Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance (4 page)

“Max is fine, honey,” he told me. “He tried
to help you keep the portal open, but not being a vampire, it
drained him badly. As soon as he touched you, he passed out. It was
too much for him. But he is fine, darling. Don’t worry about
him.”

I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of
relief. But there was so much more I needed to say to him. This was
so difficult. I felt desperate to tell him things, but I just
couldn’t.

“You…” I muttered.

“Yes?” he asked, breathless with
anticipation.

I opened my mouth, but nothing would come
out. Come on, Alice! I shouted inside my head. Say it! With all my
strength, I forced myself to utter one word.

“Love,” I whispered.

Alexi’s mouth fell open. He was motionless…
silent.

“I must have misheard you, darling,” he
finally said. “Or perhaps I misunderstood?’

I shook my head slightly, trying to tell him
he hadn’t misunderstood.

“I want more than anything to believe you are
telling me you…” Alexi gulped, unable to finish the sentence. “But
I cannot. I know you love Kai, and I understand. I just cannot help
but feel… hopeful, I guess.”

How could I make him understand? Yes, I still
loved Kai. That hadn’t changed. But when I thought Alexi wasn’t
going to make it through the portal, something inside me had
changed. It altered my whole world. Then, lying there listening to
him breaking down at my bedside, I realized how much I stood to
lose if anything ever happened to him.

I felt so conflicted. I loved Kai so much,
and he was such an amazing, gentle, caring person. I knew I would
do anything for him. And, of course, there was Max. I cared very
deeply for him, too. But now, something was telling me that there
was much more to Alexi than I’d ever realized. I needed to tell
him.

I opened my mouth to try once more to tell
him how I felt, but I paused in terror. I heard a faint whispery
sound somewhere far in the distance. I strained to hear, trying to
verify what I heard. Then I realized, it was indeed...

“Wraiths!” I forced myself to blurt out.

“What?” Alexi gasped, jumping to his feet.
“No, no, no. This cannot be happening. It is supposed to be safe,
here!”

He picked me up and flew out of the room,
shouting, “Wraiths! Everybody get out here! Wraiths!”

Kai and Liam were already in the hallway
outside my room. Both of them sprang to attention, frantic looks
upon their faces.

“How did wraiths get in here?” Liam
gasped.

“I do not know, but Alice just said
‘wraiths’, and I know she would not say that unless they were
here,” Alexi said. “Liam, go tell Grandfather. Kai, find
Hillary.”

With as much effort as I could muster, I
sputtered, “M-Max!”

“They will get him, darling, do not worry,”
Alexi comforted me.

Alexi rushed down the hallway. Near the end,
he pressed his back to a door handle and it flew open. He raced
down a stairwell, and burst through another door at the bottom.
There, he headed down another hallway. At the end of the corridor,
there was a door similar to the bunker at Barnabas’ compound. This
one had only a keypad. Alexi gripped me tightly while straining to
punch in some numbers.

A hissing sound escaped as the door slid
open, and I heard a couple of metallic clanks. Alexi grabbed the
door handle and almost bumped my head into the door. He put his
foot inside it and kicked it back, slipping inside and letting it
close on its own behind us.

We headed down another stairwell, and at the
bottom, there was a giant door. This one had a large scanner beside
it, and Alexi peered into it, jabbing a button with one finger. I
felt my body lift up as he raised his arm high enough to touch it.
The scanner beeped and whirred, and a red line passed over Alexi’s
face. I guessed it must be an optical scanner.

Something clanked loudly inside the door, and
Alexi yanked it open and carried me inside. It was pitch black
inside the room, but I could faintly see a corridor similar to the
one in Barnabas’ bunker. We traveled down the corridor, which
opened into a room with bunks and shelves like the one we’d hidden
in before. This one was twice as large, and was much better
stocked.

Alexi gently laid me on a bunk, and then he
turned to stare anxiously at down the corridor. I knew he must be
waiting for the others. My stomach churned as I thought of Kai,
Max, and Liam out there with the wraiths. I wanted to scream or
cry, but I couldn’t move. My arms felt cold and clammy, and a
tingling sensation spread through my body.

Helpless, Alexi sat down beside me. He buried
his hands in his face. I heard him sigh deeply. I knew he was
twisted up and hurting inside. His brother and his Grandfather were
out there, as well as Kai, Max, Hillary, and many others Alexi
knew. I could tell he desperately wanted to help them, but he
wouldn’t leave me.

“G-go,” I urged him.

“What?” he asked, turning his head my way.
“You mean leave you? No! No way. I am not going anywhere!”

“Go,” I repeated. It was all I could manage
to spit out.

“I will not leave you, Alice,” he said
sternly. “Not for anything or anyone.”

I tried to insist, but once again, I couldn’t
manage to get anything out. I was growing more and more frantic as
time went on. Being unable to move or speak had been hard enough
lying in a bed in an infirmary, but with so many people I cared
about in danger, it was unbearable.

I heard a loud clank at the end of the
corridor, and footsteps echoed loudly toward us. Liam carried Max,
and Kai was behind them. I released a massive sigh of relief. At
least they were safe.

“Liam, what’s going on?” Alexi demanded,
taking Max from Liam’s arms and placing him on a bunk beside
me.

“Alice…” I heard Max whisper.

“There are at least twenty wraiths,” Liam
said frantically. “It’s mayhem. They’re doing their best to fight
them off, but it didn’t look good. I’m going back.”

“N-no!” I managed to sputter.

Liam turned to me with a surprised look on
his face.

“Alice, you of all people should know I can’t
just leave them,” Liam said incredulously.

“S-s-stay,” I stammered.

I saw Alexi staring intently at Liam, who
seemed to be concentrating on something. Liam finally nodded. I
realized Alexi must have been speaking to Liam telepathically, an
ability he rarely used because it drained him quickly.

Liam eyed me suspiciously, then said gently,
“Alright, Alice. If you insist.”

Alexi’s speaking to Liam that way reminded be
that Alexi could read minds. I knew he didn’t do it often, but he’d
never really told me why. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t read
my mind now that I couldn’t speak. I made a mental note to ask him
about it, later.

“I just do not understand,” Alexi lamented.
“How did these wraiths get here? This place is protected. No one
should even know the location, much less be able to get in!”

“I don’t understand it, either,” Liam
said.

My eyes suddenly closed involuntarily, and my
body tensed up, stiffening as though I were having a seizure. My
muscled ached from the tension. I heard a grunt escape my lips, and
slowly I saw strange pictures filling my mind.

“Alice!” Alexi gasped, and I felt his hands
trying to restrain me.

The sounds in the room faded out. I could
hear people speaking, but it was muffled as though they were in
another room and I was hearing them through a thin wall. The
figures in my mind began to take shape, and I saw Hillary speaking
on a cell phone.

“Dmitri, you promised me your wraiths would
not harm anyone!” Hillary shouted into her phone. “You said they
would take her, and no one else would be harmed! It’s a bloodbath
here!”

What?
I thought.
Hillary is talking
to Dmitri?

“I don’t care!” Hillary screamed into her
phone. “I only agreed to open a portal for your wraiths because you
promised me you’d get that bitch out of here and away from Alexi.
You said that’s all they would do!”

Oh, my God!
I thought.
Hillary
opened a portal for the wraiths! That’s how they got in! I had to
tell Alexi.

My body relaxed, and I opened my eyes. Alexi
and Kai were standing over me looking frantic.

“H-h…” I tried to say, but apparently the
vision I’d seen had drained me.

“What is it, darling?” Alexi asked
gently.

I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath,
trying to control my body the best I could.

“H… Hillary,” I managed to say at last.

Alexi’s mouth fell open.

“Hillary…” he repeated. “Wait… are you saying
Hillary had something to do with this?”

It took all the strength I could manage, but
I was able to nod my head very slightly to answer
affirmatively.

“I should have known,” Alexi growled.

“You think Hillary opened a portal for the
wraiths?” Liam asked Alexi.

“There is no other way they could have gotten
here,” Alexi said.

“Why would she do that?” Liam questioned.

“I do not know,” Alexi admitted. “Maybe she
was trying to get rid of Alice?”

“By putting us all in danger?” Liam
asked.

“Hillary is impetuous and irrational,” Alexi
returned. “I would not put anything past her.”

“So what are we going to do?” Liam wanted to
know.

“There is nothing we can do without leaving
Alice unprotected,” Alexi lamented. “I would not even leave her if
she was one hundred percent, but we certainly cannot risk her when
she is in no shape to defend herself.”

“No, you’re right,” Liam agreed. “We can’t
leave her like this.”

“Max, what are you doing?” Alexi suddenly
shouted.

I tried to turn my head to see what was
happening, but my neck only moved about an inch. I twisted my eyes
toward Max, and I could see him trying to stand. I could see Max
standing, but he looked shaky, as if he could barely stay upright.
In an instant, Alexi stood beside Max, helping to support him.

“I have to see her,” Max said weakly.

“Alright, alright,” Alexi agreed. “Let me
help.”

Alexi assisted Max, helping him move over and
sit beside me on my bunk. He put his hand on my arm, and leaned in
close to speak to me.

“Alice, I’ve really missed you. I’ve been so
worried about you,” Max said. “I wish I could have been there for
you, but I couldn’t get out of bed.”

I managed a very weak smile at him.

“I love you, Alice,” Max whispered in my ear.
“You should get some rest. I just wanted to tell you that.”

“Good idea,” Alexi agreed. “She needs to get
some rest if she is going to recover.”

Alexi bent down and kissed my forehead
gently.

“Please get some sleep, darling,” he
whispered.

Then he helped Max back to his own bunk, and
turned off the light. Within seconds, I was fast asleep.

“You have some nerve showing your face in
here!” I heard Alexi bellow, jerking me out of my slumber.

I shot up in bed, shocked to realize I was
now fully in control of my body again. Alexi and Hillary were
standing in the middle of the room, with Alexi towering over the
fragile and contrite Hillary.

“What are you talking about?” Hillary asked,
trying to conceal her betrayal.

“There was no one else who could have led
those wraiths here, Hillary!” Alexi shouted. “You are the only
one!”

“No, Alexi!” she cried. “I would never betray
you that way!”

“I do not believe you,” Alexi said. “Why
should I?”

“Because I didn’t do anything!” she
pleaded.

“Yes, you did!” I interjected suddenly.

Everyone in the room turned to me with their
mouths gaping. Liam, Kai, and Max had been quietly watching the
entire scene unfold, and now they looked thoroughly shocked.

“Excuse me?” Hillary demanded angrily.

“I saw you, Hillary!” I shouted.

“You…” she started to say, lurching forward
slightly. Then she became defiant, shouting, “What exactly do you
think you saw?”

“I had a vision of you on the phone with
Dmitri,” I said pointedly, jumping to my feet. “You said you only
agreed to open the portal because Dmitri promised no one would be
hurt!”

“A… vision?” Hillary gasped, clearly shaken.
“How did…”

“Do you deny it?” I snapped, now standing
inches away from her.

“I… I do deny it!” she shouted, suddenly
belligerent. “You’d say anything to turn Alexi against me!”

“I have no need to turn anyone against you,
Hillary,” I said, glaring. “You’re denying that you spoke to Dmitri
on the phone?”

“I am!” she shouted.

“Liar!” Alexi hissed.

“Get out of my head!” Hillary screamed at
Alexi.

“You can lie to everyone else all you want,
Hillary,” Alexi growled. “But you cannot keep secrets from
me
!”

“You think you know everything, don’t you?”
she snapped at Alexi. “Stop reading my mind!”

“Why?” Alexi asked her. “Because you do not
want me to know the truth? Too late, Hillary. I already heard it
all!”

Hillary’s chin began to quiver. Her face
turned ghostly white, and she obviously realized she couldn’t hide
what she’d done any longer.

“I’m so sorry,” Hillary sobbed, her hands
hidden in her face. “Dmitri said no one would be hurt, and he would
only take
her
. He promised!”

The way she said “her” sounded dark and
spiteful. The resentment she had for me was still raw, and the
bitter emotion hung in the air like a thick fog.

“This is the ultimate betrayal,” Alexi spat
at her. “You are hereby banished! You are stripped of your title as
Elder, and your protection status is thus revoked. Leave here at
once! I do not ever want to see your face again!”

“Alexi, please!” she begged, suddenly
clinging to his cloak. “Don’t do this! It was a mistake! I’m
sorry!”