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

  “Then trust me,” he said, putting his hands on my shoulders for emphasis. “I really believe it will work.”

  “Alright, Alexi. I trust you.”

  “Why don’t you and Kai go watch another movie while Liam and I talk about a plan B?” Alexi suggested.

  “What? Why can’t Kai and I stay and help?” I asked.

  “Please, Alice,” Alexi begged. “Just do this for me.”

  I sighed, but then I relented.

  “Fine,” I groaned. “But come get me as soon as you think of something.”

  “You have my word,” he promised.

  Kai and I went back to the media room and left Alexi and Liam to strategize. I had a feeling they wanted to talk about something Alexi didn’t want me to hear, but I’d learned it was useless to argue with Alexi. He could be extremely stubborn.

  I insisted we clean up the media room before we chose another movie. We’d made a terrible mess with the popcorn, and I didn’t think it was right to leave it in such a state for the cleaning crew. It took us more than an hour to finish cleaning it, but once it was all done, Kai said he had just the movie in mind. He pulled it off the DVD shelf and held it up with a smile, and I squealed with delight, throwing my arms around him.

  “I thought you’d like it,” he grinned.

  During the movie, I rested my head on Kai’s shoulder. He seemed happy, but he didn’t try to press me any further. I was genuinely impressed with his restraint. About an hour into the movie, Liam walked in.

  “Oh, God. Sparkly vampires?” he groaned. “I leave you alone for two hours and you’re watching the sparkly vampires?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “I happen to love this movie,” I grumbled.

  “Why?” he asked, clearly unimpressed.

  “It’s romantic,” I said, as if the answer were obvious.

  “It’s stupid,” he scoffed.

  “It’s not stupid!” I growled.

  “Vampires that sparkle and drink animal blood? It’s ridiculous,” he countered.

  “It’s no more ridiculous than any other vampire lore,” I argued. “Garlic? Holy water?”

  “They sparkle, Alice!” Liam jeered. “It’s so silly it’s insane!”

  “We’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one,” I finally said.

  “I guess so,” Liam agreed. “You know, I can maybe understand human girls falling for this crap, but not you, Alice. Of all people, why you?”

  “Like I said, it’s romantic.”

  “If you say so,” Liam said, still not swayed.

  “I think it’s romantic,” Kai whispered proudly into my ear.

  “I don’t doubt it,” Liam mumbled.

  I have to admit, Kai won a few points in that moment. It wasn’t so much that he was agreeing with me, but that I knew it was true. Not only did he have the guts to admit it in front of Liam and risk ridicule, but he really did think it was romantic. I also got the sense he wanted to be able to sparkle for me.

  “What do you want, anyway?” I finally asked Liam.

  “Oh, yeah, that,” he said. “Alexi and I have a plan B.”

  “Really?” I asked, my curiosity piqued. “Tell me about it.”

  “You can finish watching your silly mush fest, first, if you want,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  “Liam, stop it,” I pleaded.

  “Alright, fine,” he conceded. “Do you want to finish watching it?”

  I picked up the remote and pressed the pause button.

  “No, tell me now,” I demanded.

  “Alright,” he said, sitting down in the seat beside me. “One word. Sleep.”

  “Sleep?” I questioned him. “What does that mean?”

  “Your sleep touch, of course!”

  “That won’t work on wraiths, will it?” I asked. “They’re not solid.”

  “It won’t work on wraiths, but it might work on Dmitri,” he said.

  “But won’t the wraiths still attack us?”

  “We don’t think so,” Liam explained. “We think the connection will be broken, and the wraiths will be free to make their own choices.”

  “And what if they choose to attack us?”

  “They won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Remember, they were vampires, just like us. They’ve been enslaved by Dmitri. If you were captured and turned into a mindless slave, would you want to be loyal to the guy that did it to you?”

  “Good point.”

  “So you think it will work?” Liam asked me.

  “I think it’s a good plan B,” I admitted.

  “We have a plan C, too,” Liam said.

  “Really? What?”

  “Run!” he shouted, ruffling my hair and laughing.

  “Clever!” I picked at him. “Did you think of that one all by yourself?”

  “I did! Aren’t you proud?”

  “Immensely,” I said, rolling my eyes playfully.

  “So what do we know about this Dmitri guy?” Kai asked.

  “Not much,” Liam admitted. “He has a few powers, but nothing too major that we know of. If Father was still alive, he’d know.”

  “Would anyone your father knew know of Dmitri?” I suggested.

  “I doubt it,” Liam said. “He knew Dmitri a very long time ago, and they haven’t even spoken in decades, as far as I know.”

  “Could you find out for sure? Contact people who knew your father well and ask if any of them know anything about Dmitri?” I asked.

  “Good idea, Alice,” Alexi said from the doorway.

  I turned to face him.

  “How long have you been there?” I asked.

  “I just got here,” he answered. “But you had a very good idea. We need to know everything we can about Dmitri, and I think calling Father’s old friends and associates is a good place to start.”

  “Do you have his address book?” Liam asked Alexi.

  “Indeed, I do,” he answered. “I thought it might be useful, someday.”

  “Do you want to split it up and start calling people?” Liam offered.

  “Yes, let us get started immediately,” Alexi agreed.

  “Can I help?” I proposed.

  “You wouldn’t know Father’s friends like we would,” Liam said. “But you know what you could do? In the library there’s a book of vampire lore called Ancient Vampyrian History. If you could go through that and see if you can find any references to Dmitri, it would help.”

  “That would definitely help,” Alexi agreed.

  “Alright. Kai, do you want to come with me?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Kai answered.

  “Okay, let’s get started, then.”

  Alexi and Liam went off to start making calls, and Kai and I headed to the library to find the book in question.

  “Maybe I could look through these other books to see if there’s anything that looks promising?” Kai offered.

  “Good idea,” I said. “His name is Dmitri Dukas.”

  “Okay, I’ll start looking through anything that looks like a history book or anything,” Kai said.

  I located Ancient Vampyrian History and took it to a table. The book appeared to be very old. It was bound in rich, brown leather, and the pages were cream colored, and darkened around the edges. I was afraid I might damage it, so I touched it very delicately. There was no index, so I had no choice but to delve in and start scanning page by page.

  For hours, I poured through the massive, dusty book. I saw no references to anyone named Dmitri, and I was starting to nod off. It was very boring work.

  “I think I found something!” Kai shouted suddenly.

  My head had nearly dropped onto the pages of the book, and it shot up instantly in surprise.

  “What?” I asked.

  “There’s an entry in this book about a vampire named Dmitri,” Kai said. “There’s no last name, but the book says he delved into dark magic, and it says he got kicked out of hi
s clan for attempting to control wraiths.”

  “Wow, that does sound like it could be him,” I agreed.

  Kai brought the book over, and he sat down in the chair next to me. We looked at the entry together.

  “Oh, look,” Kai said. “It says he had some ‘unusual abilities’,” Kai noted.

  “Like what?”

  “It doesn’t say.”

  “Damn, then that’s useless.”

  “What’s useless?” Liam asked, walking into the library.

  “Kai found an entry about someone named Dmitri who was into dark magic, and who got thrown out of his clan for attempting to control wraiths,” I explained. “It says he had ‘unusual abilities’, but it doesn’t say what they were.”

  “Let me see the book,” Liam demanded.

  I pushed the book across the table, and he took a seat across from me. He scanned the page we had it opened to, and his face lit up.

  “The name of his clan…” Liam muttered. “I can’t believe it.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “His clan was Mavro Drako,” Liam explained. “It means ‘Black Dragon’ in Greek. We have an entire book about the history of the Mavro Drako clan.”

  “You do?” I gasped.

  “Yeah. Our father and grandfather were both Greek, and Grandfather was in Mavro Drako a long time ago. He was one of their Elders.”

  “Wow! Kai, you found something really important!” I gushed.

  Kai blushed.

  “I better tell Alexi about this right away,” Liam said. “I think he actually has that book in his office at… oh, no.”

  Liam’s face blanched.

  “What?” I asked.

  “It’s in his office at Father’s compound,” he moaned.

  “Can’t you have someone send it to us?” I suggested.

  “This place doesn’t have an address!” he shouted. “No one even knows exactly where it is except Grandfather and Hillary.”

  “Wait…” I said. “Then how are we going to get out of here? If Hillary was the only one who knew where it is besides your grandfather, and Hillary no longer has the ability to portal, what are we going to do?”

  “We’ll have to take a random portal,” Liam said.

  “A what?”

  “A random portal. Hillary was one of the only vampires who have ever been able to open portals to specific locations, but we have a few here who can open portals to random locations.”

  “Random. How random? Like… ‘we could end up on top of a pyramid in Egypt’ random?”

  “No, not that random,” Liam chuckled. “We can get in the general location of where we need to go. We just might not end up exactly where we need to be.”

  “You mean, we’d at least end up in the same town?”

  “Most likely, yes.”

  “Well… that’s comforting… I guess…”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve done it before. It’s not so bad.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Alexi and I will be with you,” Liam reminded me. “And Kai.”

  “I’m not afraid!” I snapped.

  “I never said you were,” Liam clarified.

  “You’d better go tell Alexi about all of this,” I suggested.

  “Oh, yeah,” Liam agreed. “If you find anything else, let me know, okay?”

  “Will do.”

  Kai and I went back to pouring through the books in the library, but I had a feeling we would find what we needed in that book in Alexi’s office back home. At some point, exhaustion took hold of me, and I must have dozed off. I woke up in Kai’s arms, as he was placing me gently into my bed.

  “Thank you,” I whispered weakly.

  “Of course,” he said quietly, pulling the blankets over me.

  He turned to leave the room, but he paused for a moment. He turned around and quickly planted a kiss on my forehead, and then he left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

  Chapter Eight – The Return Home

  It was about ten PM when I heard a light tap on my door. At first, I thought I was dreaming, but when I looked over at the clock on my nightstand, I heard it again.

  “Who is it?” I called.

  “It is Alexi.”

  “Come in,” I told him.

  The door opened, and Alexi breezed in. He sat down in the chair in the corner and leaned back.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

  “Yes. Did you?”

  “It is inconsequential.”

  “I take that to mean you didn’t sleep.”

  “Liam and I got a lot done.”

  “Alexi…” I whined.

  “It does not matter. I am fine. Liam and I have everything arranged for traveling back to Georgia to get the book. We are leaving in an hour.”

  “An hour!” I gasped. “Wow, that’s soon.”

  “We are on a time clock, as you are aware.”

  “Yeah, you don’t have to remind me. How much time do we have left on Dmitri’s forty-eight hour clock?”

  “About thirty hours.”

  “I really wish you’d slept, Alexi. It’s not healthy for you to keep losing sleep night after night.”

  “I care little for my health,” he informed me. “As long as you are safe, that is all that matters to me.”

  “I care about your health,” I grumbled.

  “It will do wonders for my health if I can stop worrying so much about you.”

  “If we’re leaving for Georgia in an hour, I need to take a shower,” I said, changing the subject.

  “Alright, I will leave you to do so.”

  Alexi stood up and started to leave.

  “Alexi?”

  He paused, and turned to face me.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “For everything.”

  “It is I who should thank you. No one has ever cared as much about me as you do. Even if you never fall in love with me, I think that might be enough.”

  He turned to leave, but then he turned back and added, “But I still hope you will fall in love with me, someday.”

  “I know.”

  He left, and I hurried to get ready. I showered, dried my hair, and changed into fresh clothes. I decided to pack a bag, because I didn’t know how long we’d be staying, or if my room was still like I left it back at the compound. I assumed it was, but I couldn’t be certain.

  We met in the foyer, and there was already a group of clan members there to open the random portal. I was admittedly a bit nervous at the prospect of falling through a portal to a completely unknown location, but I wasn’t going to let any of them know it.

  “Are we ready?” I asked, coming down the stairs with my bag in hand.

  “Yes, come on,” Alexi said, extending his arms toward me. I must have looked confused, because he added, “I am going to carry you, so I can protect you if we land somewhere dangerous.”

  “I’ll be fine, Alexi…”

  “This is not open for discussion,” Alexi said sternly.

  I sighed. Once again, he was leaving me with no option. I knew Alexi would be stubborn, and he would probably delay everything until I relented. I wasn’t in the mood to argue. I just wanted to get it over with.

  “Fine,” I groaned, and I allowed him to scoop me up into his arms.

  His arms closed firmly around me, and he held me close to his body. He was so strong and protective, and it did make me feel safer to be in his arms that way. I guess it wasn’t so bad to give into him now and then.

  The portal opened, and Liam went through first, followed by Kai. Alexi’s grip on me tightened protectively, and he jumped through the portal. I felt the familiar falling sensation, and in a moment, Alexi landed deftly on his feet. I hardly felt the jostle when we landed. Still gripping me tightly, Alexi surveyed the area. We’d landed in a parking lot, but fortunately, it was deserted. No one had seen us falling from the sky.

  “Any idea where we are?” Kai asked.

&n
bsp; I looked up and down the street, and in the distance, I noticed the sign of a fast food restaurant I recognized.

  “We’re on Bleaker Street,” I said confidently. “We’re only about a half mile from the compound.”

  “Wow, they got us pretty close,” Kai admitted.

  “Um, Alexi?” I chimed. “You can put me down, now.”

  He hesitated for a moment, and then he let my feet fall gently to the ground. He kept his arm firmly around my waist for a moment, and then he reluctantly loosened it.

  “Let us go,” Alexi said.

  It didn’t take us long to reach the compound. Alexi had called ahead, and they were expecting us. We were met at the gates by a security detail, and they ushered us quickly inside.

  I took my bag upstairs to my room, which was just as I had left it. I placed my bag on the bed, and went into the bathroom to wash my face. While I was in there, I heard a knock on my door. I quickly dried my face, and I went to see who it was.

  “Your presence is requested in the dining hall,” a young man in an acolyte’s robe told me.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He bowed, and I followed him to the dining hall. Alexi, Liam, and Kai were already sitting at a table. A tray of food was sitting in front of an empty chair.

  “Alice,” Alexi greeted me. “I took the liberty of getting you something to eat. I hope I chose something you will enjoy.”

  I sat down and took a look at the food. It was a plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, and a salad. A bottle of Dr. Pepper sat beside it.

  “This looks great, actually,” I admitted.

  “Yeah, except he gave you Coke, before,” Liam snorted.

  “I like Coke just fine,” I said.

  “But you prefer Dr. Pepper these days,” he countered.

  “Oh, good grief!” I snarled. “I don’t care what I drink right now!”

  “Jeez! Sorry,” Liam scoffed.

  “No, I’m sorry,” I said with contrition. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

  “It’s fine,” Liam said, his voice sounding hurt.

  “Isn’t anyone else going to eat?” I asked.

  “We can eat, later,” Alexi answered. “We have business to discuss.”

  My eyes gravitated toward the ancient book on the table in front of Alexi. He had one hand resting lightly on the cover.

  “Is that the book about Dmitri’s clan?” I asked, twirling spaghetti on my fork.