Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance (7 page)

and waves of pleasure rolled through my body

like a tidal wave. Moans of pure pleasure

escaped my lips, and I heard him begin to growl

as he thrust deeper inside me. I never knew

anything could feel so intensely magical.

We shuddered together, and then he collapsed

on top of me, exhausted. His lips found mine,

and with ragged breath, he kissed me. We both

struggled to calm our panting breath, and when I

could speak again, I said, “That was the most

incredible moment of my entire life.”

“Mine, too,” he agreed.

I looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It

was 12:47 AM on February 13th. It was my

eighteenth birthday.

I hugged him close to me, enjoying the weight

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 my 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