Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance (21 page)

Alexi laughed gently.

“As would I, my love,” he said. “Gladly.”

I held my hand up, admiring the simple gold
band.

“Where did these rings come from?” I asked
him.

“They belonged to my parents.”

“Oh. They’re beautiful. And they fit us
perfectly.”

“As if they were meant for us,” he said. “Oh,
how I wish we could just lie here forever.”

“But we have to take care of things,” I
groaned.

“Yes, we certainly do,” he agreed.

“What are we going to do about Dmitri?” I
asked.

“I am not certain. I know that I cannot give
him the talisman. I have a feeling he would not be able to control
himself if the talisman had the chance to take over.”

“Then how will the talisman be able to help
him?”

“That is something I need to discuss with
you. I may have to use dark magic.”

“But I thought you couldn’t. You tried to
before, but it didn’t work.”

“I…” he sighed. “I lied to you.”

“What?” I gasped incredulously. “But you let
me…”

“Please,” he stopped me. “Before you get
upset. I actually did not believe you would be able to access it. I
did not want any of us to use it. When you were able to access it,
I panicked. I did not know what to do.”

“So you let me risk something like that for
nothing?”

“It was not for nothing, darling. Now we know
what you are capable of, and we know to keep you away from it.”

I wanted to badly to be angry with him. I
wanted to shout. I wanted throw things and storm out. But I felt as
though I were tethered to him by some invisible bond, and my anger
melted before it really had a chance to begin.

“Damn you,” I growled.

“Please, love, don’t me angry,” he implored,
his eyes searching mine for solace.

I tried to look mad, but I smiled in spite of
myself.

“I’m not mad. I only said ‘damn you’ because
I
can’t
be angry with you.”

He exhaled sharply.

“You do not know what a relief that is to
hear!”

“I love you, Alexi. I know you had a reason
for what you did, even though I may not understand it.”

“And you also know that I would never
purposely put you in harm’s way,” he added.

“I do know that.”

Alexi’s brow creased, and his eyes
narrowed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“I am wondering what we should do about
Dmitri. I have a very bad feeling about the situation.”

“But you read his mind. He was telling the
truth, right?”

“Yes, but that is not what has me concerned.
I have a feeling there is more to the story than what he has told
us, but I do not believe even Dmitri understands. I did not read
anything abnormal in his mind, but I also feel something evil is
lurking.”

“I know! That’s what freaked me out in the
car, Alexi! I feel it, too. Something evil is coming, and I don’t
know what it is.”

“Perhaps it is best that you do not
know.”

“What does that mean? Alexi! Do you know more
than you’re telling me?”

“I do not, but I have a feeling you do not
want to be involved in this.”

“Alexi, I want to be involved in anything
that involves you. You know that! If you’re in some kind of danger,
you
need
to tell me!”

I sat up in the bed and stared at him
incredulously.

“Don’t you lie to me, Alexi!” I warned him.
“You promised you would never do that, and you have. But let’s not
go down that road again. Tell me what is going on!”

“Please, Alice,” he begged. “Do not get
upset. I am not lying to you. I have told you everything I
know.”

As he lounged there in the bed beside me, I
wanted nothing more than to forget everything. I wanted to lie down
beside him and forget it all – to get lost in him again and pretend
the rest of the world didn’t exist. But it did. Nothing I could do
or say could keep the world from turning, and I knew we had a lot
to face.

“Together,” I told him. “We face
everything
together. Promise me.”

“I promise,” he agreed, taking me in his
arms.

I could hear his heart thumping rhythmically
in his chest as I pressed my ear against him, and his warm embrace
soothed me.

“
Everything
,” I clarified.

“Yes, darling,” he whispered.
“Everything.”

“Then let’s get up and figure out what to
do.”

It was almost impossibly difficult to pull
myself away from him, to leave the warm comfort of our bed, to
watch him get dressed even as I desperately wanted to feel his skin
against mine. But I knew it had to be done. Some things were more
important than the two of us.

Alexi started to pull on his cloak, but I put
my hand on his and stopped him.

“Please don’t cover yourself,” I pleaded.
“Not ever again.”

“I will leave my hood down if you truly wish
it,” he said.

“I do. I never want to lose sight of your
beautiful face. Never.”

He nodded, and he clasped his cloak around
his shoulders, leaving the hood down. Once we were dressed, we went
downstairs. Kai, Will, my mother, and Jamie were already gathered
in the dining hall. Kai was filling my family in on the details of
our issue with Dmitri.

“What can we do to help?” Will asked.

“I don’t want you involved,” I said
flatly.

“Don’t start that, again,” Will complained.
“Whatever this is, we can help. We can’t just run away and hide
every time there’s a problem.”

“Mother, please talk some sense into him,” I
begged.

Mother shrugged.

“I think Will is right,” she argued. “There
must be something we can do to help you.”

“Mother!” I gasped. “Be reasonable!”

“You be reasonable, Alice!” she snapped. “Our
family has been split apart over everything that’s happened. We’ve
hardly seen you in months. We’ve been hiding like criminals. I’m
tired of it! I want my family back!”

She had a point. While my mother may have
always been eccentric, no one could ever accuse her of not loving
her family. As much as I hated being away from her and Will for so
long, I knew it must have hurt her even more.

I looked to Alexi for support, but he only
shrugged.

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.

“We need a plan,” Kai interjected. “Does
anyone have any ideas?”

“What exactly are we facing?” Will asked.
“You say Dmitri is losing control of these wraiths, right? What if
he does? What will happen?”

“They would most likely kill him,” Alexi
explained. “And then they would turn on society. Right now,
Dmitri’s control, diminished thought it may be, is the only thing
keeping them away from the general population.”

“But I thought you said wraiths were just
like any vampire – some are good and some are not,” I argued.

“That is true. And some of the wraiths would
probably cause no harm. However, if even one of them is evil, it
could wreak more havoc on Savannah than you could ever begin to
imagine.”

I shuddered.

“Just one?” I asked.

“You have seen the things they are capable
of,” Alexi reminded me. “Imagine if just one were set free on
society with ill intent.”

“I see your point,” I admitted.

I took Alexi’s hand in mine and laid my head
on his shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kai cringe.
I felt sorry for him, but the urge to comfort him was no longer
there as it once had been.

“You should eat something, darling,” Alexi
suggested.

“I’m fine,” I told him.

“Perhaps. But I want you to keep your
strength up,” he insisted.

“Alright, but only if we all eat together
this time,” I demanded.

“Whatever you want, my love,” Alexi agreed.
“What would you like to eat?”

“Anything is fine,” I said.

Reluctantly, I let his hand go so he could go
have the kitchen make us all something to eat. I sighed wistfully
as I watched him cross the dining hall.

“I can see it,” my mother said out of the
blue.

“See what?” I asked.

“How much you love him,” she answered with a
smile. “It’s like he’s the only person who exists to you, now.”

“Excuse me,” Kai muttered, standing up and
pushing his chair under the table. “I need some air.”

There was a time when I would have chased
him. I would have run after him and begged him not to go. I would
have tried desperately to mend his broken heart, and to take away
his pain. This time, I let him go.

My heart ached for him. I could see his agony
in those beautiful blue eyes, and it saddened me. Once, my chasing
him would have comforted him. Now, I knew it would only add to his
pain. As much as I would have liked to help him – to be his friend
and to comfort him – I knew it was no longer possible.

“I feel for that boy,” my mother said once
he’d left the room. “I can see how much he loves you, still.”

“I know. I feel terrible for him. But I made
my choice.”

My mother must have mistaken my concern for
indecisiveness, because she put her hand on my arm and said, “You
made the right decision. I can see it in your eyes, and in his. You
two were meant to be.”

“I know, Mother,” I told her. “I feel it when
I’m with him, and even when I’m not. I love him so much.”

“How is Max?” Jamie asked suddenly.

“Oh, he’s fine,” I responded. “He apparently
has a girlfriend, now.”

“Really? Are you serious?” Jamie asked.

“Yeah. I called him last night to tell him
about the wedding, and he was there with some girl named Denise. He
told me they were together.”

“Wow. Well, I guess he wasn’t too upset about
the news, then,” Jamie commented.

“No, he didn’t seem to be,” I shrugged.

“That’s good, I guess. At least he’s taking
it better than Kai.”

“And Liam,” I added.

“Liam? What about Liam?” Jamie wanted to
know.

“Oh, God,” I groaned. “Long story. I
overheard him telling Alexi he was in love with me. He was going to
leave town, but then everything kind of went crazy and he didn’t.
And I guess when he heard I was going to marry Alexi, he finally
left. Kai told me before the wedding last night that he was gone.
He just left.”

“Without even saying goodbye?” Jamie
asked.

“Apparently so,” I mourned. “He was my best
friend.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jamie said. “I didn’t
realized you two had become so close?”

“We spent a lot of time together during my
training, and after,” I explained. “I was so happy to have a friend
to talk to – someone who wasn’t in love with me, and who I could
talk to without complications. Then he fell victim, too, I
guess.”

“Fell victim? What do you mean?” Jamie
asked.

“Oh, that’s right. I haven’t told you.
Apparently, I have another ability no one knew about. Father Jacobs
discovered it. I have the ability to ‘charm’ people. I guess it can
make people fall for me or something.”

“Oh, wow,” Jamie gasped. “That explains a
lot. But… does that mean Kai and Max… maybe even Liam and Alexi…
just fell for some ability?”

“I really don’t know,” I lamented. “I’m
pretty sure that’s what happened with Max, because once he was away
from me, he fell for this Denise girl pretty quickly. Kai and Liam
I’m not sure about. But Alexi’s love is definitely real. I tried to
charm him on purpose once, and he felt it. He said he knew
instantly what I was trying to do, because it felt different from
how he normally felt about me.”

“So, I’m guessing you don’t know how to
control your charm ability,” Jamie commented.

“Unfortunately, no,” I said. “I would if I
could, but since I can’t, I have no idea who might be
affected.”

“Can it work on anyone?” she asked.

“Only people who would be predisposed to
actually fall for me, I think,” I admitted. “Like, I don’t think
straight women or gay men would be affected by it.”

Alexi walked over with two trays of food. My
brother took one from him and placed it on the table, and Alexi
placed the other in front of me.

“I will be right back with the rest,” Alexi
said.

Will stood up and said, “I’ll help you.”

In a moment, the two of them returned with
more trays of food and some drinks.

“I know you are not a big fan of breakfast
foods, so I took the liberty of ordering you a roast beef
sandwich,” Alexi told me.

I smiled.

“It’s perfect, sweetheart. Thank you.”

The meal would have been pleasant. I had the
love of my life, my family who I hadn’t seen in ages, and my good
friend there with me. The food was delicious, and Alexi even more
so. But the uncertainty of the situation with Dmitri hung over us
like an ominous storm cloud. I did my best to choke down my meal,
but all I could think about was Alexi, and of the frightening evil
I’d seen in my vision in the car. What did it mean?

Over our meal, we discussed a strategy. Alexi
insisted that using dark magic might be the only way. He had done
it before, and with the talisman inside him, it should have been
easy for him to pick up again.

Father Jacobs came to join us when we were
almost finished eating, and he brought news from Rome.

“I spoke to Father Giovanni, a friend of mine
in Rome,” he explained. “He says he knows of an ancient ritual that
is supposed to be able to exorcise wraiths. It hasn’t been actively
used in centuries, though, so the evidence of it working is purely
historically anecdotal.”

“And what about Dmitri?” I asked. “Is there a
way to help him?”

“That may be more complex,” Father Jacobs
admitted. “If he has delved too far in the dark arts for too long,
it may be impossible to bring him back.”

“But we promised him!” I argued.

“I understand, Alice,” the priest said
gently. “And we will do everything we can for him. But such things
are not always possible.”