Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance (6 page)

“I don’t even know what the Chancellor
does
,” I groaned. “How am I supposed to be the
Chancellor?”

“Well, you were supposed to have had a lot
more training to prepare you for this,” Liam said. “We didn’t
anticipate you needing to take on the role so soon.”

“What am I going to do? I’m so overwhelmed,”
I lamented.

“Do not worry. Liam and I will help you,”
Alexi interjected. “You will never be alone in this.”

I smiled weakly.

“Wait a minute,” I said suddenly. “I
overheard something before… when I was in the coma… Kai was
training for something. What was that about?”

“Oh!” Kai gasped, suddenly excited. “I’ve
been wanting to tell you all about that!”

Kai laced his arm through mine and began to
drag me toward the stairs.

“I’m going to show you the room I picked out
for you!” Kai said happily. “And I’ll tell you all about my
training!”

Kai led me upstairs and down a long hallway.
He opened the door, and we walked into a room that was very similar
to my room at home – the home I’d once shared with my mother and my
brother before all the craziness in my life began. It was dark and
cozy, and the bed was very similar to my own.

“It’s perfect,” I gushed.

“I saw this one and I knew it was perfect for
you,” Kai told me proudly.

“It is, Kai,” I said. “Thank you!”

“My room is right across the hall, and
Alexi’s is down the hall to the right. Liam is one door down from
Alexi’s, and Max’s is on the other side of yours.”

“So, your training… tell me about it.”

“Oh! Well, for one thing they’ve been
training me in combat. I’m learning how to use hand-to-hand combat
so I can be more useful in protecting you. I just started, so I
have a long way to go, but Alexi said if I’m going to be with you I
need to learn how to help defend you. And I completely agree. I’m
tired of not being able to do anything.”

“I can take care of myself,” I pointed out.
“And I don’t want you in harm’s way, anyway.”

“Well, that’s not all, though. They’re also
trying to see if I have any latent abilities that might be
useful.”

“Abilities? Really? You mean you might have
abilities that could be trained?”

“It’s possible. Alexi said most vampires have
innate abilities, but if they don’t use them from an early age,
they lose them. Sometimes they’re lost irrevocably, but not always.
I’m hopeful!”

I was ambivalent. On one hand, I wanted Kai
to be able to take care of himself when I couldn’t. But on the
other hand, I didn’t want him involved in any of these issues. I
wished I could send him away somewhere safe, so he wouldn’t be
affected by all of the calamities that seemed to befall me at every
turn.

The look on my face must have spoken to my
mixed feelings, because Kai asked, “What’s wrong? I thought you’d
be happy.”

“No, I am, Kai. I’m just worried about you. I
wish you weren’t caught up in all of this.”

“I’m exactly where I want to be,” he said,
taking my hands and looking into my eyes. “There is nowhere else
I’d rather be. I belong with you.”

“And I want that, Kai. I just want to be with
you. I wish it could be just you and me, and I wish Max and Alexi
weren’t in love with me. I don’t like hurting them, but it’s you I
want to…”

“Alice?” I heard Alexi call through the door,
his voice anxious.

I dropped Kai’s hands and opened the door.
Hillary was stirring in Alexi’s arms, and I touched her hand,
lulling her back to sleep. Alexi’s mouth was turned down at the
corners.

“How long have you been out here?” I asked
him.

“Long enough,” he replied coolly.

“You’ve been listening to our conversation?”
I asked him incredulously.

“No, I was not intending to listen,” he
explained. “I followed you up here, because I said I would not
leave you alone, and because I needed you close by in case Hillary
woke up.”

“Oh,” I said. “But you heard…”

“It is nothing I have not known all along,”
he interrupted.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, touching his arm
gently.

Alexi ignored me, and he said, “You should
get some sleep, darling. We have a long day ahead of us
tomorrow.”

“What about Hillary?” I asked. “I can’t sleep
if I have to…”

“I will be staying with you tonight, of
course,” Alexi interjected. “I will wake you whenever Hillary
awakens. Galen is already on a flight. He should be here tomorrow
afternoon, but you need to get some sleep tonight.”

“What about you? You need to sleep, too,” I
argued.

“I will be fine,” Alexi assured me.

“We can take shifts,” Liam offered, and I
turned to see him headed toward us. “I can take the first one.”

“I am not leaving her,” Alexi said, as if the
matter wasn’t open for discussion.

“Fine, why don’t we both stay in here
tonight?” Liam asked. “We can take shifts staying awake to watch
Hillary, and the other can sleep in the chair.”

Alexi thought for a moment, and then
relented.

“Alright, but I am taking first shift,” Alexi
said.

I took a shower and changed into fresh
pajamas, which Kai had picked out from a communal clothes closet at
the compound. They were warm and soft. He knew me so well.

I snuggled into the soft bed and pulled the
blankets securely around me. Kai had already kissed me goodnight
and left for his own room across the hall. Liam held Hillary while
Alexi sat beside me. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face
and caressed my cheek gently.

“Sleep well, my love,” he whispered. “I will
be right here when you wake up.”

I nodded, and he kissed me on the forehead
and took Hillary away from Liam. Liam smiled at me, and I gave him
a tired smile as exhaustion overtook me and I faded quickly into
sleep.

“Alice?” Liam’s voice roused me from my
sleep.

“Mmm?” I mumbled groggily.

“Alice, it’s Hillary,” Liam said.

Absent-mindedly, I reached over and touched
her arm to lull her back to sleep.

“Thanks,” he whispered. “You can go back to
sleep.”

I looked over at Alexi sleeping uncomfortably
in the chair in the corner. His head hung at a weird angle, and I
knew his neck must be hurting in that position. He never seemed to
sleep anywhere other than a chair in the corner of whatever room I
was in, and I suddenly felt very guilty. I threw the covers back
and padded across the room, kneeling in front of him and placing my
hand gently on his.

“Alexi?” I whispered.

I startled him, and his head jerked up
quickly. Seeing me, he relaxed slightly, but he was still
tense.

“What it is? Is something wrong?” Alexi
asked, with a concerned edge in his voice.

“No, no,” I told him. “Nothing’s wrong. I was
just wondering if you’d trade places with me.”

“Trade places? What do you mean?”

“I mean, you go sleep in the bed and I’ll
sleep in the chair.”

“What? No! Why would you want to do
that?”

“This chair looks awfully uncomfortable,
Alexi. When was the last time you slept in a bed?”

“I do not remember, but it is not
important.”

“Alexi, you’ve done so much for everyone
else, lately. You deserve to get some decent sleep.”

“I am fine, Alice. Just go back to bed.”

“No,” I refused flatly. “If you’re not going
to sleep in the bed, then I’m going to sleep on the floor.”

I stood up and traipsed over to the bed
defiantly. I snatched a pillow and blanket off the bed, and then I
tossed the pillow into the floor and lied down.

“Please do not be so difficult,” Alexi
groaned.

“Nope! Don’t want to hear it!” I teased,
turning over and facing away from him.

“You should be sleeping,” Alexi grumbled.

“I am,” I joked.

“Be serious, Alice.”

“I am very serious!”

“If you do not get up and get back into that
bed, I’m going to drag you there, myself!” Alexi demanded.

“Then I’ll just get right back out!” I said
defiantly.

Alexi sighed.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I want you to sleep in the bed, and I will
sleep in the chair,” I told him.

“I will not agree to that.”

“Then what will you agree to?”

“What if I drag a mattress in here and sleep
on the floor?” he offered.

“No, Alexi. I want you to sleep in a real
bed.”

“A mattress is part of a real bed.”

“It’s not the same thing, and you know
it.”

“Please, Alice. Just get some sleep. I will
be fine!”

“Nope! Shan’t!”

Alexi growled in exasperation.

“I am not leaving you, and I am not letting
you sleep in a chair. If you will not accept me sleeping on a
mattress on the floor… well, I believe this is what they call an
impasse.”

“For goodness sake, Alexi! Just sleep in the
damned bed!” I shouted.

“That is your bed, and I want you in it this
minute!” he demanded, suddenly towering over me.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.

“Alright, compromise,” I said. “We’ll take
shifts.”

“No.”

“Fine, sleep in the bed with me.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Why not?”

“It is inappropriate.”

“Alexi, Liam’s in the room. It’s not
like…”

“I said absolutely not,” Alexi said. “We are
not yet married, and I will do no such thing.”

“It’s the twenty-first century, Alexi. You
don’t have to worry about tainting my honor or anything.”

“I just do not think it is appropriate.”

“Please?” I begged, looking up to him with my
best set of puppy dog eyes.

Alexi’s mouth twisted into a frustrated
smirk.

“Fine,” he relented. “But we will place
pillows between us, and I will sleep on top of the blankets.”

“No. We both sleep under the blankets, but
the pillows between us will be fine.”

“Deal,” he said, extending his hand.

I took his hand and shook it, and he pulled
me closer to him. My body was touching his, and he put his other
hand on my shoulder.

“I have relented to appease you,” he said
sternly, bending his face closer to mine. “But, I am going on
record as objecting to this, and I still think it is
inappropriate.”

“Duly noted,” I agreed, trying to suppress a
chuckle.

He started to pull his hand away, but I
gripped it harder and pulled him back toward me. I put my other
hand behind his head and pulled it down, and I planted a kiss on
his cheek.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Clearly flustered, he cleared his throat, and
then said, “Of course.”

“How much longer is in his shift?” I asked
Liam.

“About three hours,” Liam replied.

“Can you give him four?” I pleaded.

“Of course,” Liam said.

“Thank you, Liam,” I said. “He really needs
the sleep.”

Liam nodded.

Alexi left the room briefly and returned with
two extra pillows, which he lined up in the middle of the king
sized bed. He helped me spread the blanket back over it, and I
placed my pillow back in its spot. We both climbed into bed and
settled down.

“There,” I told Alexi. “I can’t even tell
you’re in the bed with me.”

Alexi mumbled something incoherent, and I
elected to leave him alone. He’d conceded enough.

Sometime after I’d drifted to sleep, I heard
Kai shout, “Alice!”

Alexi and I both sprang to attention.

“What is it, Kai?” I gasped, fearing the
wraiths had somehow returned.

“What is going on in here?” he asked, glaring
stormily at Alexi with his fists clenched ominously.

“Huh?” I asked.

I realized what he was getting at, and I
sighed. I peeled back the blankets to show him the pillows that
formed a barricade between Alexi and me.

“He’s been sleeping in a chair for weeks,
Kai. He wouldn’t leave the room, so I insisted he sleep in the bed.
There are pillows between us, and Liam’s been in here the whole
time. Nothing to freak out about,” I explained.

Kai’s hands relaxed, and he sighed in
relief.

“I still don’t like it,” he grumbled.

“I’m ready to get up, anyway,” I said, and
Alexi started to get up, as well. “No, Alexi, you sleep. Kai and I
can watch Hillary, and Liam, you can go to your room and get some
sleep, too.”

“I am not leaving you alone with her,” Alexi
argued.

“We’ll stay in here while you sleep,” I
insisted. “I won’t be alone.”

“Alright, but you do not leave this room
under any circumstance,” Alexi demanded.

“I promise,” I said, placing my hand on my
heart for emphasis.

“Fine,” Alexi said, and he went back to
sleep.

“You know where to find me if I’m needed,”
Liam said, handing Hillary over to Kai and backing out of the
room.

“I do. Sleep well,” I told him.

Kai sat down in the floor with Hillary in his
arms, and I sat down beside him. I put my head on his shoulder and
sighed contentedly. I was just happy to spend some time with Kai,
even if we had to be quiet so Alexi could sleep.

Hillary only woke up once, and I quickly put
her back to sleep. The hours crawled by, and if not for the fact
that I didn’t want to miss a moment of my time with Kai, I probably
would have fallen asleep.

Alexi woke up about six hours later, and
asked, “Has Galen not arrived, yet?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” I answered.

“He should have been here, by now,” Alexi
said. “I am going to go find out what is going on. You two come
with me.”

Kai and I got to our feet and followed Alexi.
He headed down the hallway to Liam’s room and opened the door.

“Liam?” Alexi called. “Sorry to wake you,
brother. I need you to find out what is taking Galen so long. It is
after three, and he was supposed to be here by now.”