Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance (5 page)

“You are
dead
to me,” he snarled,
glaring with venom into her pleading eyes.

“Don’t say that, Alexi!” she beseeched,
looking up at him longingly from her kneeling position. “Please
forgive me! I only did it because I love you! Can’t you see
that?”

“If you had any love for me, you would
never
wish harm on Alice,” he growled. “You know how I feel
about her!”

“But she doesn’t
love
you, Alexi!”

“That may be true,” Alexi said, his voice
sounding pained. “But she is my life. If anything ever happened to
her…”

His voice trailed off as though he couldn’t
speak the final words.

“I beg you,” Hillary pleaded. “Don’t do
this.”

“Leave the premises before I have you
removed!” Alexi boomed.

“Alexi, perhaps we should…” I started to say,
feeling sudden pity for Hillary.

“Don’t you
dare
try to defend me,”
Hillary hissed at me. “You’re the reason Alexi doesn’t love me! You
and your sunny disposition! You have him wrapped around your little
finger, and you don’t even love him!”

I clenched my jaw together and took a deep
breath.

“Hillary, I have never wished any harm to
come to you,” I said through clenched teeth. “And I do not wish it,
now.”

“Of course you don’t!” she shouted. “Because
you’re little miss perfect, and everyone loves you!”

“You will remember who you are speaking too,
Hillary,” Alexi demanded loudly.

“What? You mean because she’s the Chancellor
now that your grandfather is dead?” Hillary screamed. “You think I
care about that, now? You banished me, remember?”

“No, because she is my future wife,” Alexi
clarified. “She will not become Chancellor officially until we are
wed.”

“She’s not going to marry you, Alexi,”
Hillary insisted. “She doesn’t love you!”

“That may be true,” Alexi agreed. “And it may
not be. But she will in time.”

“You’d really throw away the chance for a
real future with me for the slightest chance she
might
love
you…
someday
?” Hillary asked incredulously.

“I would give my
life
for her,” Alexi
confirmed. “Sacrifice is obviously a notion that eludes you,
Hillary. But when you love someone as much as I love her, you will
do anything for that person. If that means feeling as though your
heart is being ripped from your chest every time you see her kiss
someone else, because you know it makes her happy, then you
do
it!”

A knot formed in my stomach and crept slowly
into my throat. I could hear the agony piercing his words, and his
voice broke as he spoke of me kissing someone else. I wished there
was something I could do to take his pain away, but I knew there
was nothing that would make any difference.

“I’ll kill you!” Hillary suddenly shouted,
lunging toward me.

Her hands wrapped around my throat, and her
eyes were wild with passion and rage. I could feel my head begin to
pound as her hands squeezed tighter, cutting off the blood supply
to my brain. I gripped her wrists and tried to pull her away, but
her sense of purpose was furious.

Alexi, Liam, and Kai were there in an
instant, grabbing her arms and trying desperately to pull them away
from my neck. Her grasp weakened, but it was quickly strengthened,
again. Finally, I’d had enough. I touched her forehead, and she
slumped to the ground.

I fell to my knees, clutching my throat and
trying to catch my breath. Alexi immediately kneeled beside me and
began to examine me. Seeing no permanent damage, he wrapped his
arms around me. Kai and Liam both watched uncomfortably.

“I’m fine,” I told him once I regained my
breath. “What are we going to do with her?”

“She has been stripped of her protection, so
we will have her dropped off at a hunter warehouse,” Alexi said
immediately.

“Oh, no” I said sadly, struggling to my feet.
“We can’t do that to her.”

“Alice, she tried to kill you,” Alexi
reminded me, standing beside me. “She helped Dmitri attempt to
kidnap you and got a lot of us killed, including our
grandfather.”

“I know, but she was driven mad with her love
for you,” I told him gently. “I feel pity for her.”

“Sweet Alice,” Alexi said. “You are the
kindest, most understanding soul in the world.”

“What can we do with her?” I asked. “We can’t
just put her in prison. She could just open a portal and get
out.”

“I thought she needed people to help her open
a portal,” Kai reminded me.

“Oh, yeah,” I said quickly.

“No, she can open a portal for herself
without help,” Alexi corrected him. “She only needs help when
opening a portal for someone else.”

“Then what can we do?” I wondered aloud.

“There is only one option,” Alexi said. “We
have to give her to the hunters.”

“There has to be another way,” I complained.
“We can’t just hand her over to be killed.”

“There is
one
other option,” Liam
reminded Alexi.

“Do you think that is wise?” Alexi asked,
understanding what Liam meant.

“What?” I wanted to know.

“I can’t see any other way,” Liam said.

“What?” I demanded.

“You are right,” Alexi said, as though the
matter was settled. “Call him.”

“Excuse me!” I shouted. “Stop talking over me
like I’m not standing right here!”

“Oh, I am sorry, my love,” Alexi said at
once. “There is a very old Elder who lives in England. He trained
Liam’s mother. His name is Galen. He has the power to take away the
abilities of other vampires with a single touch.”

I gasped.

“And they can’t ever get their abilities
back?” I asked.

“It is irrevocable,” Alexi confirmed. “Even
Galen cannot undo it once it has been done.”

“I really hate to do that to her,” I
lamented.

“I know you do, darling,” Alexi said, his
hand stroking my hair. “Unfortunately, we have no other options.
She is too dangerous.”

“Alright, do it,” I relented.

Liam excused himself to call Galen.

“Can I speak with you privately?” Kai asked
me suddenly.

“Of course,” I agreed, and I followed him
into the hallway.

When we were out of earshot of the others, I
asked Kai, “What’s up?”

“When you were unconscious, I spent some time
with Max,” he said.

“Okay. And?”

“Well, he was alone all day and I started to
feel kind of sorry for him,” Kai explained. “Crazy, right? But,
anyway, we were talking about you, and he told me something that
really bothered me.”

“What? What is it?”

“He told me you thought I killed some family
after I caught you kissing him in the elevator,” Kai said
dejectedly.

“Oh, yeah,” I agreed. “We saw them outside
the mall right after you ran off. Wait… are you saying you
didn’t
kill them?”

“Of course I’m saying that! Do you really
think I would do something like that?”

“What else could I think, Kai? And I wouldn’t
blame you if you did! I know things were going horribly for you,
and I…”

“Stop!” Kai shouted. “You wouldn’t blame me
if I did? If I killed an entire family… right before Christmas? Are
you serious? I don’t care
how
badly things were going for
me, I would
never
do that! I thought you of all people would
know me well enough to realize I wouldn’t do something that
terrible!”

In that moment, I suddenly felt overwhelmed
with guilt. He was right. I should have known that gentle Kai could
never do something so atrocious. No amount of pain in the world
could ever cause him to do such a thing.

“I’m so sorry, Kai,” I whispered. “You’re
absolutely right. I should have known you wouldn’t do something
like that. Please forgive me.”

“I’m not angry with you, Alice,” he said
gently. “Just hurt. I’m hurt you would even
think
I could do
something like that. I thought you knew me better than that.”

“I do! I just wasn’t thinking clearly at the
time, and I haven’t thought about it much since then. I know it
would have occurred to me that you couldn’t have done it if I’d
just thought about it.”

“I really hope you mean that. I can’t stand
to think you would think of me that way.”

“I don’t, Kai. You’re the kindest, gentlest
soul I’ve ever known.”

I put my arms around him and laid my head on
his chest. His strong arms closed around me, and I listened to his
heart pounding rhythmically in his chest.

“Don’t you know that’s why I love you so
much?” I asked, looking up into his crystal blue eyes.

“You know I’ve never understood why you love
me,” he replied sadly.

“I wish there was something I could do.
Something to make you understand what you mean to me.”

“Just being here with you like this is
enough.”

I stood on my toes and kissed him gently on
the lips. His arms wrapped more tightly around me, and he made a
contented sound. Then we heard the sound of someone clearing his
throat behind us.

“I am sorry to disturb you,” Alexi said as
coolly as he could manage, but I could see his jaw clench slightly.
“Galen is going to arrive tomorrow, and we need you to stand guard
near Hillary so you can knock her out again whenever she wakes up.
We cannot risk her making a portal for herself and escaping.”

“Oh, of course,” I agreed.

Kai pulled away from my embrace under the
glaring eyes of Alexi, but I reached over and took his hand,
pulling him with me as I walked back into the main room of the
bunker. I wanted Kai to know that I wasn’t going to allow Alexi to
intimidate him, or to come between us. Alexi may have had certain
ideas about our future together, but I wasn’t living under the same
illusions.

I went to sit down on the bunk nearest where
Hillary still lay slumped in the floor. Still holding Kai’s hand, I
pulled him down next to me, and I laid my head on his shoulder. I
knew it hurt Alexi to see me being affectionate with Kai, but I
couldn’t keep ignoring Kai forever just to spare Alexi’s feelings.
At some point, Alexi would have to wake up and realize it was Kai I
wanted to be with – not him.

Admittedly, it upset me terribly to hurt
Alexi. I did care about him deeply. But I knew it would hurt him
far less if he got used to the idea now, rather than suffering
under the illusion that my feelings for Kai were something fleeting
that he could overcome. And I also didn’t want Kai to feel like he
was losing me because I was spending so much time with Alexi.

Kai kissed the top of my head, and I smiled
up at him. I might not have known how to make Max and Alexi happy
at that moment, but at least I could keep Kai contented. He was the
one who mattered most in my heart, and he was the one I wanted.

“We should get out there and see what we can
do to help,” Liam suggested. “There might be survivors who need
us.”

“I am not leaving Alice alone,” Alexi
said.

“I’ll stay with her,” Kai offered.

Alexi scoffed.

“No offense, but there is little you could do
should Alice be in any real danger,” Alexi growled at Kai.

I shot Alexi a warning scowl, and squeezed
Kai’s hand.

“It’s alright,” Kai told me sadly. “He’s
right. I can’t protect you.”

“It’s alright,” I said. “I can take care of
myself.”

“That may be,” Alexi agreed. “But I still
feel better when I know you are safe, and the only way I can be
assured of that is to stay with you at all times.”

“Alexi, you can’t babysit me twenty-four
hours a day,” I challenged him.

“I most certainly can! And that is exactly
what I intend to do!”

“You can’t be serious! There are far more
important things for you to do than watching over me all day! And
what kind of life is that – spending every waking moment just
guarding someone else.”

“You
are
my life!” Alexi shouted.

The room became eerily quiet. The reality of
his words really sank in, and no one knew what to say. Kai and Max
were probably fuming, I was feeling remorseful, and Liam had a
strange look on his face that I couldn’t quite place.

I heard a mumble come from somewhere
underneath me, and I turned my eyes down. Hillary was stirring, and
I saw her head begin to lift.

“Not now, Hillary,” I grumbled, bending down
and poking her harshly in the forehead.

Hillary’s head fell back, and her mouth hung
open almost comically. She looked as if she might start snoring at
any moment. I pushed her chin upward and her teeth snapped
together. Then I stood up and turned my attention back toward
Alexi.

“Look, they may need help out there, so let’s
all go together,” I decided. “You grab Hillary, and let’s go.”

“Fine,” Alexi agreed, hoisting Hillary into
his arms.

“Lead the way,” I told him, and he headed
down the corridor.

I took Kai’s hand firmly in mine, and we
followed Alexi out into the compound to survey the damage.
Fortunately, we discovered things weren’t as bad as we thought.

Alexi and Liam’s grandfather was indeed dead.
He’d been killed trying to buy us time to get to the bunker. He
managed to stall the wraiths while the others mounted a defense,
but he’d succumbed to their gas. A few others had been injured, but
most survived. They’d cast some sort of spell that banished the
wraiths. They hadn’t even been sure it would work, as they’d never
had to face wraiths before. Fortunately, it did. The wraiths were
instantly zapped back to Dmitri’s compound.

“You know what this means, right?” Liam asked
me.

“Do I know what
what
means?”

“Our grandfather is dead,” Liam clarified.
“You know what that means.”

“Oh. I heard Hillary say something about me
being Chancellor. How is that possible?”

“Our father appointed you his successor, and
he was Grandfather’s successor. Since Father died, that means you
are Grandfather’s successor,” Liam explained.