Reign of Blood (The Vampires of Vegas Book 1)

Chapter Seventeen

"This area of our bunker is sealed off to the rest of the hive. Only Blaze, Miranda, you and I live here now." He pushed through the door and turned to his right and opened the door into a large locker room, like the one I had been in before. There was no one there either.

"Why is it sealed off from the rest of the hive?" My curiosity rose tenfold as we came to stop in the middle of the room, or rather Rye did. I turned toward him and waited for my answer. He was already watching me, sizing me up with a small squint to his eyes. He was extremely good looking; his pink lips were soft and beckoned a touch. I looked away again, wondering why I felt so stupid around him. It was not simple infatuation, but something else. I was hoping it was something else at least, some sort of vampire antics that I could not control.

"We are the leaders of this Hive. We do not sleep where the others sleep for safety purposes. We have had traitors among us before and this ensures that we remain safe when we rest and can monitor the hive without interruption."

I paused, darting my eyes back to his face, which was still as serious and unchanged.

"Leaders? I thought Blaze was the leader. You mean Miranda and you are also leaders?" I was very interested in discovering the hierarchy of this vampire hive. My ears were practically at attention to hear what he had to say.

"Yes, but Blaze is first in command, Miranda is second in command. I am third. Blaze is my cousin. We were in the military together, stationed at the Air Force branch here at Nellis Air Force Base. This was our top-secret facility where we both worked prior to the outbreak. We were the only ones who made it safely back here." He paused, watching for my reaction. I gave him none to work with so he continued. "We discovered that we had changed too but not like the wildlings. We were different. As we found others like us, we had to create order, to secure ourselves from the outside threats, so hence, the start of our underground home." He smiled and waved me toward the sinks and stalls. "I'll wait for you outside."

I nodded and watched him turn and leave. I wondered if he had to use the facilities like humans did. Maybe they didn't; they didn't seem exactly dead, even if the history of the vampire deemed him to be so. I wondered what made them different from the feral vamps. There was a major difference, of course. There was also an extreme difference between him and me for that matter. I swallowed down a dry lump in my throat, feeling suddenly alone once again. I was one of the last humans. What was to happen in this world when humans were finally extinct? The world would belong to these mutated beings. And they were as close to human as anyone would ever be again.

After brushing my teeth, washing my face and using the facilities, I walked out to find Rye patiently waiting. He was leaning against the wall and bouncing a small rubber ball off the opposite wall over and over. He pocketed it and turned toward me, smiling. That was a refreshing change.

"I'll lead you back to the sleeping quarters so you can change and put your stuff away. Breakfast is almost ready, are you hungry?" He seemed amused, watching my face morph into shock.

"What? You guys don't eat food...I thought...."

"You thought we just drink blood?" He gave out a laugh and shook his head as we continued to walk toward my "room." "No, we can survive on human food too, but if we forgo drinking blood for too long, we become very ill and weak." He stopped when we reached my area. He motioned that he would wait at the doors and left me to change, full of questions.

I felt stunned; Miranda had feasted on the feral vamp's blood quite eagerly. She could eat human food too and had not mentioned it. I got a feeling that human nutrition was not the favorite food group around here anymore. There was more iron at the top of the pyramid now. I shuddered at the thought and peeled my clothes off, putting them on a neat pile on the bed and slipping on my now clean outfit from the prior day. They felt good and soft against my skin, like a glove. I tossed my weapons on and belted the straps, feeling more like myself once I had finished. I quickly made the bed and headed out to meet Rye.