Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance Read online

  “He’s right, Alice,” Kai said gently. “Look, I know I’ve been angry lately, but I love you. If anything happened to you… I would die. Like… I’d literally die.”

  “I can’t just let you all risk your lives over me. I’m not worth it,” I argued.

  “You’re worth anything… everything,” Kai said.

  Liam was oddly silent.

  “Please don’t ask me to risk your lives,” I begged. “Please, please don’t.”

  “You won’t be risking our lives. We will,” Kai argued.

  “No. Not if I just sit back and allow it. If anything happens to any of you, it will be my fault,” I said.

  “It won’t be your fault,” Kai contended.

  “He’s right,” Liam added. “It will be Dmitri’s fault, and no one else’s.”

  “I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” I complained.

  “You promised Alexi twelve hours,” Liam said quickly. “Don’t go doing anything rash.”

  “I know what I promised!” I snapped. “I’ll give him the twelve hours, but if he can’t give me a plausible plan, I’m out of here.”

  Kai and Liam both sighed deeply.

  “Alice?” Kai asked meekly.

  “Yes?”

  “I know you wanted some space, and as much as it’s killed me to do it, I’ve been giving it to you,” he said.

  “I thought you hated me,” I grumbled.

  “What?” he gasped. “Hated you? Why would you… No! You wanted space, so I’ve been giving it to you!”

  “But you wouldn’t even look at me,” I told him. “You always look so angry whenever I see you, and you leave the room whenever I walk in.”

  “Because I couldn’t stand looking at you or being around you!” Kai shouted. “Alice, it kills me to be near you and to not be able to touch you, to hold you, to kiss you. Just being near you right now is eating me alive!”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, turning my eyes down toward the floor guiltily.

  “No, I’m sorry,” Kai said quickly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I just wanted to ask…”

  “Ask what?” I asked, when he paused.

  “Can I hug you?” Kai asked quietly.

  I looked up at him, and his icy blue eyes were full of love and pain mixed together in a torrent of emotion.

  “Of course,” I breathed.

  He approached me slowly, wrapping his arms around me gingerly. I could tell he wanted to squeeze me tightly, and I knew he’d never want to let go. But he was respecting my wishes. He was showing remarkable restraint, and I could sense how desperately he wanted to kiss me. But he didn’t.

  It felt so good to be there in his arms again. I wanted to stay there. In truth, I wanted to kiss him, too. I’d missed him terribly in the last few weeks. However, I had to hold fast to my decision. I needed space, and I couldn’t let my judgment be clouded over one sentimental moment.

  Kai must have sensed my reluctance, so he pulled away from the embrace. With remarkable restraint, he brushed my cheek softly with the back of his fingers, and he stepped back, putting some distance between himself and me.

  “Thank you,” he said, looking at the floor.

  “Thank you,” I returned.

  Honestly, I’d wanted to hug him as much as he wanted it from me.

  “No, thank both of you,” Liam said in a mocking tone, sounding as though he were about to cry, but clearly just joking around.

  “Very funny,” I grumbled at him.

  Liam stuck his tongue out at me, and I giggled in spite of myself. I spit a slobbery raspberry back at him, and he grinned. He was clearly pleased with himself for lightening my mood. Leave it to Liam to make me laugh when I wanted to cry.

  “Hey, why don’t we watch a movie?” Liam asked suddenly.

  “A movie? Now? Are you serious?” I asked.

  “Why not? There’s nothing else to do. We have twelve hours to wait for Alexi, right?” Liam added.

  “Yeah…”

  “Then let’s make the most of it,” Liam said.

  He stood up from the table, and he took our food and disposed of the uneaten portions.

  “Come on, you two,” Liam added. “Let’s go!”

  Kai and I followed Liam to the media room in basement. It was a huge theater with reclining movie seats, a popcorn maker, a huge screen, and surround sound.

  “What do you want to watch?” Liam asked.

  He pushed a button on the back wall, and a small door opened. A wall of movies slid out of the main wall. There must have been at least a thousand DVDs to choose from.

  “Wow!” I gasped.

  “This is just the main collection,” Liam said. “Grandfather always had this stocked with the latest new releases and our old favorites. He started doing it when Liam and I were kids. We loved to watch movies with him when we were little.”

  I could hear in his voice that he was still missing his grandfather, and I put my hand on his shoulder. He smiled weakly at me. I could tell he was trying to put on a brave face for me.

  “So what’ll it be?” he asked again.

  I scanned the titles quickly. I saw dozens of movies I was interested in, but my eyes stopped on one in particular.

  “Oh no,” Liam groaned. “Tell me you’re not looking at the one I think you’re looking at.”

  “What?” I griped. “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Seriously? Sparkling vampires? Who comes up with this stuff?” he lamented.

  I crinkled my forehead at him, and he shook his head in mock disapproval.

  “I like it,” I grumbled.

  “You would,” he muttered.

  “Hey, how about this?” Kai interjected, pulling a movie off the shelf.

  “Pulp Fiction!” Liam and I both shouted excitedly.

  “It’s perfect,” I said.

  “Agreed,” Liam nodded.

  Liam took the movie from Kai and pushed the movie shelf back into the wall. He opened a control panel in the wall beside the movie screen, and placed the DVD into a player. He used the controls to dim the lights, and then he took the remote control from the top of the DVD player.

  “Want some popcorn?” Liam asked.

  “Well, duh,” I said, as if the answer were obvious.

  Liam chuckled. He took some supplies from underneath the popcorn machine. He poured some kind of yellowish orange goo into the metal bowl at the top, and added popcorn kernels. Then he added a scoop of some yellow stuff. He started the machine.

  “It’ll take a couple of minutes,” Liam said. “What do you two want to drink?”

  “Dr. Pepper?” I asked.

  “Got it,” Liam said. “Kai?”

  “Root beer?”

  “Yep, we’ve got that. A&W okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “Alright, coming up,” Liam said.

  He opened the small fridge beside the popcorn machine. It was stocked with a dizzying array of drinks, including practically every major brand of soda pop, juices, teas, and sports drinks. I was shocked so much could fit in such a tiny refrigerator.

  Liam took a twenty-ounce bottle of Dr. Pepper for himself and one for me, and he handed Kai a bottle of A&W root beer.

  “Have a seat,” Liam said. “I’ll bring you the popcorn when it’s ready. Oh, you want some candy or anything? We’ve got all the usual stuff.”

  “Oh, wow. Do you have any Jordan almonds?” I asked.

  “Sure do,” he said.

  “Yay! I haven’t had those in ages!” I squealed.

  “Kai, you want anything?”

  “Do you have any of those cookie dough bites?”

  “Yep. Coming up.”

  Liam opened a cupboard above the fridge. It was fully stocked with pretty much every kind of candy you’d ever see in a movie theater. He grabbed two boxes of Jordan almonds and some cookie dough bites, and he tossed Kai and me our selections.

  I chose a seat in the front row, right in the middle of the screen. Kai sat to
my left. Liam placed his Dr. Pepper in the drink holder to the right of me, and Kai eyed him suspiciously.

  “Want me to start the movie?” Liam asked. “I’ll bring the popcorn when it’s finished popping.”

  “No, I’d rather wait for you,” I said.

  “Alright.”

  I could tell Kai wanted to touch me. He would lean his head toward my shoulder, and then quickly pull it away as though he were just remembering he couldn’t do that. His hand would lift as though he wanted to take mine, but then he would put it down again. I was starting to get really uncomfortable, but then something thunked me in the back of the head.

  “Hey!” I shouted, turning to see what happened.

  Liam’s eyes looked up at the ceiling innocently, and he was whistling.

  “What was that?” I grumbled.

  “What was what?” Liam asked innocently.

  I glared at him, and he chuckled. I turned back toward Kai, and immediately I was assaulted by the phantom thunker again.

  “Liam!” I snarled.

  “What?” he gasped in feigned incredulity.

  I turned around and looked in my seat, and a Jordan almond was lodged behind me. I turned my eyes toward Liam and sighed dramatically, holding the almond up as evidence.

  “Man, I really need to talk to the cleaning crew about that,” Liam joked. “They really should’ve seen that when they cleaned in here.”

  “Ha-ha. Funny,” I groaned.

  I hurled the almond back at Liam, and he dodged gracefully. He stuck his tongue out at me, and I rolled my eyes.

  The heavenly scent of popcorn began to waft up my nose, and my stomach rumbled. The telltale popping sound started, and slowly the tempo mounted. It reached a peak, and then began to taper off.

  Liam reached into the machine with a huge scoop and filled a giant popcorn bucket with the freshly popped corn.

  “Butter and salt?” Liam asked.

  “Tons of both,” I agreed.

  “Good,” he said with a smile.

  He layered the popcorn with squirts of butter and sprinkles of bright yellow popcorn salt, and then he handed me the bucket.

  “Just one?” I asked suspiciously.

  “It’s more fun to share,” Liam said, defending his choice. “Alexi and I always used to share when we were kids. I can refill it. There’s plenty more.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  Liam turned the lights off, and then he took the seat to the right of me and pushed a button on the remote. The opening segments began to play.

  During the movie, Liam and Kai’s hands bumped mine several times while reaching for popcorn. I wouldn’t have thought that at all suspicious, except for the fact that I never once noticed Kai and Liam bump hands.

  Pulp Fiction just happened to be one of my favorite movies, so I had a great time. All three of us knew many of the lines by heart, so we would spout off our favorite lines whenever they occurred.

  My favorite scene was the one where Jules asked Brett, “English, motherfucker, do you speak it?” All three of us recited the entire scene line by line, all the way through the part where he starts shouting, “Say ‘what’ again!” It was hilarious.

  I had to hand it to Liam, he found a way to take my mind off my troubles. I managed to go through almost the entire movie without thinking of anything depressing. He knew exactly what I needed.

  After the movie, Liam turned the lights back on, and Kai suddenly burst out laughing.

  “What’s your problem?” I asked him.

  He continued laughing so hard tears started rolling down his cheeks, and he covered his mouth with one hand and pointed to my hair with another.

  “What?” I growled.

  Liam dissolved into howls of laughter, as well. Kai and Liam were obviously having a very good gag at my expense.

  I reached up to my hair, and my hand brushed against something rough. When I pulled my hand back, a kernel of popcorn fell to the floor.

  “Very funny, guys,” I grumbled.

  The two of them were still doubled over with fits of laughter. I didn’t see what was so funny about sticking a kernel of popcorn in my hair.

  “What in the world is so freaking funny?” I demanded.

  Liam managed to regain his composure briefly.

  “Go look in the mirror,” he said, struggling to contain his laughter by twisting his lips together.

  A snicker escaped his lips, and then he couldn’t contain it any longer. I barged out of the media room as Kai and Liam dissolved into more fits of hysterics.

  Just outside the media room, there was a small bathroom. I flicked on the light and glared at the mirror in horror. There were dozens of popcorn kernels lodged in my hair. The two of them must have been carefully shoving them into my hair during the whole movie. I was fuming with anger. I took a deep breath and stormed back into the media room.

  “Uh oh,” Liam said, trying mockingly to sound scared.

  Liam and Kai burst into yet another round of intense laughter, and my hardened expression began to soften. It was hard to be mad at them when they were having such a good time. I crossed my arms in front of me and pouted.

  “Aww, we’re sorry, honey,” Liam said in a playful voice. “Here, let us help you get it out of your hair.”

  Struggling very hard to contain their hysterics, Kai and Liam both started plucking popcorn kernels from my hair while I stood with my arms crossed looing thoroughly annoyed. When they were done, I stalked over beside the popcorn machine and stared at it intently. I was silent… motionless.

  “Are you really mad at us?” Liam asked, sounding surprised.

  “We were having so much fun, and the two of you had to go and ruin it all! I’m so mad right now!” I said, trying to sound convincing.

  “Wow, I’m sorry, Alice,” Liam said. “We were just playing.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry, too,” Kai said, sounding hurt.

  I listened carefully, and I heard the two of them approaching me. I waited until just the right moment. Then in a flash, I grabbed a double handful of popcorn and flung it right in their faces!

  Some of it stuck in their hair, and I noticed a kernel fall down inside the front of Kai’s shirt. This time, it was I who burst into laughter. The two of them realized they’d been played, and they both reached in and grabbed handfuls of popcorn and started hurling it at me. We all kept grabbing more and more, and eventually the room looked as though we’d been in a popcorn blizzard! Popcorn was everywhere. It covered the floor, coated the seats, and stuck in our hair. We all fell to the floor, struggling to catch our breath through fits of joyous laughter.

  That’s when the door opened, and Alexi walked in.

  “What in the world happened in here?” he asked.

  “We were just keeping Alice’s mind off things,” Liam explained.

  “I see,” Alexi said, scowling disapprovingly.

  “It’s my fault,” I said quickly. “I started it.”

  “I highly doubt that,” Alexi grumbled.

  “No, she’s right. It is her fault,” Liam added.

  “Hey!” I shouted, snickering and throwing a handful of popcorn at Liam.

  Alexi sighed.

  “Honestly,” Alexi lamented. “Will you ever grow up, Liam?”

  “What, and become a boring old fogey like you?” Liam scoffed. “Never.”

  Alexi shook his head somberly.

  “Anyway,” Alexi said, changing the subject. “I think I have found a way to defeat the wraiths.”

  Chapter Seven – The Big Idea

  We all followed Alexi upstairs to the library. Alexi had a fire going, probably because he knew the fireplace relaxed me. My mother always had a fire going, even in the summer. I guess it must have relaxed her, too.

  “Alright, so what is this big plan you have to defeat the wraiths?” I wanted to know.

  “As I told you before, wraiths are the souls of vampires,” Alexi explained. “They are trapped here by an evil spell, and they do as th
ey are commanded by the one who casts the spell.”

  “Right,” I agreed. “I remember.”

  “Because they are souls, I believe they can be exorcised,” he said.

  “Exorcised? Like by a priest?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I thought it was usually demons that were exorcised,” Kai said.

  “It is,” Alexi agreed. “But I talked to a priest I know, and he said he believes wraiths could also be exorcised, because they are controlled by an evil spell. Demons are basically evil spirits. While wraiths are not inherently evil, the magic that binds them is. The priest thinks it might work.”

  “And a priest is willing to work with vampires?” I asked.

  “I have known Father Jacobs for a long time,” Alexi explained. “He understands vampires are not all evil.”

  “Okay. But does he know how dangerous this is?”

  “It is no more dangerous than the demonic exorcisms he regularly performs,” Alexi argued.

  “And what if this doesn’t work?” I wanted to know.

  “Then we will have to go to plan B.”

  “And that is?”

  “I do not know, yet.”

  “Alexi!” I groaned.

  “I will think of one,” he tried to assure me.

  “I don’t like this,” I told him. “You’ll all be at risk, because we don’t even know if this will work or not.”

  “What choice do we have?” Liam asked.

  “You know what choice we have,” I said.

  “That is not even an option,” Alexi snarled.

  “Alexi, please just consider it,” I begged. “You know what it will do to me if anything happens to any of you because of me.”

  “And you know what it would do to all of us if anything happened to you,” Alexi countered.

  “Maybe you can’t protect me forever,” I told him.

  “Maybe we can try,” he said seriously.

  “You’d better come up with a good plan B,” I said. “Because I really don’t like this.”

  “I honestly believe it will work,” Alexi assured me.

  “Really?”

  “Do you think I would risk you getting hurt if I thought it would not?” he asked me.

  “No, I suppose not.”