{"id":1119,"date":"2019-02-12T23:09:37","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T04:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.whitefire-publishing.com\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2020-06-01T09:07:07","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T13:07:07","slug":"the-morning-star-rises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/the-morning-star-rises\/","title":{"rendered":"The Morning Star Rises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Morning Star Rises<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

by Sara Davison<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the midst of all the fear and confusion, only one thing is clear \u2026 This isn\u2019t over yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesse Christensen is out of the army, but the real battle has just begun. As martial law continues in Canada in 2054, Major Gallagher has taken over the city. His oppression of believers intensifies in response to a so-called radical Christian group that claims responsibility for more terrorist attacks. But is Gallagher acting in a professional capacity, or is he carrying out a personal vendetta?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meryn O\u2019Reilly faces a dark and uncertain future after shocking revelations devastate her life. She is determined to follow God\u2019s call, but her plans could cost her everything. She and Jesse struggle to surrender everything to a God who is always in control, even when circumstances suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the world descending into chaos around them, Meryn and Jesse face the greatest barrier to their love yet\u2013a barrier that may prove too strong to breach.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Jesse Christensen stopped in the\nhallway between the farmhouse living room and kitchen and drew in a deep\nbreath. He pressed a palm to the doorframe and stuck his head into the kitchen.\nThe lingering aroma of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy permeated\nthe room. Comfort food that had failed to bring him any comfort that evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meryn O\u2019Reilly stood\nat the sink, hands immersed in soapy water, apparently trying to scrub the\nlining off a pot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan I talk to you\nfor a minute?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She jerked and\ndropped the pot, sending a spray of water shooting across the front of her red\nshirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesse grimaced. Not a great way to start this conversation<\/em>.\n\u201cSorry. Didn\u2019t mean to startle you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meryn shook the water\nfrom her hands and stalked to the stove to grab the dishtowel hanging on the\nhandle. \u201cI didn\u2019t hear you coming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She wouldn\u2019t have\nseen him either, given the way she\u2019d studiously avoided glancing in his\ndirection since he\u2019d responded to her brothers\u2019 invitation to come for dinner\nand shown up at her door earlier that evening. Not that he blamed her. How did<\/em> a woman look at the man she\u2019d just\nfound out had gunned down her husband? There was no handbook for that kind of\nthing. Jesse pushed away from the doorframe and stepped into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meryn scrubbed at her\nshirt with the towel, still not looking at him. The fact that they both stood\nin almost the exact spots they\u2019d been a couple of weeks earlier when she had\nordered him out of her life for good had to be registering in her consciousness\nright about now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please look at me.<\/em> Jesse repressed a sigh. He wasn\u2019t any more comfortable than she was. He\nlikely shouldn\u2019t have come out here, but if he was going to work with her\nbrothers, he, Shane, and Brendan had to get together. They all agreed the farm\nwas the best place. At least here they were out of sight of the authorities, if\nstill in range of the GPS embedded in the bracelets that identified them as\nbelievers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, Meryn wanted\nto be involved in any plan they devised to fight against Gallagher, who had\nrecently been promoted to major, making him the commander of the Kingston base.\nOr, in his mind, king. After Gallagher had executed Jesse\u2019s best friend and\ncommanding officer, Caleb Donevan, and kicked Jesse out of the army at the same\ntime, Jesse and Meryn\u2019s family<\/a> had agreed to band together to stand up to him.\nHow did she think she could work with him if she couldn\u2019t even look at him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took a tentative\nstep closer. \u201cSo this is okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure.\u201d She stopped\nthe frenetic scrubbing and shoved the towel back over the handle. \u201cIt\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her trapped-animal\nlook suggested it was anything but. \u201cIf you want me to bring Kate or Shane in\nhere, I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meryn looked over at\nhim. Finally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesse was drawn\nimmediately into the ocean-blue depths of her eyes. Be careful what you wish for.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not\nnecessary. We\u2019re both adults. I\u2019m sure we\u2019re capable of having a civilized\nconversation.\u201d She crossed the room and sank down on a chair, pulled one knee\nup to her chest, and clasped her arms tightly around her leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great. A civilized conversation<\/em>. Just what he wanted from her. Jesse shook\noff the thought. He had to let go of wanting anything more than that. A pang\nshot through him, but he worked to keep his features even as he leaned back\nagainst the counter. \u201cI know you told me not to come back here, but it\u2019s the\nsafest place for us to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally?\u201d Her lips\ntwitched slightly. \u201cWay out in the middle of nowhere? Aren\u2019t you just asking\nfor trouble, coming out here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The muscles across\nhis back relaxed. Was she actually joking around with him? That would make\nthings easier. And a lot harder. \u201cI think I\u2019ll risk it. After all, you survived\nfour years out here all by yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her smile didn\u2019t\nreach anywhere but her mouth, and barely there. Like a restless butterfly,\nlanding lightly and flitting away almost immediately. \u201cIn spite of your dire\npredictions to the contrary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExactly.\u201d His own\nlips twitched, but he couldn\u2019t manufacture a real smile either. \u201cAnyway, I just\nwanted to make sure you were okay with me coming here so we can make plans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She studied him for a\nmoment, then flipped her long, dark hair back over one shoulder. \u201cI don\u2019t\nreally have a choice, do I? There are things that need to be done, and we have\nto work together to accomplish them. You don\u2019t always get to choose the people\nyou\u2019re going to work with; you just put your head down and focus on completing\nthe task.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did she know how far\nshe was pushing the blade in with every word? She\u2019d always been able to read\nhim, to see on his face everything he was thinking and feeling. Could she see\nit now, or had even that connection been severed? \u201cSo we\u2019re co-workers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d She shifted.\n\u201cIs there anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually, there is.\nI\u2019m sure Kate told you she and Ethan offered me the use of the in-law suite in\ntheir backyard. I\u2019m working on some other arrangements, but until those come\ntogether, I hope you don\u2019t mind that I took them up on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meryn shrugged, as\nthough nothing he did could possibly concern her. \u201cYou have to have a place to\nlive. I\u2019m glad you aren\u2019t on the streets. Whatever you might think, I don\u2019t\nwant you to suffer any more than you already have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then you might want to lose the nonchalance<\/em>. Jesse pushed the thought away. She was\nhurting as much as he was. He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his\njeans, trying to match her attitude with a detached one of his own. And failing\nmiserably. His fingers closed around a hard, cold object. The silver heart\nshe\u2019d given him before everything between them had been smashed into pieces. He\nglanced at her throat. It was bare. The gold necklace he\u2019d fastened around her\nneck\u2014twice\u2014along with the promise that she would always have his heart, was\ngone. Jesse pushed back his shoulders. \u201cAll right. As long as you\u2019re okay with\neverything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shadow that\ncrossed her face before her guard shot back up suggested that she wasn\u2019t as\nnonchalant as she was pretending to be. Hope ignited, a fragile spark dropping\nfrom flint struck against flint onto sparse tinder below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t change\nyour name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She blinked. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you got\nmarried. You didn\u2019t change your last name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh. No, I didn\u2019t.\nLike I told you, everything happened so fast. Logan and I decided we could do\nthat when he came back and we had our big wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToo bad. It would\nhave saved us a lot of \u2026 confusion if you had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She exhaled. \u201cI\nknow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesse pulled his\nhands from his pockets and gripped the edges of the counter on either side of\nhim as he studied her. She looked thinner and there were shadows under her eyes.\nWas she all right? He bit his tongue to keep from asking. Of course she wasn\u2019t\nall right. She was a widow, thanks to him, and in mourning. Did she grieve the\nloss of him a little, or were her thoughts only for her husband? He cleared his\nthroat. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to work together, it would be great if it wasn\u2019t\nawkward for everyone. Do you think we could be friends<\/em>, at least?\u201d He almost choked over the word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could try.\u201d Her\nvoice softened slightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That would have to\ndo. For now. Her feigned disinterest seemed to be gone anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God, let it be feigned<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise the hope he\nclung to would extinguish quickly, leaving nothing but a curling tendril of\nsmoke in its wake. His gaze settled on her mouth. A rush of longing poured\nthrough him. If things had gone according to his plan, they\u2019d be married by\nnow. Jesse clenched his jaw. Don\u2019t go\nthere<\/em>. None of this was his plan; it was God\u2019s plan. Which meant it had to\nbe better. Something Jesse was sure he\u2019d come to see. Eventually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meryn lowered her\nfoot to the floor. \u201cIt\u2019s almost curfew. You should go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lifted his eyes\nquickly. \u201cYeah, you\u2019re probably right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stood and headed\nfor the hallway as if she had been released from a cage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she reached him,\nJesse touched her elbow. He\u2019d told her once that she didn\u2019t feel like glass,\nall hard and cold. Now, with every muscle in her body tense, that\u2019s exactly how\nshe felt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stopped but\ndidn\u2019t turn in his direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really am sorry,\nMeryn. More sorry than I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know you are.\u201d Her\ngaze dropped to his fingers, still resting on her arm. \u201cAre we through here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesse pulled back his\nhand. \u201cI guess so.\u201d For several seconds, all he could do was stare at the\ndoorway where she had disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n