Clarity: A Young Adult Paranormal Vampire Romance (Blood Haze Book 4) (3 page)

“Not at this time, but he is researching as we speak, and he promised to call as soon as he discovers anything that might help,” Alexi said.

“So we’re fighting blind,”
Liam said bluntly.

“Basically,” Alexi admitted.

“How can we protect Alice when we don’t even know what we’re up against?” Liam asked, an edge of anxiety in his voice.

“Do not panic, Brother,” Alexi said. “We will think of something. I have faith in Father
Franco, and in both of you.”

Liam raised an eyebrow at me. We were both thinking the same thing… that it was rare that Alexi openly admitted he had any faith in either of us. It wasn’t unheard of, but it was rare enough to be jarring.

“I think the two of you need to get some rest,” Alexi said. “You must not push yourselves to the point of exhaustion, for if Dmitri mounted a surprise attack, you would be too weak to defend yourselves.”

“Point taken,” Liam said.

“I must admit I’m aching all over,” I added.

“R
est, my love,” Alexi told me. “I will follow to watch over you.”

Alexi wrapped an arm around me and escorted me upstairs to bed, where he pulled back the covers for me. Too weak even to undress, I plopped my shoes off into the floor and crawled into the do
wny comfort.

He pulled the blankets over me and tucked me in neatly, kissing my forehead in that tender way he always did. Then he sat in a chair in the corner to keep vigil.

“You’re not coming to bed?” I asked.

“Not yet, darling,” he said. “I will shortly
.”

Too tired to argue, my eyelids sagged and soon I was deep asleep.

Cold. So cold. The world was a wall of white, swirling snow. I could see nothing in front of me, nothing around me. My heart pounded erratically, jumping into my throat. I gulped to clear the lump, but it refused to budge.

“Alexi!” I called, but my voice was lost in the deafening howl of wind. I tasted the familiar flavor of snow as it was driven into my mouth, nearly choking me.

I tried to trudge forward against the frigid wall of snow and ice, but I was rooted. The wind was too powerful to fight against. It threatened to sweep me from my feet and push me into oblivion.

“Alexi!” I called again, but the roar of wind filled my own ears so
that even I barely heard myself.

What was that? My heart thudded at the sight of black. Black. Formless. Gaseous. No. Please, no!

There it was again, the deepest black against the wall of white. A wraith!

There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. I
was certain the wraith could see my every move, but I could not see it. Despite the bitter cold, sweat erupted on my forehead. Another brief flash of black crossed my field of vision.

I gasped and sat up with a start, screaming. Alexi swept to my side and
wrapped me in his arms.

“Cold!” I cried, sobbing into his shoulder. “Wraith! I couldn’t find you!  I was lost. It was so cold!”

“There, there,” he said soothingly, rocking me gently. “You are safe, darling. I will let no harm come to you.”

The dream had
been so real. It was so real I could still taste the snowflakes melting on my tongue.  My teeth still chattered from the chill winds that swept around me. It was too real to be a dream. Far too real.

“Alexi, it was real,” I mumbled into his shoulder.

“No, darling, it was a dream,” he comforted me.

“Alexi,” I said more firmly, pulling away from him and staring wide-eyed as I captured his gaze, “
it was real!
”

I could see the words sinking in as Alexi contemplated them fully.

“Where were you?” he asked, grasping my shoulders.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “The snow was so thick and the winds were so harsh and loud I could see nothing but white and hear nothing but the dull roar. Then I saw black. It was a wraith, I’m certain.”

“You must think,” Alexi urged me. “Was there anything… anything at all that you can remember that might tell you where you were?”

I bit my lip and tried to remember, but there was only the bitter cold and blinding snow. I shook my head.

“Damn!” he cursed.

I was startled. Alexi was always s
o composed, and this exclamation from him was shocking.

“Maybe it means we have until winter to prepare,” I suggested.

“I do not believe so,” Alexi said. “We are in Georgia. It rarely snows here, and when it does it is never the type of blizzard you described.”

“Then this could have been nearly anywhere, anytime,” I said. “It’s useless.”

“It is not useless,” Alexi argued. “We now know a little more than we did before, and that is something.”

I shrugged and said, “It
feels
useless.”

“You mustn’t think of it
that way,” Alexi said.

I stared at him, startled. Did he just use a contraction?

“What?” he asked, noting my silent stare.

“Nothing,” I muttered.

My whole world had changed so drastically in the preceding months. I know it sounds silly, but hearing Alexi use a contraction, while it may seem like such a trivial thing, was a very strong reminder that my world would never be the same. Everything was changing. Even Alexi. Sure, he’d done it before once or twice, but it was such a rarity that it blazed in my mind as a stark reminder that the one constant in life was change.

Where would it end? How far would all of this take me? My mind was whirling in a fog… no, in a blizzard. Just like that awful dream, my mind was lost in a furious blanket of driving snow and i
ce and howling wind.

The more time that passed, the more helpless I felt. All the training, all the preparation – it seemed I was spinning my wheels or even taking two steps backward for every one I took in the right direction.

I had visions, but they were sporadic. Sometimes helpful, yes, but incredibly frustrating when I couldn’t manage to decipher their meaning.

I had all of these abilities, but it seemed like I would never master them fully, and no amount of practice seemed to help like I hoped it
would.

It’s a truly lonely feeling to know that those around you could be in danger, and your own life was hanging in the balance, but there was next to nothing you could do to prevent any of it.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread, but also with renewed vigor. It was a maddening combination that raged inside me, battling for control of my emotions.

In the end, I made a promise to myself that no matter what happened I wouldn’t give up. I would fi
ght; I would train; I would stop at nothing to make sure my friends and family didn’t have to suffer.

Sleeping was nearly impossible. I needed rest, but I also hoped that I might have another dream that could help in some way. Maybe I could figure out wher
e this snowy place was, or what we were doing there. At the very least I hoped to find out if this were just a standard dream or if it were a vision, because I really had no way to know for sure. It felt real, but I just couldn’t be certain.

The following
morning I had decided to skip breakfast and jump straight into training. There was just too much I needed to learn and we had no idea how much time we would have to prepare. Alexi had originally thought Dmitri would be busy with other things for a while, but now that we believed we knew his motives, it made the situation much more unpredictable and vastly more volatile.

There was still a chance we were wrong about his motives, but I had the feeling this wasn’t the case. What else could be motivating him so
powerfully? It could have been purely the insanity caused by practicing dark magic, but his actions were too purposeful… too controlled.

Perhaps he’d learned to harness the power of dark magic without being taken over by it, as I had been. Even now I coul
d feel the darkness surging inside me from time to time. Its pull was an ever-looming threat that I was afraid I would never fully shake. It lurked inside me like a panther crouching in the darkness, waiting to pounce at my weakest moment.

Had Dmitri some
how learned to overcome this? Or perhaps he was using it to his advantage? No, I had to shake that thought from my head entirely. These thoughts must be the darkness inside me tempting me into thinking I could somehow control it.

“Alice?”

The voice startled me and I whirled around to see Max standing behind me in the foyer. I gasped and dashed into his arms, squeezing him so tightly he grunted as he chuckled at the greeting.

“Max! It’s so good to see you! How have you been? What are you doing here?” I bab
bled excitedly.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” he laughed. “I’ve been doing fine. I’m here to help. Alexi called for the hunters help, and here I am! There are more on the way.”

It was then that I noticed the mousy little brunette standing behind him. She smiled shyly as she noticed me eyeing her.

“Who’s this?” I asked.

“This is Denise, my girlfriend,” he answered, stepping aside.

Denise blushed and peeked up at me through a haze of bangs and extended her hand. I took it with only a bit of apprehension as I sized
her up.

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

“Same to you, Alice,” she said, though I could barely hear her soft little voice. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good, I hope,” I said. It was cliché, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Oh, yes! Max tells me you’re a great person.”

Now it was my burn to blush. I guess she wasn’t so bad. If Max liked her, she had to have
some
redeeming qualities.

“Well, make yourself at home,” I told her. “You’re among friends.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Max, your
old room is still like you left it,” I said. “Are you going to… um… share… or will Denise be…”

“We’ll share,”
Max said quickly.

Denise flushed all the way to her ears and dropped her head even lower. I could see the tip of her nose behind her bangs, but
little else. I thought I heard her giggle softly.

“Well, you guys go ahead and make yourselves at home,” I said. “I’m sure Alexi will want to talk to you soon. Max, do you want to show Denise around?”

“Sure, I’ll do that now,” he said, taking her hand.

The
y passed by me and I said, “Oh, Max?”

He paused and turned his head toward me.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” I told him with a smile.

“Me, too,” he returned my smile.

Then I watched him pulling Denise along as he took her to show her the compound. I shook my head, questioning his decision to bring such a meek little thing into the midst of this war, but I shrugged. It was his responsibility, after all.

“There you are!” Liam called as he jogged down the stairs. “Alexi will kill me!”

“Oh, good grief,” I said. “I’m so tired of you guys hovering over me all the time.”

“Was that Max?” Liam asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I didn’t know Alexi had called the hunters in.”

“He figured he better warn them that Dmitri was planning to wipe them out,” Liam said. “When they heard
what was happening, they offered to join us. Strength in numbers.”

“Good idea,” I said. “I’m actually relieved to have them.”

“Me, too,” Liam agreed.

“Do you want to jump right into training?” I asked.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

“No, I’m not really hungr
y,” I replied. “I just wanted to get straight to training. I don’t want to waste any time.”

“You know Alexi will throw a fit if you don’t eat,” Liam chastised me.

“He doesn’t have to know,” I moaned.

“I know everything, darling,” Alexi’s voiced called down
from upstairs.

I craned my neck to look up at him as he peered admonishingly from on high and I sighed.

“Yes, it seems you do,” I groaned.

“Eat,” he ordered me.

“Fine,” I relented, and I noticed him smile faintly as I was turning my head away.

I might be
Chancellor,
I thought,
but apparently it’s in name, only. Must be one of those honorary titles.

As I entered the dining hall, I heard Alexi telling Liam, “See that she eats enough to keep her strength up.”

“You got it,” Liam said.

I headed to the window an
d ordered some toast and an apple with orange juice. I wanted something quick.

“Give her some scrambled eggs and bacon, too,” Liam ordered.

“I don’t want any…”

“Alexi wants you to have plenty of protein,” Liam interrupted me.

“Now he’s controlling what I eat, too?” I whined. “You can’t be serious.”

“He’s just trying to look out for you,” Liam said.

“Even my own mother wasn’t this controlling,” I grumbled.

“Deal with it,” Liam snapped.

“Who peed in your oatmeal?” I asked.

“Sorry, I guess I’m as frustrated wi
th Alexi’s orders as you are,” he admitted.

“But you’re right, he is just trying to look out for me,” I said. “For all of us.”

We stood in silence for a few minutes and my tray appeared in the window. I grabbed it and sat at the nearest table.

“Aren’t you
eating?” I asked him.

“I ate hours ago,” he said.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Here I was thinking I was up early and I was letting you and Alexi sleep in!” I snickered.

“Alexi got up right after you, but I’d been up fo
r a while,” Liam said. “Hurry up and eat, we have work to do.”

I choked down my breakfast and returned the tray, and we went straight downstairs to train.

“Let’s work on your weather control,” Liam suggested.

“But I can’t really control it indoors,” I rem
inded him.

“That’s exactly my point,” he said. “You need to learn to. It’s a really powerful ability, but it’s one you haven’t mastered.”

I shrugged and said, “Okay.”

We pushed the furniture safely against the walls, and Liam stood at the other end of the long, dark classroom.