Annihilate (Hive Trilogy Book 3) by Jaymin Eve, Leia Stone

his jacket. “Arson.”
    Fear struck into my gut, and apparently into Ryder’s, because he closed the space between us and I was hauled up into his arms and shoved on the snowmobile. Oliver sat with us and we drove off, leaving Sam, Becca, Lupita, and her father to figure shit out.
    “Ryder…” I said, trying to calm him; he was flooring the snowmobile so fast my head was hitting the bars above us.
    “Ryder!” I shouted. He ignored me. Oliver turned, facing the back, gun drawn as if he was waiting for someone to shoot us.
    We reached the lab in record time and finally my boyfriend faced me. “This was a trap to get us all outside. I don’t know whether it was to see how many of us there are, or to get you!”
    Fear sliced through me. “Fuck.”
    Oliver didn’t move from his position, but he called back to Ryder. “Who, though? No one knows we’re here!”
    That’s true. Sam had been so careful. But there was one thing he probably hadn’t taken into account. He came to this area all the time, and after decades of coming here someone was bound to notice.
    Ryder figured the same thing. “Has to be Sanctum … one of their scouts. If it was a full team they’d have just ambushed the house. The fire drew us out, and if I know them at all, he’s now counted us, identified Charlie, and will be reporting back so a full team can be dispatched. The scouts probably went out to all possible locations Charlie might be.”
    Oliver let a cuss word fly this time. “What do we do?”
    I hadn’t even showered since I got here and already with the drama. I was not dressed to take on Sanctum. I was kind of looking forward to Jayden’s shipments coming, 36C and all.
    My man’s face looked menacing. “We go hunting.” Exiting the snowmobile, he all but ran into the house.
    Holy shit.
    I took off after him. After we made it inside, I found him in the main room, pulling forth some duffle bags. They were full of weapons.
    I readied myself for a fight. “I’m helping,” I told him, crossing my arms.
    He stopped what he was doing for a second, but then threw me a bulletproof vest. “I need the extra help; otherwise I would say no.”
    Whatever … he said yes, so I wasn’t going to argue. In the next few minutes the rest of the enforcers made it back to the research facility. Which was good. If Sanctum was involved, you couldn’t have too many people on your side.
    Five minutes, that’s all it took for the boys and I to suit up and for Sam to ready the helicopter. Ryder was pretty sure there would only be one scout and if we killed him that would buy us about a week before someone came looking for him. So we had to find that scout.
    Jayden was going to stay at the house. His job was to pray for our survival. Worship, sacrifice, whatever the gods needed, he assured us he was on it.
    Becca was still with Lupita and her father. They were heading for the hospital in town.
    The rest of us were geared and ready to go. Sam was in the chopper with Oliver as our eyes in the sky. Ryder and I were on one snowmobile, Jared and Kyle on another. Markus said he was going on foot through the rougher terrain.
    We all wore bulletproof vests and had semi-automatic rifles and a handgun. Night vision was limited, so only Markus, Sam, and Ryder got those. The Scottish enforcer had already set out to follow snow tracks. All of us were linked via walkie-talkie.
    Time to find us a Sanctum scout.
    Ryder and I were following a trail, our snowmobile rumbling along as we moved slowly through the night.
    “I doubt the scouts have gotten sloppy enough to leave a trail,” Ryder said, his face obscured by the night vision. “But we have to follow all leads.”
    “Might be a trap, but at least we’ll find him quickly.”
    I was more than happy to find the fire-lovin’ bastard.
    After following the tracks to a thick forested area that the snowmobile couldn’t enter, Ryder cut the engine and jumped off. I trailed behind him, gun held at my side and as