Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance (18 page)

“We will, indeed,” Liam said, grinning.

“Stop being so smug,” I growled at him, but I

smiled a little in spite of myself.

“It’s time for your next training session,”

Liam said after looking at the time on his phone.

“You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said with a sigh.

*****

Chapter Twelve – Progress

It had been over a week since I had come to

the Council. My training was progressing well,

and Liam was still passing messages back and

forth between Alexi and me. It was the only

contact I had with my family and friends.

I learned how to control my sleep touch

ability quite well. I still needed the emotional

response of fearing Liam would be hurt, but

fortunately, he didn’t actually need to
be
hurt for

me to activate the ability. Just the
fear
of him

being hurt was enough to evoke the response.

We also worked on tracking. I could only

track people whenever I was touching someone

else who was thinking about that person, and the

ability was stronger if the person I was touching

knew and cared about the one I was trying to

track. This presented a difficulty. In order to

track someone, I had to have two people who

knew each other well and who cared about each

other.

Liam managed to locate two other trainees

who had developed a close friendship. He took

one of them to a remote location on the

expansive property, and I held the hand of the

other one while tracking. Eventually, I was able

to

track

someone

without

keeping

the

connection, but I still had to touch that person

once while they were thinking of the missing

individual.

One morning, Liam woke me up much earlier

than usual – well before dawn. He said he had

prepared a training exercise for me that he

thought might help me improve my tracking

ability substantially.

“You responded so well to our training

sessions with electricity that I thought maybe we

could bring the technique into your tracker

training.” Liam told me. “I’ll be going with Gus

– you remember him, right? He’s the guy who

helped me train your sleep touch ability. If you

don’t find me within a certain time frame, he will

begin shocking me, and he will not stop until you

find me.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said with wide eyes. “I

thought we were done with that.”

“Your training in tracking is not progressing

as quickly as we had hoped. My father feels this

is the only way to help you.”

“No,” I whispered. “Not again.”

I couldn’t stand it. I hated to see him hurt that

way, and I was so glad when we didn’t have to do

that anymore. Once I could control my sleep

touch ability without him being hurt, I was so

relieved. Now he was telling me I would have to

go through that again.

“It is the only way.”

“No!” I shouted. “I won’t do it! I can’t do that

again, Liam. I can’t stand it. I can’t stand for you

to be hurt.”

“I will be fine,” he said. “Just find me

quickly.”

“What if I can’t? What if I fail and you… no, I

can’t.”

“I have faith in you, Alice.”

“Well, I don’t. And I don’t want to risk you

being hurt again.”

He smiled at me.

“You care so much for people. It is what

makes you so strong. I have faith that you can do

this. Please try.”

I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I said,

“Fine, Liam. But it’s going to kill me if I can’t

find you.”

Liam and Gus headed out a few minutes later.

It was still dark outside. I had until sunrise to

find Liam, and if I didn’t Gus would begin

shocking him and would continue to do so until I

found him. I was to wait fifteen minutes and then

begin tracking him.

I paced the hallway restlessly, my eyes shifting

toward the clock often. I didn’t want to lose one

second when so much was at stake. I gnawed my

fingernails anxiously. At the very moment fifteen

minutes had passed, I closed my eyes and thought

of Liam.

Please, please, please,
I thought.
Let me be

able to do this.

At first, I felt nothing. I squeezed my eyes shut

as tightly as possible, picturing Liam’s face in my

mind. I started to grow anxious when nothing

happened. What if I couldn’t do this?

Suddenly, I began to picture Liam’s face – his

eyes pleading up at me – when he was being

shocked on my first day of training. I heard his

voice echoing in my mind, screaming in agony as

the electricity surged through his body. The

pungent aroma of his burning skin filled my nose

as though it was happening again.

I felt the tug so hard I lurched forward. It was

as if someone had tied a rope around my heart

and was yanking it as hard as they could. With an

urgency, I began to follow the feeling. I pushed

my way out into the chilly morning air and broke

into a run.

I could see the black sky turning faintly blue,

and a slight orange glow erupted from behind the

tree line in the distance. I gasped! I thought I had

more time before sunrise, but it was already

coming.

“Liam,” I whispered, feeling a surge of panic

swelling in my throat.

I let the tug guide me, and it pulled me along

at a blinding speed. The sun rose higher and

higher, and soon the sky turned from deep blue to

a lighter shade, and I could see the rich golden

globe of the sun slowly starting to peek over the

trees.

I flew across an empty field and toward a

small building in the distance. The tug was even

fiercer than before, and I scarcely needed to move

my feet at all. It felt as if my entire body was

being pulled straight toward it.

He must be there! I thought.

Just as the sun began to rise fully, I burst into

the small shed. I saw Gus moving the lead

toward Liam’s skin, and I screamed, “Stop!”

I collapsed onto the floor, panting, desperately

trying to catch my breath.

“I told you,” Liam said, a sly grin on his face.

“I knew you could do it.”

I looked up and him and glared.

“Never again, Liam,” I snarled. “Don’t you

ever
do this to me again.”

“The hardest part of your training is coming

soon,” Liam said. “Unfortunately, it’s about to

get a lot worse.”

“Worse than
this
?” I asked, shaking my head. I

didn’t see how that was possible.

Liam reached out his hand and helped me to

my feet.

“It’s going to get bad,” Liam said. “Really

bad. But before we get to that, you’re getting a

day off. I have a surprise for you. Why don’t you

go get ready and meet me out front. We’re going

out.”

“We’re leaving the compound?” I gasped

excitedly.

“Yep,” he said. “Where we’re going is a

surprise, though.”

“I don’t care where we go, as long as we get

out of here for a while!”

Liam smiled. “Go get ready! We’ll leave as

soon as you’re ready.”

I practically flew all the way to my room to

get ready. I sifted through the unfamiliar clothing

in my room – clothes Liam had picked out for

me since I couldn’t leave the compound – and I

chose a frilly pink shirt and jeans. I rarely ever

wore pink, but today seemed like a pink day. I

guess I was almost happy.

I met Liam outside a few minutes later. He

had his red sports car revved up and ready to go,

and I hopped in quickly.

“You look terrific,” he noted.

“Thank you,” I said. “So where are we

going?”

“Put this on,” he said, tossing me a blindfold.

“Are you serious?” I moaned.

“Afraid so,” he said.

I sighed. Leave it to the Council and its funky

rules to ruin a happy moment like this. I put it on

and frowned.

“Fine,” I fussed. “It’s on. Now let’s go.”

It wasn’t long before the car came to a stop

and Liam turned the engine off.

“Can I take this stupid thing off, now?” I

asked.

“Not yet,” he said.

He came around to my side of the car and

opened the door, and then he took my hand and

guided me out. He led me carefully across a

patch of hard ground – pavement, I guessed.

“Watch your step,” he said. “Step up.”

I slowly felt for the step with my foot. When I

located it, I stepped up.

“Another,” he said, and I stepped up.

“One more.”

I stepped up once more, and then he led me a

few steps forward. I heard a door open, and we

stepped inside.

“Liam, where are we?” I asked.

I felt him tugging at the blindfold, and as soon

as it was over my eyes, I shrieked with glee!

“Alexi!” I shouted, throwing my arms around

him.

“Alice,” he whispered into my ear, holding me

close.

“Kai!” I yelled when I noticed him standing

behind Alexi.

He put his arms out for a hug, and I flew into

his arms. His lips found mine, and his warm

hands rested on my cheeks as he kissed all over

my face. I noticed he had tears in his eyes.

“My turn,” I heard Max say.

“Max!” I screamed, rushing to him and

squeezing him tightly.

“I’ve missed you,” he said, burying his face in

my hair.

“I’ve missed you, too,” I breathed. “I’ve

missed all of you.”

I looked around the room at all of the smiling

faces. I noticed my mother, brother, and Jamie

were missing.

“Where’s…”

“They went home,” Alexi explained gently.

“Your mother was really missing her home, and

your brother and Jamie decided it was best if they

took her there.”

“Oh,” I said, disappointed.

“You can call them later, if you want,” Liam

said.

“This is the best surprise ever!” I squealed,

throwing my arms around Liam.

He seemed startled, but he hugged me back.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, and I let

him go.

“Thanks, Liam,” I said. “It’s wonderful.”

“It took a lot to convince my father to allow

it,” Liam told me.

“I appreciate it more than you know,” I said.

I turned to Alexi.

“So…” I started. “Are Kai and Max living

here, now?”

“Of course,” Alexi said. “They wanted to be

near you, and I knew you would wish that, too.

So of course I invited them to stay.”

“Wow,” I commented. “That’s really great of

you.”

“I told you, Alice,” Alexi said. “I will always

do my best to give you whatever you want. I just

want you to be happy.”

“Even if…” I started to ask him. “Never mind.

What are we doing today?”

“Anything you want,” Alexi said. “Today is

your
day.”

“We have to be back at the compound by six

PM,” Liam reminded him.

“Oh, damn,” I muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Alexi asked.

“I was just hoping we could go to Tybee

today, and it’s really not a good idea until it gets

dark,” I said.

“Well, we might not be able to go to Tybee

today, but I know of a place you would really

love,” Liam said.

I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Oh, yeah? Where?”

“Do you trust my judgment?” Liam asked me.

“Yeah, I think so,” I said.

“Alright,” he said. “Alexi, I was thinking

about taking her to the cabin. What do you

think?”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Alexi

agreed. “I think she would love it there.”

“Cabin?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s the cabin our father used to take us

to when we were kids,” Alexi explained. “It’s

right by a lake, and it’s really private. It’s

beautiful there.”

“Sounds great,” I said. “Let’s go!”

“Shall we take the Guardian?” Alexi said.

“We’ll all fit in it.”

“You don’t need the Guardian for three

people,” Liam said.

“You’re not coming?” I asked.

“I don’t want to intrude,” Liam told me.

“Intrude? Nonsense. Of course you’re coming

with us,” I insisted.

I noticed Alexi raise his eyebrow at Liam.

“I…” Liam cleared his throat. “Okay, if you

want me to go, I will.”

“Great, let’s go! I can’t wait!” I jumped and

clapped my hands together in excitement.

“If we’re going to the cabin, I need to get a

few things, first,” Alexi said. “Liam, can you

come with me? We’ll pick up some stuff and be

back here in an hour or so.”

“Sure,” Liam agreed.

Alexi took my hands and kissed me on the

forehead.

“We’ll be back soon,” Alexi said.

“Hurry,” I whispered.

Alexi backed away slowly, holding onto my

hands until the last possible second.

“Take care of her,” Alexi said to Kai and Max,

and then he and Liam left.

Kai and Max both stepped toward me at the

same time. Max paused, and then backed off,