Juliette smacked him on the shoulder and then asked, “When we leave, will we ever see you again?”
“You will. Kade, probably not, since he could never pick up on us.”
~~~~~
The seven still track Judgment Day. They know where it is, so they protect the one who has it. I pray whoever it is never puts the damn thing around his or her neck.
The men are gone a lot, and when they are, the house is terribly quiet. But that’s when Juliette and I steal away to our room and idle away the hours. I didn’t think it was possible to love her any more than I did, but my love for her is like a seed. When it happened, it took root, and each day, with care and attention, the roots grow deeper and expand, bringing me more joy than I ever thought possible.
When I look back, I reflect on how I would’ve been so different if Langston hadn’t raised me. But sometimes you have to fall and fall hard before you can rise. And other times it takes someone like Juliette to help you rise. It did for me. Langston may have been to blame for the fall, but Juliette is responsible for the rise of Kade Hart.
And Then Some
Serena Callahan
For as long as she could remember, Serena Callahan wanted to learn how to SCUBA dive. She’d first fallen in love with the idea when she watched her little goldfish swim around in their bowl, but it wasn’t until she saw the movie The Little Mermaid that she became obsessed with it.
Only Serena had a problem. She was the youngest of three children and had been born twenty years too late to aging parents that didn’t care a whit about her. She grew up isolated within her own household, ignored, unloved, and unwanted.
Serena would dream about what her life would be like when she grew up. She would live by the sea, spend her time underwater talking to sea creatures, until she grew old and died.
But she knew she had to have a plan. So she took a nosedive—right into her schoolwork. It wasn’t that difficult. She had no friends. All the girls made fun of her because she wore grossly outdated clothing that were hand me downs from her older sisters. They smelled like mothballs and were stained and moth-eaten from being stored in the old attic for so many years. And boys—well, they were equally bad, cutting off chunks of her hair in class and writing nasty words on the back of her ugly blouses. Serena learned to ignore them, shut them out.
She lived in a world inside of her own head.
When it came time to apply to college, her test scores were unreal, and her high grades ensured her acceptance to the best of universities. But there was one obstacle. Her parents wanted her to stay home to care for them. They were older now and needed her assistance.
Guilt almost kept her there, until a kind and perceptive counselor at school persuaded her to accept a scholarship from Duke University. She explained that since Serena was now eighteen, she could legally live on her own. So it was after she graduated from high school that she left the confines of her parents’ home and moved to Durham, North Carolina to begin a new life. She got a job in the Marine Laboratory assisting research scientists, and with the money she saved, she took SCUBA classes and became PADI certified.
Serena took to SCUBA diving as if she’d been born a fish. The first day, when they instructed the students how to use the buoyancy control device, she was the only one that didn’t need assistance. She adjusted hers correctly to give her zero buoyancy in the water, so she neither floated to the surface nor sank to the bottom.
Then when they added the tank and regulator and told the students to breath naturally, Serena felt like she was on land. The first day they let the students stay under water the entire class, she had the most oxygen left in her tank. She was proud because her instructor told her it meant she was breathing normally and didn’t have any anxiety under water. She couldn’t wait for the day to take her certification exam. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was an equal to the other students. No one made fun of her, ridiculed her, or bullied her. She finally felt at home.
So, after Serena attained her BS degree and decided to work on her master’s, it was with monumental excitement that she took her first trip to the United States and British Virgin Islands with a diving group from the marine biology department. They would be collecting and gathering different species that were indigenous to the area and would study them to identify any mutations in response to environmental factors.
There were six students, professors, and masters candidates altogether. Serena would be writing a paper on her findings with the hope it would be published.
Several of the dives would be conducted during the night and they would be divided into teams of two. One team would be dropped off at one point and the other team at another. The boat would then come back to retrieve them an hour later.
As Serena was collecting samples that night, when she was getting ready to surface, she spied an unusual necklace, an oval-shaped, odd colored stone, suspended from a black chain. She stuffed it in her mesh bag, and then surfaced from her dive, intending to pay closer attention to her finding at a later time. She often found things while diving—jewelry, sunglasses, money, you name it. But this seemed special, different. But she might be wrong, because it was hard to tell sometimes under water.
When she arrived back at her hotel room, she was pleasantly surprised. The necklace was quite attractive. She decided she would box it up and take it home with her, hiding it amongst her other jewelry, and not claim it as a dive discovery.
The next morning, after Serena was dressed, she was on her way down to eat breakfast when she remembered her necklace. Grabbing it off the desk, she quickly put it with the rest of her jewelry, but what she couldn’t have known was she had just sealed her fate, a fate filled with danger that would lead her down a path she could never have anticipated.
The End
For Now
Epilogue (Contemporary Version)
Juliette
Three Months Later
Kade was right. Separating myself from the necklace broke the bond of my shadows. When we came home from our trip, I could no longer see them. For a week, maybe two, I would call to the one at night, but he never came. Until one night, I’d finally given up hope. I was outside with Ethel when I felt that familiar disturbance of air. He didn’t speak aloud like he did in the past. He brushed past me and filled my mind with a farewell. I got the sense that they were still out there somewhere, but since the necklace was no longer in my possession, my ability to recognize them had been taken away. The necklace had kept them tied to me. I still refuse to go out after dark, only traveling by car, and only with Kade.
At times I wonder what that necklace really meant and if my father was tangled up in some sort of organized crime. The best conclusion I can come up with is the Russian mob. I can’t for the life of me understand why my father would involve himself in something so shady and dark. He never seemed the type that would do something like that. I suppose I’ll never have the answer.
We decided to get married at Kade’s brother’s house in Charleston. They were gracious enough to plan everything for us and take care of all the arrangements.
The day we boarded the private jet that would fly us there, my nerves were on edge. The memories it evoked aren’t great ones. Kade pulled me close and reminded me that the past is the past and the future is our gift.
Our arrival in Charleston was amazing. A limousine whisked us off to a hotel suite, where every amenity awaited us. After we relaxed, another limo drove us to Kestrel and Carter’s house, and I immediately fell in love with Kade’s family. His brothers were warm and welcoming, and his sisters-in-law took me under their wings and treated me like they had known me forever. But the baby, Daniel, was so precious; I couldn’t seem to keep my hands off him. His chubby cheeks begged to be kissed and squeezed, and his giggles were contagious. Kade was equally smitten. He laughed at Kestrel because apparently Kestrel was never one who wanted children, but now he is the epitome of the perfect dad. Carter can’t lift a finger before Kestrel alr
eady completes the task.
“So, Kestrel, it looks like you’re a diaper pro,” Kade remarked.
“I have it down to less than thirty seconds. The little man here is very cooperative.”
Carter shook her head.
We spent an enjoyable evening together, and the girls told me what was in store for the next day, our wedding day. Carter showed me pictures of her wedding day and said she ordered flowers similar to the ones she and Kestrel had. Everything was set for six in the evening.
“So, Juliette, your honeymoon sounds awesome,” Gabby said.
“Yes. I’m super excited. I’ve never been to Europe before. Kade is the one who suggested the coasts of Spain and France. But Charleston would have been great too.”
Charleston is a wonderful city. It reminded of my hometown, New Orleans, except on a smaller scale.
Our wedding day dawned bright and beautiful, with not a cloud on the horizon. It was April and the weather was perfect. My dress was an ivory silk sheath with a lace overlay on the top. Kestrel walked me down the aisle and Kade didn’t break a smile. He looked so serious, it actually worried me a bit. But when we turned to face each other and say our vows, I knew why. He leaned into me and whispered, “I am the luckiest man alive. And it’s all because of you.”
I would’ve argued that he had that backwards, but then it would be tit for tat, and our vows took care of everything we needed to say to each other. The strange thing was, if all of that horror hadn’t happened, I never would’ve ended up in Denver, at St. John the Baptist, and Kade and I would never have met. Life works in odd ways sometimes. I can’t say I’m happy I lived through all of what I did, but I wouldn’t take Kade out of my life for anything. He said I’m responsible for lifting him up after his fall, but he’s my light and he chased away the darkness that haunted my existence. I often wonder where I would be if it hadn’t been for him. I don’t ever want to find out the answer to that.
After we returned to Denver from our honeymoon, Kade told me he had a surprise for me. We got in his truck and drove to the cemetery. When we arrived, he escorted me to a giant headstone. On it read: In loving memory of Christopher, Kathleen, and Sylvie Bressan. May they rest in peace.
I was speechless. My hands ran over the words, touched their names, and then I cried. It had been a while since I’d thought of them. But the idea of a memorial to them had never crossed my mind. That Kade thought of it meant so much to me. “Thank you. This means more to me than you’ll ever know.” And I pressed myself against him, knowing I’d never want to let him go.
In my dreams, when I’m unusually tired, I still hear the voice of my shadow telling me to take care at night. I sense he is angry that I tossed the necklace into the sea. We argue back and forth, but then I wake up and laugh at myself. I’ve always been one to have crazy dreams, so I’m sure this experience has only added to them. Sometimes my dreams are of my family, of how I found them, and I wake up terrified. But Kade is there to calm me and pull me back to the present.
As for my shadows, as time passes, I wonder if I really did see them or if they were something my stressed brain conjured up. Kade insists they were real, as real as their footprints in the snow and the necklace I threw into the sea. All I know is my family died for some unknown reason and I’ll have to settle for the fact that I’ll never find out why.
A Note From The Author
Thank you so much for reading The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart. I hope you enjoyed this not-your-run-of-the-mill-romantic-suspense. Over the last year I’ve gotten so many requests to write another Guardian-like series that it got my wheels spinning. I thought about how it would be to introduce a group of mysterious guys in one of my contemporary novels and do a spin-off about them. So that’s how The Seven were spawned. (No, Candace, I was not smoking crack when I wrote this book, LOL!) As you’ve probably figured out, there will be a spin off of this featuring Serena Callahan and Sabin’s Seven. The book, Sabin, A Seven Novel, will be released in September 2015. More information about this mysterious group of men will be revealed to you then.
If you could be so kind and take a few moments to write a brief review at your favorite e-tailer, or wherever you purchased this book, I would very much appreciate it. If you could help spread the word, that would also be appreciated. Tell your family, friends, aunts, cousins, uncles, (well, maybe not your uncles—not unless they like hot romance novels!). Hell, tell your frenemies, too. Whatever. Indie Authors appreciate any kind of buzz (even the vodka kind!), so I’ll take that, too, as long as it doesn’t come with a drive-by egging. Just saying. This author thanks you in advance for doing so.
About the Author
Reader, Writer, Dark Chocolate Lover, Ice Cream Worshipper, Coffee Drinker, Lover of Grey Goose (and an extra dirty martini), Puppy Lover, and if you’re ever around me for more than five minutes, you’ll find out I’m a talker.
A.M. Hargrove divides her time between the mountains of North Carolina and the upstate of South Carolina where she pursues her dream career of writing. If she could change anything in the world, she would make chocolate and ice cream a part of the USDA food groups. Annie writes romance in several genres, including adult, new adult, and young adult. Her books usually include lots of suspense and thrills and she sometimes ventures into the paranormal, sci-fi and fantasy blend.
Other Books by A. M. Hargrove
The Guardians of Vesturon Series:
Survival, Book 1
Resurrection, Book 2
Determinant, Book 3
reEmergent, Book 4
Dark Waltz, A Praestani Novel
Death Waltz, A Praestani Novel
The Edge Series:
Edge of Disaster
Shattered Edge
Kissing Fire
The Tragic Series:
Tragically Flawed, Tragic 1
Tragic Desires, Tragic 2
The Hart Brothers Series
Freeing Her, Book 1
Freeing Him, Book 2
Kestrel, Book 3
The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart
Exquisite Betrayal
Dirty Nights, The Novel
Stalk A.M. Hargrove
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