Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance by Tara Shuler Read Free Book Online Page A

age,
they lose them. Sometimes they’re lost irrevocably, but not always.
I’m hopeful!”
    I was ambivalent. On one hand, I wanted Kai
to be able to take care of himself when I couldn’t. But on the
other hand, I didn’t want him involved in any of these issues. I
wished I could send him away somewhere safe, so he wouldn’t be
affected by all of the calamities that seemed to befall me at every
turn.
    The look on my face must have spoken to my
mixed feelings, because Kai asked, “What’s wrong? I thought you’d
be happy.”
    “No, I am, Kai. I’m just worried about you. I
wish you weren’t caught up in all of this.”
    “I’m exactly where I want to be,” he said,
taking my hands and looking into my eyes. “There is nowhere else
I’d rather be. I belong with you.”
    “And I want that, Kai. I just want to be with
you. I wish it could be just you and me, and I wish Max and Alexi
weren’t in love with me. I don’t like hurting them, but it’s you I
want to…”
    “Alice?” I heard Alexi call through the door,
his voice anxious.
    I dropped Kai’s hands and opened the door.
Hillary was stirring in Alexi’s arms, and I touched her hand,
lulling her back to sleep. Alexi’s mouth was turned down at the
corners.
    “How long have you been out here?” I asked
him.
    “Long enough,” he replied coolly.
    “You’ve been listening to our conversation?”
I asked him incredulously.
    “No, I was not intending to listen,” he
explained. “I followed you up here, because I said I would not
leave you alone, and because I needed you close by in case Hillary
woke up.”
    “Oh,” I said. “But you heard…”
    “It is nothing I have not known all along,”
he interrupted.
    “I’m sorry,” I whispered, touching his arm
gently.
    Alexi ignored me, and he said, “You should
get some sleep, darling. We have a long day ahead of us
tomorrow.”
    “What about Hillary?” I asked. “I can’t sleep
if I have to…”
    “I will be staying with you tonight, of
course,” Alexi interjected. “I will wake you whenever Hillary
awakens. Galen is already on a flight. He should be here tomorrow
afternoon, but you need to get some sleep tonight.”
    “What about you? You need to sleep, too,” I
argued.
    “I will be fine,” Alexi assured me.
    “We can take shifts,” Liam offered, and I
turned to see him headed toward us. “I can take the first one.”
    “I am not leaving her,” Alexi said, as if the
matter wasn’t open for discussion.
    “Fine, why don’t we both stay in here
tonight?” Liam asked. “We can take shifts staying awake to watch
Hillary, and the other can sleep in the chair.”
    Alexi thought for a moment, and then
relented.
    “Alright, but I am taking first shift,” Alexi
said.
    I took a shower and changed into fresh
pajamas, which Kai had picked out from a communal clothes closet at
the compound. They were warm and soft. He knew me so well.
    I snuggled into the soft bed and pulled the
blankets securely around me. Kai had already kissed me goodnight
and left for his own room across the hall. Liam held Hillary while
Alexi sat beside me. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face
and caressed my cheek gently.
    “Sleep well, my love,” he whispered. “I will
be right here when you wake up.”
    I nodded, and he kissed me on the forehead
and took Hillary away from Liam. Liam smiled at me, and I gave him
a tired smile as exhaustion overtook me and I faded quickly into
sleep.

Chapter Four – Decisions
     
    “Alice?” Liam’s voice roused me from my
sleep.
    “Mmm?” I mumbled groggily.
    “Alice, it’s Hillary,” Liam said.
    Absent-mindedly, I reached over and touched
her arm to lull her back to sleep.
    “Thanks,” he whispered. “You can go back to
sleep.”
    I looked over at Alexi sleeping uncomfortably
in the chair in the corner. His head hung at a weird angle, and I
knew his neck must be hurting in that position. He never seemed to
sleep anywhere other than a chair in the corner