Amplified (4 page)

“You
’re special.  A true human hybrid. Adapted to this vampiric virus in a most specific way. Made for supreme survival.”

“
What makes you not so special then?” I leaned forward, glaring at him, hoping to make him wince under the pressure my eyes emitted. “He’s telepathic. He’s reading our minds right now.” I spoke more to the group behind me than to Rick as his grin grew wider from my proclamation.

The group collectively shifted in their places
, and I could almost feel their worried looks flicking between one another. I didn’t blame them. Having our minds read of anything we planned or thought about these strangers could be disastrous. Why hadn’t Christian known Rick could read minds? Did he just not tell us? I was feeling less and less trusting of him as time went on.

“Because he didn
’t know,” Rick answered.

Dammit!
Okay, this mind reading crap was irritating me.

“Bullshit!
” I swung my eyes toward Christian, almost as mad at him as I was with Rick. “He was your leader. How would he not know that?”

“Some things are better left unsaid until the time is right.”

Christian didn’t look pleased at all.

Some people just can
’t be trusted. My lips curled back to show him my hatred. I was already on my feet, backing up, feeling much better now that I wasn’t in direct contact with his skin. Maybe the touch amplified his connection to my mind because now, his little inside mutters were farther away and much less painful, if not painless. Now they were just words, still echoing inside my head, an annoying intrusion, but there was no torment, no torture accompanying them.

Note to self…
don’t touch Rick.

At least, not until I c
ould meet sharpened metal to his neck.

Enemy Mine

“I don
’t like this idea of staying here with the likes of them.” Sarah worked the elastic stuck in her long, substantial red hair out and shook the vibrant strands, sighing as the weight of the locks fell over her shoulders. She was still beautiful, as she’d been before all hell broke loose and the world had gone to the gutters. I was still stunned to think how much we were alike back then and now. Then, we had been besties and done everything together. Now, we were both human hybrids and had survived the end of the world against all odds. Somehow we’d been spared, immune to the vampiric virus that turned people into mindless, blood-seeking monsters. Or worse, left them dead.

“Me neither.” Sprawled across the
queen size bed with porn quality satin purple sheets on them, I stared at the ceiling, contemplating what to do next. This place was a full-blown hotel inside, including indoor pool and windows! Can you imagine that? Windows to the outside world strategically hidden by camouflage to appear to look like the red rock of the slot canyon. If I wasn’t so agitated, I might’ve actually liked this place. Not to mention the three-shower-head bathroom with adjacent roman sized tub to soak in attached to my room.

M
y family had lived a humble existence in a bunker hidden in the mountains, and these bastards were basking in the lap of luxury. It was unbelievable.

“Do you think this will work?” Sarah was staring out the window, watching the sun setting over the expanse of desert beyond the canyon walls. This section of the compound was built on a cliff, overlooking the vast and lonesome desert below. I joined her to see it fade away as the
moments ticked by. I decided this place had been built before the plague. No vampire would add windows to the list of wants in a fallout shelter.

“Will what work?”

“Vampires and humans. Do you think we’ll ever get along?”

“We
’re not quite human.”

“I know that, April.”
She turned to me, a tight frown marring her pretty face. “You know what I mean.”

“No.
We won’t ever get along. Is that what you want to hear? We’ll never, ever, ever, ever get along. We’re their food… period! Who wants to be the prey in a world full of hunters? We’ll be extinct soon enough, and they will likely starve to death. No one wins.”

“You really think that?” Sarah
’s green eyes glowed under the reds and golds of the sunset, shiny and full of naïve hope. We were so similar, yet the year apart in different situations had left us more different than I could’ve ever imagined.

“Yes, Sarah. I really think that. I wish I couldn
’t, but sooner or later, this is all over for us.”

“When did you become so pessimistic?”

“I’m a realist.”

“No. You
’ve written us off already, like we were pitiful little chicks being sent to the coop to fatten up for slaughter. What happened to you? You used to be full of life, ready to take on the world. Where did that go?”

I huffed, crossing my arms and biting back the insults. “While you lived sheltered in the city of Vida, I was out there,” I pointed out toward the horizon. “
Where it was kill or be killed. Where starvation was just a supply run away. Where death lingered in the shadows, ready to chew on my flesh the moment I stopped being vigilant. I worried day in and day out for my family. I killed for them while you were tucked in safe. I was surviving.”

Sarah
’s hard eyes turned liquid, tears pooling in them as the light faded, her jaw taut. She rushed past me and headed toward the door.

“Sarah…
wait….”

Slam!
The door vibrated on its hinges as I stared at it. I didn’t know where she was going—most probably to her room at the end of the hall—but I was afraid I wouldn’t see her for the rest of the night. The vampires would all be awake by now, and my anxiety was filling up my head as the moments continued and she didn’t return. I contemplated going after her, but what good would it do? She might have gone to bother Elijah or at least hide there until she simmered down. How could anyone blame her? I was kicking myself for being so bitter.

A knock at the door had my hope zoom
ing right back up. Flying to it, I paused as my fingers tapped the knob, feeling wary at all at once. I peeked out the peephole and couldn’t see anything.

“Who
’s there?”

Silence followed by some shuffling reassured me that someone was there, waiting quietly. I back
ed away and grabbed one of my machetes lying on the bed and readied to cut up whoever burst through the door.

The knob shook and another knock resonated. “April? It
’s Rye.”

I let out the breath I didn
’t know I’d been holding, relieved beyond the moon that it was Rye. It didn’t last long, though. My anger at him for not replying right away had me wanting to sock him in the jaw.

“What the hell, why didn
’t you answer me when…?” I unlocked the door and was sent flying back onto the floor as it burst open, but my weapon remained locked in my hand.

“Mercer.”

“April. I’m terribly sorry, I had to use a voice trick that comes in handy quite often to get you out of the door. Bad thing about having a compound fortress, it’s really hard to open the doors if they’re locked. Thanks for letting me in.” Mercer’s sly smirk filled my vision as he filled the doorway.

Christian walked in
behind him, looking somber and defeated, followed by a vibrantly happy Rick.
Great.

“What do you think you
’re doing?” I held the blade out, ready to slice even Christian with it. Three against one. Really? “Can’t take me alone, had to bring back up, right? One woman, three men. Really appropriate.”

Mercer wasn
’t too happy with my comments and motioned to Christian to grab me. He approached slowly, his haloed eyes shimmering against the halogen lamps across the room. He was my mate, supposedly. So why—and how—could he hurt me now? Even though I had committed to try to not fall in love with anyone, it sure wouldn’t be Christian. But the pull of our bond made my stomach churn with every little traitorous step he took.

Dammit
, Christian.

“Don
’t touch me.” I backed up. My thighs bumped into the edge of the bed, which I sidestepped to get around. I was cornered, but I wasn’t going to give up that easily. “Why are you doing this, Christian?”

“I
’m sorry. This is my hive. I have to take control of things right now.”

“Really? Sounds like Mercer
is in charge around here now, not you.” I swung the machete, but he dodged it with inhuman speed and grabbed my wrist. Still, I punched him right in the knee until he buckled. Struggling to get back up, I took his momentary lapse to hop over him and head toward the window. I didn’t see a way out, and the window had bars weaved throughout it. I spun around and held a slight bounce on my feet, hoping to find a way around him.

Rick stood behind them, but I could see him pulling something out of a small case he held in his hands. Uncapping the needle, he tapped it to get the bubbles out and then fixed his eyes on me. Whatever was in that syringe,
I decided he’d better have planned to stick it where the sun don’t shine. I stepped back toward the bathroom, hoping maybe I could at least lock myself in there to think of an alternative means of escape. Christian was nursing his knee, grumbling, but he wouldn’t be down for long. Mercer looked as if he was going in for the kill. Rick only had to wait until I was subdued to plunge whatever he’d concocted into my arm. Like hell I was going to let him do that to me, ever.

“Don’t make this difficult,” Mercer muttered. His dark eyes reflected the lights shining from the vaulted ceiling. I felt a trickle of his vampire persuasiveness pass over me, sending a chill trickling down my spine. Narrowing my eyes, I smirked. Knowing his magic wasn’t working on me made him furious, and I could see his lunge three seconds ago.

His
slow mistake.

He flew past me right into the bathroom where I slammed the door shut behind h
im. Idiot. I turned back toward the others just in time to find Rick trying to stick me with the needle. I grabbed his wrist and winced. His telekinetic power zapped me as if I was touching a power outlet.

It was excruciating
and left me breathless and fighting to suck in a breath, but I managed to twist his arm and pull it behind him, crushing his hand to make him let go of the syringe. Gritting my teeth, I fixed it into my fingers and positioned it to his throat. “I hope what you got in here doesn’t do too much damage to humans,” I hissed.

“Wait! Don
’t, please!” Rick paled as the needle dug into his neck, a pinprick of blood welling around it. His heartbeat was thumping under his chest, and I could feel it as I pressed my own against him to hold him in place. The electrocuting feeling he emitted stopped, and I shook my head to clear it.

“Now why shouldn
’t I?” I snickered. It was always better to be on the winning side. Christian stepped forward as Mercer made his way through the bathroom door, literally. It splintered into a thousand wood strips as he bounded into the room, red faced and furious.

“Please…
.” Rick swallowed as the sweat began to bead on his temples. His racing heart was a huge indication of what sort of poison I was holding. Good. Not so fun getting a taste of his own medicine.

“Let
’s play this game my way now.” I shoved Rick toward the door to the hall and backed toward it, keeping a wary eye on both Christian and Mercer. “No one comes any closer or I off him. Oh, and Rick… tell me what this poison does.”

“You don
’t want to know.”

I tugged at his arm, causing him to yelp from the pain. “Oh
, I think I don’t, but I have the right to know what you were going to shoot me up with. Come on, we’re all waiting.”

Rick huffed and groane
d as I stretched his arm even farther behind him. He’d have no use of it for an hour or so after we were done, but that would be his problem, not mine.

“It
’s an antidote.”

“Oh? For what?”

“To make you completely human.”

“I doubt that.”

“It’s true.”

“Then
why are the vamps staring at it like it’s the black plague for them?” Did he think I was that stupid? Really? Mercer and Christian didn’t dare get near us. They eyed the syringe with nothing but pure horror and an obvious smidge of intimate terror. Yeah, I had a weapon in my fingers, but I had to know what it was for.

“Because…
.” I loosened my grip on him as his voice croaked. He was straining too much and was sure to pass out if I didn’t let him breathe. “It’s an antidote to anyone’s unnatural powers, from the Zompire plague. It turns everyone absolutely human again. No powers.”

Well, well. Holy moly.

“An antidote to the plague?” I repeated in disbelief, my fingers shaking as I held it pressed oh so close to his pounding jugular. “What’s it do to you? Kills your powers, too, right? You’re pretty human already except for those telepathic tricks you’re so good at agitating me with.”

He didn
’t answer, just grunted as he pulled to attempt to free himself. Big mistake. I tightened my grip on his awkwardly bent arm. He gasped and paled. Yeah, that did him in.

“Well?” I wanted my answer.

“Yes. Even my telepathic power will be extinguished with it.”

Ah. So he had attained his powers a
s a mutation from the plague. We weren’t so different. Whatever he’d taken had left him with his mind powers intact but human.

Thank goodness the door was cracked op
en. I didn’t want to let go of him to turn the knob. We slipped into the hall, and I backed us down the hall toward the way we’d come in. Now what? I kicked at the doors we passed to hopefully find one of my pals as I walked backward down the hall. I was still vulnerable, with no weapons and no idea where the hell I was going. This place was a maze, and I was severely outmatched. We’d been such fools to go there with so few warriors.

Finally I kicked one of the doors and Elijah swung it open, cursing at the noise. “What the fuck is…
April?” His eyes widened, and he reached back inside for his weapons. He produced his hunting knife since our larger weapons had been confiscated when we’d entered.

“A little help here,
” I hissed. He immediately joined me and continued banging on doors as we passed. Eventually everyone in our group had joined in, and we held our ground at the end of the hall in a standstill.

“You won
’t get far out there. It’s nightfall.” Mercer’s dark eyes dug into me like ice picks, and I was sure he would tear my throat out if he was allowed to. One slip and he’d pounce on us.

“I
’ll take my chances.” I leaned in to whisper into Rick’s ear. “Show us the way out, Einstein.”

“Okay, just
don’t push the needle in anymore.” His raspy voice made him sound like he was near fainting. What had happened to that crazy mad scientist who’d cracked my mother’s sanity until it was broken beyond repair? Something wasn’t making sense, but I pushed the thought back for later. I had more important issues to deal with at the moment.