We Shall Rise Read Free Page B

how to let go. Will you help me?”
    Reysa sighed in relief. He was not angry as she feared he would react. His voice was so heartbreakingly saddened. He was like a lost child waiting to be found but no one ever stopped to help him. Reysa vowed to be the one to help him find his way. She gently touched Julian’s face. “We’ll help each other,” she promised as she kissed him on the cheek.
    Reysa noticed the sweat beading on Julian’s forehead before she felt her own body begin to swelter. Although it was in the mid-nineties, vampires were not typically affected by the weather.
    Suddenly Reysa was overwhelmed by a sudden intense stifling heat that made it difficult to breathe. She looked at Julian who didn’t seem to be the least surprised by the abrupt heat wave. Before she could ask, she felt him. She could feel the heat of his eyes on her. She slowly turned to face those jade eyes she normally loved to see, but now glimmered a violent shade as flames surrounded his pupils.
    The temperature started to decrease again which seemed to annoy Kaden further. Those furious eyes were now focused on Julian who no longer seemed to be bothered by the heat. He was countering the intense heat with an arctic blast that sent chills down Reysa’s right side, while her left still sweltered from the inferno Kaden had unleashed.
    Fire and ice—Kaden and Julian. Vampire brothers who were so opposite that it was hard to believe the same blood flowed through their veins.
    They were two predators ready to attack waiting for the slightest provocation. Reysa had witnessed such a scene before. The fire and ice show nearly resulted in Helena’s escape, but fortunately, her incubus brother Liam killed her before she could hurt anyone else. Another nice set of siblings, Reysa thought. Was she the only one who actually liked her sibling?
    Reysa snapped back into focus as she watched Kaden swirl a ball of fire which seemed to grow larger and larger with every spin of his hand. Julian responded in kind creating what looked like an ultra-sharp ice blade. The volcano was about to erupt in a blaze of fire and ice.
    “Enough with the testosterone display!” Reysa demanded. Both brothers looked at her curiously. “Seriously guys, are you compensating for something? This is a childish game of my balls are bigger than yours. Both of you are trying to outdo the other with your powers. It’s silly and immature. Now that you’ve both showed off your special powers, can you stop now? You’re killing me here. Part of me needs to defrost and the other part is melting. Thank God vampires don’t catch human illnesses otherwise I would have pneumonia thanks to you clowns and your supersized egos.”
    Surprisingly, Kaden withdrew the heat immediately leaving Reysa a shivering mess from Julian’s frost. “J-Jules, ssstop the bbbblizzard,” Reysa asked as her teeth chattered. Julian was too shocked from Kaden’s unexpected capitulation to respond quickly enough. Before he could act, Kaden grabbed Reysa and held her tightly in his arms instantly warming her. She melted in his grasp partly relieved from the cold, but mostly comforted from finally being in the arms her body craved to feel.
    Julian ceased the cold, but Kaden did not let go of Reysa. He couldn’t let her go. Seeing her with his brother was worse than any torture he had suffered in his life including his father’s special brand of torment.
    He could not help but finally understand how much his affair with Helena hurt Julian. As much as he regretted causing that pain, he could not allow his brother to seek his revenge by taking Reysa from him. Kaden could not have Reysa, but he would not allow his brother to have her either. She would not become the pawn they used to best the other.
    Kaden was unaccustomed to such feelings of jealousy and possessiveness, but his mind instinctively knew to protect what was his even if he wasn’t willing to be with her. Julian might be the better choice for her