Tossing the head to the side, I wiped my blade off on his clothes. I scanned the room, finding Blaze standing silently near the door to our hallway. Shocked, I wondered how long he had been there, watching what had been going on. A slight anger flinched inside me as I read in his eyes that he had been there long enough and had not intervened one bit. I wasn’t sure what to think or say about that but I was sure that this room was now suffocating me. As I approached him, we shared a look that told me we both had each other’s mutual respect. He gave me tilt of his head and we both turned toward our living quarters, leaving the body of Charles for someone else to clean up.

I was sure that the mutual respect was going to garner me a lecture of some sort. I resigned myself to it as I made my way down into the branch of our private quarters as he slammed and locked the main door behind us. I sighed, turning slightly as he came toward me. His face was a mix of seriousness and…amusement? Confusion filled me as I wondered what was now going through his head.

What did it mean? My eyes ran over the rough concrete on the walls, feeling the stress of killing Charles hit me all at once. Leaning on the coolness of the wall, I slide down, tears flowing as I shook, the throb in my head returning with a vengeance. I didn’t want him to see me like this; to show weakness was not an option for me. Yet here I was, my sobs filling the air and my tears spilling over my cheeks.

I rubbed my face on my sleeves and hoisted myself up on my legs. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I wanted my family with me now. I hated these new hybrids. The ferals were easier to control, they were not intelligent and had no sort of consciousness that I was aware of. To kill them, like wild animals, was nothing. Even when I’d had difficulties or had run into complications with them it was never emotional, never a decision that I questioned when I went in for the kill. Charles, on the other hand… well, he had certainly deserved his fate. I had been forced to the point of ending his bitter life but it wasn’t what I had ever wanted to do. It didn’t make me powerful and it hadn’t made me any better than anyone else. In fact, I wondered if, deep down inside me, killing any kind of person was slowly having an erosive effect on my humanity.

Blaze said nothing. He didn’t have to. He didn’t even sigh or lecture me about killing off a member of his hive. Somehow, I felt that Charles would not be missed. A man like that had deserved what I did to him and more. The thought calmed me. At least no one else would ever have to suffer his wrath ever again. I was sure that he had taken advantage of many a woman. I had done this hive a favor and I sobered up with this absolution, looking up at Blaze as he held his hand out for me.

As we walked, he told me about the meeting with Seraphin. She had already returned to the opposing hive to prepare for our attack in a couple days. I felt impatient hearing his timeline–hadn’t I waited enough? I willed myself to listen to the entire plan before I ranted; I didn’t want to snap at him and tried my best to hold it in. Blaze’s voice still held a hypnotic affect and it helped quell my anxiety, making me wonder if he was doing it on purpose. I didn’t want to assume anything, though. I really didn’t know him at all, or Rye and Miranda for that matter. I had to trust them with my life and the lives of my mother and brother. This was all I had and it was more than I’d had in a long while. Someone finally had my back, and my extended isolation had ended. I found myself hoping that it had ended for good.

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 this 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.