Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance Read online

  of his body on top of me, and the comforting

  dampness of his skin against mine.

  “Please don’t ever leave me,” he breathed, his

  voice breaking with emotion.

  “Never,” I agreed, kissing him gently.

  *****

  Chapter Five – Confrontation

  For the first time in ages, I awoke with a sense

  of hope and purpose. I was seeing things through

  a new perspective. My whole world had changed,

  and suddenly Kai was all that really mattered.

  Waking up in his arms after our night together

  was the most intensely comfortable thing I had

  ever experienced.

  I sighed happily and stretched, allowing the

  shaft of morning sunlight, which peeked through

  the curtains to warm my face. I got up and got

  dressed, ready to face a happy new day.

  But in a moment, everything changed.

  Kai was on the phone with Jamie, giving her a

  list of some things our family would need for the

  next few days, and I decided to check my email. I

  had four new messages – all from Max. I opened

  the first.

  Alice,

  I’ve been found out. I need help. Email

  ASAP.

  Max

  I felt a surge of adrenaline course through my

  body. It started around the center of my torso and

  spread out in a tingling wave of chills. I gasped

  aloud, and I could feel the blood draining from

  my cheeks. In an instant, Kai was by my side.

  With his hand on my shoulder, he quickly

  skimmed the email.

  “What does he mean?” Kai asked. “The

  hunters found out he was helping us?”

  “That’s what I would guess,” I answered.

  “Damn,” he muttered. Even Kai looked a little

  worried.

  I opened the next email.

  Alice,

  I hope you get this. You’re probably asleep.

  I’m on the road. I’ve got a whole crew of

  hunters on my tail. I won’t lead them to you,

  but I need help figuring out what to do. My

  mind is blank.

  Max

  “He has a whole crew of hunters on his tail?”

  I gasped. “This is because of us!”

  “Don’t worry,” Kai assured. “Max can take

  care of himself.”

  “Kai, Max took care of us when we needed

  him,” I reminded him. “We can’t let him down

  when he needs us.”

  “But what can we do without risking

  ourselves?” he asked.

  “We can’t worry about ourselves!” I

  admonished. “Max wasn’t worried about himself

  when he helped us. He was only thinking of us.”

  “No,” Kai corrected. “He was thinking of

  you.”

  “He rescued all of us.”

  “But he only did it for you. He would have let

  the rest of us die if he didn’t know how much it

  would hurt you.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Of course you don’t, Alice. You don’t see

  him for what he is – a hunter. He may have fallen

  in love with you, but he still hates vampires.”

  I opened Max’s next email.

  Really in trouble. Just killed two hunters.

  Now the others are even more pissed. I need

  you.

  “He killed two hunters!” I shrieked. “They’re

  going to kill him!”

  I urgently opened the next.

  I hope you’re around soon. I’m really

  panicking.

  I quickly sent a reply.

  Max,

  I’m here. Just woke up. What can I do? Just

  tell me and I will do it.

  Be safe.

  Alice

  My stomach twisted into knots. I felt

  nauseous, and my arms started to feel cold and

  shaky. I started to tremble, and the more I

  thought about Max, the more terrified I became.

  My stomach groaned, and I ran to the bathroom

  to vomit.

  I brushed my teeth and rushed back to my

  computer. Max had not emailed, and I started to

  gnaw my fingernails – a habit I picked up from

  Jamie. Kai rubbed my shoulders, but it did little

  to calm my nerves.

  There was a knock at the door and I nearly

  jumped out of my skin.

  “It’s just Jamie,” Kai said reassuringly, and he

  was right.

  “Morning!” she sang cheerily. She was

  beaming.

  Jamie’s eyes sparkled when she smiled. I’d

  never seen her light up like that. It was if

  someone flipped a switch and she finally came to

  life. I noticed something. She was pretty. She

  wasn’t pretty in the way well-meaning people

  say, “You’d be so pretty if you lost weight.” She

  was really pretty. Actually, she was beautiful, in

  my opinion. I’d never noticed it before. Yes, she

  was overweight and she had terrible acne, but her

  face was so angelic. It was radiant.

  I wanted to ask her why she was so cheerful,

  but I was so worried about Max I could hardly

  think at all.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Jamie asked me,

  noting my pale, haggard appearance and my lack

  of response.

  “The hunters found out Max helped us,” I

  said.

  Her face fell.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered. “Is he okay?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “He emailed me

  four times while I was asleep, and I wrote him

  back a couple of minutes ago but he hasn’t

  responded. I’m seriously freaking out!”

  “Alice,” Kai said. “He’s probably driving.

  He’ll write you when he has a chance.”

  “He killed two hunters already!” I shouted.

  “What?” Jamie gasped. “Why?”

  “They probably attacked him,” I guessed. “It

  was likely self-defense.”

  “I guess so,” Jamie agreed. “What will they do

  to him?”

  “How should I know?” I snapped.

  “Sorry!” Jamie shot back at me. “I was just

  asking!”

  “Jamie, don’t be upset with Alice,” Kai said

  gently. “She’s just worried. It’s not your fault.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “He’s right; it has

  nothing to do with you.”

  “I understand,” Jamie nodded solemnly.

  My computer dinged. Email.

  Alice,

  I can’t stop long. They’re close.

  I’m in Alabama. I don’t want to come to you,

  because I won’t lead them to you. But I need

  help figuring out where to go and what to do.

  I’ll stay here five minutes to wait for your

  reply, but I don’t have much of a lead on them.

  I have to keep moving.

  Max

  “What does he mean he won’t lead them to

  me?” I demanded. “We have to help him!”

  “He’s going through this because he wanted

  to save you,” Jamie said. “He wouldn’t want you

  in harm’s way. Otherwise, all of his sacrifice

  would have been for nothing.”

  “No!” I argued. “We have to do something!”

  “Send him m
y email address,” Jamie said.

  “You can’t risk a Viewer finding our location

  through your eyes, but they can’t see through

  mine.”

  “Absolutely not,” Kai demanded. “If you tell

  him our location and they catch him, they could

  read his email on his computer and find us. He

  wouldn’t want you at risk, and I certainly don’t,

  either.”

  “We have to do something!” I screamed.

  “Lower your voice,” Kai implored. “People

  will get suspicious.”

  I took a deep breath. “We can’t just leave him

  on his own.”

  “Wait,” Jamie said. “I won’t tell him where

  we are. Tell him to email me. He has my

  address.”

  “What are you…” Kai started to say.

  “Trust me,” Jamie emphasized.

  “I do trust you,” I said to Jamie.

  I fired off a quick email.

  Max,

  Email Jamie. She said you have her address.

  She’ll take care of this. We’re trusting her to

  help you out without giving away our location.

  Please be safe, and hopefully we’ll see you

  very soon.

  Alice

  I clicked the send button and waited. A

  moment later, I got another email.

  Alice,

  I’ll send her an email right now, and then I

  have to get back on the road.

  I won’t do anything to put you at risk. I

  promise you. Your safety is the most important

  thing in the world to me.

  Love,

  Max

  I heard Kai’s teeth grinding together once

  again. He wasn’t thrilled that I was so worried

  about Max, and he especially didn’t like reading

  Max talking about how my safety was the most

  important thing to him.

  I sent Max another email.

  Max,

  I’m going to be right by my computer all

  day. I’m here if you need anything at all.

  Alice

  I clicked the send button and turned the

  volume all the way up so I would hear whenever

  I received an email.

  Jamie went back to her room to work on a

  plan with Max, and I lied down on the bed and

  stared at the ceiling. I felt so helpless. Max had

  risked everything to protect us – to protect me –

  and all I could do was sit around and wait.

  I decided to call my mother and see how she

  and Will were doing.

  “Hello?” my mother answered.

  “Mother?” I greeted. “How are you and Will

  doing?”

  “We’re fine,” she said. “How are you?”

  “I’m worried sick,” I told her.

  “Jamie told us about Max,” she said quietly.

  “What should I do?” I pleaded. “Tell me what

  to do.”

  “All you can do is wait,” she said honestly.

  “Jamie will take care of things.”

  “She’s done more than enough,” I said. “I hate

  to keep having her do everything for us.”

  “She wants to,” Mother said.

  “She seems so happy these days,” I

  commented. “Do you think it’s actually making

  her happy to be going through all of this?”

  Mother laughed. “No, I don’t think that’s it.”

  “Then what?”

  “It’s not really my place to say.”

  “Not your place to say what?”

  “Alice…”

  I thought for a moment, and then it hit me.

  Jamie and my brother!

  “Are she and Will…” I gasped excitedly.

  “I think so,” my mother answered. “I see the

  way they’ve been looking at each other.”

  “Wow,” I breathed. “I had no idea. I’ve been

  so absorbed in my own problems I never even

  noticed.”

  “I don’t think they’re really expecting anyone

  to know,” she said. “So let’s not say anything to

  them until they’re ready to tell us themselves.”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  “Alice?” she said gently.

  “Yes, Mother?”

  “Max will be okay. Jamie’s a smart girl. She’ll

  take care of him.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “I just hope she isn’t too

  late. And I wish there was something I could do

  to help him the way he’s helped us.”

  “He understands,” Mother said, trying to

  comfort me. “He wants you to be safe.”

  “I never thought you’d be telling me good

  things about a hunter!” I said, chuckling at the

  irony.

  “He’s not like any hunter I’ve ever heard of,”

  Mother admitted. “He’s a good guy.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “I’m going to go check my

  email. Check in later.”

  “Okay, honey,” Mother said. “Bye.”

  I hung up and looked at my computer, but I

  had no new messages. This was maddening. How

  could I possibly just sit around and do nothing?

  Around noon, Kai decided to take a shower. I

  felt guilty. After what had just happened between

  us, he was taking a sideline while I worried about

  Max – a guy he couldn’t stand, and who wanted

  to take me away from him. Not only that, but I

  should be doing more to help Max, a guy who

  had saved us all more than once. I felt like the

  worst person in the world.

  Max had said he was in Alabama. Maybe I

  could get there before Jamie. If I slipped out

  now, they wouldn’t have time to catch up with

  me. I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit

  around and do nothing – not after all Max had

  done for me.

  Before I left, I sent an email to Max with just

  one word:

  Lake.

  I quietly packed my laptop and slipped out the

  door. I had no money and no car, but I had a plan.

  I called a taxi from the motel’s office, and when

  it arrived, I asked the driver to take me to the

  nearest pawnshop.

  I pawned my computer for $400. I was

  desperately hoping it would be enough to get me

  where I was going. I hoped Max would get my

  email in time, and I hoped he would get there in

  time. All these things I had to hope for, but one

  thing I didn’t. I knew Max would know what I

  meant with that one word.

  My one-way plane ticket cost $275. That left

  me enough to take a taxi home. Once there, I

  could get my phone so I could contact him, and I

  would take Kai’s car so I could meet Max at the

  lake.

  On the plane trip, my mind was reeling. Kai

  would be feeling betrayed and frightened, and

  Max would probably be furious. I couldn’t think

  about all of that. I tried to push it out of my

  mind. All I cared about was making sure Max

  was safe.

  Hours later, I had a taxi drop me off a block

  from my house. I didn’t know if the hunters

  might be watching it, because I had no idea if

  they knew who I was or where I lived. I surveyed

  the house and surrounding neighborhood

  carefully before I went home. Nothi
ng seemed

  amiss.

  I found my phone inside the house, along with

  the rest of my things. I grabbed my bags, along

  with Kai’s, Will’s, and my mother’s, along with

  Kai’s painting, and I squeezed them all into the

  truck and backseat of Kai’s car. I located his keys

  inside the pocket of his coat where they always

  were, and I jumped in his car and sped toward the

  lake.

  I was about a mile from the old drive-in when

  my phone rang. The sudden noise startled me,

  and the car lurched. I pulled into a parking lot

  and fumbled for my phone, which had fallen into

  the floorboard and slid underneath the

  passenger’s seat. I got out of the car to stretch my

  legs and answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Alice!” I heard Kai yell. “Where are you?”

  “It’s probably best I don’t tell you,” I told him.

  “I don’t want to risk any of you getting

  involved.”

  “Involved in what?” he shouted. “Alice,

  please. Tell me where you are so I can come get

  you.”

  I could hear the dread in his voice.

  “It’s fine, Kai,” I said. “I’m fine. Don’t worry

  about me.”

  “How can I not?” he said, his voice breaking.

  “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?

  I’ve been emailing you and calling you all day!”

  “I know,” I said meekly. “I’m sorry. I would

  have left you a note, but I didn’t want you to try

  to follow me.”

  “Have you heard from Max?” he asked.

  “No, why?”

  “Jamie says she hasn’t heard from him all

  day,” he replied.

  If a freight train had crashed into me at that

  exact moment, it wouldn’t have hurt me half as

  much. I began trembling so much that my phone

  slipped from my hands and bounced on the

  pavement. I put my hand over my mouth, fearful

  that I might vomit. My knees began to wobble,

  and my vision became blurry.

  My knees gave out, and I slumped to the

  ground. My shaky hands reached for the phone,

  and I heard Kai repeatedly calling my name.

  Finally, after several fumbled attempts, I

  managed to pick up the phone.

  “Alice? Are you still there? Alice?” Kai

  shouted frantically.

  “I… I’m here…” I stammered, barely able to

  speak.

  “What happened? Are you alright?”

  “Kai, I have to go. I love you,” I said, and I

  hung up.

  With shaking fingers, I dialed Max’s number.

  It went straight to voicemail.

  “Max?” I began my message. “I have my

  phone. Please call me when you get this. I’m so