"They look trained." Elyssa pursed her lips. "And since they're not vampires, the flashers won't knock them out."
"They have on NV goggles," I said, taking out a few of the flashers and flicking them into the dark. "At least they'll blind them for a little while."
"True." She flicked a few in the opposite direction. "I just hope they do some good."
By the time we reached the front door, it was evident my estimation of a small army wasn't all that far off. At least thirty heavily armed people patrolled the grounds, and half a dozen stood at the entrance to the building. There were probably plenty more we hadn't seen.
The man inside the door, however, was definitely a vampire. He wore a confident smile on his pale, handsome face. His pants, vest, and shirt looked tight, probably fitted, and his hair was sculpted into a spiky mess. Somehow, he still looked fashionable and oh-so metrosexual. "Sorry about all the fuss, but you can never be too careful these days." He held out a hand. "The name is James."
Nyte took his hand and shook it. "I'm Nyte. This is Ash, Wilma, and Roger."
James shook each of our hands. "How odd," he said, pausing mid-shake with my hand in his grasp. "You look familiar. Have we met?"
A cold feeling prickled up my spine. "No, I don't think so."
"Who was your recruiter?"
My mouth froze half open. I hadn't even thought about asking for that information.
"Joseph," Ash said hurriedly. "Short guy with curly brown hair."
"Yeah," I said, nodding.
James's lips curled into a lazy, fanged smile. "Ah, yes. Ever since the vampling incident at Edenfield High, we've been much more cautious in our selections."
"Best of the best," Nyte replied, a grin on his face.
James narrowed his eyes and gazed at me a moment longer. "There is definitely something very familiar about you, Roger." Without releasing my hand, his eyes swung to Nyte. "And your hands are so warm."
My muscles tensed. We hadn't even thought about body warmth. Then again, I hadn't expected someone to shake my hand at the entrance. It's the little things that count, you idiot!
Nyte and Ash froze. Elyssa's looked calm as ever, though I felt certain she was figuring out who to kill first to get us out of there.
James released my hand and gave a noncommittal shrug. "Don't look so worried, Roger. You're not the first of Maximus's new recruits to come through here with a higher body temperature. It appears the new serum has some interesting side effects."
I felt myself sag in relief.
The vampire motioned us to follow. "You're a bit early, but never fear. There are drinks and snacks waiting." He led us down a familiar hallway to a door I recognized.
It was the same door leading down into the basement. I couldn't stop the shudder as we began a long descent down the stairwell. Loud music boomed up the corridor. When we reached the bottom, I saw the source—huge speakers and a towering projection screen dominated a wall at the far end where a group of vampires competed in a dancing video game. It was the same exact game they'd been playing the last time I sneaked into this place to rescue my dad.
"Sweet setup," Nyte said, ogling the massive entertainment system.
"Knowing how to dance comes in handy as a vampire," James said. "We do so love our nightclubs."
The large basement was divided by cubicle partitions into sleeping areas. I looked across the way where a divider blocked my view. Behind it, somewhere, was a door leading down into the crypt. I wondered if there were more vamplings down there or not. I noticed Elyssa flicking a few flashers toward the dancing vampires, and dropped a few of my own into the middle of the space between dividers where they rolled into the cracks of the stone flooring.
James led us away from the music and to the other end of the sprawling space where a harried-looked vampire lined up chairs in front of a podium.
"Where are the rest of the chairs?" the organizer said, turning her red eyes on James. "I told those idiots we needed at least fifty more." She threw her hands up in the air. "Why do I even bother? We should just make the newbies stand."
"Now, now, Erin. We wouldn't want our guests to feel unappreciated, would we?" James put an arm around her shoulder and led her a short distance away as he spoke in calming tones.
"Look at all these chairs," Elyssa said, her gaze running up and down the rows. "There must be over a hundred of them."
"Maybe it's for everyone here," Ash said, uncertainty plain on his face.
I glanced back at the crowd of vamps raising the roof in sync with the game. Cold apprehension gripped my insides. If every chair represented a super vamp, unaffected by flashers, we'd have our hands full. Coupled with the armed noms patrolling the grounds, I wasn't sure our plan had a good chance of succeeding. "Do you see Max or Barclay?" I said, scanning the area.
Elyssa shook her head. "Not a sign."
"Maybe they're upstairs?" Nyte said.
I glanced at James. He and Erin had wandered further away. "Let's check out the vamps at the other end. Act casual."
A long table bore cups of red liquid and an assortment of chips and dips. Nyte picked up a cup and took a sip. He laughed. "Kool-Aid."
I tried a tentative sip myself. It was cherry flavored. "You've got to be kidding me." I piled a plate with chips along with the others and we moseyed down to the dancing vampires, doing our best to act like casual observers.
While Nyte and Ash watched two vampires do the Running Man in time with the music, Elyssa and I looked at the faces of the participants. One or two looked vaguely familiar, probably because I'd fought or run from them at some point over the past few months. One thing was clear—neither Maximus nor Barclay were in the room, unless they were hiding in one of the partitioned areas. Elyssa seemed to be a step ahead of me. She motioned toward the haphazardly arranged dividers with her head, and moved down the row, looking in each one she passed on the right.
I followed her lead, taking the ones on the left. As I passed by the area where the corridor down the middle of the room intersected with the door leading back upstairs, I saw a man hurry past, heading straight across the room toward the entrance to the crypt. Unlike most of the fashionably attired residents, this man looked disheveled. Something about his clothes seemed wrinkled. Or maybe they just seemed to hang unnaturally on his pale, doughy—
"Holy crap," I hissed, making a beeline for Elyssa.
She turned from inspecting a cubicle and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Bigglesworth just passed through here." I motioned my head toward the crypt door. "He headed downstairs."
"Are you sure it's the same guy? Wasn't he with Artemis in Colombia?"
"Unless he has a twin with the complexion of a marshmallow, yeah."
She put a hand to her chin. "He's spreading himself pretty thin."
"Considering he's really just a ball of goo, I guess he's capable of handling it." I edged toward the divider hiding the crypt door, looking up and down the center aisle for James or any suspicious vampires.
"Justin, this is Bella," said a static distorted voice in my ear. "Can you hear me?"
I resisted the urge to put a finger to my ear and said, "Yeah, but barely."
"—move…new position. –thing interfering…very powerful….careful!" came the garbled reply.
"What?"
No response. I spotted Ash and Nyte looking around the room. "We can't go without telling them where we are," I told Elyssa. "Hang on." I sauntered up to my friends, trying to look casual.
"Dude, this is the best party ever," Nyte said when I reached him. "I think I'm actually going to do it, man."
"Do what?"
"Compete in a dance-off."
I groaned. "Seriously? We're not here to party, in case you forgot."
His expression sobered. "Oh. Yeah."
Ash gave me a serious look. "So, what's next?"
I glanced around, certain with all the sensitive vampire ears around me, it would have been impossible to say anything privately without the insanely loud booming of the dancing game. "Elyssa and I are going into the crypt to check something out. You two stay up here and watch our backs. If anything happens, you have to get out of here and warn the others. Bella's little worm radio trick isn't working very well, so I might not be able to use it."
The two nodded.
"And if you can find out how many people they've given the vampire potion to, that'd be huge."
"We'll ask around, casual-like," Ash said.
I locked eyes with Nyte. "Look, I know how tempting it is to cut loose. These guys look like a barrel of laughs, but they're not. We're in the middle of enemy territory, and the door we came in through is the only way out."
My friend's face paled even more than usual for his ginger complexion as he looked to the door leading up and out of the house. "Don't worry, Justin. I won't let you down."
"Be careful," Ash said, his eyes big and worried.
I flashed a quick grin. "Ah, we'll be fine. Just do what I said, and everything will come out peachy keen." I didn't, for a moment, believe a word of what I'd just said.
Elyssa waited behind the divider at the door. The keypad was still fried, probably from the last time I'd been through here and knocked power out in the entire building with a flubbed attempt at using magic to get through the electronic lock. She looked down the dim passage beyond the metal door. Back at me.
It was time to enter the belly of the beast.
Chapter 37
Elyssa took a step inside. Paused, and turned to me. "You know this could be a trap. Once we're down there, there's nowhere else to go."
My guts felt like a wildcat was trapped inside and trying to get out as I stared down the spiral staircase. Terrifying memories coiled around my mind. I froze at the first step, fear riding my back. Elyssa looked at me and nodded.