Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance (21 page)

“Of course,” Alexi said, clearly not surprised.

“I will take the one above Kai,” Alexi

suggested. “And Liam, you can take one of the

remaining two.”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Liam said. “Guess

I’ll take the bottom one.”

I didn’t want to leave Kai. Once again, he’d

almost been killed trying to save me. I tugged at

the blankets underneath him, and he shifted his

body and helped pull them out from under him. I

helped him take his boots off, and then I took my

own shoes off and placed both pairs underneath

Kai’s bunk.

“There’s a bunch of clothes in the drawers and

lockers over there,” Alexi said. “There should be

some more comfortable clothes if you want to

change.”

“I’m fine,” I said, and I climbed under the

covers with Kai.

Alexi paused for a moment, and then sighed. I

got the feeling that he wasn’t happy seeing me

crawling into bed with someone else. Max shot

Alexi a glance, and I knew he wasn’t happy,

either.

Kai put his arms around me, and I rested my

hands on both sides of his face. I gently kissed his

forehead, then his nose, and finally his lips. He

pulled me more tightly against him, and I

snugged my head underneath his chin.

I heard a loud bang, and my heart jumped.

“Max, cut it out,” Alexi snarled.

I sighed. It must have been Max having a

temper tantrum of some sort. He really wasn’t

handling my relationship with Kai very well. I

felt terrible about the situation, especially since

he’d risked his life to protect me and then been

forced into spending most of his time around us.

“You don’t have to stay here with me,” Kai

whispered into my ear.

“I want to be here,” whispered back.

“Wouldn’t it be more comfortable for

everyone if you slept in your own bunk?”

“Maybe, but I want to be right here with you.”

Kai smiled and kissed my forehead.

Liam stood guard beside the entrance to the

tunnel. He’d removed his cloak and was leaning

against the concrete wall with his arms crossed

and his feet shoulder width apart.

“You good?” Alexi asked Liam.

“I’m not tired,” Liam said.

“Alright,” Alexi returned. “Wake me up in six

hours.”

Alexi bent down and placed one hand gently

on my head.

“Good night, Alice,” he said quietly.

“Night,” I said. Then I grabbed his wrist.

“Alexi?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

He nodded, and still wearing the cloak that hid

his face, he scrambled onto the bunk above me.

Liam walked over to the light and tugged at the

chain that hung down beside it, and the room

darkened. Then he returned to his position beside

the tunnel.

Kai’s embrace was warm and comfortable.

Despite the dire threat which loomed over me, I

felt calm.
This must be what they mean by ‘calm

before the storm’
, I thought. Then I fell asleep.

*****

Chapter Fifteen – Storm

“Alexi,” Liam whispered. “It’s your shift.”

“Alright, I’m up,” Alexi said, and I saw his

cloak billow around him as he jumped to the

floor.

Alexi spent a few minutes in the bathroom,

and then he had an energy bar and a bottle of

water. When he was finished, he nodded at Liam,

and Liam took of his boots and went to bed.

Alexi’s cloaked figure went to stand in the

same position Liam had formerly occupied, but I

noticed his head was turned toward me. I slipped

out of bed quietly, trying not to wake Kai, and I

walked over to Alexi.

“Why are you up?” Alexi whispered. “You

should get some more sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” I told him.

“You should still rest some more. You may

need your strength.”

“Alexi, I’m really worried,” I said quietly.

He rested his hand on top of my head and said,

“Please don’t worry. We’ll protect you. Nothing

will harm you.”

“No,” I told him. “That’s not what I’m

worried about.”

“Then what is wrong?”

“I’m afraid of what’s going on out there, but

more importantly, I’m afraid that something will

happen to one of you. Alexi, if one of you gets

hurt trying to protect me… well, I can’t even

stand the
thought
of that.”

“You are more important than any of us,”

Alexi said.

“No, I’m not,” I insisted. “I mean, I know my

powers are supposedly important, but…”

“Alice, I wasn’t just referring to your powers,

though they
are
vital. You are more important
to

me
than… anything…”

I felt my heart flop inside my chest. Alexi was

so kind and gentle. I hated the thought of having

to hurt him. But I knew Kai was the one I wanted

to be with. Would Alexi ever understand?

“Alexi, you know I…”

“Stop,” Alexi pleaded through his teeth,

clenching his jaw. “Don’t say it. As long as you

don’t say it, I can deal with it.”

“Okay…” I said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“I only want you to be happy,” he told me. “If

that means having to deal with… others… for

now, I will do so.”

His hand stroked my hair gently, and I leaned

my head against his shoulder.

“Do you think they’re alright out there?” I

asked him.

“Yes, I’m sure they’re fine,” he assured me.

“If things were going badly, they would have sent

word that we needed to get you out of here.”

“What do you think happened?”

“More than likely Barnabas and Dmitri had a

discussion, and Dmitri left once he realized he no

longer had his bargaining chip.”

“But won’t he try to get me back?”

“He will, of course. But not right now, I don’t

think. He will probably wait until he thinks he

has the element of surprise.”

“How long do you think we’ll be stuck down

here?”

“I could think of worse places to be.”

I looked up and smiled at him, understanding

what he meant.

“Me, too,” I confessed, and I felt his arm

around my shoulders squeezing me.

“Go get some more rest,” Alexi pleaded.

“Fine, I’ll go,” I grumbled.

This time, I got into my own bunk. I knew Kai

would be disappointed to find me missing when

he woke up, but I couldn’t bear to hurt Alexi

again so soon. I knew it must have been tearing

him apart to see all of the public displays of

affection between Kai and me and between Max

and me.

I still couldn’t quite understand why Alexi had

such strong feelings for me. I understood the

basic premise behind him hearing about me from

his father, but it just didn’t make sense to me.

How could he fall in love with someone before

he even met them? I guessed I might never

understand it. I watched him standing there,

strong and silent, and I slowly drifted off into

dreamland.

The next time I woke up, everyone except

Liam was awake. Alexi still stood guard, and

Max and Kai were sitting at opposite sides of the

room. Kai had pulled a chair over near me, he

was watching me sleep, and Max was sitting near

Alexi.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” Kai said to me,

smiling.

“Good morning,” I said, returning his smile.

“Are you hungry?” Kai asked.

“No, not really.”

“You should eat,” Max said from across the

room.

“I’m fine, really,” I insisted.

“Please eat,” Alexi pleaded.

I sighed, and relented.

“Fine, what is there?” I asked.

A triumphant grin spread across Alexi’s face,

but I couldn’t tell if it was because he’d simply

been successful or because he had been

victorious where Kai and Max were not. I shot

him a frustrated look, and his smile turned into a

twisted grin as he tried to suppress it.

“There’s some energy bars, some canned soup,

canned beans, chili, some ramen noodles…” Kai

said, naming off things he found on the shelves.

“Yuck,” I groaned. “It all sounds disgusting.”

“The energy bars aren’t too bad,” Alexi

suggested.

“Alright, I’ll try one,” I sighed.

Kai passed me a bar and a bottle of water, and

motioned for me to sit in the chair he had

occupied.

“It’s okay, I’m fine on the bed,” I told him.

I choked down the energy bar. Alexi was right,

it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Still, I

wanted real food. I also needed to recharge. I

hadn’t fed in so long that I felt very weak. I rested

my head in my hands and sighed. I was tired.

Alexi must have understood, because he said,

“Don’t worry. As soon as things are settled a

little, they’ll bring us a few volunteers.”

“Volunteers?” I asked.

“Liam never explained volunteers to you?”

Alexi asked quizzically.

“No.”

“How long has it been since you fed?” he

asked, sounding concerned.

“I don’t remember,” I answered honestly.

“You don’t...” he began, but then he stopped.

“Liam!”

Liam sat up so quickly he banged his head on

the bunk above him.

“What? What’s going on?” Liam said

groggily.

“When was the last time Alice fed?” Alexi

growled at him.

“Huh? Umm… I don’t…” Liam stammered.

“Liam…” Alexi snarled.

“It’s been really busy,” Liam admitted. “I just

forgot. Alice, I’m sorry.”

“Father would not be happy to learn of this,”

Alexi said. “She should never be allowed to be so

weak she can’t defend herself!”

Liam’s face fell.

“I’m sorry. I never thought about that. This is

my fault. It’s all my fault. Alice, I’m really

sorry,” Liam said.

“Don’t blame yourself,” I said to Liam. “It’s

not your fault.”

“Then whose fault is it?” Alexi snapped.

“Well, it’s certainly not his!” I shouted, but I

immediately regretted yelling at him and I

lowered my voice. “We can’t blame anyone for

this, Alexi. It happened, it’s over, and there was

nothing anyone could do. Besides, I don’t think

my powers would have worked against those

things, anyway.”

“What things?” Alexi pressed.

“Those things that took me,” I said, and then I

paused in confusion. “Didn’t Kai and Max tell

you about them?”

I looked at Kai and Max and they both looked

confused.

“The gray ghost things,” I explained. “You

two saw them. They attacked you with those

glowing orb things.”

Kai and Max glanced at each other, and then

back at me.

“Oh, come on,” I pleaded. “Tell me you

remember!”

“Oh my god,” Alexi muttered under his

breath.

Liam looked alarmed.

“Wraiths?” he asked Alexi.

“It couldn’t be,” Alexi said, shaking his head.

“What’s a wraith?” I asked.

“You don’t think Dmitri is seriously using

wraiths, do you?” Liam asked Alexi, ignoring my

question.

“What’s a wraith?” I repeated.

“He could be, I suppose,” Alexi replied to

Liam. “Dmitri is known for his eccentricity.”

I was getting really irritated with being

completely ignored.

“Will somebody please tell me what a

freaking wraith is?” I shouted, standing up and

stomping my foot.

Liam and Alexi turned to me, and Liam

looked horrified at my outburst.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, sitting back down on my

bunk.

“No, I’m sorry, Alice,” Alexi said. “I just got

absorbed in the conversation. I didn’t mean to

ignore you.”

“What is a wraith?” I asked more calmly.

“They’re the souls of vampires that have been

trapped and forced to do the bidding of their

master,” Alexi explained. “They’re not inherently

evil, but anyone who uses them cannot be good.

Few people have the ability to trap and command

them, though. Wraiths are notoriously difficult

to control.”

“If anyone could do it, I guess it would be

Dmitri,” Liam commented.

“Alice, did you say they used magic?” Alexi

asked.

“Yeah,” I answered. “They shot these white

orbs out at Kai and Max and knocked them out. I

was afraid they were…”

I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“That’s not good,” Liam said, looking at

Alexi.

“Why? What does that mean?” I asked.

“Wraiths are not supposed to be able to use

magic,” Liam explained. “I thought that was just

a myth.”

“It is,” Alexi said. “I mean, I thought it was.

Alice, are you
sure
about what you saw?”

“Yes, I’m absolutely certain,” I answered. “I

saw it very clearly, and it happened twice. And

they were speaking some kind of whispery

language.”

“Wait… what?” Alexi gasped. “You could

hear them?”

“Yes… why?”

“No one can hear a wraith other than its

master,” Alexi explained.

“Well, I did,” I said confidently. “I’m not

crazy or anything.”

“What did you hear, exactly?” Liam

demanded.

“It was just this whispery sound. I wasn’t even