Lover's Betrayal: Misfits of the Lore Series (7 page)

Julian was beyond frustrated, but he could not fight these women, neither physically nor verbally. “Fine. You win. You both win. We will play this your way. At this point, I need a break. If you guys want to keep coming up with alternative theories, go right ahead. I can’t do this anymore right now. I’m tired of trying to make you see the truth. You both think that I’m just some jealous younger brother who wants to punish the favored son, but you have no idea what Kaden has done to me, nor does either of you really care. You think I’m blind, but so are you two. You see what you want to see in him. I’ve seen the real him. I’ve watched him destroy what matters to me as if it were nothing, just because he could. Kaden is miserable and he won’t let me be happy. He makes sure all happiness is removed from my life before I have a chance to revel in it. That’s the type of boy your precious Kaden is. Do I sit here and brood about Kaden? Yes, because he takes away everything good in my life and leaves me with memories of what could have been. Why do I not go out and live my life? It would be a waste of time. Just more ammunition for Kaden to shoot me with. Does part of me want Kaden to be guilty? Yes, because maybe if he were finally gone, I could finally live.”

II

Julian stormed out of the cellar, slamming the door behind him. Corinne shortly followed while Olivia remained in the study contemplating Julian’s words. She knew her boys’ relationship was far from seamless, but she never realized the depth of suffering Julian endured. She wished she knew more about what happened between her boys, but neither would give her any details.

They were so close at one point. Only ten years apart, the two of them did everything together. Olivia remembered the tree house they built when Kaden was thirteen and Julian had just turned three. They would not let anyone help them. They worked together day and night until they built this special place in the oak tree near their estate. Kaden patiently taught Julian how to construct their hideout, and the final product was something to admire.

Kaden used this tree house as a place to keep his younger brother safe. He was so protective of Julian. He would never allow anyone to harm him, including Daughton. Kaden was more of a father to him than Daughton. The two were inseparable as children and now they could barely be civil to one another. Olivia regretted not doing more sooner to help heal this relationship before it fell apart.

Lost in her thoughts, she had not realized that nearly two hours had passed. She felt Julian’s return as he opened the study door. He was carrying a tray with three goblets of his favorite blood type and some sandwiches.

“I thought you and Aunt Cori might be hungry, so I brought a snack,” Julian said as he placed the tray on the coffee table.

Olivia could barely restrain her emotions. Julian had been so angry with her and Corinne just a few hours ago, but that had not stopped him from making sure they both had everything they needed. Despite Julian’s frustration, he was still the sweet boy who used to bring her breakfast in bed and would do everything he could to make her smile when she was unable to drag herself out of bed. Julian was a natural nurturer and caretaker.

One morning after Daughton had attacked her, she could barely move as she lay in bed waiting for her body to heal or for God to show her mercy and free her from this immortal prison. She knew Corinne would take care of the boys, giving her time to be alone. Julian had other plans in mind. She felt him as he approached the door. For several minutes, he just stood out there, not making a sound. He was probably afraid to enter, but she could say nothing to ease his fears. She hoped he would walk away and not see her in this weakened state, but Julian was determined to see her even if fear tried to hold him back. A few moments later, there was a gentle knock on the door.

“Come in, Julian.” Olivia spoke so softly that Julian could barely hear. He cautiously opened the door and peered inside. When he saw Olivia’s face, his fears subsided and he smiled that bright illuminating grin that always eased the ache in Olivia’s heart. He crouched down to pick up a tray that smelled of French toast and bacon. Olivia’s favorite.

“I made you breakfast,” he said as he struggled with the golden tray that was larger than his slight frame. He placed the tray on the table by her bed. There were several roses on the tray which Olivia knew Julian had picked from her garden. One of them was purple. He picked up that one and handed it to Olivia. “Aunt Cori helped me make this rose purple so that it would match your eyes.”

“Thank you, my love,” Olivia cried.

“Don’t be sad, Mama. I hate it when you’re sad. I can make you feel better.”

“Olivia reached for Julian and held him tightly in her arms. You’ll never know how happy you make me. I love you so much, mio bambino.”

“Hey, I’m a big boy now,” Julian pouted. “Soon I’ll be a man and I can take care of you.”

“Of course you are, my darling, but to me, you will always be my baby no matter how big you are.”

Julian smiled and hugged his mother again. “I love you, Mama.” He stayed with her all afternoon until Olivia had the strength to rise.

“Mother, are you there?” Julian asked. When she did not respond he walked over to her and gently grabbed her hand. “Mom, are you ok?”

Olivia was lost in her memories and did not hear Julian call her until he suddenly appeared before her. She looked into his concerned eyes and she could still see the little boy he once was—the little boy who wanted to take all her pain away.

“My apologies. I was just remembering something and I spaced out for a moment. What were you saying?”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s just eat.”

Olivia was not very hungry as her stomach was still unsettled, but she would eat the food Julian prepared, as she did when he was a child. The two ate in silence, Julian frequently glancing at her trying to detect if something was wrong. Olivia knew how to pretend that all was well. She spent her entire marriage pretending.

Olivia did not want to focus on her own woes. Julian was suffering and she wanted nothing more than to help heal her son’s wounds. She knew he would resist talking to her, but she hoped to break down his walls while they still had time.

“Julian, I want to talk to you about what you said earlier. I want to understand what happened between you and Kaden. Maybe there’s something I can do to help if you let me help you.”

Julian growled, pushing his plate of food to the side. The last thing he wanted was a heart to heart with his mother about Kaden. He wanted a break from Kaden. “Does everything have to be about Kaden? Why can’t we just sit here and talk about other things? I haven’t seen you in five years, and all you want to talk about is Kaden. Can you just pretend to take an interest in my life for even a moment?”

Olivia moved to sit closer to Julian. She grabbed his hand and clutched it tightly. “I’m so sorry. After what you said earlier, I just thought that you needed to get some more stuff off your chest and I wanted to be there for you. We certainly don’t have to talk about your brother. I would love to talk about your life. I really want to know about you. You say so little in your phone calls.”

Julian sighed. He opened the door to this conversation and now it was too late to avoid it. “The sad thing is that there isn’t much to say.”

“I don’t believe that. Tell me about your photography, your other hobbies, your love life.” Julian could not hide is blush.

“Ah, maybe we should talk about Kaden after all.”

“Too late. I want to talk about mio bambino.”

Julian told Olivia about his passion for photography and his many travels around the world to capture unique moments. He had always loved photography. Olivia had bought him his first camera, which he still had even though it had stopped working many years ago.

He recently returned from a trip to Thimpu, Bhutan where he had lived for nearly two years. He enthusiastically relayed stories about his experiences with the natives, and the two vampires he met there who were Bhikkhus, Buddhist monks. They traveled to different parts of Southeast Asia every twenty years or so to protect their identities, but they always returned to Bhutan, their Nirvana.

Julian showed Olivia his pictures from Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet. Olivia was in awe of not only Julian’s exceptional skills, but the beauty of these countries that she had never visited, and now, would likely never see.

“Julian this is amazing. These places are like a dream. I can’t imagine such a world. I thought I’d seen so much, but never anything like this.”

“Well, these places are not perfect. There’s a lot of poverty and other issues, but the people and cultures are fascinating. You should really see this one day.” Julian paused. “In fact, if you want, maybe you can come with me the next time I go?”

Julian’s eyes betrayed his unease about Olivia’s answer. He was reaching out to her and waiting for rejection. Olivia knew she would never have the strength or time for such a journey and she regretted that, but she wanted Julian to know how much she would have loved to take such a trip with him.

“I would love to, more than you know. Are you sure you want to travel with your mother?” Olivia teased.

“Well, considering you look more like my sister, it wouldn’t be too embarrassing. As long as you don’t lecture me about what to wear or try to comb my hair, I think we’ll be okay.” They both laughed. Olivia had not laughed like that in years. She could not recall the last time she had shared such a moment with Julian. She was still shocked that he invited her. Could there finally be peace between them?

Olivia paused and faced the door.

“Mother, what’s wrong?” Julian asked.

“What could possibly be wrong now that I’m home?” That deep voice laced with malice could belong to only one person. Kaden.

Olivia could feel the tension as soon as Julian spotted his brother. The room was getting colder and colder as Julian’s body temperature continued to rapidly drop. Julian’s gift of ice was beginning to surface. As Julian’s temperature dropped, Kaden’s increased in response as smoke began to radiate from his skin. Fire and ice—they were truly opposites. Olivia knew the only way to ease the tension was to calm Julian before he gave Kaden a reason to attack. Kaden’s green eyes had darkened to nearly black and the penetrating stare directed at Julian was a clear sign that he would attack if given the slightest opening.

Julian was no weakling, but Kaden was older and naturally more lethal. The boys used to play fight as children. Kaden trained Julian to defend himself against other immortals. Julian was smaller than Kaden, but what he lacked in strength he made up with in tenacity. He was a determined opponent who knew his limitations and continually improved his strengths. Julian could never get the upper hand on Kaden, but as he aged, his intellect proved to be an effective weapon. Olivia wondered if Julian would be a more equal opponent to Kaden now, but she did not want to chance it. Olivia never doubted that Kaden would not hurt Julian when they sparred as children, but now she could not be sure. There was too much animosity between them and it would be easy for one of them to lose control and do something that they all would regret. Olivia had to defuse the situation before the spark ignited and exploded what was left of this broken family.

Olivia laid a gentle hand on Julian’s arm to calm him. He initially tensed and growled at her as he turned to look at her. Olivia did not waver. She gently stroked his hair as she had when he was a child. The comforting gesture seemed to warm him enough that the frigid temperature began to subside. Julian’s features softened again and he took several deep breaths to ease his fragile temper. Olivia squeezed Julian’s arm and smiled at him, assuring him that she was pleased that he let go of the anger, at least for the moment. She could not help but wonder how her boys had managed to coexist in this house the last few weeks with all this rage a hair-trigger from igniting.

Kaden seemed to calm down as well, as his eyes returned to jade. He focused his attention on Olivia. Unlike Julian’s greeting, Kaden raced over to her, practically lifting her off the couch to embrace her. “Mia madre. It’s so good to see you.”

Olivia could not help but smile even though she could barely breathe in Kaden’s arms. “Sweetie, it’s good to see you as well, but if you don’t loosen your arms I’ll pass out,” Olivia choked. Kaden immediately let her go.

“Sorry for the chokehold. I didn’t expect you to be here and I was a little too enthusiastic.”

“No apologies necessary. No mother would complain about her son’s happiness to see her.” Olivia hugged Kaden again. Julian walked over to his desk and sat down. Kaden held Olivia tightly and smirked at Julian. The look was a reminder to Julian of who was the favored son.

“So what brings you here, Madre?” Kaden grinned that infectious smile that could charm anyone to give him what he wanted.

Before Olivia could respond, Julian interrupted, “I asked her to come and help me deal with the mess you’re making.”

“What mess would that be, fratellino?” Kaden knew how much Julian hated to be called fratellino, little brother, so he called him that frequently when he wanted to make a point. It could be considered a term of endearment, but Kaden certainly did not use it as such, nor did Julian receive it in that manner. For Julian, this was another way for Kaden to show he was stronger, more powerful—Kaden the superior brother, while Julian was the inferior little brother.

“Your new hobby of killing innocent women after you screw them.”

“Julian!” Olivia gasped. Kaden knew Julian was trying to get him to blow up in front of their mother. He could see her on edge, waiting for his reaction. Julian always wanted her to see his dark side, but he would not give him the satisfaction. He would not take the bait and unleash his more venomous persona. Playing it cool would make Julian look like the jealous fool. He would not pass up on an opportunity to turn the tables on his brother.

“I haven’t tried that hobby yet. That’s not really my style. Carpentry is my true hobby, as you well know. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely a fan of screwing, but killing my women after would not amuse me enough. Where’s the fun in that?”