Chapter Twenty-One
THE PLAN WAS simple: sneak our way into the opposing hive, set off explosives to shake them out into the daylight to rid us of the mutated feral vampires first, then we could pick off the remaining hybrid ones more easily. I was sure that I had a severe disadvantage with the last part. I was to find an injured hybrid with Rye and interrogate him on the location of my family. I was hoping it would be easy to get one to talk, for where we were going was not going to be an easy feat to get through. Their headquarters was located in the infamous Stratosphere tower. The entire casino and citadel was theirs. I hadn’t even thought it possible that there was anyone else in the city but me and my family, assuming it was just another abandoned building. But apparently the bowels of it were filled with feral and hybrid vampires alike.
Blaze described how the mutated feral vampires were used as guards to every entrance but they were still sensitive to the sun and could only be used for this at night. The only thing they hadn’t been able to genetically alter in the feral’s DNA was their deadly kryptonite, the sun. Hence, the reasoning behind our daylight attack. Miranda had already shown me that the hybrids could walk in the daylight hours but something occurred to me as Blaze ranted on and on about which entrance Rye and I would take while he took on the front entrance, assuming the brunt of the attack.
My eyes went up to his face as my hand waved for his attention. He stopped his speech and waved at me to spit it out. “So, are you also as immune to the sun as I am? I’ve only seen Miranda out on semi-cloudy or rainy days.” I was certain that something was off. He was a vampire and I had too-easily dismissed this question when Miranda had joined me. But it had made me wonder–why didn’t they fill the streets like regular humans had in the bright Vegas sun and just live like we all did before the outbreak? With the exceptions of the feral vampires of course, they could have lived normal lives if the sun wasn’t an issue.
The answer dawned on me before Blaze even answered back. “We are somewhat immune to the sun; we do not burn to ashes like the wildlings do if we step outside.” He sighed, rubbing his temple as though the tension of talking about the plan had worn him out to the point of causing a headache. “But it is quite uncomfortable to walk under clear skies with the hot burning sun beaming down on us. We burn more easily than you do. It feels like being boiled alive. Quite uncomfortable, as you might guess.” He shrugged and ended the subject at that.
“And what do I do once we are inside and discover where they’re hiding my family?” My palms were sweaty as he continued, directing me to regroup with Rye and Miranda before attempting to rescue my family. I nodded, knowing how anxious I was going to be when the time came. I hoped that we made it that far, I hoped that we weren’t going to be ambushed the moment we stepped into the dark underground of the enemy hive. I was also wondering if they had messed with the DNA of the feral vampires. What else had they been tweaking in their labs? I shivered as I thought of the hordes of things they could have been concocting the entire year I had lived in oblivion in the quiet mountains.
I longed to return home now. I ached for the sway of the trees in the wind, the scent of pine and mulch scattered throughout. The air down here was stale and recycled, making me feel all the more claustrophobic with nothing but concrete all around and above me. This tomb made me feel deader inside than I had felt in a long time. I hoped that once my family was released we could return to our bunker in the mountains, alone and safe once more.
The image of home brought me back quickly, realizing that it would never be the same. If this hive, one that had no ill intentions toward me, found us so easily, who’s to say that any other hive that was less honorable wouldn’t come my way? Especially after this battle, I was sure that my presence would be quite well known afterwards.
I shuddered. That supposed I survived this encounter at all.
*****
RYE AND MIRANDA had come in as I was just about finished interrogating Blaze. Rye had smiled at me but it didn’t reach his eyes. His seriousness concerned me until I realized I was still pretty bloodied up, with Charles’s blood clinging to my shoes and shirt. I was positive he had passed by the mess of Charles’s body in the dining area. His eyes studied me disapprovingly. I looked away but felt his gaze digging into me. I wasn’t sure if this made me irritated with him or not. He hadn’t been there; I’d had no choice but to eliminate Charles for my own survival. We went back to our sleeping quarters after the meeting in awkward silence.
“You okay?” he asked softly. Surprised, I glanced at him as he sat beside me on the bed, his arm embracing me from the side. I lean into him, relieved that he wasn’t angry but concerned for me. I nodded, giving a slight smile back to him. His eyes told me he knew better, that he knew what had gone down. I wondered if he felt responsible for it. He would be the kind to resent the fact that he was gone when I was attacked. I valued his affection, his willingness to be my safety net now.
“I’m glad he’s gone. He was nothing but a huge problem to all of us.” Rye’s hand rubbed my arm softly. His skin felt like cool, silken cloth and it reminded me of something, a memory long gone.
“Rye?” I asked.
“Yes?”
“Blaze said the sun hurts you. How does it feel? The burn, I mean. If you don’t incinerate, how do you survive in Vegas sun?” I felt almost like I was intruding on his privacy but even Miranda did not seemed bothered with my questions.
“Like when you get a bad sunburn, that pain and raw feeling to your skin the day after? That’s how it feels. We even catch some redness to our skin but if we stay too long in the sun we start to cook, smelling like barbeque.”
I wrinkled my nose at the description, not liking the imagery at all. He gave me a grin, enjoying the fact that he could gross me out. I rolled my eyes, knowing how silly it was to think a vicious vampire killer like me could get grossed out. Well, a lot of different things had been happening in my life that had never happened before. I was sure my stomach was just not equipped for so many shocks so close together. Pressing my lips together as my stomach began to churn, I willed it to calm as the moments ticked by.
“Come on, I have something to show you.” Rye tugged at my hand as he stood up, the moment obviously over. I wondered what he was up to, amazed at how comfortable I was with him already. He had basically told me we were meant for each other, though I was skeptical. I didn’t want to jump into anything too fast, not when everything was so uncertain and the dangers ahead would be treacherous. I followed as he led me out, quietly keeping pace with him as he squeezed my hand.
We made our way down the concrete tunnel, away from the main area. I wondered where we were heading. How deep this place went, I could only imagine. The airport buildings were just above us. The farther we went into the tunnel the more I wondered if we would end up on the strip if we kept on. He took me through several locked doors that just opened to more and more of the underground maze.
I began to feel a bit paranoid as we kept on, being here, just him and me, alone in the deep tunnels of Las Vegas. My patience slipped from me and I came to a sudden stop, digging my heels into the ground. Rye spun around as my arm pulled back on his, his eyes surprised.
“What’s wrong?” His eyes scanned my face; I’m sure it was full of suspicion and fear.
Shaking my head, I met his gleaming orbs and sighed. “Where are we going, Rye? It’s endless. How far are we going? Why aren’t we attacking for two more days? I’m tired of waiting.” My desolate voice echoed in the lonely hallway, making me feel more like I was in a cell. I stepped back to lean on the cool wall, hoping it might help steady me. My uncertainty was drowning me, my impatience making me short tempered. I didn’t want anything now more than my family safely back in my arms.
“I know you want your family back but these things take planning and timing. We can’t just burst in right now, we have to wait for Seraphin’s signal and she said to give her two days. We have to trust her–she is our only hope to get th
is right.”
I rubbed my face, feeling the stress wearing me down to the bone. “I know, but I don’t even know that woman. She’s crazy! How she ended up as our only option is beyond me! She almost killed me!” I snapped. I did not like this plan and I wanted out of that tunnel, missing the sweet scent of pine and the sway of leaves rustling in the wind back home.
“You have no choice but to trust her. Besides, I know she’s rough around the edges but I vouch for her. She’s good and only she can do this right.” Rye’s seriousness turned his eyes into hard pebbles of grey, his face a blank sheet. I got a strange feeling he wasn’t telling me everything again. I hoped it was just my endless paranoia nagging at me but this… this felt stronger than that.
“Who is she to you, Rye?” It was my turn to don a blank face as I watched his face morph into an expression of surprise. He turned away, letting his eyes stare off into the long tunnel, a memory flashing across his features. It wasn’t a pleasant one either; it was truly filled with nothing but pain of loss.
“Seraphin was…she was my wife.” He started walking again, motioning for me to follow. I knew he didn’t want me to see his expression; his stride was just fast enough to stay in front of me. He continued in silence, making me realize that I had hit a very sensitive nerve.
“I–I’m sorry, I didn’t know, Rye.” I gripped his arm, pulling on him to stop. He turned to face me, looking vulnerable and sad. I could feel my heart stinging for causing it. “What happened?” I inquired, hoping I wasn’t intruding too much.
He sighed, pursing his lips as he pondered whether or not to tell me. If Seraphin had been his wife, why were they not together now? Had she left him for another?
Suddenly it came to me as I sucked my breath in, my eyes wildly scanning his face. “She found another mate, didn’t she?” He nodded as his lids closed to cover the memories that were probably flooding through his mind right now. I wanted to know everything: how Seraphin could have been his wife, who her mate now was and more. I wasn’t sure if he would tell me but I had to find out. Maybe it was the slight tickle of jealousy that fluttered in my chest. I didn’t know what else to make of it but being kept in the dark was too awkward. I needed to know.
“Her name wasn’t Seraphin back then.” The glowing halo of his eyes shined in the artificial light of the tunnel. It made them glow like an unnatural metal. He was handsome, more so than any guy I had ever met, and it was disarming to stand so close to him and not want to be even closer. “It was Angela before the outbreak.” He let out a breath as his voice steadied.
“We all decided to choose new names after we discovered how changed we were. We were no longer human, we were something else. Our human selves had died with the outbreak and it was a way to start over.” He sighed, slipping his fingers through mine. He tugged gently to start us walking again. I let him pull me into stride beside him as he continued.
“My name was Brian Reynolds before the virus took it all away.” I listened to his story, of how he got married in a chapel on the Strip of Las Vegas Boulevard, how he had met Angela at a Starbucks while she served coffee behind the counter, how he had fallen in love with her flashy smile that seemed to charm even the grumpiest caffeine-deprived customer. He had been a goner when her pretty brown eyes had flashed up to meet his, mesmerizing him immediately. He wooed her from that point on, bringing her little gifts like flowers and small figurines that he would come across that reminded him of her beauty. Eventually, they got engaged and married. They had planned to start a family but after two years of trying the outbreak came and the end was not far behind it.
“Who is her mate now?” I asked, hoping it wouldn’t sting too bad to answer my question.
Rye let out his breath. The tension sat on his brows, making him look as if his concentration was stuck on his face, creasing his otherwise smooth skin. He glanced at me, relaxing the strain on his face, bringing a smile to his face.
“She met Alan after we changed–he was a vampire in the opposing hive. He used to live here, amongst us, but felt that it would be too awkward to stay here after Seraphin left me.” He was now watching the tunnel ahead of us, steering me toward a bend in the path. “I knew when she saw him that it was over. It was that fast, like severing an arm, fast, sharp and permanent.”
“Somebody that you used to know…” I mumbled.
“What?” Rye gave me a confused look.
“Gotye. He was a singer whose song I heard when I was in school, not that much over a year ago. It’s about someone treating you like you’re a stranger after being intimate lovers.” Biting my lip, I watched him, hoping I hadn’t said too much. He gave me a slight nod as we reached the end of the hall where we encountered another locked door, bolted heavily into the wall.
“I heard that song. Definitely fits the bill.” He turned the locks, grunting as they screeched to life. “Well, now it’s all done and gone. She has Alan now. Me…,” Rye winked at me as he pulled at the dusty door. “I have you now.” His statement made me flush as I followed him into a darkened room. He pulled the door shut behind us and switched on another set of lights.
They flickered on, making me squint at the now-illuminated room. A staircase stood at one end of the room, leading upward. It looked like a small basement room and I wondered where the steps went. We should’ve been right beneath the airport. I wondered if that was where we were heading. Wouldn’t it be full of feral vampires up there? I gulped as I watched Rye motion me forward, taking the steps quickly as though they were nothing. I scrambled to keep up with him, fingering my belt for a machete, hoping he wasn’t going to hop into a dark space filled with crazed and hungry vampires. I wasn’t in the mood to fight any ferals at the moment. Not that I ever really was but it was not smart to jump into it if you didn’t have to.
I was about to ask him what exactly he was doing when we reached the top of the stairs. I stared down at the flights below us; we had gone up at least three floors before stopping. I placed my hand on the hilt of my blade, hoping and praying that I wouldn’t have to use it.
Rye gave me a little squint and grinned, shaking his head as he grabbed the door handle. “Relax, there are no wildings up here. The entire airport is secure. We took care of that a while ago and the perimeter is heavily fenced.” He shoved the door open, leading us into one of the large carpeted rooms of one of the terminals. This one was circular and had ports leading to jet ways that had been used to board passengers onto planes. Some of the gates were empty and some held silent planes, awaiting people that would never come.
The place was miraculously free of bodies or anything decaying. I wondered if they had cleared it out or if it had just been abandoned once the outbreak hit. I made a note to ask Rye about it once I had a clue about what we were going to do up here. The large windows faced out into the city, letting the sun’s warm rays filter in from the west-facing windows.
I went to the clear glass, peeking out onto the tarmac. It was quiet and solitary here, making me feel safe in the light that I relished. Soaking up the light, I had not realized how much I had missed it. My hand came up to touch the warm glass. Spots of old rain and dirt encrusted the outside of the window but it was still clear enough to see the once-glorious Las Vegas Strip in the distance. I had been in this airport before but had never known about the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the terminals. Still, the surface was much more fascinating, even though it lay in suspended state of petrified neglect. My fingers slid down the smooth glass, making me want to touch the air around me. Sadness for the world I once lived in washed over me.
In my mind, I could almost hear the ground vibrate from the engines of the planes taking off. The way the massive planes sped up and left the earth behind had always fascinated me. I had ridden on planes a few times in my life and the guttural rush it gave you as the wheels left the sturdy runway always took my breath away. Watching the ground shrinking as it sped by outside the tiny plane windows had always made me wonder if I would live through the flight.
I always did. Not even an airplane could bring me down.
Now the stretch of asphalt and concrete runways sat silent and the airplanes were like ghost ships, sitting and waiting. They would probably never reach the sky again.
Turning away before the knot in my throat threatened to open up into a gush of tears, I found Rye watching me. He was serene as he pulled me into his soft embrace. I nuzzled my face in his shirt, taking note that although he was a vampire he didn’t smell any different than a man would. His scent was pleasant, that of a musky mountain wind. I inhaled, finally not feeling so alone anymore. His hand softly rubbed my back, sending a shiver down my spine as he kissed my head. I knew then that no matter what, things would be alright. Whatever lay in the days ahead, I would get through it as long as Rye was by my side. His strong arms held me in place and his sweet light lit my dark world.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“WHY’D WE COME here?” I whispered as we stood in the middle of the airport terminal. Rye’s arms encircled me as we both stared out the tall glass windows. The night was approaching fast, our last night before the ambush on the enemy hive. The last night without my family. If it went the way I hoped, I would be embracing my mother and Jeremy in just a matter of hours. If only it would go that way. If only…
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