blinked a few times, my
daze wearing off in a blast of disbelief. What the hell was that? Was I crazy
or had he been about to kiss me? For a split second I had wanted him to, so
badly, but he clearly wasn’t interested and I clearly needed to expand my
circle of friends. Hanging out only with a gay guy and this insanely sexy
badass was messing with my head. Stockholm syndrome was in full effect. I
jumped up and hit the ground running, burning off the sexual tension that had
crept in between Ryder and I. How long had it been since I got laid? That had
to be the problem. Sexual deprivation was driving me crazy. There was no other
explanation.

Later that day I was on my way to the cafeteria
to grab some human food when I found Lucas waiting off to the side of the
double doors. As soon as he met my eyes, he flicked his head and motioned for
me to follow him. He was all in white again. Did he have a problem with color
or something? He was like a monochromatic painting. Perfect, but eerily white
and shiny.

My muscles protested
against any more running as I struggled to keep up with him. He quickly darted
into an open door off of the hallway, and I followed him inside. On the other
side was Ryder, Lucas, and an unfamiliar female vampire in a lab coat. She had
a very short pixie haircut, her thick tresses an unusual silver color. Seriously,
how many doctors and scientists did they have in the Hive? 

“What the hell?” I said.
Was this an ambush or something? Lucas shut the door behind me and motioned to
the female.

“Everything is okay,
Charlie, we just needed some privacy,” Lucas said to me. “Tell them what you
told me,” he commanded, turning to the doctor.

She clutched at the few papers
in her hands. “Well, sir, it’s really difficult to explain – the virus has so
many variants.”

“Madeline,” Lucas said,
bestowing one of his rarely seen glares on her. I noticed that Ryder’s
expression was shuttered, hard to read. But still, I was sensing something in
his black and silver eyes. Curiosity?   

The doctor turned to me,
her eyes fluttering and her expression sympathetic. “We ran the tests four
times. The results keep coming back the same. Charlie appears to have been
fathered by an Original. Her sire was the Original of the fourth house.”

My mouth dropped open.
For the first time there was an emotional response from Ryder – his eyes
flashed and the silver took over his black iris. He moved beside me as if to
protect me from impending attack. “She’s twenty years old. The Originals died
over two hundred years ago. It’s not possible! I am two generations removed
from the Original line, and that’s the closest we know of.” Ryder growled.

The female’s expression
hardened. “The science speaks differently. Her DNA is a direct branch of Carter
Atwater of the fourth house.”

Why were Ryder’s brows
drawn together like that? Not to mention his fists clenching? Was he scared? 
Ryder wasn’t scared of anything.

“And the other thing you
told me?” Lucas pushed.

She nervously fiddled
with the paper. “It’s just a theory, sir…”

Lucas’ current stare
could have cut glass.

She hurried out the next
part. “I’m not one hundred percent sure that Charlie is an ash.”

Okay, now I was even more
confused. First she tells me I’m from a dead Original – sure, okay. I might buy
that there was something weird going on there – Carter was the name my mom gave
me for her rescuer after all. But now I also wasn’t an ash? What other option
was there? I knew I wasn’t a vampire. I had been out in the sun and there was
definitely black in my eyes. Was there a third option they hadn’t told me
about?

Ryder shook his head. “What
is she then?”

Okay, if Ryder didn’t
know of a third option, then this woman was clearly a few blood bags short of a
full load.

“She’s not human or
vampire, I know that. To tell more I need more time and more blood.”

Lucas nodded. “I will
provide you with whatever is needed, and you will testify to the Quorum
tomorrow that she is a diluted descendant ash of the fourth house.”

The woman clenched her
jaw. “And if I do this, you will let my family go?” For the first time, some of
her timidity fled and her fangs flashed as she glared at Lucas.

He smiled. “We’ll see. Be
a good girl.” He opened the door and she stormed out.

Wait, what the hell just
happened? Ryder was looking at me like I was going to sprout a second head.
Lucas had kidnapped her family to keep this information private? I wasn’t sure
I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I really wanted to demand he
release the captives, but I didn’t have any pull with the powerful Quorum
member. Poor Madeline … I would have to try and figure out something later.

I realized that Ryder had
started talking again, his words short and clipped. “This changes everything,”
he said to Lucas. “If she isn’t ash and if she’s a direct descendant, we can pull
her from the culling. The Quorum will spare someone so special.”

Did Ryder just call me
special? I raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t delude yourself!
The Quorum would never let her live, for fear that she could overthrow them.
You’re not old enough to remember the dark days. We keep her in the culling and
tell no one of this revelation.”

Hey, I’m right here
.

“Excuse me? What’s the fourth
house all about?”

The white-clad vampire
wasted no time turning to me. “When Carter Atwater was bitten by the bat
infected with Anima Mortem virus, and transformed to a vampire, he manifested
the power of levitation. As a direct descendant, you too should be able to utilize
this power to some extent.”