Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance (17 page)

you knew.”

“Really? Why?”

“Your gifts are very unique. They are more

powerful when you have some sort of attachment

to the people around you. Since none of the

people you care about can be present, I’m the

next best thing.”

“Next best thing, huh?”

“I’m used to never being first in anyone’s

heart,” he said with a wink. “Are you ready to

begin?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.

I followed him down to the training hall, and

we entered one of the classrooms. There was a

tall, plump man with a receding hairline standing

in the middle of the room. He was wearing plain

clothes rather than an Elder robe, and he stood

beside a machine. In his hands were two large

alligator clips that looked like the leads on

jumper cables.

Liam walked over and stood beside him. He

removed his cloak and tossed it over a table, and

then he rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt.

“This may be… difficult,” Liam said. “The

purpose of today’s training is to help you

strengthen your ability to put people to sleep.”

“Okay, what do I need to do?”

“In the beginning, we must evoke an

emotional response in you in order to help you

practice. You must concentrate. Focus your

energy, and touch him.”

“What? Just touch him?”

“It’s not that simple. Not at first. Since your

abilities seem to require you to feel some sort of

emotional connection, we must… create one.”

I eyed the machine nervously.

“What do you mean?”

“When you are ready, you can stop it,” Liam

said, and then he grabbed one of the leads and

nodded to the man by the machine.

The man turned a switch on, and then he

pressed the other lead against Liam’s arm. Liam

gritted his teeth and groaned loudly, and I heard a

sharp zap and a crackling noise. I gasped. The

man pulled the lead away.

Liam shook his head to clear it after the jolt.

He took a deep breath.

“You can stop this with a single touch.

Concentrate, and do it.”

Again, the man pressed the lead against

Liam’s arm, and he groaned, his body trembling.

“Stop!” I shouted, and I touched the man’s

arm.

Nothing happened. He touched the lead to

Liam again, and Liam shrieked in pain. I clenched

my teeth and touched the man’s arm again. No

response. The man twisted a knob, apparently

turning up the voltage.

The zap was louder this time, and Liam

clenched his hands into fists, and he screamed in

pain through clenched teeth.

“Stop! Stop!” I shouted, trying desperately to

channel my energy into the man.

Still, nothing happened. The man twisted the

knob, turning it to the maximum setting. I felt a

huge knot growing inside my stomach as he

touched the lead to Liam’s arm.

Liam’s body jolted in a seizure, and he

screamed in pain. He dropped to his knees, and

still the man kept the lead pressed against his

skin. I could smell Liam’s skin beginning to

burn, and he looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“Stop! Please!” I shouted, my entire body

beginning to tremble.

Tears began to sting my eyes, and a lump

began to swell in my throat. Liam looked so

helpless as his eyes pleaded with me to stop the

pain. The sharp smell of burning flesh infiltrated

my nose, and the room began to spin.

“I said stop!” I screamed, thrusting my hand

against the man’s forehead.

The man’s body slumped into a pile in the

floor, and I heard Liam exhale sharply as the pain

subsided.

“Well done,” he said, his voice still shaky.

I fell to my knees beside him and placed one

hand on his chest.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m so sorry, Liam. I tried to stop it earlier.”

“It was expected, Alice. It’s going to take a

while for you to learn to use your ability without

such extreme measures.”

“You mean we have to keep doing this? No! I

can’t handle this, Liam! I can’t stand seeing

anyone in pain like that!”

“That is precisely
why
we must do it. If you’re

going to learn to use your gift, you must be

forced to learn to use it without going through

this type of thing. By doing it this way, your

mind will adapt and you will unlock the ability to

use it without the emotional response.”

“Not like this. I can’t stand seeing him do that

to you.”

“It is necessary,” he reminded me. “There is no

other way.”

Liam shook the guy several times, and he

finally came around.

“Again,” Liam told him.

“No… please…” I said weakly.

Liam stood up and braced himself. He stood

with his fists clenched beside him, and his eyes

burned into me. He nodded, and the man reached

forward with the lead.

“Please,” I whispered.

But the lead touched Liam’s skin, and I saw

him trying desperately not to cry out. His body

shook violently, and his teeth rattled together.

His crimson eyes looked wild with pain. I closed

my eyes and took a deep breath. With tears in my

eyes, I pleaded with myself to do it. I lifted my

hand and touched the man’s arm, and he slumped

to the floor.

Liam grunted with relief as the pain ended.

“Well done,” he said again.

“Liam, I can’t keep doing this. Please stop

this,” I begged, tears spilling down my face.

Liam put his hands on my shoulders and

looked into my eyes.

“You can stop this any time you want,” he

said.

He bent down and shook the man to rouse him

again, and then he prepared himself for another

jolt.

“No! No more!” I said, taking the man’s arm

to restrain it.

Once more, he fell to the floor.

“Good job!” Liam shouted excitedly. “You

did it without the need for an emotional

response!”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t want him to hurt you

again,” I argued. “That
was
an emotional

response.”

“But you didn’t need to
see
the pain this

time,” he said. “You’re improving.”

“Liam, I could still see the pain. Before he

touched you, I could see your face. It was

unbearable.”

He nodded.

“Tomorrow, we will try it under different

circumstances. I don’t want to push you too hard

on your first day.”

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” I told him.

“I’m sorry, but you must continue,” he said.

“There is no other option. Are you hungry?”

“Yes, I guess I am,” I admitted.

“Good,” he said. “It’s time for breakfast.”

He revived the man and told him we were

done for the day, and then we headed for the

dining hall to have breakfast. I ordered a fruit

salad and a croissant and Liam ordered a ham and

cheese omelet. Liam disappeared through a door

into the kitchen briefly, and he came out carrying

two glasses of orange juice.

“You like juice?” he asked me.

“Sure,” I said.

We sat down to wait for our food. As I sipped

my orange juice, I thought about the training

session I’d just been through. It was unbearable.

If this was just the beginning, I was starting to

think I’d made the wrong decision to come.

“I’ve been wondering something,” I said

suddenly. “Why are the Elders working with

hunters, anyway? Isn’t it a bit counterproductive

to be working with people who are trying to kill

our kind?”

“There’s a book in the library that will explain

all of that,” he said. “I’ll get it for you after

breakfast, if you want. We won’t have another

training session until this afternoon.”

“We have
another
one today?” I groaned.

“It won’t be the same one as earlier,” he said.

“We won’t try that again until tomorrow.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. I only hoped it

wouldn’t be something worse.

“I know this is hard on you,” Liam said. “I’m

sorry. I tried to tell you this was going to be

difficult for you.”

“I know,” I told him. “I made my choice.”

“Alexi’s been calling every hour to check on

you. Everyone is really upset. They miss you.”

“I know. I hate it that I had to leave them like

that, but I had to make sure nothing happened to

them because of me. Can you tell Alexi I miss

them all terribly?”

“I will relay the message when he calls next.”

“Thanks.”

“And tell him I’m sorry for leaving the way I

did. I just knew they would try to stop me, and I

had to do this.”

“He understands,” Liam said softly.

“Does he? Do they all?”

“I don’t know about the others, but Alexi

understands why you did it. He’s not happy about

it, obviously. But he knows you. He understands

why.”

“I hope so.”

After breakfast, Liam took me to the library

and located the book that contained information

about the history of the Council. I took it to a

quiet table in the corner and opened the dusty old

cover. I skimmed through the pages, looking for

information about the hunters.

About halfway through the book, I found a

chapter about the alliance. In 1835, a vampire

named in the book only as Lucius was the head

of the Council. Originally, the Council was at

war, but they were tired of seeing their vampire

brethren slaughtered mercilessly at the hands of

the hunters, who sought to eradicate the entire

vampire species.

Lucius went to the hunters and proposed a

truce. They would help the hunters eliminate the

most problematic vampires, and in exchange,

they had the ability to control how many

vampires were killed, and to occasionally ask for

exceptions for certain individuals. In other

words, they would help kill their own kind, but

only those they deemed appropriate.

After the alliance was formed, the hunters

reined in their slaughter of vampires. The hunters

and the Council worked together to determine

which vampires were the biggest problem for

society. Those vampires were eliminated, and

others were allowed to live.

“Liam, if the Council determines which

vampires are allowed to live, then why did this

hunter try to kill me when he caught me feeding

on the beach?”

“A hunter tried to kill you?” Liam asked,

raising one eyebrow.

“Yes,” I acknowledged. “I was feeding from

this guy on the beach. Kai and I had just stopped

him from beating up his girlfriend. I wasn’t even

going to kill him. I never kill them. But

Christian…”

“Christian!” Liam gasped. “
He
tried to kill

you?”

I nodded. “You know him?”

“Oh, the Council will not be pleased about

this,” Liam said. “I must report this to my father

at once. What did he do?”

“He attacked me,” I said. “I knocked him out

with a headlock and ran away. My family and I

were running away when he caught up to us, and

he locked us up in a warehouse. Max came to

rescue us.”

“Ah, yes,” he said. “Maksim. I understand he

was just entering training when he left to rescue

you.”

“Yes, he’d just left,” I replied.

“It is good that he did so,” Liam told me. “The

Council would have been furious if the hunters

had harmed you. Obviously, my father has seen

visions of your gifts, and… of you and Alexi.

You’ve been on the protected list since very soon

after you were born. Your father and my father

were good friends.”

“Is that why Alexi and I were betrothed?” I

asked.

“That was a part of it,” Liam answered. “They

were good friends, and it would have been nice

for them to have the two of you marry. But my

father saw a vision of you and Alexi together

before you were even born, while your mother

was with child.”

“Before I was even born?” I gasped. “He saw

us together that long ago?”

“Indeed. He also knew you would one day

save Alexi’s life.”

“But I’ve already done that,” I reminded him.

“And we’re not married. So we didn’t need to be

betrothed for that.”

“You have,” Liam agreed. “And you will do

so again one day.”

“Does everything your father see come true?”

I asked.

“Almost,” he said. “Things do change from

time to time, but father’s visions are rarely ever

wrong.”

My mind traveled to Kai’s face, and then to

Max’s. Barnabas’ visions had to be wrong this

time. I was deeply in love with Kai, and I loved

Max, too. There was no room left in my heart for

Alexi. Sure, I cared about him. But I didn’t love

him. It couldn’t be true.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Liam said.

“Oh, what… so you’re a mind reader, now?” I

snapped.

“No, but your face screams pretty loudly. You

may not love my brother now, but you will.”

“Well, we’ll see,” I muttered.