Elyssa said in a whisper as we made our way up the long winding driveway.
I extended my senses and found other male presences nearby, unmasked, and definitely not vampires. Pretending to tie my shoelace, I glanced into the shadows to either side of the unlit driveway. The sight of a pair of night-vision goggles looking back from fifty feet away almost made me fall over backwards. The owner of the goggles held what looked like an M-16 diagonally across his chest with the muzzle pointed at the ground.
As I casually looked around, I spotted more and more such people. "Good god, they've got a small army here," I said, standing and brushing the knees of my pants off.
"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