Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance (12 page)

I felt on my face. It was blood.

“I almost died?” I asked.

“You were unconscious for almost a week,”

he explained.

“A week?” I gasped.

He nodded. “And it’s all my fault. You could

have died, and it was all my fault.”

He dissolved into tears, and I pulled him

toward me. I wrapped my arms around him and

tried once again to shelter him. Kai was so

delicate. He needed me. Why did I keep hurting

him so much?

I pressed my lips to his hair and kissed him.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is. It’s all my fault. Everything is my fault.”

“You can’t help how you feel.”

“No, but I can help how I act.”

“Maybe not,” he said, looking up at me.

“Alexi seems to think otherwise.”

“You’ve been talking to Alexi?” I asked.

“Well, Alexi’s been talking to us,” he replied.

“What did he say?”

“A lot. But he makes a lot of sense. He knows

a lot about you considering you two just met. He

understands you in a way Max and I can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“Try.”

Kai sighed. “He says you’re a lot more

powerful than you think. But if you use the

strongest of your abilities, it drains you. Just

using them at all causes your brain to

hemorrhage. If you keep using them, it could kill

you.”

“I don’t really use them on purpose, Kai. It

just happens. I can’t control it.”

“He said you could learn to control it – that

he could help you. He said… he said he could

help you, but Max and I would have to let you

go.”

“What? Let me go? What does that mean?”

“Your father and his father arranged your

marriage when you were born,” Kai said, his lip

quivering. “There’s nothing Max or I can do. It’s

already been sealed.”

“But arranged marriages haven’t existed in

hundreds of years!” I argued.

“Some vampires still practice it,” he corrected

me. “Your mother said her marriage to your

father was arranged.”

“Oh, that’s right,” I said, remembering when

Mother told me.

“She knew a lot of this,” Kai said. “But she

was hoping Alexi would never come. She didn’t

want you to go through what she went through.”

I was quiet, letting it all sink in.

“I think he may be right,” Kai said reluctantly.

“Max and I haven’t done the best job of

protecting you. You’ve been getting into more

trouble with us than you might have if you didn’t

know us. Maybe he’s… good for you.”

“Good for me?” I balked, scoffing. “That

psycho?”

“I heard that!” Alexi shouted through the

door.

“Figures,” I grumbled.

The door opened and Alexi walked in. He

chuckled.

“Can we have a moment alone, now?” Alexi

asked.

“Fine,” Kai said. Then, turning to me, he said,

“I’m not going anywhere, yet.”

I nodded, and he kissed my forehead and made

a hasty exit, shooting Alexi and angry glare on

the way.

Alexi sat beside me.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Physically, anyway.”

“What do you mean? Is something wrong?”

“This is a lot to absorb,” I admitted.

He nodded.

“Indeed it is.”

“How long have you known?”

“About the arranged marriage?”

“Yes.”

“Most of my life,” he told me. “My father told

me when I was very young, and he said he’d seen

us get married.”

“He saw us? What do you mean?”

“My father is a powerful Oracle,” he

explained. “He can see the future. He saw us on

our wedding day. He described you in great detail

– so vividly I could see you in my mind. I carried

a picture of you inside my head all my life, and

when I saw you, I knew it was you. I’ve loved

you for as long as I can remember.”

“You knew me because you saw a picture of

me in your mind?” I asked, confused.

“No, no,” he argued. “It was much more than

that. My father had visions of you as you were

growing up. He would tell me all about them.

I’ve known you for years. I watched you grow up

through his eyes. I was there when you fell off

your bike and scraped your knee on your fifth

birthday. I saw you crying the day your mother

told you why you didn’t have a father, because

you were too young to remember when he died. I

saw your first day at the human school. I’ve been

there for every painful, frightening, and even

joyous moment of your life. I’ve wanted so

much to be there for you – to hold your hand and

comfort you through the pain. But my father said

it wasn’t time.”

I listened intently, but skeptically.

“Still, how does this mean it’s ‘destiny’ as you

say?” I asked.

“Not only did my father see it, but I feel it,” he

said, taking my hand and placing it on his chest.

“In here.”

“Alexi…” I whispered.

“Yes, Alice?”

“In the warehouse… when you were…” I

gulped, unable to speak.

“Yes?”

“When you were dying,” I said at last. “I felt

like I was dying, too.”

He nodded. “Every time you feel pain, I feel it,

too. I always have. We are deeply connected in a

way neither of us can truly understand. Now that

I’ve found you, I will always be here.”

“But, what about Kai and Max?” I asked. “I

can’t just abandon them.”

“I feel that, too,” he sighed. “I was hoping to

get to you before you… fell for anyone. I was

too late – by
two
times, it seems.”

I winced.

“I love them.”

He nodded again.

“I know. I feel it,” he said, with a deep sadness

in his voice.

“I’m sorry, Alexi,” I told him. “I can’t help

how I feel.”

“I know. I don’t expect you to.”

“So… where does that leave us?” I asked. “If

you think we’re going to be married someday,

where do they fit in?”

“Alice,” he said seriously. “Listen to me. I

don’t want to own you. I don’t want to control

you. I will never do that to you. I only want you

to be happy, no matter what it may cost me.”

“So, you’re saying…”

“I’m saying that even if it kills me, I will never

stop you from being with someone else if that is

what you choose. Whatever makes you happy.”

“I want to ask you something,” I said.

“What is it?”

“I remember just before I passed out in the

warehouse, you said something. I think it was

‘Grace’. What did that mean?”

“Grace is the name we have for the gift of

healing,” he explained. “I’ve never met anyone

with it. I’ve only heard tales. It’s extremely rare. I

never expected you might have it. You have so

many gifts.”

“You have quite a few,” I reminded him.

“Yes, but yours have been dormant all your

life,” he said. “When abilities aren’t used, they

tend to weaken or disappear altogether. Yours

were

latent,

but

they

certainly

haven’t

diminished.”

“Is it true they could kill me?” I asked.

He nodded solemnly.

“They might, indeed. You must learn to

control them, Alice. If you don’t, they could kill

you someday.”

“Why?”

“Yours are some of the most powerful

abilities I’ve ever seen,” he said. “As an Elder,

I’ve trained hundreds of vampires and hunters to

harness their gifts correctly. I’ve never seen

anything even close to you.”

“How did I not know I could do these

things?” I asked.

“It works that way sometimes,” he shrugged.

“No one knows why. Most of the time, the gifts

are present from a young age. Other times, they

manifest later in life, but those are almost always

weakened.”

“Any theories as to why mine are so powerful

even though I haven’t used them?”

“Only one,” he said.

“And?”

“I think you’re such a good, kind person – you

have so much love in your heart – and that love,

that desire to protect others, has kept your latent

abilities strong. Your gifts are all designed to

protect and heal others.”

“But I touched you and I hurt you,” I said,

remembering the day in the clearing when I

caused him to slump to the ground with a single

touch. “I
hurt you
, Alexi.”

“No, love,” he said gently. “It wasn’t painful. I

simply went to sleep. So you see, even when you

incapacitate someone, it’s done gently and

lovingly.”

“Oh, fine,” I joked. “So I ‘lovingly’

incapacitated you!”

“It sounds so bizarre when you say it that

way,” he chuckled.

“It
is
bizarre,” I corrected him.

“No,” he argued softly. “It’s beautiful.”

His hand went up to caress my cheek. I

reached up to take his hood away, but he

recoiled.

“Please don’t,” he asked.

“I saw you in the warehouse,” I reminded him.

“Only for a moment,” he said quickly.

“It felt like much longer than a moment to

me.”

“Please,” he begged. “I don’t want you to see

me.”

“Why not?”

“You know why,” he answered. “I’m

hideous.”

I reached for his hood again, and he grabbed

my arm so forcefully it hurt.

“Ow, Alexi!” I shrieked. “That hurts!”

He released me.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly.

The door opened, and Max and Kai stood

there with wide eyes and clenched fists.

“Alice!” Max hissed. “Are you okay?”

“If you hurt her…” Kai snarled.

“I’m fine,” I said, rubbing my throbbing wrist.

“I heard you cry out in pain,” Kai insisted.

“It was nothing,” I said.

He looked at me rubbing my wrist, and he

eyed me skeptically.

“Nothing, huh?” he mumbled.

“I’m fine, really,” I said again.

Max’s eyes narrowed, and he and Kai

scrutinized the situation carefully. They looked

at each other, and then silently backed out of the

room and closed the door.

“That will never happen again,” Alexi

promised. “I forgot my own strength.”

“It’s okay,” I told him.

“No, it’s not,” he said. “I feel it every time

you feel pain. I can’t stand it. And to know I was

the cause… it kills me.”

“But yet you kidnapped my brother and Kai,

and held a dagger to Max’s throat,” I snapped.

“I did those things out of love,” he insisted. “I

know it sounds strange, but it’s true.”

“It does sound strange, Alexi,” I said. “
You’re

strange.”

“That’s why I don’t want you to see me,” he

admitted. “It’s bad enough that I’m ostracized for

my behavior. My appalling appearance does little

to remedy the situation.”

“I don’t care what you look like, Alexi,” I told

him. “I want to see you.”

He shook his head. “Please don’t ask that of

me.”

“Alright, Alexi,” I caved. “I won’t ask it just

yet. But I will someday.”

“Never,” he pleaded.

“Alexi…”

“Please, Alice. Promise me. Never ask me.”

I could hear the pain in his voice. As much as I

desperately wanted to look into his eyes, I

couldn’t hurt him.

“Fine. I promise.”

“It’s enough you’ve seen me once,” he said. “I

can’t bear more than that.”

“I still see you,” I told him. “In my mind.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know my face is a

horror.”

“No, Alexi,” I whispered, taking his hands. “I

think you’re beautiful.”

He scoffed.

“You’re so kind, Alice. But even
you
can’t

mean that.”

“You say you can feel what I feel,” I reminded

him. “Feel it. You
must
feel it. Read my mind.

What I say is true, Alexi. I think you’re

beautiful.”

His shrouded head moved closer to my eyes,

and his mouth twitched.

“I suppose it
might
be possible…” he

mumbled.

“It is, Alexi,” I said. “I swear it’s the truth.

You can read my mind, so you
know
it’s true.”

He moved my hands to his lips and kissed my

fingers.

“I only hope that’s the truth someday,” he said

quietly.

“It’s true
now
!” I insisted.

“Perhaps,” he said. “But I cannot take that

chance. Minds can be tricky. Perhaps you have

even fooled yourself into believing it for the

moment, so reading your mind would not reveal

the truth.”

“Why is it taking a chance?” I wanted to

know.

“Because I’m afraid… you might…”

“Wait,” I stopped him. “Are you seriously

thinking I won’t want to be around you if I think

you’re ugly?”

“Almost everyone else does,” he shrugged.

“I am
not
everyone else,” I grumbled. “You

know that.”

“I do know that,” he said. “But I just don’t

want to risk
anything
taking you away from me.”

“Alexi,” I said. “We’re not together.”

“No, I know that,” he admitted. “But I believe