Amplified

By Alexia Purdy

Book 3 of the Reign of Blood Series

Who wants to be the prey in a world full of hunters?

In the aftermath of the end of her world, April Tate decides that it’s high time to leave the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas. After learning the origins of a Zompire Plague remedy, she risks her life to steal the antidote, makes the decision to separate from Jeremy for a while, and joins a small band of new and old comrades on a trip to the Pacific Coast. There they search out a legendary hive of vampires who are more than just wild, blood drinking creatures, they could be the very people she needs to help her.

On a mission to save the last of humanity, April will use the antidote to save some from eternal damnation, but will her decision bring hope for the future or create an ever bigger, unforeseen devastation?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melancholy Muse Press
• Release date: Mar 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310874130

Alexia Purdy

Alexia is a USA Today Bestselling author who currently lives in Las Vegas and loves spending every free moment writing or hanging out with her four rambunctious kids. Writing is the ultimate getaway for her since she's always lost in her head. She is best known for her award-winning Reign of Blood series, and A Dark Faerie Tale Series.Sign up for email updates and exclusive giveaways: http://smarturl.it/AlexiaPurdyNewsAlexia's websites:www.alexiapurdybooks.comhttp://alexiaepurdy.blogspot.comTwitter: @AlexiaPurdyAlexia Purdy Fan page:https://www.facebook.com/AlexiaPurdyAuthorA Dark Faerie Tale Series by Alexia Purdy FB page:https://www.facebook.com/ADarkFaerieTaleSeriesReign of Blood Series FB page:https://www.facebook.com/RoBbooks

Book preview

Chapter One

Feel Human

Twang!

The sword vibrated through my fingers as it hit the hard metal shielding of the door. I was almost ready to install it into the frame where a door had fallen off its hinges. It’d been temporarily fixed until a metal one could be found and welded into place, but the rusty hinges had finally given in under the pressure of one feral mob, crumbled under their weight. Elijah had woken up to find his little sanctuary in utter chaos. I’m sure he hadn’t expected to get ready for the day only to find a mini-hive waiting for him on the first floor of The Palms Hotel & Casino. Imagine the rude awakening of finding him in full battle, already covered in dirty Zompire blood and mad as hell.

I’d offered to pick him up that day from The Palms. His penthouse was perched at the top of the massive high-rise, hence the reason I’d been able to witness the full-blown mess. At the appointed time, I’d made my way into the bottom floor of the place, already getting a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach when I found the rusted metal doors knocked to the side and bent out of shape. It just so happened he was getting off the elevator to meet me and ran right into the lingering horde of bloodsuckers. It was lucky for both of us that the other had gotten there at the same time, or one of us alone might’ve been feral chow for the small but overwhelmingly hungry numbers in this little hive.

They were vicious, almost too violent for my taste. They moved faster than most did at this stage, so I knew they had recently fed on something alive. I’d usually find a small pocket of ferals in a starved, slow and harrowed state. Not this one. I slammed my sword against the metal, feeling its vibration in my grip after decapitating one of the Zompires. I couldn’t help but feel bad for this sudden invasion into Elijah’s abode.

It’d been my fault. I’d haphazardly tapped the pins back into the hinges the day prior, not even taking the rust and erosion of the metal brackets into consideration. That’s what Elijah got for dragging me into his home improvement projects. I was a warrior, not a Home Depot junkie. That’ll teach him.

Unfortunately, if we didn’t make it through this assault, I wouldn’t get the chance to chew him out for making me screw up like that.

I ducked as one of the ferals jumped at me, sending him flying through the air and right into one of the columns. His body hit with a dull thud, disorientating him but for a moment as I rolled and pushed myself off the floor, gained my footing and ran toward the atrium. I hoped the damn bastard would follow me. This one had at least two feet and almost two hundred pounds on me.

Where the hell was Elijah?

I didn’t mind clearing out the crud and taking out the trapped ferals in the Casinos we’d set traps for. But this, this was ridiculous. It felt like an entire cluster of them had taken residence during the night, stuffing themselves in the tiny corners and hidden nooks of the place. Where the heck had they come from and what had they chowed down on to be so strong? It made me shudder to think that someone was now dead because of this group. Obviously, they weren’t stupid. Something about them was off in how smart they were. Why had they gathered here? Had they noticed how well taken care of it was and ventured in here to find a tasty human or two?

Whatever had led them here, they were a pain in my ass now. I turned to see if the feral with the huge biceps and dirty blonde hair that hadn’t seen a shampooing in a decade, neither had his entire body seen a bar of soap in ages for that matter, come to a stop at the edge of the light. He snarled and looked up. The sun beamed down hard into the main casino atrium where an old fountain stood empty and some greenery Elijah had managed to convince to grow. It was the only thing keeping me alive as I took the moment to catch my breath, bent over my knees and huffing. The air vibrated with snarls.

Damn!

I’d have to figure out how to outsmart this particular creature. His red eyes widened, flashing fangs dripping with gore from his recent messy feeding. Eww. That was attractive.

I straightened and held my machetes up. Come on! Not such a big bad wolf now, huh? Afraid of a little bit of sunshine? I reached down to grab a chunk of cement debris which littered the casino floor. I flung it straight at him, hoping it would anger him enough to come sailing into the light after me. It hit him hard on the chest before bouncing off and ricocheting against a slot machine next to him, shattering the plastic face above the wheels and knocking it to the ground. The creature snarled even louder, exposing more of his disgusting teeth. He roared with a vengeance, thrashing at the chairs around him before picking one up and flinging it at me.

What the hell?

I jumped to the side, landing hard on a mess of gravel and rocks, feeling my skin painfully scrape right off. When I came to a stop, I made sure he was still far enough away from me before squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my lips tight. The pain was delayed, but it came rushing across my skin and down my synapses like an atom bomb exploding across them. I gasped, and tears squeezed from between my eyelids.

I huffed out a breath and opened my eyes, glaring at the beast with distain. Okay, then. Don’t want to play nice, huh?

Quit toying and kill it already! Elijah hollered. I looked up to see him decapitate another feral right before a second one slammed into him, jamming him against the wall. Oomf! he huffed, the breath knocked out of him.

Crap!

I stepped toward him, but the feral crazy waiting for me scrambled to stand between us. Great. Just wonderful.

Do you mind? You’re in the way. I held up my machete, readying to bum rush the bastard and swing at his neck once I was closer.

The thing didn’t flinch at my warning gestures.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you, I yelled. I took off toward him, holding my blade to the side and ready to slice him up. He bent his knees, looking more excited the closer I came. He was overly confident that I’d be running into his arms and letting him rip my throat out. More reason to shudder. I let the sun caress my head, loving the warmth it gave me in the cold interior of the neglected building. Winter was over, but spring hadn’t exactly jumped in to take over the show. Anything hidden from the sun was still radiating a frosty chill.

Thwack!

I swung the blade, hoping the momentum would get at least a good way through his thick, burly neck. It hit right where I’d wanted it to, but the damned creature grabbed the blade, which wouldn’t come back out of his neck easily. I didn’t let go as it loosened the blade, ignoring the blood and gashes in his own hands as he pushed on the metal. I pulled away, but my blade wouldn’t budge. Not wanting to find his meaty fingers back on me with just one blade left, I hacked against his neck with the other machete, over and over, but his neck was tough, and I’d managed to just make hacking marks across it without much momentum. He rotated with me as I arched back, holding onto the blade near the hilt to swing me faster. If I let go, I’d go flying into a wall myself. If I stayed gripped onto the hilt, I’d be just within his reach in about five seconds.

Decisions, Decisions.

A little help here! I grunted, hoping Elijah wasn’t as busy as I was. If he didn’t get to me, I’d have to let go and fly into whatever object wanted to meet me. It didn’t sound fun, but it was my only option left. I braced for impact, trying to get a glimpse behind me and hoping for a safe landing. As the burly Zompire dropped one hand off the blade and reached for me, I took the motion and let my body sway into it, letting go of the hilt of my stuck machete while my legs desperately tried to find footing.

I scurried backward, turning to see where I was headed. My second machete went flying from my fingers as I lost my balance. My feet flew out from under me, and I was pretty sure I was going to land hard.

A flash of white skin made me glance up as I fell forward, still stumbling to gain traction. My mother, Helen, was standing in her loose jeans and a flowing blouse that seemed to ruffle in a soft breeze. I was headed right for her, into her awaiting outstretched arms.

Mom? I gasped as my body turned, heading for the impact.

Instead, Elijah’s arms encircled me. His strong, warm muscles and broad chest met my face instead of my mother’s arms, instead of hard concrete and pain.

Gotcha. He grinned and propped me back on my feet before turning to face burly Zompire.

Elijah? I stared at him, confused and swinging my eyes around to find my mother again. But Mom was just there, she was just standing right there…. I found the spot I’d seen her standing and gulped. I was losing my mind.

What? Elijah only half paid attention as he smirked at the Zompire, just within reach of the light that shielded us now. Come on, tough guy, it’s more fun picking on someone your own size! He let out a grunt as he started sprinting toward the beast, hunting knife in hand.

That was something, watching Elijah grab the man like he was a rag doll and saw the hunting knife through the tangle of arteries, jugular, tendons and bone. It almost made me sick from the bloody messy he was making, and looking like he was enjoying it with a mad gleam in his dark eyes and a wicked grin on his face.

Mom?

I looked away, still unconvinced that I had been seeing things. My breath returned to me as I found nothing and was able to turn back to Elijah, standing at the edge of the light, drenched in blood, gore and chunks of flesh, huffing air in and out. The smile was still on his face as he continued to stare down at the burly Zompire’s body. It lay in an unmoving heap, mangled beyond recognition.

You all right?

I could barely nod, but I did. Yeah. How about you?

I think I need another shower.

My nervous chuckle came out choked, like the sound from a squashed duck.

You don’t look so hot. He wiped his blade on one of the downed ferals.

Thanks. I leaned against one of the pillars, still scanning the surroundings for her. I thought I saw my mother.

Mind playing tricks on you?

Yeah, probably.

I found my blade and gripped it. Looking around for any more ferals, I saw that they were all dead. A bloody machete skittered across the floor, landing at my feet.

Found your other blade. Elijah winked and walked back toward the elevator, where I knew he was headed to clean up and change, as if nothing had happened. I was left in the desolate silence of the casino atrium, letting the heat of the sun bring me back to life.

If that had been my mother, why had she flashed before my eyes and disappeared without saying anything? Why was she even there?

I pressed the tears out of my eyes and felt the warm liquid as it slid down my cheeks. I ignored them and grabbed another downed Zompire, dragging it into the sunny atrium and letting go before the flames burst across its skin and consumed the last of its rotting flesh. Even the burly one, who’d almost slammed me into wall art, was no match for the UV rays as I finally managed to drag his heavy mass into the light.

I worked like that for a half hour, cursing at Elijah for leaving me the mess. Maybe he needed his own space, too, but this was calming to me, piling up the bodies and watching the flames consume the last of them.

My mother had also been consumed by the flames. The fire had taken the last of her light, and with it, some of my own as well.

Chapter Two

Narrow Paths

Slot canyons and sand. Sand, all over this blasted place. In my boots, sticking to my fingers and clinging to the sweat on my face. I wasn’t a girly girl or anything, I just wasn’t a fan of being dirty. Thank goodness it wasn’t muddy at the moment. The torrential rains which had been pouring down the last few weeks, unrelenting, like the sky had to take a major bathroom break, had subsided for now. Otherwise we’d have been swept away into the rivers these places became in a flash.

Stomp, stomp! Everyone turned around to see Elijah doing a funky dance, kicking up dirt, clouding up the air with flying sand. Great.

What the hell? I hissed, throwing him a nasty glare. Not like my damn allergies aren’t bad enough already without you kicking that shit up! I covered my face with my shirt, sending daggers in his direction to let him know how much he was on my shit list for doing that.

Fucking snake! He pulled his shirt down, kicking the corpse of a snake he’d just pulverized to the side. He cursed even more under his breath.

I heard a stifled giggle from Sarah, who followed close behind me as she attempted to choke it back with a faked cough. It was amusing, to say the least, seeing a big guy like Elijah lose his cool over a snake. Let’s not take into account that we were in the middle of a barren, sun-blasted desert. I swear, God meant this to be hell on earth. I would’ve joined Sarah in a chuckle if I hadn’t been in such a foul mood from the constant barrage of dust in this pit of nothingness. My throat was raw and scratchy from the dust and pollen flying about. The rain had done nothing to settle it all down and relieve my itchy eyes. I used to work in a pet shop before my allergies made it intolerable, but snakes didn’t bother me as much as spiders did. Those made me shriek like a banshee and sent me sprinting faster than an Olympic gold medalist.

Focus, guys. Christian’s agitation flashed across his face, and everyone quieted down. If someone would’ve told me I’d be in the middle of the desert with nothing even resembling civilization in sight and stuck in an overbearing but gorgeous slot canyon with him leading this group of human hybrids alongside two vampire hybrids, near sundown… let’s not forget that… to find another secret facility which supposedly housed experiments on everything you could think of…. Well, I’d call that bullshit. Yeah, it was bad enough it had been my stupid idea to go there for some answers about my mother’s suicide. But I wanted answers. I wanted to know the man who had driven my mother to the point of insanity.

Rye huffed behind me. Not a fan of Christian, whatsoever.

Who could blame him? Rye’s jealous streak was something I tended to ignore, but it got downright annoying enough that I threw him a warning look. He reciprocated with an innocent smile, one that made me smile back and roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. I’d dragged them to do this for me, and I had to show them some gratitude for doing so. None of us wanted to be there. Finding the notorious Rick was my mission, not theirs. Still, I was relieved I didn’t have to do it alone. I was done with being solo. I’d spent far too long stuck in a bunker alone with just my mother and an un-relatable brother for company. Human connections kept me from losing my mind. At least that was something I’d come to understand about myself.

Then there were the things I didn’t even comprehend. For one, Christian being my supposed blood mate didn’t make things any easier. He’d tried to kill me once, when he was the deranged and sick leader of an enemy hive. But, unbeknownst to me, he’d been cured and imprisoned alongside me in the city of Vida. Katrina, the city’s Hitleresque leader, had hoped leaving me with him long enough would make him want to munch on me for a little snack since he’d been starved before I’d arrived. I had to hand it to him, he had resisted it like a champ. I was thoroughly impressed. But when we’d touched, it had ignited a bond between us which had turned out to be more than unwanted. It meant I was his one and only, and all the intricacies that went along with that. This damned vampire virus had found more than one way to be a nuisance, and this had turned into a problem for all of us, especially when he was near me.

The bond had turned us each into some sort of pheromone drug to the other, and staying apart was the only thing that kept it in check. Unfortunately, we both had to be on this mission, which sucked for all parties involved.

All right, I admit it, it didn’t suck for me or Christian as much as it royally bummed out Rye, my vampire hybrid boyfriend. I still didn’t actually call him my boyfriend, but it was close enough. When the world has swirled down the toilet, you pretty much avoid thinking about any luxuries, including love.

Jeremy, my brother, had stayed behind at the hive, our headquarters underneath the Las Vegas McCarren International Airport. It was home for now, even though we’d been spending tons of time in the underground city of Vida, where the last of the unmutated humans lived.

I wasn’t sure yet, but Jeremy had been hinting that he wanted to move permanently to Vida. There were more human children his age there, so I couldn’t very well disagree. Still, the crowds made me nervous and jumpy. He’d already adapted to it like he’d been there the whole darn time. Me, I stuck out like a thorn embedded into someone’s thumb when I walked down the city’s streets. I’d get terrified and curious stares all the time since I preferred to dress to the nines with my weapons displayed in my various sheaths, bandoleer and other holders. So, I was the female Rambo walking about the place. Most residents left that up to the human hybrid protectors of Vida…the Twelve. Well, they were eleven now that one of them had died in the battle against Katrina, but that was beside the point. They rarely mingled with the humans and preferred to stay on the periphery. Walking around with my brother kept me in sight. Yep, it was mighty painful.

If Mom was still alive, she’d know what to do about Jeremy. Well, there’d be no decision to make, he’d be with her. No if, ands or buts. I wasn’t maternal material, and I knew that, was totally cool with it. Each time I decapitated another vampire or dragged myself home with vampire guts and blood sticking to my skin, I really couldn’t picture myself as the vision of domestic bliss.

Keep your eyes sharp and weapons out. We’re entering the monitored area of Asylum Fortress. Christian yelled back at everyone. There’s traps, by the way, and they’re changed all the time to keep out intruders. I can’t tell you where they’ll be. I’ve been gone for a long time, so be careful.

I pulled out my dual machetes, ready for action. I didn’t need to be told twice. This was what I lived for. I’d been stuck inside for a while, heading out only to clear out infested casinos or guard posts of invading feral vampires, duly named Zompires by the hybrid vampires due to their lack of humanity and lust for blood and flesh. This particular mission was dangerous, only because Christian hadn’t returned to his hive’s home base in the Valley of Fire in several weeks.

They had probably assumed he was dead and gone. New leadership was probably in command now. Christian’s second in command had not been at the Stratosphere when Blaze’s hive, our hive, had blown it to hell. He’d lost a major part of his troops, hybrid and mutated Zompires, but his second in command, Mercer, who from the sound of him was as cold as a vampire should be,