by Alexia Purdy
“Well,” she stretched like a cat and then slumped back on the chair. “It takes a while. You just feel strange at first, like your skin is tingling. Oh, and the smell.”
“What smell?”
“The smell of blood. It’s hangs in the air like strong perfume, but it smells delicious.” Miranda glanced at Jeremy, who was pretending to clean his daggers. I knew better; he was clinging to every word we said.
“Is it irresistible?” My stomach turned at the thought, though I quite enjoyed the taste of blood myself. That was the scary thing about it.
“Yes. It’s like starving for weeks and feeling so incredibly thirsty, because nothing satiates it. Nothing. Nothing but blood.”
“How long before you bit someone for blood?”
A silence built as I waited, causing me to look up at my friend.
“Not long.” Miranda shifted uncomfortably in her seat, probably searching for words to make it sound better. I knew there were none. “A group of humans wandered into our hive before we had it completely secured. They saw us, thought we were human, too. Luckily it was just me and Blaze near the entrance, but I couldn’t control it.” Her gaze shot up toward the sky, searching for something to help the stab of regret fade. “They smelled amazing, and I knew what I was right then. Blaze tried to stop me, but his own hunger won out. We snatched them both and drained them until they fell unconscious. After that, the scent of blood drifted to the others, and there was no surviving that.” She cleared her throat, aware that Jeremy and I were staring at her.
“So she’s right to lock herself up.” I glanced up to the blue atmosphere above us along with her. So much to fear, and now even more right here in our own sanctuary, where we should have been the safest.
“I’m afraid that, yes, she’s right to do so.” Miranda’s cool hand brushed the wild hair away from my face, but I barely registered it. I felt the twinge of despair bleeding back into my chest. It was getting harder and harder to shake off. I was afraid that one day I wouldn’t be able to.
“Come on, I’m starving. Food always makes me feel better.” Miranda stood up, still holding her katana in its sheath. I gave her a slow tilt of my head and began to gather up our weapons. I was thankful I had someone to talk to now that my mother was pretty much incapacitated. I missed our chats, but Miranda’s company was comforting in her absence. Even if she was a hybrid vampire, it was better than nothing. If I had ever had a sister, I would have wanted her to be like Miranda. Her optimism was contagious, which was exactly what I needed right now.
I watched the horizon as the sun slipped over the trees, sending the sky seeping into colors of purple and blue. I longed for it to stay, but it was a visitor who left every night. Still it was certain to return every morning. Even so, I wanted it to stay overnight, I wanted the sun to shine forever. But like the few certain things in this world, it was like clockwork, going on and on until the night swallowed it up. I hated the nights, hated them with every fiber of my being.
The nights brought death to life. Nothing was ever going to change from that now. I’d never get to leave this bunker, not ever. I’d never sleep in a normal room again, especially with the ferals and other vampiric hybrids out there. Who knows what was lurking out there. I had lived in a bubble of sorts since the outbreak. It had worked to keep us safe. It was the only reason we’d made it this far. All I knew was that it was me and my family against the world. Whatever was now left of it.
Chapter Four
Plague of Ash
April
“ARE YOU SURE this will work?” I shifted my weight on my feet, squatting down on the roof of the Aria hotel. The heat of the day was still radiating off the hot concrete, keeping me sweating as I worked and rigged up miles of cords and dozens of cameras. It was a great vantage point; I could see almost all of The Strip. It was a gorgeous evening, but I was not looking forward to spending the night up there in the dark, even with the stunning view, full moon and sparkling stars in the sky. Nope, definitely didn’t look forward to being on The Strip at night. Not one bit. “I still don’t think this is such a good idea.”
I adjusted the night vision camera that I had been working on and peered through the eye piece to be sure that I had every piece of The Strip covered that I was assigned to. Rye was helping to set more up along the other side of the casino’s roof. They were all battery operated, and each one would have to be changed out halfway through the night with fresh batteries to keep them going. A few had extended batteries on them, but I had not had time to find enough of the longer lasting batteries and have them all charged before dusk. We had them charging now for when the others ran out of juice, but it was better that we were there to make sure all the cameras worked the entire night so we wouldn’t miss anything.
“It will work.” Rye grinned over at me, his grey eyes flashing and reflecting the tangerine light of the sunset. It made him look even more handsome, like a photo-shopped cover model on one of the romance novels I had glanced at in the grocery stores when everything was still normal. Now I had a small stack of them at the bunker but had never gotten around to reading them. I wondered if the heroes in them were anything like Rye. He had an amazing build. If they were, I needed to get going on my reading for sure.
“I never agreed to stay up here like a sitting duck all night. I’m not too sure about that!” I groaned, dropping one of the batteries as I tried to clamp the camera into place. Securing it, I swept the roof and searched the ground for the battery. The light was already starting to fade and quickly. Rye found it under one of the pipes running the length of the roof and held it up. I reached over to take it gently, grazing his fingertips as he held onto it for a moment too long, sending jolts of warmth through my stomach. His sly grin told me he knew what he did to me. I felt the heat rise to my face and averted my eyes before I could see him get the satisfaction of watching me flush.
He’s such a tease.
I felt the blood flashing across my face as I finally pulled it from his grip and jetted back over to stuff it into place. I was sweating buckets up there; at least the night would cool it down enough to sleep a bit. I had the second shift watch, so I had to get to bed soon.
“It’s just one night. I’m sure we’ll see something and won’t have to come up here again. They’ve been consistent in dumping feral remains all over this city block all week, mucking up the streets in soot and vampire ash.” Rye finished his own set of cameras and shoved the duffle bags that we had used to carry them up to the side. I felt his eyes lingering on me as I continued to work. It made me smile, knowing he was enjoying the view. At least I hoped he was.
“Who’s they?” I turned then to meet his gaze. Rye pressed his lips together as I tried his patience once more. I knew he wanted to shake me sometimes; I was not an easy person to hang out with. Things have to be a certain way with me and this deviation from the norm had me worried to no end.
“I don’t know yet. That’s why we’re doing this, remember?” I knew he was getting unnerved by my snappy comments but I had no patience for waiting. It was bad enough having to lug all this crap up dozens of floors through dark stairwells. This casino had been one of the few that had been cleared of ferals and secured around the base to keep them out. It didn’t mean that nothing ever got in. There was always that risk. There will never be complete safety in any place anymore. “Besides, I distinctly remember you not protesting when we came up with this plan.”
“Yeah, but I distinctly remember never volunteering for this,” I muttered, switching on the camera as the last sliver of sunlight slipped over the western mountains. I wanted to say it was probably another hive of vampires stringing up the ferals and tossing them to the sun to wither into dust. Who else could it be? I didn’t think there was any way there could be humans out there without anyone noticing them before, but the whole situation seemed so out of the ordinary to me. Anything was possible nowadays.
The world was in a suspended state of in between. The sun bled a tang
erine-orange and sent reddish streaks throughout the sky, leaving the windows of the many casinos glowing an unnatural shade in their reflections. The shadows turned dark and blue behind the lit sides of the buildings. It was such a contrast, so stark it made me shiver, especially as I could already see the ferals crawling out of the shadows, free of their prisons to roam and feed.
“Okay, I’m done on this end, need any help?” I shifted over to where Rye was finishing up his set of cameras. His fingers worked with a smooth dexterity over the buttons and cords. He smiled as I approached, making me blush as his eyes told me so many things left unsaid. I knew how he felt about me. He had made it no secret how he wanted to be so much more than just friends. I loved how it felt when he kissed and held me, though I reluctantly pushed the thought out of my head. Pulling away from him had been more from my own insecurities about life than anything else. I didn’t know how to be with him the way he wanted. How do you open to someone when there is nothing for certain anymore? Nothing but death?
He suddenly reached out toward me, stroking my cheek and giving me another grin that made me melt inside again. He did it without words and so easily it made my heart skip in my chest and my stomach drop. How did he do that without anything but actions? His skin was the catalyst, and my body knew it. He followed it with a sweeping embrace, pressing me into his body with his sturdy arms. It felt amazing, so comforting and protective of him. It was a moment of safe harbor, calming my ever flustered heart. Breathing in his skin, I noticed for the hundredth time that he smelled of clean linen mixed with a coppery taint. It didn’t matter that he smelled of blood; the scent drew me in, and I was suddenly very aware of his pulsating jugular near my face.
Its soft rhythm made me wonder if the hybrids were really dead. They seemed more alive than some humans I had met in my lifetime. Save for the cooler body temperature and the gold haloed eyes, they appeared very human. Even their fangs retracted when not in use, a feature to make it hard to tell them apart from us. They were wolves in sheep’s clothing, hunters of crimson currency. How he could stay so close to me and not crave it was a mystery. This made me suck a breath in and pull away for a moment. I didn’t fail to notice the pain flash across his eyes before he turned back to his task. It stung me as well but I couldn’t let him in. I didn’t know how.
“Going to get some shut-eye.” I motioned to the sleeping bag tucked in a corner of stairwell entrance, trying to make an excuse to put some distance between us. Or maybe it was for my behavior. He nodded, but I still felt his eyes follow me as I made my way to the sleeping area near a small storage room along one side of the roof. It was just a shack of a building, made in the shape of an L. The walls were a grey, plain concrete, streaked with dirt from the constant desert haze and scarce rainfall. It provided plenty of shelter on two sides of me. There was a chair nearby which Rye would occupy as the night went on.
I continued to feel his gaze burn into my back, leaving me filled with longing. It sent a ripple along my spine, sending shocks down my skin. I tried to shake it off as I slipped into my sleeping bag, bother me though it may. I suppressed my feelings deep into the dark places inside my mind I dared not think about now. Maybe one day, but for now, it was an impossible desire.
The night sky morphed into its darker twin as the colors faded and the darkness of night woke the city. In the distance, the snarls and moans of the feral vampires filled the air as they descended from their daylight tombs. It sent a different kind of shiver down my spine as I concentrated on breathing deeply, attempting to slow my frantic heartbeat down. It was unnerving, sleeping in the middle of the city, surrounded by fangs and death. I hated this and doubted I would get much sleep tonight, if any. I’d just have to do without.
“Going to be a long night, try to sleep some.” Rye’s voice was soft, but it did nothing to soothe my nerves. The chair creaked with his weight as he came to sit near me.
“Okay.”
~~~~~
Rye
RYE WATCHED THE soft sway of breathing under the sleeping bag. He knew April was not yet sleeping, or maybe she was in some half-awake and half-asleep state based on the stillness of her sleeping bag. He wondered what she was dreaming about, if anything. Turning toward the darkened Strip, he could see clearly with his vampire eyes. The shadows of ferals running about, rummaging through messes and heading out toward whatever it was they were searching for. They were on their nightly run through the streets, blood-starved and desperate. Their features stood out, stark in the pale moonlight. They snarled with their ruined faces, morphed from what once was beautiful and human.
The night felt crisp, rich in coolness and doused with the scent of ozone. Glancing up at the stars made Rye mildly aware that while some things never changed, others were constantly in a state of flux. He had hoped that with time, April would return his affections like when they had first met. But after saving her family from Christian’s hive, she had withdrawn from him in the most devastating way possible. The emptiness that had settled in the place of her love had left him hollow, cold and longing. She needed space, he got that. The post-apocalyptic world was no place to fall in love, or think of any future for that matter. Still, hope was all that was left to hold onto. Hope was all he had.
Straightening, he moved his gaze along the streets, but thoughts of April never left his mind. He longed for her to become his mate and form the absolute bond with him like the other mated couples in his hive. But she was not a vampire hybrid. She was a human mutation of some sort, which left him wondering if there could ever really be anything more between them. He’d never give up on her. If he was patient, she’d know how much she meant to him.
What if there were others like her out there? Maybe even another human hybrid that would be better suited to love her, one who could give her the life she craved, the life that was stolen from her when the epidemic hit. Could that be possible?
And then what? Would she choose a mortal man if she met one like her? What would happen then? He shuddered to think of it but tried to keep his thoughts on the task at hand. If he didn’t, he would drive himself mad with worry and unreasonable jealously. It was bad enough he couldn’t reach her anymore, but to lose her to someone else, someone who probably didn’t even exist, was making him feel foolish.
The streets seemed emptier as midnight came and went. He was still wide awake and contemplated letting April sleep longer. Her rapid heartbeat had slowed as the echoes of the ferals’ screams faded into the night. Where they had all gone was beyond him. At least he and April were safe for now in this building, high above the deadly grip of the hunters. But he didn’t want to take anything for granted, so he never let his guard waver.
As the morning moved on, a shadow shifted in his periphery. It brought him to a crouch near the ledge to study the Sahara Casino down on the northern end of the street. The old rollercoaster that hung from the front was falling apart, bits of metal and cables dangling from the steel beams. Old billboards that used to cling to the outer walls of the casino’s entrance lay shredded across the wall. The coaster led into the building through a gaping hole, but it was high up on the street, and he doubted the ferals would be able to reach it. He squinted his silver grey eyes and continued to scan the street surrounding the casino. Suddenly a flash of metal reflected the moonlight on the top part of the roller coaster. The building that housed it was smaller than the towering hotel behind it but connected itself nicely to one of the hotel floors. The windows had opened, and what looked like people had emerged, pulling ropes tied to staggering figures behind them.
Feral vampires.
Rye trained some of the cameras on them before flying over to April to give her a slight shake.
“April, get up, I see something.”
“Mmm?” She sat up so quickly she almost rammed him with her head. She was instantly awake, which made him smile. It was amazing how fast she was on her feet and ready to pounce on something in a second’s notice. “Where?”
“Over t
here, on the roof of the Sahara.” He pointed her in the direction of the strangers, a trail of ferals roped in their midst. They approached the edge of the roof and studied the group below. The snarls echoed down the street as they attempted to snap and bite their captors. April’s eyes widened in shock; she’d never expected to see the activity right in front of her.
“What are they doing with the ferals? Are those hybrids?” She narrowed her eyes to see better, hoping to recognize one of the captors.
Rye focused his stare on the wardens. They moved with grace, and there were a total of twelve of them. He studied each one’s movements and listened with his enhanced vampire hearing. A male voice could distinctly be heard barking orders at the others as they worked to follow his commands. Several female voices echoed back, though Rye could not confirm how many were men and how many were women. He quietly relayed this information to April as she moved some more cameras to point their lenses in that direction. Rye didn’t want to run the risk of the others hearing him either. If they were hybrids, they were a bit too far to hear them conversing quietly, but if he yelled they would definitely hear him.
“Can they see us?” April whispered as she came to crouch next to him, zooming one of the long distance cameras onto the group, snapping pictures as well as she could with the night vision in place. She looked excited, eager to discover the mystery of what was happening in front of them. Nothing thrilled her more, it seemed.
“I don’t think so, but I wouldn’t risk us being seen.”
“What do you think they’re doing?”
“My guess is they are waiting for morning.”
“Why?” April turned her confused face toward him, waiting for an answer.
“To fry the ferals they caught to ashes, what else?” He shrugged and glanced back toward the group. He could feel the morning crawling across his skin even though the sun was more than an hour away from showing its face. Rye shifted uncomfortably, knowing he’d have to descend down the steps before the full spectrum of rays spilled across the roof from the sun and began to cook him alive. He’d have to leave April to tend to the cameras after sunrise, hating the thought of leaving her alone. He knew she would be just fine; it was an isolated island here, without any other buildings tall enough to jump from. He just hoped none of the guards down there would spot them before they got away.