Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance (3 page)

With every bit of strength in me, I
concentrated and tried desperately to force my eyes to open. If
only I could open my eyes, Alexi would be comforted, and he would
know I was okay.

Open your eyes!
I yelled at myself.
Just open your eyes!

Alexi dissolved into choking sobs. He
squeezed my hand tightly, and I felt more tears warm and wet on my
arm. Alexi was always so strong and composed. I wasn’t used to
being near him in a moment of weakness like this. I wanted to badly
to comfort him, and to tell him I was okay. I couldn’t stand being
so powerless to help him.

Open your damned eyes, Alice!
I
shrieked in my mind.
Alexi needs you!

Just then, I saw a faint glimmer of light.
Inside my head, I gasped.
Come on, you can do it!
I
encouraged myself. I concentrated harder and harder, and I could
see the glimmer of light growing larger. Soon, I could see blurry
objects around me.

Look!
I tried to shout.
My eyes are
open! Alexi! Look at me!

But he continued to sob against my arm.

Move a finger, Alice.
I demanded of
myself.
Wiggle a finger, and he’ll look at you.

So I put all of my strength and energy into
forcing one finger to move. For a long, agonizing moment, nothing
happened. But then I felt my finger twitch very slightly.

Alexi’s head shot up in an instant, and he
looked straight at my face. Noticing my eyes open, he gasped.

“Alice!” he uttered. “I am here darling!”

He quickly jumped up and moved where his face
was hovering just over mine. I felt his knee pressing against the
bed beside me. I could barely make out the outline of his dark
cloak through the blurriness.

“Alice?” he asked. “Can you hear me?”

I tried to speak or move, but I was still
frozen.

“I am here, darling,” he said, his hand
gently brushing my hair away from my forehead. “Oh, Alice, please
say something.”

“I…” I managed to spit out.

“That is it!” Alexi encouraged, still
stroking my hair.

“Ah… Alex... Alexi…” I finally muttered.

“Yes, darling!” he breathed excitedly. “Good!
You are doing it! Oh, thank God!”

He wrapped his arms around me and buried his
face in my shoulder. This time, I could tell he was sobbing with
joy and relief. Mustering all of the strength I could, I was able
to slowly raise one arm and put it on his side, trying to comfort
him.

“Alice!” he sobbed. “Oh, Alice! Thank
goodness you have come back to me! I was so afraid…”

His voice trailed off, and he embraced me
tighter. I grasped his cloak and squeezed it, letting him know I
was still there.

“I… I…” I struggled to speak, but the words
still wouldn’t come.

“Shh, darling,” he comforted me. “It is
alright. Just rest.”

The situation was maddening. I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t speak. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I
wasn’t able to utter a single word. Most of all, I just wanted to
comfort Alexi. He seemed to be in so much pain.

I kept a firm grip on his cloak, trying to do
anything I could to let him know I was conscious, and I wasn’t
dying. My heart swelled with compassion for him, and I felt a
little twinge of something more.

“Alice, darling,” he said gently. “I am going
to step outside and let everyone know you’re awake. I am not going
anywhere. I will be right at the door.”

He kissed my forehead gently, and I relaxed
my iron grip on his cloak.

“She is awake!” I heard him shout gleefully
from some distance away.

I heard a sudden scramble, and feet shuffled
across the floor. I couldn’t move my head, and my vision was still
extremely hazy. But I could see the shadowy outline of someone
entering the room.

“Thank goodness she’s alright,” Liam
sighed.

“Liam, go tell Kai,” Alexi instructed.

“On it,” Liam agreed.

I felt the bed sag at my side again as
someone sat beside me, and then Alexi’s familiar touch took my
hand. His warm lips pressed against it, and lingered there for
several seconds. I could feel his breath, shaky and uneven, on my
wrist.

“Please do not ever leave me,” he whispered,
his voice faltering, and he pressed his forehead against the back
of my hand. “I cannot begin to express how much you mean to me. You
are like the air I breathe. Without you, I would be lost.”

I felt the same twinge I felt earlier. It was
like a tingling sensation in my stomach that spread warmth toward
my heart. For a moment, I was breathless, and I wanted to badly to
be able to speak.

“I know you do not feel the same way for me,”
Alexi continued. “Maybe you never will. But even if you never come
to love me, I swear to you that I will be faithful to you until my
dying breath. You are everything to me, darling. Everything.”

I swallowed hard and fought to speak, but all
I could manage was a whispery, “Alexi…”

His head shot up, and he hovered over me.

“Yes, darling,” he said. “What is it?”

I tried so hard to speak to him, but my lips
wouldn’t move. I was drained. Just uttering a single word sapped
all of my energy. I felt a lump swelling in my throat, and my eyes
began to sting. A single tear squeezed out and slid down my temple
toward my hairline. Alexi brushed it away.

“Do not cry, my love,” he whispered. “Please
do not cry. Whatever it is, it will be okay. I promise it
will.”

He didn’t understand. He couldn’t. I couldn’t
make him understand, because my mouth just wouldn’t move. Another
tear slipped out, and he pressed his lips to my temple and kissed
it away.

A moment later, I heard the shuffling of feet
again.

“She’s awake?” Kai gasped, and I felt the bed
sag as he sat on the side opposite Alexi.

“She is awake, but she cannot speak or move
much,” Alexi told him.

“Alice? Can you hear me?” Kai asked, taking
my hand.

With every ounce of energy I had in me, I
wiggled a finger on the hand he was holding to let him know I could
hear him.

“She can hear me!” he breathed. “She wiggled
her finger! Oh, baby! I love you! I love you so much!”

I felt his body lie down beside me, and his
arm reached around to embrace me. I felt him smothering my face
with dozens of kisses. His excitement was almost tangible.

“Relax, Kai,” Alexi commanded. “We do not
want to get her too worked up. She is exhausted.”

“Oh, sorry,” Kai said, nuzzling my cheek.
“I’m just so happy she’s awake.”

“As am I,” Alexi stated. “But she needs peace
and calm right now.”

“Of course,” Kai agreed, taking a deep
breath.

I heard Liam clearing his throat somewhere
near the door.

“I’m, uh, going to go to Concentration
class,” Liam mumbled, and I heard him making a hasty exit.

“We should let her get some rest, anyway,”
Alexi told Kai.

“But, I just got here,” Kai grumbled. “Can’t
I see her alone for a few minutes?”

Alexi sighed.

“Very well,” Alexi conceded. “But only for a
few minutes. She will never get better without rest. I get the
feeling it is taking a lot out of her right now just to hold her
eyes open.”

Alexi was right. Just holding my eyes open,
even with the intensely blurry vision, was weakening me
considerably.

“I mean it,” Alexi growled. “I will be back
in here in
five minutes
.”

I smelled Alexi as he bent down and kissed my
forehead, whispering, “I will be just outside the door, my
love.”

A moment later, the door clicked shut, and
the room got considerably darker.

My head was turned slightly away from Kai,
and I couldn’t move it to look at him. Thankfully, he got up and
moved around to the side where Alexi had been. I felt him put his
knee on the bed beside me, and a moment later, I felt his warm
breath on my face as he looked into my eyes.

“I’ve been
so
worried about you,” he
gushed. “I was so worried you weren’t going to wake up this time.
Alexi’s grandfather said you might not, because you overdid it big
time. Why did you have to do that, Alice? Alexi was so angry when
he found out you did this for him and Liam. He said he’d rather
have took his chances with the wraiths. I think I’d rather that,
too. I mean, I know he’s done a lot for you, but he’s kind of
getting on my nerves sitting in here with you all day every day.
He’ll hardly let anyone else in. He says you’re ‘his
responsibility’, but doesn’t he realize you’re
my
girlfriend?”

Kai paused his tirade to take a deep
breath.

“Anyway, I don’t know how long you’ll be
awake,” he continued. “I know I’m talking your head off, but I just
wanted to say as much as possible while you’re awake and you can
hear me. I’ve had so much I wanted to tell you for so long, but I
didn’t know if you could hear me, and Alexi absolutely
refused
to leave the room the entire time, so I couldn’t get
any time alone with you. Oh, and, Alice? I love you.”

I felt his warm hands on either side of my
face, and his lips touched mine very gently. Then they moved to
kiss my nose, and then my forehead, and finally in several spots on
my cheeks.

“Oh, I also had something else I wanted to
say to you,” Kai added. “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am
that I can’t protect you. I wish I had abilities like Alexi and
Liam. I would give anything to be able to do something to help you
when you’re in trouble. I feel so helpless, and it kills me. Max
and I have been talking and… we think…”

He sighed deeply.

“I can’t do it,” he muttered. “I just can’t.
Maybe I can later, but I just can’t. I love you too much.”

I wanted desperately to find out what he
meant. What had he and Max been talking about? What was so
important that he felt compelled to tell me right now – when I was
just barely coming out of a comatose state? And why couldn’t he
just say it?

I felt his body lie down next to mine again,
and his arm wrapped around my waist. He snuggled up next to me,
placing his cheek on my chest.

“I hope you don’t mind this,” Kai told me. “I
just want to be close to you while Alexi’s allowing it. He’s hardly
let anyone in all this time.”

For a couple of minutes, Kai just lied there
holding me. I felt he rhythmic rise and fall of his chest with each
breath, and I enjoyed the warmth of his body next to mine. I didn’t
want him to leave.

Of course, Alexi had other plans. The door
creaked open, and I felt a draft blow in as Alexi breezed into the
room.

“Alright, that is enough,” Alexi growled.

“Has it been five minutes?” Kai asked.

“Yes, it certainly has been,” Alexi
responded. “She needs her rest, now.”

“I suppose you’ll be staying?” Kai
grumbled.

“Of course,” Alexi admitted. “But I will be
sitting over there in the chair and letting her rest.”

“Whatever,” Kai mumbled, turning back to me.
“Alice? I love you, baby. Get some rest, okay? I won’t be far
away.”

I felt him kiss my cheek again, and his lips
didn’t leave my face for so long that Alexi cleared his throat
purposefully. Kai sighed.

“Fine, I’m going,” Kai muttered.

After he made his exit, Alexi sat beside me
again.

“I am going to let you get some rest, now,”
he said, placing one hand on my cheek. “I will be right over there
in the chair if you need me. I am not going anywhere, I
promise.”

Once again, I felt Alexi’s lips kiss my
forehead, and then he nuzzled my cheek with his nose. There was so
much love in his touch and his kiss, and it made my heart heavy to
know how much he was hurting over my love for Kai, and my affection
for Max.

“Sleep, my love,” he said, and I heard him
walk across the floor and sink into a leather-sounding chair.

I relaxed, allowing my eyes to close.
Instantly, I felt a little better. It had been taking so much out
of me just to keep them open. I could hear Alexi breathing nearby,
and the sweet sound lulled me to sleep.

I woke up and my eyes opened naturally. I
squinted, even though the room was almost entirely dark. Only a
faint light from a dim lamp illuminated everything. I still
couldn’t move, but my eyes were able to scan the room.

Alexi was resting peacefully in his chair in
the corner. The room was very white – sterile. It looked like a
hospital room, but I couldn’t imagine Alexi actually taking me to
one.
This must be some kind of infirmary in his grandfather’s
compound,
I thought. I wondered if Max was in another room like
mine, and if he was all alone.

I concentrated and tried to move, but it was
useless. My body still would not comply. So I channeled that energy
into speaking.

“Ah…” I croaked, and then I tried to clear my
throat. “Alexi?”

Alexi’s hooded head shot up, and he flew to
my side when he noticed my eyes open. He sat beside me and took my
hand with one of his, and he brushed my hair away from my face with
the other.

“Yes, darling,” he said. “What is it?”

I opened my mouth, but I choked. I felt my
tongue push against the back of my throat, and it just sort of
stuck there. All I managed to do was make a bizarre clucking
noise.

“Oh, honey,” he sighed. “I wish there was
something I could do to help you.”

I struggled to swallow, and I gulped. I
really needed to speak to him. There was so much I wanted to say.
Why couldn’t I just speak?

“M…” I squeaked.

“It is alright, my love,” Alexi said gently.
“Take your time. I am not going anywhere.”

I took a deep breath, pulling air into my
lungs and trying to relax.

“M… Max…” I finally muttered.

Alexi sighed, and his shoulders slouched
slightly.