We are excited to be part of the Riptide blog tour for SE Jakes’new release “If I Ever”. We got an exclusive excerpt for you to share and there is also a giveaway to participate in!

“Somewhere in Prophet’s mind, wouldn’t he be the same?”

Prophet had been listening to Tom’s explanation, and Remy’s questions, especially that one, sat uneasily with him. Probably because the innocence of Remy’s observations were like a knife point in his conscience, and the loss of innocence was impossible to explain.

Prophet refused to be the one to take Remy’s innocence away. “You know I don’t want to leave you, Remy. Neither does Tom.”

“Then tell me what’s happening.”

“What did Tom and Mal tell you?”

“That there’s some asshole who hurt you—and now he’s trying to hurt all of us.”

“Pretty much the way it goes,” Prophet said. “I can’t give you more specifics now though, Rem.”

“I understand.” But he didn’t, not really. At that age, Prophet wouldn’t have either, and would’ve demanded answers (and gotten ones he’d had no idea what to do with). “It’s like the guys who hurt my dad and his friend—more than once.”

“Kinda is,” Prophet agreed. Etienne had lived through hell in high school and then lost his life because of those same events, many years later.

Remy was watching him carefully. After a second, he said, “Listen, I knew you were both leaving, before Tom told me.”

“How?” Maybe Remy had Tommy’s Cajun voodoo shit.

“Mal told me.”

Yeah, thanks, Uncle Crazy. Prophet wasn’t sure if he wanted to hug Mal for that or kill him, which was pretty much his everyday feelings for the man who’d become a brother to him. They took care of each other, and Prophet could draw a parallel to the way he and John had once been, but he and Mal were different. Prophet could easily see that now. Mal watched out for him. Worried. Cared . . . and all because he wanted Prophet to be okay. It wasn’t about owning him, cutting him off from the world. “I want to stay.”

“I know. But you can’t.” Remy was up and pouring him a mug of coffee . . . and handing him a donut.

“Why are you buttering me up?”

“You can’t worry about me.”

“Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen.” Then he added, “If there was another way . . .”

“Is there?” Remy asked.

“Sit here, let the world blow up and hope my one-time best friend leaves me and my family alone,” Prophet said. “Plenty of people step back every day.”

“But that’s not you.”

“No. Sorry.”

Remy nodded. “Will Mal be here, like he says?”

“Until he can’t be. From there, we’ll let him decide if you stay around here with Doc or head to Della’s—or a combination of both? Are you okay with him choosing what’s best for you at the time?”

Remy nodded. “I’m cool with that. Because it’s only temporary.” He clearly meant it, as much as any fifteen-year-old who’d lost their father and was worried he was about to lose two more could be.

Prophet’s heart squeezed. “You’re not. Neither am I.”

“This guy—John? He really fucked up?”

Prophet ignored the curse because there was no better way to say it. “Yes. And at one point, I’d do anything to help him.”

Prophet had met John in middle school . . . in the principal’s office. On Prophet’s first day of school after moving to Texas. He could see himself clear as day trying to break into the attendance office . . . just to prove he could. For him, it was never really why, but rather, why not.

John had lived in that town his whole life and would sometimes tell Prophet that he felt like he was in trouble for simply being alive.

At times, Prophet thought that was pretty damned accurate for both of them. From that day on, they just tended to get into trouble together. And they were extremely talented in doing so. As the years went by, they got even better at not being caught. They got bolder, but while Prophet got stealthier and more cautious, John got more reckless.

Once, when John was drunk, he’d admitted what had happened to him, and then never spoke of it again. After that, Prophet realized perfect families never existed—the facade was just that. The dose of reality helped him in several ways, but nothing could’ve prepared him for his father’s suicide.

Because that brought the spectra of the disease he was living under into direct focus. Prophet was no longer next in line. He was first in line.

He was just next.

So he put himself, literally, on the front lines. It was both freeing and devastating. Any invisible leash that might’ve once tethered him to the edge of caution was cut . . . but that didn’t mean he didn’t learn to self-protect.

He’d protected John. Stayed safe so he could watch over his best friend. So being a team leader was a natural fit. No one under his watch was getting hurt.

Remy prompted, “And now, you want to hurt him?”

“Actually, I’m going to help him.” Saying that out loud for the first time crystalized it for him. Because that’s your job—you retrieve people from hell, and if they can’t come back, you save them from future suffering.

Remy frowned, attempting to process it all. “Kind of like me with mom. I want to help her, but I don’t want to be with her.”

“Yeah, Rem. Kind of like that.”

“So help him then. That’s cool,” Remy said simply. And really, it was that simple. Prophet had let his feelings complicate everything.

About If I Ever

Some ghosts refuse to stay buried . . .

Prophet and Tom have been through the wringer more times than they can count, both as partners in the field and in life. Yet despite it all, they’ve built something great together. But now they need to protect it again: Prophet’s old nemesis, John Morse, is back and threatening everything he loves.

Prophet is driven enough to take John down alone, and with a chance to do exactly that on the table, he runs with it, risking himself in the process. But trusting Tom to help him is so much more than mission critical.

It’s the final stand, and with Tom and his team behind him, Prophet’s in for the fight of his life. Then a figure from his past goes missing, and the consequence of an old mission rears its head. As complications and destruction mount all around them, getting out alive becomes the most important mission of their lives.

Now available from Riptide Publishing!
Amazon

About Hell or High Water

Extreme Escapes, LTD recruits only the best mercenaries for its black ops missions. Prophet — former SEAL, former CIA, current pain in the ass — has worked there for years, comfortable in his role as a lethal shadow, helping those the government can’t — or won’t — save.

Tom Boudreaux — failed FBI agent, failed sheriff, full-time believer in bad luck — jumps at the chance for salvation offered by EE. He’s eager to feel useful again, even if it means partnering with a man like Prophet, who doesn’t want a partner at all.

But as the two men work through missions that mix their personal lives with their professional ones, the lines between good and evil, friend and foe, and enemy and lover all begin to blur.

The Hell or High Water novels are best enjoyed in series order:

1. Catch a Ghost
2. Long Time Gone
3. Daylight Again
4. 3.5 Not Fade Away

4. If I Ever

And don’t miss the bonus novellas in the Extreme Escapes universe!

Free Falling  |  Dirty Deeds

About SE Jakes

SE Jakes writes m/m romance. She believes in happy endings and fighting for what you want in both fiction and real life. She lives in New York with her family, and most days, she can be found happily writing (in bed). No really…

SE Jakes is the alter ego of New York Times bestselling paranormal and romantic suspense author Stephanie Tyler.

Connect with SE:

• Website: com
• Tumblr: tumblr.com
• Twitter: @authorsejakes
• Facebook: com/SEJakes
• Email: authorsejakes@gmail.com
• Goodreads author page: com/S_E_Jakes
• Goodreads author group: Ask SE Jakes

To celebrate the release of IF I EVER one lucky person will win an ecopy of Running Wild, a Havoc novel by SE Jakes! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 26, 2019. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!