Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance (14 page)

windows. Gotta go.”

I hung up, and I tried to climb over the seat to

take control of the wheel. I managed to pull

Liam’s foot off the gas, and the car slowed down

very slightly, but it was still out of control. I

tried to steady the wheel, but nothing worked.

The car finally hit the railing with a grating

screech. The railing gave way and sent us sailing

through the air. I felt the car falling, and in a

moment, the car lurched as it hit the water below.

The car quickly began to sing below the water,

and I fumbled with Liam’s seatbelt, trying to free

him. I pressed the button to release the belt, but it

wouldn’t open. I yanked it, and the belt broke.

Water was filling the vehicle rapidly. If I didn’t

get out soon, the downward force of the water

current would pull us under and we might be

unable to escape.

I pressed the switch to roll down Liam’s

window, and water began to rush in. It was just

seconds before the car would be completely

under water. I scrambled over Liam and out the

window, and then I reached back in and grabbed

him, pulling with all my might. His shoulder was

still stuck on his seatbelt, and I gave it another

sharp yank, tearing away the rest of the belt. With

one final pull, I managed to get Liam out of the

vehicle and I wrapped one arm tightly around

him and began to swim away before the

downward current pulled us in.

I managed to make it safely to the shore of the

lake with Liam in tow, and I laid him carefully

on the sandy bank. I patted his face, trying to

wake him, but he wouldn’t come to. That’s when

I noticed the blood seeping into the sand and

turning it into sticky, red mud.

“Liam!” I gasped.

I pulled his cloak back, and I noticed a huge

chunk of metal, probably from the railing, lodged

in his chest. I tried to pull it out, but it wouldn’t

budge. I could have let him die, and for a fleeting

moment, I thought it might be best to do so. But

he was Alexi’s brother, and he was a living being.

I couldn’t just let him die.

I placed my hands over the wound and tried to

concentrate on healing him. Nothing happened. I

thought about how Alexi might feel if his brother

died, but still nothing happened. Desperately, I

tried to think of a way to save him. Grace must

not work without the haze, but I couldn’t seem

to control it.

Liam mumbled something. He was waking up.

His eyes opened, and he looked down at the hunk

of metal protruding from his chest. He touched it

with a trembling hand, and he gasped in horror at

the blood covering his fingers. His crimson eyes

found mine, and he terror in them sent a

shockwave through my body.

“Don’t worry, Liam,” I told him confidently.

“You’re going to be fine.”

I closed my eyes, and I still saw the terror in

those crimson eyes. That look was burned into

my eyelids, and it was all I could see. When I

opened my eyes, the crystal clarity of the blood

red haze was upon me. The world had slowed.

My fingers curled around the metal chunk, and

it easily slipped out into my hands. I tossed it

aside. I placed my hands back over the wound,

and I concentrated on pushing my life force into

him as I had done with Alexi. I felt the familiar

tingling warmth emanating from my hands, and

the golden glow slipped between my fingers.

The piercing knives wracked my body with

pain, and I felt a sharp thunderclap headache blast

through my head. I screamed in pain. I gritted my

teeth to try to control it, and pushed more of my

life into Liam. I felt the warm wetness on my

cheeks and under my nose. I tasted the rusty

saltiness of blood on my lips. I looked down, and

the wound had closed completely. Blood dripped

onto my hands.

“Alice!” I heard someone yell just as time

returned to normal.

I looked toward the sound, and I saw Alexi

running down the bank toward me, followed my

Max and Kai. Another wave of intense pain

seized my body, and once again, I was overtaken

by the darkness.

When I woke up, I was back in Alexi’s bed. I

looked around, and I noticed Alexi sleeping in a

chair in the corner of the room.

“Alexi…” I called weakly.

In a flash, he was sitting beside me.

“I was so worried,” he said, holding my hand

gently.

“Liam…” I whispered.

“He’s gone,” Alexi said.

“No!” I gasped. “I couldn’t save him?”

“No, no, no!” Alexi said. “He’s fine. But he

left. You don’t have to worry about him

anymore, because I’m not leaving your side. Not

for anything.”

Alexi’s phone rang, and he sighed. He reached

into his pocket and pulled out the phone.

“What now?” he answered.

“She’s fine, no thanks to you,” he said after a

moment. “She just woke up.”

Again, he listened, and then he said, “No,

Liam. I told you. I don’t want you anywhere near

her ever again.”

“It’s Liam?” I asked, trying to sit up.

“No, she
doesn’t
walk to talk to you,” Alexi

growled.

“Yes, I do,” I said, reaching for the phone.

Alexi’s mouth scrunched into a frown, and he

reluctantly handed me the phone.

“Liam?” I asked. “Are you alright?”

“You nearly died and you’re worried about

the guy who kidnapped you?” he teased.

“
Are
you alright?” I repeated.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’ve been calling and

calling to see if you were okay. Are you?”

“I’m fine, Liam,” I answered.

“Good, good,” he said. “I’m… sorry… about

kidnapping you. It was… a mistake.”

“It’s fine,” I told him. “No hard feelings.”

“I can see what he sees in you,” Liam said. “I

could never see it before, but now I understand.

You are special as they say.”

“Um… thanks,” I said cautiously.

“I’ve spoken to the other Elders on your

behalf,” he said. “They’re going to vote on what

to do about you tomorrow.”

“What to do about me?” I asked. “What does

that…”

Alexi yanked the phone from my hands and

snarled into it, “That’s enough for now, Liam.

She needs to rest.”

As he was hanging up, someone knocked on

the door.

“Not now,” Alexi called.

“Come in,” I said at the same time.

The door opened, and Kai walked in.

“She’s awake,” he said. “I thought you were

going to tell us when she woke up.”

“I
just
woke up,” I said quickly.

“Oh,” Kai said. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Can you come back later?” Alexi asked Kai.

“Um… sure,” he said. “I’ll tell everyone else

she’s awake. They’ll want to see her.”

“Fine,” he said. “But give me a few minutes,

first.”

“Okay,” Kai said, quietly leaving the room.

“Alice, we need to talk,” Alexi said gravely.

“What’s wrong?”

“I take it Liam mentioned the meeting of the

Council

of

Elders

that’s

taking

place

tomorrow?”

“He mentioned they were going to vote about

what to do with me. What does that mean?”

“They’re voting on whether or not you’re a

danger.”

“A danger? Why would they think I’m a

danger to anyone?”

“Because they don’t seem to be able to

control you.”

“Control me? What does that mean?”

“The Council has ways of controlling those it

wants to join. There are several members who

can use mind control to gain… compliance.

Their abilities don’t seem to work on you.”

“I see. So what if they decide I’m a danger?

What will they do?”

Through clenched teeth, he said, “They’ll try

to kill you.”

It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to

kill me. I was growing rather numb to it. It didn’t

even frighten me all that much, anymore.

“What are we going to do?”

“Liam is going to speak to the Council

tomorrow. He’s going to tell them you’re no

danger. He’ll relay the fact that you saved his life

despite him kidnapping you. If they listen to him,

they’ll probably vote to try to get you to join

willingly. If you don’t join, they’ll hold another

vote and probably decide to kill you.”

“What, so it’s join or die? Is that it?”

He sighed.

“Basically, yes. I’m sorry. This is why my

father and I haven’t spoken in years. He told me

what he intended to do – to get you to join the

Council when you were eighteen. I told him I

would not allow it, and he took Liam and left.

We’ve hardly spoken since. I haven’t even spoken

to Liam, because he’s been siding with Father.”

“Why is this happening to me? A few months

ago, I was nothing. I had no abilities; I wasn’t

special. I was just an ordinary teenager.”

“You were never ordinary, Alice. Never.

Having these gifts isn’t what makes you special.

It’s
who you are
that makes you special.”

“But when I had no abilities, I didn’t have

hordes of people trying to kill me.”

“True, but you just don’t understand. You’ve

always had these gifts. They just hadn’t

manifested. There may still be latent abilities

inside you that you haven’t uncovered.”

“There could me
more
?” I breathed, my eyes

wide. “As if I don’t have enough?”

“It’s possible.”

“Are you going to vote tomorrow?” I asked

suddenly.

“I am no longer a part of the Council,” he said

solemnly.

“What? Why not?”

“Because of you.”

“Because you’re protecting me.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, Alexi. I didn’t mean to cause all of

these problems for you.”

“Don’t apologize. This is my choice. I do it

willingly.”

“I don’t know why.”

“You know why,” he said quietly.

“Alexi… I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then don’t.”

“But I’m already in love with Kai.”

“And Max,” he reminded me. “But that

doesn’t change anything.”

“Of course it does…”

“No. It changes nothing. It doesn’t change

how I feel, and it doesn’t change what my father

saw.”

“I’m sorry to have to disappoint you.”

“As I said, don’t.”

“It’s not that simple, and you know it.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. I

understand you haven’t experienced what I have,

but I believe you will come to feel the same way

in time.”

“Anyway, what are we going to do about

tomorrow? Are we sticking around until they

vote?”

“I promised my brother that much. I told him I

would take you away immediately if the vote

doesn’t go our way, but he made me promise I

would keep you around until then. We don’t

want to attract any unnecessary attention that

might swing the vote. If you leave before they

vote, they could decide you
are
a danger and

that’s why you’re running.”

“I still can’t believe this is happening. It’s

surreal. Why does my life have to be so

complicated?”

“Complex people have complicated lives.

Only the simple live simply.”

“I’m not that complex. I think I’m rather one-

dimensional.”

“Not at all, Alice. Not you. You are
extremely

complex.”

“Thanks… I think?”

“It was a compliment, of course.”

“I’m starving. I haven’t eaten or had anything

to drink in two weeks. If I was human, I’d be

dead.”

“If you were human, I’d have taken you to a

hospital.”

“Good point.”

“Alright, let’s get you something to eat.

Anything you want. Then we should probably get

you fed later, just in case. We don’t want you to

be weak if we have to leave.”

“It doesn’t matter what I eat. Anything is

fine.”

“I’ll get you something. Do you want to eat

up here?”

“I’d actually like to eat outside, if that’s

okay.”

“Of course. I’ll bring you something by the

pool?’

“Thanks, Alexi. I really appreciate all you’ve

done for me.”

“You know I would do anything for you.”

“I know.”

Alexi kissed my forehead and left, and I went

to find Kai. I’d hardly seen him, Max, or even my

family in ages. I found Kai sitting in a patio chair

out back by the pool. It was dark outside, and the

crisp night air made his burgundy hair flutter

around his face.

“Hey,” I said.

He turned around, and when he saw me, his

face lit up. He jumped up so quickly he nearly

turned the chair over. He threw his arms around

me, lifted me from the ground, and spun me in a

circle.

“It’s so good to see you up and around again!”

he said. “I’ve missed you.”

He nestled his face into my hair and kissed my

neck.

“I’ve missed you, too,” I told him. “You have

no idea how much.”

“You’re feeling better?” he asked me.