“You might want to let go of your weapon, some would take that as a threat,” a husky voice said, sounding in the tunnel and echoing off the walls. I turned beyond my guide to find a man standing with his arms crossed near another door in the wall. Miranda stopped and swiveled back toward me; her lips pursed as she shook her head slightly and eyed my hand on my weapon. Watching the swarm of vampires grow thicker around us, I felt my heart racing a thousand miles a minute and worried that it was starting to look very bad for me.

I glared at Miranda, like she had lost her marbles. “Are you insane? I’m toast here! This is not what I had in mind.” I turned and faced the now-growing circle of vampires, their reflecting eyes watching the scene before them. Some dared to edge closer; one tugged at my clothes, which I promptly slapped away. Snarls and a low rumble of growling filled the air around me, my hand once again on my machete. I huffed back at them, wishing I could pull out my blade and take them down.

A cool hand gripped my arm as Miranda shushed me and pulled me back toward the door that Blaze had swung open and now awaited us. We entered after him, a husky man with dark black hair. His broad shoulders made him impressive, tall but with well-built, smooth muscles that moved in waves under his dark brown shirt. His jeans fit him loosely but hugged his h*ps with a smooth black leather belt. I hadn’t seen a guy in almost a year and my cheeks reddened as I tried to divert my eyes from his backside.

I heard Miranda lock the door behind us and we proceeded forward down a long hallway that led deeper into the underground. Evenly-spaced doors lined one side of the tunnel like a hall. Leaky pipes ran the length of it above us and the sconces lit the darkness just enough to see the tunnel in front of us. The unfinished walls were rough, without the smoothness of the concrete in the tunnel.

We silently proceeded behind Blaze and I began to wonder where exactly we were headed. My nerves were definitely shot now. My injuries burned as I flexed my hands, the raw skin inflamed and still riddled with bits of concrete and blood. I was sure that I would need a good scrubbing. A nice hot bath would do the trick nicely, though I hadn’t had one of those since forever. It was showers or nothing now, quick ones at that.

We finally reached an area that widened and opened into a small room. A set of double doors led to the left and another lay to my right. Blaze turned and took the sight of me in. I blushed under the intensity of his gaze. His eyes also sported the dual ring of color, but the inside was a deep sapphire. I sucked in my breath, feeling almost mesmerized as I stared back into them. I wondered if they had the same hypnotizing effect as the feral vampires. To look into them was death, my mother used to say. But I was immune. Now, I wasn’t so sure if I was still immune or not. These hybrid vampires were a whole different breed of something.

I couldn’t read his eyes, they were still and intense. I tried to read anything off his face, but nothing came to me. He was as blank as a desolate pond of unmoving water. His chiseled face was handsome and hard. A lifetime of seeing way too much seemed to be etched in the faint lines on his face and his eyes, like fathoms of sea water that engulfed me as I stared.

Pulling my eyes away from his disarming face, I felt pathetic for staring too long. I glanced about the room to take in the simple surroundings in hopes of a clue as to why I was brought here. Nothing came to me as my gaze settled on Miranda, who was staring at the man as if awaiting orders.

“I’m Blaze, leader of this group. Miranda will get you whatever it is you need.” He paused, turning to her as he continued. “Meer, get her set up with a shower and bandaged, she reeks of blood.” Blaze took his leave and disappeared down the dim hallway. I was left puzzled, feeling like the stinky kid at school.

“Come on,” Miranda tugged on my arm and pushed through the double doors on our right, bringing us into a small locker room with rows of metal lockers lining the walls and isles. I followed her in and past the rows to another room with benches and shower stalls. She reached into one locker near the showers and pulled out a bundle, handing it to me.

“Here’s a towel. Get cleaned up and I’ll come and get you when you are done. Shampoo and soaps are in each stall.” I stared at her in disbelief, not wanting to let my guard down in any manner in this strange place. Miranda sighed. “Don’t worry, no one will disturb you. These are the halls for visitors and higher guards of the compound. No one but a few of us live on this side of the hive. I’ll let them know you’re here. I’m going to scrounge you up a set of clothes and bring them to you.” She smiled and turned to leave.

I stood there, alone in the cool air of the underground locker room, glancing about me and still feeling very unsure. I wanted to trust them, I had wanted the company of others for so long yet I had not realized it. I wondered how long it had been since my family had been taken. It felt like months though it had only been less than a week. The small amount of isolation had affected me more adversely than I had thought. I felt skittish and afraid, but not without good reason. This place was crawling with vampires, more civilized ones than the feral ones, but still. I wasn’t sure that I felt comfortable enough to take a shower here quite yet.

I sighed, figuring what the hell, and proceeded back toward the showers. It was a semi-open room with four showers installed to the left of the room and a bench in the middle to put your things on. The right consisted of mirrors and sinks with counter space for more items. The simple white tile on the walls reminded me of subway tiles I had once spied in the subway in San Francisco. Las Vegas had no subways, only a monorail system that sat above the Strip’s sidewalks and ran behind some of the casinos. The floor was made of cement, smoothed to a grey, non-slick texture that felt slightly rough under my boots. I sat on the bench, unlaced them and pulled my socks off. Standing, I reached over to turn the shower on, letting it run to test the temperature. Impressed that they had hot water here, I slipped my clothes off and tossed them onto the bench.

The steaming water felt amazing on my aching muscles, rinsing away the layer of dirt, dust and blood that had caked my raw skin. My hands burned with the heat but I gritted my teeth through it, using the soap to scrub the muck off of me. It made my injuries sting even more but it was worth it. When I finished, I let the water spray my face, loving the warmth and feel of it caressing my skin. Sometimes a shower is all one needs to feel renewed.

I grabbed the towel off the bench and rubbed my body dry; I ran it through my hair and wrapped it around my body. I looked around, wondering if Miranda really was going to bring me clothes or not. She had not returned yet.

I walked around the corner, back into the locker room to see if she was waiting. Finding not her but someone else standing and waiting made me gasp as I jumped back, my eyes wide.

“Who are you?” I took a step back, feeling foolish for leaving my weapons on the shower bench instead of taking at least one with me. A man waited there, still as a statue but now watching me will shiny steel-grey eyes rimmed by the tell-tale ring of yellow, marking him as a hybrid vampire. His skin was slightly tan and his hair was as black as a moonless night; it almost seemed to shine with blue highlights. He was handsome, in a mysterious way. His slender frame was muscular and his shirt and jeans where slightly loose but snug enough to show off his well-conditioned physique.

His face was still while his eyes, hard and gleaming like hematite, studied me for a moment. He then averted them to the floor and held out a neatly-folded pile of clothes to me. He almost seemed to bow slightly, maybe to lower his face even more, but did not move from the spot he stood in.

“I’m Rystrom, you can call me Rye,” his eyes flashed up for a moment, looking at me through thick black eyelashes. He didn’t seem too bothered that I stood there with nothing but a towel to cover myself with. My face flushed scarlet, not used to being looked at that way, with an air of being awestruck. I wondered if the hybrids could blush. If they did, he sure as heck was controlling it well. If they didn’t, well, it was going to be interesting to find out how their emotions played out on their faces, if they did at all.

“Where’s Miranda?” I clutched the towel tighter, hoping it wouldn’t slip away from me at the most inopportune moment. At this demand, Rye stood straight up and brought his eyes back up to my face. His still features didn’t move but his eyes twinkled with a slight amusement that made me seethe underneath my skin.

“She had a few things to take care of. She asked me to bring you some clothes.” He held the pile out again, waiting for me to grab them. I hesitated for a moment, still unsure if I could trust him. His hair fell into his eyes as he averted them downward again, as if he wanted to avoid eye contact for a prolonged period of time. I wanted him to look at me. The urge was almost overwhelming and I wondered why. He was intriguing, more so than Blaze, in a way that I didn’t understand. Again I wondered if the hybrids had the kind of mind control that the ferals had on ordinary humans. I had long ago known that I was not a regular human, not anymore. My immunity to their gaze had told me what I needed to know about that.

I stepped forward and reached out slowly to grab the pile from his hands. He let his arms drop to his sides, but did not turn to leave. His face was still frozen, blank as he could get it but his eyes–oh his eyes were full of something untold. I felt almost na**d under the intensity of his gaze. I was torn on whether it made me squirm or made me tingle all over with a slight pleasure. The hybrids were beautiful, as though they were perfect specimens of all of humanity. I quickly remembered the pair of fangs that dwelled behind his perfect lips, which sobered me up just as fast.

“You can go now,” I snapped, hoping he would get the message. I stepped away, still feeling foolish for letting my senses overload with his presence. I gripped the clothes to my chest, still wanting my weapons for comfort and protection.

“I haven’t seen a human in so long.” He lamented. He still didn’t move but remained fixed in his spot, as though glued to the floor. “I am honored to meet you.” He gave me a slight bow of his head and then turned to leave. “I do hope to see more of you.” He had paused to say his last words before heading out the double doors of the locker room. A cool breeze from his movement whooshed passed me as he left, leaving me chilled with goose bumps up my arms.

I stood there, my mouth slightly open and still in a bit of shock, reeling from Rye’s presence. He was even more disarming than Blaze and I tried to shake off the effect. It made me shiver as I groaned–pissed that I let the first two males I had seen in a long time do funny things to me. I was useless, like a love-sick puppy around them. I felt vulnerable and weak again and cursed at myself for such foolishness.

I quickly returned to the bench in the shower room and pulled on the new clothes Miranda had found for me. I folded my old dirty clothes neatly in a pile and strapped my weapons to my new outfit as best I could. They were a bit snug but fit like a glove, making my assets stand out a bit more than I’d have liked. I sighed, frowning at my modesty. I wasn’t used to thinking about how I looked anymore. There had been no hybrids that could walk in daylight, were still civilized and intelligent, around to worry about. It felt like it had been easier to accept the feral vampires in their animalistic, crazed states than a vampire who didn’t want to gnaw on me and drink of my blood. Maybe I was wrong about that but I really was at a loss on what to do or what to expect. There had been no one left to impress. Even now, I wasn’t sure what to think about these vampires.

The game had completely changed.

Chapter Sixteen

“Ready?” Miranda’s voice sounded from the cracked-open doors to the locker room. I stood up from one of the benches that lined the nearest isle, motioning to my dirty clothes pile, wondering what I was going to do with it.

“Leave them there, they will get washed and back to you.” She waved me over impatiently. I scurried to the door and followed her out and down into the quiet hallway once more. I wondered if it would be Rye getting my dirty clothes and suddenly felt a bit self-conscious. I wanted to ask Miranda about him, about her and about Blaze. Heck, about everyone here for that matter.

“Where are we headed?” I inquired, keeping pace with her as we turned down the hall, not toward the tunnel meeting area but the other way, deeper into the underground. Her long hair was clean and lay in soft brown waves down her back. She had also changed into a clean set of clothes, similar to the ones she had worn before. Her slender figure showed smooth muscles under her form-fitting brown T-shirt. She was similar in build to me and I wondered if I was wearing her clothes.

I sighed, feeling my sore muscles still complaining with each stride. The hot shower had helped, but I was ready to crash. The day had worn me down with every little scrape and cut. I was hoping this so-called meeting wasn’t going to last forever.

“To introduce you to the group, and see what plans Blaze has for us.” Miranda said tightly, as though she was not looking forward to this either. I gulped, feeling her tension slide into me as we walked down the long underground tunnel, our footsteps echoing across the cold stone masonry of the walls. I subconsciously ran my fingers across the hilts of my machetes and bandoleer sheaths. I felt overdressed, like for a fight, but I didn’t know what could happen when we arrived at our destination. I was willing to bet the distain in Miranda’s voice was but a clue of what was in store.

We came to the end of the hall where she entered a code and a series of locks clicked in succession, releasing the door. She pulled it open to reveal a large room, brightly lit overhead with spotlights that strung along the tall ceiling, much like in a warehouse. Steel beams ran along the roof, braced with more beams, riveting the structured array. The room was filled with people. They casually hung in small groups or individually throughout the large room. The ripples of murmurs echoed in the airy space, but seemed to hush the moment we entered. I wanted to retreat into the sanctity of the tunnel but gritted my teeth as I followed Miranda closely.