Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance by Tara Shuler Page A

skeptically.
    “Still, how does this mean it’s ‘destiny’ as you
    say?” I asked.
    “Not only did my father see it, but I feel it,” he
    said, taking my hand and placing it on his chest.
    “In here.”
    “Alexi…” I whispered.
    “Yes, Alice?”
    “In the warehouse… when you were…” I
    gulped, unable to speak.
    “Yes?”
    “When you were dying,” I said at last. “I felt
    like I was dying, too.”
    He nodded. “Every time you feel pain, I feel it,
    too. I always have. We are deeply connected in a
    way neither of us can truly understand. Now that
    I’ve found you, I will always be here.”
    “But, what about Kai and Max?” I asked. “I
    can’t just abandon them.”
    “I feel that, too,” he sighed. “I was hoping to
    get to you before you… fell for anyone. I was
    too late – by two times, it seems.”
    I winced.
    “I love them.”
    He nodded again.
    “I know. I feel it,” he said, with a deep sadness
    in his voice.
    “I’m sorry, Alexi,” I told him. “I can’t help
    how I feel.”
    “I know. I don’t expect you to.”
    “So… where does that leave us?” I asked. “If
    you think we’re going to be married someday,
    where do they fit in?”
    “Alice,” he said seriously. “Listen to me. I
    don’t want to own you. I don’t want to control
    you. I will never do that to you. I only want you
    to be happy, no matter what it may cost me.”
    “So, you’re saying…”
    “I’m saying that even if it kills me, I will never
    stop you from being with someone else if that is
    what you choose. Whatever makes you happy.”
    “I want to ask you something,” I said.
    “What is it?”
    “I remember just before I passed out in the
    warehouse, you said something. I think it was
    ‘Grace’. What did that mean?”
    “Grace is the name we have for the gift of
    healing,” he explained. “I’ve never met anyone
    with it. I’ve only heard tales. It’s extremely rare. I
    never expected you might have it. You have so
    many gifts.”
    “You have quite a few,” I reminded him.
    “Yes, but yours have been dormant all your
    life,” he said. “When abilities aren’t used, they
    tend to weaken or disappear altogether. Yours
    were
    latent,
    but
    they
    certainly
    haven’t
    diminished.”
    “Is it true they could kill me?” I asked.
    He nodded solemnly.
    “They might, indeed. You must learn to
    control them, Alice. If you don’t, they could kill
    you someday.”
    “Why?”
    “Yours are some of the most powerful
    abilities I’ve ever seen,” he said. “As an Elder,
    I’ve trained hundreds of vampires and hunters to
    harness their gifts correctly. I’ve never seen
    anything even close to you.”
    “How did I not know I could do these
    things?” I asked.
    “It works that way sometimes,” he shrugged.
    “No one knows why. Most of the time, the gifts
    are present from a young age. Other times, they
    manifest later in life, but those are almost always
    weakened.”
    “Any theories as to why mine are so powerful
    even though I haven’t used them?”
    “Only one,” he said.
    “And?”
    “I think you’re such a good, kind person – you
    have so much love in your heart – and that love,
    that desire to protect others, has kept your latent
    abilities strong. Your gifts are all designed to
    protect and heal others.”
    “But I touched you and I hurt you,” I said,
    remembering the day in the clearing when I
    caused him to slump to the ground with a single
    touch. “I hurt you , Alexi.”
    “No, love,” he said gently. “It wasn’t painful. I
    simply went to sleep. So you see, even when you
    incapacitate someone, it’s done gently and
    lovingly.”
    “Oh, fine,” I joked. “So I ‘lovingly’
    incapacitated you!”
    “It sounds so bizarre when you say it that
    way,” he chuckled.
    “It is bizarre,” I corrected him.
    “No,” he argued softly. “It’s beautiful.”
    His hand went up to caress my cheek. I
    reached up to take his hood away, but