Read The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel Online
Authors: A.M. Hargrove
Sabin stands in a semicircle with his men,
most of whom are bloody. Sabin looks like hell. One of them says
something to him and he glances at us over his shoulder. I hear him
say, “Get in the water. Clean yourselves off. We need to get out of
here.”
All six of them jump in the water, but this
time when they get back in the boat, they’re dripping wet.
“There’s a first aid kit on board,” Kade
offers.
“Not necessary,” Sabin shoots back.
Kade and I trade confused glances. These
strange men are so difficult to figure out.
“Does Kade need to call his pilot so we can
fly home?” I ask.
Sabin advances toward us. “Yes. Now. And you
will be nine instead of two. Will that be a problem?”
“None at all,” Kade says. He makes the call
and the pilot says he’ll be there in three hours.
“What will we do about the boat?”
“Dock it in the marina and we’ll handle the
repairs. It shall be as good as new.” Then Sabin jumps in the water
to rinse all evidence of his battle with the Shaurok off.
I think about this for a second, and when he
climbs back aboard, I blurt out, “How?”
“It’s not your concern. I said we’ll handle
it and we will. Go pack.” The asshole prick is definitely back.
“Pack for your boyfriend, too. He’s going to be driving what’s left
of this boat back to the marina.”
Wasting no time, I get down below, change my
clothes, throw my stuff in my bag, Kade’s in his, and I’m
ready.
“That was quick,” Sabin comments.
“Yep.” I’ve decided I’m not going to add
anything else. But strangely, all their clothing seems to be
different. No, not different, but not as torn. Like they’ve patched
it or something.
“Hey, did you patch their clothes or
something?” Why did I ask that? His eyes look like rusty darts are
shooting out of them. Damn that man gets moody.
“Or something,” he snarls.
“Fucking prick is here to stay,” I
mumble.
One minute he’s standing on the opposite end
of the boat, and the next, he’s in front of me. Is it the darkness
that gives me that illusion or does he move that fast, like the
snap of my fingers?
“Fucking prick. Do you want
Fucking
Prick
to stay or go? Go means you and boyfriend are dead.
Stay means you and boyfriend live. You saw him, the Shaurok. You
heard what he can do. So you choose. If I stay, keep your fucking
comments to your fucking self.” Then he’s back with his men.
I guess I had that one coming, but still. He
could be a little nicer.
He yells out, “Being nice isn’t what’s going
to save your pretty little ass.”
Fuck. I’m so done. No more talking or even
thinking about them. I’m acting like an automaton from now on.
Kade pulls the boat into the marina and they
order us to get off. We’re accompanied by the one called Edge, and
we walk down to the parking area. We are to wait for the rest of
them there. Kade and I have no idea what they’re doing.
I decide to get nosy. “Edge, what are they
doing?”
“Fixing the boat, what do you think?” His
voice is filled with angst. He is vigilant about his surroundings,
guarded and aware.
“Oh, I didn’t—”
“Yeah, you don’t a lot, Juliette.”
He summed his feelings up about me pretty
fast right there.
“Look, I owe you all a huge apology, but can
you put yourself in my shoes? What would you have done?”
His eyes, and they are some kind of
eyes—deep brown with bright streaks of citron radiating from the
pupil—dig into mine. “It would have been difficult, yes.” That’s
all I’m going to get. And I understand. To say anything else would
be a betrayal to Sabin.
About twenty minutes later, they join us and
two cars pull up.
“Let’s go,” Sabin says.
He instructs the driver to take us to the
airport. He rides with us, along with Edge. The others follow in
another car. Two hours and fifty minutes have passed since Kade
phoned the pilot. There is no security to go through since we are
flying a private jet. The cars pull right up to the jet and we all
get out. The pilot greets us and gives Kade a wary look. Kade has a
word with him. I have no idea what he says, but the rest of us
board the plane.
The flight attendant inquires about drinks.
I ask for water and the men want liquor. Whisky and scotch are what
they order. Straight up. No ice or anything. The attendant nods and
brings them their drinks. Kade joins us and looks at the men.
“Isn’t is a little early for that?”
“We operate on a completely different
schedule than you do,” Rafe says. It’s the first time he’s ever
answered a question directed at the group.
“I don’t drink. I’m a recovering drug
addict.”
“We know.”
“I figured you did. Is there anything about
either of us you don’t know?”
“Not a thing,” Sabin answers. His eyes are
cold and hard.
The plane lifts off and soon the pilot
announces we’ve cleared ten thousand feet.
Kade stands and says, “Juliette and I are
going to the back cabin to take a nap. If you need us, do us the
courtesy of knocking.”
Sabin dips his head in acknowledgement.
“Please be aware that we have highly acute hearing. Just thought I
should warn you.”
Kade’s jaw clenches. “Unless we both talk in
our sleep, I doubt you’ll be hearing a thing.” He grabs my hand and
leads me to the back.
“Let’s sleep. I’m about to drop dead.
Between the worry and exhaustion, I didn’t think my eyes could stay
open another minute,” he says.
We fall into bed and he’s out. I snuggle
into his side and think about the last day. It went from blissful
cloud nine to pandemonium and Gehenna. All because of that stupid
necklace. If only I had never slipped the damn thing around my
neck. Whatever possessed me to do that? And the power it contained.
I waltzed around for a couple of years, with that thing dangling
around my damn neck, and had no fucking idea the Armageddon it
could wreak. And who the hell handed it off to my father? And where
did he get it?
Ugh! All these questions that rip my brain
apart are making it impossible to even shut my eyes, much less
sleep. I ease away from Kade, careful not to wake him, and slide
off the bed. Seven faces look up when I walk into the main
cabin.
“No sleepy for little girly?” Sabin drawls.
The effect of the liquor is obvious. “And why not?”
I decide to spill my guts. I’ve had this
shit bottled up in me forever, and these people know about it.
“Were you there the entire time? From the beginning, I mean. When
my parents were murdered.”
“Pretty much. We knew your father had
Judgment Day.”
“So you were protecting my family?”
Sabin blows out his breath. “Not exactly. We
knew it had been given to him, but we didn’t know where he’d hidden
it. He didn’t wear it, like you. But he’d spent enough time trying
to figure it out, trying to identify the stone, that it left enough
of its trace on him. That’s how they found him.”
“So you weren’t there when Mom and Sylvie
died?” my hand covers my mouth. Weakness isn’t something I’m proud
to show, but this … this still breaks me into pieces.
“Right after. We were in the house when you
came in.”
“Oh, God.” It’s like it happened yesterday.
The visual knocks me in the head like a fisted hand. My arms
automatically wrap around my middle, in that stupid attempt to ease
the ache that will never go away. “Sylvie, she wasn’t like me. She
was so innocent and sweet. She was kind, beautiful, and laughed all
the time. The room would brighten up with a million stars when she
walked in. Why her? Why did they kill her? And Mom? They didn’t
have anything to do with it!” I swipe the tears off my cheeks.
His voice softens when he answers. “It’s how
they work, Juliette. They don’t care who they hurt. They just
destroy.”
Even after all these years, the pain is
still fresh and raw. Exactly like it was the day I found them.
I inhale an unsteady breath. It’s a question
I’ve asked myself a hundred—no a thousand times. “Do … do you think
they suffered much?”
A shadow passes over his eyes. It’s here and
gone in an instant, but slow enough for me to catch it. “No,
Juliette, they didn’t suffer.” He covers my hands with his,
comforting me. He’s lying. But I accept it.
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Stop you?”
“From putting the necklace on? If you had
come to me and explained, I would never have put it on.”
“Would you have believed us?”
I don’t know if I would have. It’s hard to
say now, because so many things have happened.
“You could’ve lied. Said it was yours.
Something, anything, to stop me.”
“We did try, Juliette. Remember when you
were camping and you carried it around that entire day in your
hand, debating on whether or not to wear it? We were trying to stop
you then. Our stupid plan failed, when you tripped and fell. It
ended up almost around your neck and that’s what made your
decision. You said, ‘Well, that about does it, then.’”
I grasp his hands and ask, “But why didn’t
you show yourselves?”
“That’s not what we do.”
“Why not?”
His brow furrows and his eyes become so
intense; I almost
feel
the words before he speaks them. “It
is our way.”
“I was alone, afraid, unsure of everything.
I didn’t know what to do, where to go, all because of that … that
thing
.”
“You were
never
alone.”
“Yes I was. I didn’t know you were there. It
was the same. And now this will never go away, and because of my
actions, some poor foolish person is in trouble too.”
“Perhaps this person hasn’t put it on
yet.”
“What if she has? Or worse yet, what if some
guy gave it to his girlfriend and she’s halfway around the
world?”
Sabin grabs my arms and shakes me. “Cease
this. Now! We have methods. We can trace Judgment Day. We couldn’t
do it there because we needed … certain things. We’ll find it. Now
stop worrying.”
So what am I supposed to do in the meantime?
Fumble around, afraid of what lurks around every corner again, like
I did for years?
“No! You won’t have to do that.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“I, uh, I’m perceptive.”
“Huh uh. You’re much more than that. Tell
me. You owe me for fucking up my life.”
Rafe scoots into the conversation.
“Juliette, you see, we have abilities that are unexplained. We are
able to do things that others can’t. And that’s all I’ll say.
Sabin’s perception is beyond the norm.”
Rafe’s eyes dart around like a pinball on
steroids. He’s lying. These guys are terrible liars. Whatever. I’ll
deal with it.
“So, guys, what’s to become of me?”
“We’ll take you to a safe place.”
“In Denver?”
“Not exactly.”
“Kade can’t leave Denver. Because of his
recovery.”
“Where you’re going, he’ll have the best of
everything, the best counselors, anything he could ever need or
want. Juliette, he won’t have an issue with drugs.”
“His business …”
“Will be seen to and will prosper in his
absence.”
“How long will he be gone?”
“Maybe a month. Maybe much longer.”
“We talked about marriage.”
“You can still marry.”
“I’m afraid he’ll die because of me.”
“Juliette, it’s too late for that, I’m
afraid,” Sabin says. “Kade’s in as deep as you are.”
“Were you the ones that made my family
disappear? Wiped their existences away. And Sister Josephina?”
Sabin nods. “We had to. It was the only way
to ensure no questions were raised.”
“How did you do it?”
Sabin downs the rest of his drink. “You must
understand there are some things I cannot and will not share with
you.”
“What happens next?”
Sabin looks at all his men, then at me. “We
make you and Hart disappear.”
“What?”
“Not literally. You’ll be safe, living
somewhere. It’s the only way we can protect you. You can’t live in
the open anymore. They’ll find you, Juliette.”
“Kade’s family?”
Sabin’s head pivots back and forth, as my
belly hits the floor. Not a gentle floating to the ground, but a
slamming, like free falling in an elevator that just
malfunctioned.
“No, no, no. They’re his life. His heart. It
will kill him.”
“He’ll have you. Alive, Juliette.”
The back cabin door opens and Kade walks up.
“What will I have?” he asks as he sits next to me.
“Your life,” Sabin answers, then proceeds to
tell him what he just told me.
“Living Free.”
“Will be well tended to.”
“Is this permanent?”
Sabin shrugs. “Can’t answer that. If the
Shaurok are diverted enough to someone else so they won’t be
focused on you. If we can get Judgment Day and put it where it
belongs, maybe not. But it hasn’t been there in a millennium.
Juliette will carry the imprint for the rest of her life. It will
fade significantly over time, but it will always be there. I don’t
want to give you false hope.”
“How will we be able to live then, without
taking a risk every time we go out?”
“Relocation of the assets and then for
awhile, you won’t be able to go out.”
“Can you use her name and not refer to her
as an asset?”
Sabin smirks. “She’s actually more of a
liability so that’s a misnomer. Look, we’re all done for here.
We’ve had an appalling lack of sleep, due to our efforts to help
the two of you, and that was before your foolhardy trip to wherever
the hell we just left. I understand you’re upset, but can you not,
for one second, try to comprehend our side of it? We have been
putting our lives at stake for the two of you for how long now?” He
turns to Rafe with raised brows.
“Going on three years for her and then
several months for him.”