We Shall Rise (39 page)

It had been so long since he had any time to himself. His whole life was about being a supporting actor in his brother’s life story. This time, he was doing something for himself. He was putting his needs first. He didn’t say goodbye to Yasmine or Anastasia. He left Anastasia a note, a cowardly move he knew, but a necessary one as she would not have let him leave without her. Taking her along would have been a disaster. A sexually pleasurable disaster, but a disaster nonetheless.

In one more hour, he would be onboard the plane and at least for a little while, free. Best laid plans, he moaned as he smelled the familiar scent of Kaden. Even now, he was still his brother’s prisoner. Kaden couldn’t even give him the courtesy of letting him leave in peace. He told him a month ago that they were through. Fortunately, Kaden had been so distracted with Reysa that Julian had finally felt free of him, but here he was again turning up just in time to ruin Julian’s peace.

“You couldn’t even give me this, brother,” Julian spoke, his voice low and cold. “I ask so little of you and yet you can’t even grant me this one wish.”

Kaden sat beside him on the bench. “I didn’t come here to ruin your trip. I just came to say goodbye, Jules. I couldn’t let you walk away without a goodbye.” Kaden had learned of Julian’s planned departure through his mother. Part of him thought to stay away, but he couldn’t. A lot had changed for him this past month but the one painful constant was this persistent rift between him and his younger brother. Kaden could not deny the depth of hurt it caused him every day and knowing that it was his fault.

“Then goodbye Kaden,” Julian said as he stood up and walked away.

Kaden followed grabbing Julian’s shoulder and stopping him from leaving. “Okay, I wanted to say more than goodbye.”

“I’ve heard the heartfelt apologies and everything else you had to say. What do you want from me, Kaden? An absolution? I can’t give it to you. Not now. If you care about me at all, then let me go.”

Kaden shook his head in frustration. He didn’t want to let Julian go, but he knew he owed him this if this is what he wanted. “I love you,
fratellino
. I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for, but take it from me, running doesn’t solve anything because the same problems will be here when you return.”

“Is that your warning that you’ll be waiting for me when I get back?” Julian sniped.

Kaden ignored the dig. “I’ll always be here for you, but I’m not the problem this time. It’s those two women at my house. The one which you can’t keep your hands off and the one you can’t touch. As someone who has made a career of screwing up relationships, I beg you not to make my mistakes. Be honest about what you want and fight for it. Don’t settle for less. Otherwise, you will end up hurting the one you love.”

“You would know all about that, but I’m not you. Don’t compare me to you, ever. I’m not using anyone or lying or deceiving. I’ve been honest with Anastasia from day one. She knows the score.”

“Her brain might, but her heart may not. Just because she is a siren, that doesn’t mean it’s just sex for her,” Kaden warned. “I don’t think it’s just sex for you either.”

Julian knew he was right, but he would not concede that small victory to Kaden. “Point well taken. Now it’s time to go.” Kaden released Julian who started to walk away.

Julian paused as he sensed the presence of something dark and lethal. He turned to Kaden who gave him a puzzled expression. Everything around them became frozen in time as if the world had completely stopped except for them.

“What is this?” Kaden asked as he surveyed the humans trapped in time.

Julian motioned to the right where the side paneling of the wall began to shake. They watched as a horned being emerged holding a small pistol directed towards Kaden.

“Remember me?” the being asked Kaden, its glittering black eyes focusing intently on him.

Kaden stared at the demon trying to recall where he had seen this pale frail looking horned creature. Then he remembered. The Lore. He had seen the demon there over a month ago. “I remember. I stole your beer and you ran away like a coward.”

The demon laughed. “I’m not running this time although maybe you should,” the demon goaded positioning the gun so that it pointed at Kaden’s heart.

“You’re going to shoot me because I took your drink?” Kaden frowned. “Look dude, I’ll buy you a keg if you like.”

The demons black eyes darkened further until they were the color of a starless night. “I’m going to kill you not because you took my drink, but because you and your kind have taken everything from me, from my people. You have beaten, raped, tortured, pillaged, and destroyed us for centuries. I am going to kill you because all of you leeches deserve to die. You deserve to suffer just as you have made us suffer for centuries, for millenniums. I am going to kill you, all of you.”

“Who are you?” Kaden demanded although he knew the answer. This demon reeked of ELM.

“My friends call me Adam, but you can all me your angel of death.”

The demon fired a bullet from the revolver aimed at Kaden’s heart. Julian shoved Kaden out the way and tried to freeze the bullet before it could penetrate, but the bullet was too fast and tore into his heart latching on to his life force.

Julian collapsed in his brother’s arms. Kaden could tell that it wasn’t a silver bullet as Julian would not have survived the shot to the heart, but Kaden had the dreaded feeling that it was just as deadly. Julian knew it as well.

“It’s poisonous,” Julian moaned, as his face paled to an ashen deathly shade.

A panicked Kaden faced the gloating demon who smiled in delight at the sight of Kaden sitting in a pool of his brother’s blood. As he faded back into the wall, he warned, “we shall rise and one by one you bloodsuckers and beasts will fall.”

J.E. Hopkins is a practicing attorney in New York and an avid fiction writer. Hopkins holds a Juris Doctor from St. John's University and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University.

J.E. Hopkins published her first novel, The Broken, in 2007. For more information about this author and upcoming works, please visit
www.jehopkinsauthor.com
.