Love and Decay

by Rachel Higginson

  Mertz made a sound in the back of his throat and lifted his gaze to the rearview mirror. “Luke?”

  “Yeah,” Luke replied seeping with exhaustion. “It’s time to go.”

  Someone jumped over the truck bed and yanked on the pull rope. The garage slid upwards and warm sunlight flooded the space.

  Mertz turned the truck on while we blinked through the brightness until our eyes adjusted.

  He drove a different way back than the way we’d come. But it was as uneventful as a drive could get.

  We ran into a few Feeders along the way, but the truck sped by them without incident. Mertz had been worried about gas, but we made it back. Granted, we puttered around the Wal-Mart and rolled to a stop.

  While we hopped out of the truck, our gang came rushing out of Wal-Mart. Hendrix and Nelson descended on me, but I directed them straight to Miller who was still trying to get out of the truck bed.

  Hendrix snatched an unconscious Page from Miller’s arms. He ran back inside with her. Everyone following closely behind them.

  I took a slower approach. My family needed to freak out and I didn’t want to get in the way. I believed Page would live through this. In my gut, I knew she’d survive.

  Or I was just deluding myself because I couldn’t imagine losing another person I loved.

  That thought smacked like a punch in the face.

  I’d lost enough loved ones. My parents. Gage. Friends along the way. A whole freaking life and future that I’d had to give up to fight Feeders.

  I grabbed Adela’s arm before she could follow my family. Twilight had hit and the sun hid behind pink clouds and the corner of the building.

  The outside was chaos. Luke was going to have his people burn the truck, but we were leaving tonight. As in a few hours from now.

  I listened with one ear and wondered how Page would survive the journey. But I also knew it was the right decision. It had to be.

  We had to get out of this area.

  We’d had way too many close calls in the last twenty-four hours. It was best not to press our luck.

  “Harrison, we need to check on Page,” she whispered.

  Age and this world had been kind to her despite her circumstances. Her skin was so clear, so perfect. Looking at her made my chest squeeze tight and swell at the same time.

  Did she have any idea how beautiful she was?

  Even covered in blood and dirt she was the most breathtaking thing I had ever seen.

  “I have to say something to you first,” I declared. “Before the rest of our lives catch up. There’s something you need to hear.”

  “Harrison-”

  I leaned in until I could feel her body heat, until her skin was just inches from mine. “Listen, Adela.” She nodded, swallowing thickly as I loomed over her. “I like you. I’ve liked you for a very long time.” The words rasped from my throat. I had never been this upfront with her before. And it was almost painful to admit the truth after denying it and ignoring it and pretending like it would go away for so long. Another word played on my tongue, but I pushed it down. She wasn’t ready for it yet and neither was I. “I like you too much to want you to leave. You’re part of this family. You’ve been part of it for a very long time. But now I want you to be part of my life too. I can’t not feel this way about you, Adela. I’ve tried.” She opened her mouth to protest, but I smiled at her and pushed on. “And I think you’ve tried too. But the truth is we’re better together than we are apart. We fit each other. We belong together. Just like fighting with you was so easy… so natural, that’s how it’s supposed to be for us with everything else. I want to take your back. And I want you to take mine.”

  “Harrison, I… I can’t. You know about Diego, why would you ask this of me now? After he’s here? After he’s asked me to go back with him?”

  The pain in her eyes cut straight through me. It was too real. Too intense. I felt my heart hemorrhaging for her. I wanted to take it away. Make it disappear. I wanted to make sure she never felt like this again.

  “Because you don’t want to go, Adela. You fooled me for years. For goddamn years. You lied to me and told me you would never get over Diego. You told me you loved him. But I’ve seen you with him now and I know that’s a lie.”

  “It’s not!”

  “It is,” I growled. My voice pitched low and I found myself holding onto her biceps, needing her to understand this. “Whatever you feel for him isn’t love. Dependence maybe. Addiction? God, I hope not. Fear, definitely. You’re afraid to tell him now. You’re afraid of what he’ll do to you if you stay with us.”

  She nodded and tears streaked down her face. “I am afraid. He let me go once, but he will not do it again. He’ll kill me, I promise you. Then he’ll kill your family. All of you. He won’t stop. He’ll punish anyone that comes between us.”

  “He won’t punish me,” I swore to her. “He won’t touch me. But trust me when I say I will do anything to protect you. If you don’t want to go, I will do all that is in my power to keep you with me.” I realized that I might not be a good enough reason for her to stay so I amended quickly and added, “To keep you with us.”

  “Harrison, you don’t know what he will do.”

  “What? Adela, what could he do to me? He has a few men with him, but his army is back in Mexico. My family will protect you to the end. They think of you as one of us. And I have no issue with standing up to him. He doesn’t scare me. The only thing that scares me is that you’re going to do something you don’t want to do because you’re motivated by fear. That terrifies the living hell out of me.”

  She shook her head. The tendrils framing her face whipped over her eyes and caught in her tears. I watched my hand lift and wipe her cheeks, removing the stray strands and the unnecessary tears.

  I watched the indecision play out on her face, her true desires flashing in her eyes. “Be honest, Adela.” Emotion clogged in my throat and it surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to feel this much. My need for her powerful honesty stunned me. “Tell me the truth.”

  She shook her head again, more tears falling. “Tell me not to go, Harrison.” Her voice was a pained rasp. “Tell me to stay.”

  “That is what I’m telling you, Adela. Stay. I want you to stay. But not because of me.” The corner of my mouth kicked up at my lie. “Okay, not entirely because of me. But mostly I want you to stay for you. Stay because you’re stronger than him. Stronger than his hold over you. Stay because you respect yourself. And you respect your future. Stay because you want something better for yourself than him.”

  She started crying harder. Her whole body dipped forward and I caught her. There wasn’t even a question. My arms wrapped around her tiny body and I pressed her against me. She turned her face to the side and cried against me.

  Her entire body shook and trembled while she worked through the internal battle that raged harder than anything going on in this world.

  Adela had not been the best fighter. Not until today. Not until I’d taken her back and shown her that she could kick ass.

  And now again she was learning, at least I hoped, that she could fight inside too. That she could stand up to this monster that oppressed her, that held her captive, and win.

  I leaned down so my lips were against her ear. “I will have your back in this too, Adela. I will not let you fight this alone. You and me. Side by side. We can survive this infection and this war. And we can sure as hell survive whatever demons are chasing you.”

  “Yes,” she sobbed. “Yes!”

  I squeezed her tighter until I wasn’t sure she could breathe. Her arms went around me just as tightly, though, and I refused to let her go.

  I refused to relinquish a step of this new ground.

  “I will stay with you,” she whispered so quietly I strained to hear her. Her head tipped back and her big brown eyes captivated me. “But you must promise to stay with me, too. Don’t let me go, Harrison. Please, never let me go.”

  I held her gaze and I promised
her truth and commitment and everything I had to offer. “I won’t. Never. I will never let you go.”

  Her lips twitched with dry humor. “He might kill us both.”

  “He won’t. He can’t touch us. We’re too strong for him.”

  Her answering smile stole my breath and simultaneously weakened me, tamed me and made me a stronger, better man.

  This woman had been the thorn in my side for the last ten years, but now she was something else entirely. She wasn’t pain and doubt and regret.

  Now she was hope and life and my future.

  Things would not be easy. We had a lot to face in this world and in our relationship. We were used to fighting with each other and tearing each other down. We would have to go into this with eyes open. And it was going to take a ton of work.

  Not to mention Diego.

  I might have been cocky enough to think I could handle him, but I wasn’t naïve enough to think he wouldn’t be a threat.

  He would be.

  And Adela was the type of fragile that cracked under pressure. She had reason to. And she hid demons from her past that made it feel like her only options were to give in.

  But that’s why she had me.

  That’s why we were better together.

  We stood there until the Wal-Mart emptied. Hendrix was first and he surveyed the area wildly until he found me.

  He covered his surprise at seeing Adela and me locked together, but his panic and intention quickly overrode whatever he thought of us together.

  “We’re leaving,” he announced. “We have your things. Follow me.”

  “How’s Page?” I asked after him.

  He turned around but didn’t slow down. “Alive thanks to you. Now let’s go so it stays that way.”

  Adela and I ran after him. We hopped into the back of a truck with the rest, Page lying in the middle. Luke gave instructions to Mertz, who was apparently going to be our driver.

  I felt good about that.

  And then we were off, driving through the post-apocalyptic countryside and over rough highway. Adela slipped her hand into mine again and I was once again flooded with the feeling that this was finally my life.

  After everything I’d been through. After everything I knew was coming. This was who I was supposed to be and who I was supposed to be with.

  I smiled down at Adela and ignored the panic resonating in her expression. She was scared, but I would show her that she didn’t need to be.

  I would stand by her every second of this and prove to her that I was the man that could protect her… that could finally give her the life she deserved.

  And in turn, she could give me what I needed. She could hold my hand until my sister was better. She could help keep my family safe, not just tonight, but every day and night after this.

  And she could make this life of decay and death something more than pain and regret. She could fill it with happiness… with purpose…

  And maybe one day with love.

  Look for Love and Decay: Revolution, Volume Three coming June 3rd, 2016!

  About the Author

  Rachel Higginson was born and raised in Nebraska, but spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days raising their growing family. She is obsessed with bad reality TV and any and all Young Adult Fiction.

  Look for more from Rachel in 2016.

  Other books by Rachel to be released in 2016 are Bet on Me, an NA Contemporary Romance, Heir of Empyrial Fire, the fourth book in the Starbright Series and The Opposite of You, an adult contemporary romance.

  Other Books out Now by Rachel Higginson:

  Love and Decay, Season One

  Love and Decay, Volume One (Episodes One-Six, Season One)

  Love and Decay, Volume Two (Episodes Seven-Twelve, Season One)

  Love and Decay, Season Two

  Love and Decay, Volume Three (Episodes One-Four, Season Two)

  Love and Decay, Volume Four (Episodes Five-Eight, Season Two)

  Love and Decay, Volume Five (Episodes Nine-Twelve, Season Two)

  Love and Decay, Season Three

  Love and Decay, Volume Six (Episodes One-Four, Season Three)

  Love and Decay, Volume Seven (Episodes Five-Eight, Season Three)

  Love and Decay, Volume Eight (Episodes Nine-Twelve, Season Three)

  Reckless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 1)

  Hopeless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 2)

  Fearless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 3)

  Endless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 4)

  The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 5)

  The Relentless Warrior (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6)

  Breathless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6.5)

  Fateful Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6.75)

  The Redeemable Prince (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 7)

  Heir of Skies (The Starbright Series, Book 1)

  Heir of Darkness (The Starbright Series, Book 2)

  Heir of Secrets (The Starbright Series, Book 3)

  The Rush (The Siren Series, Book 1)

  The Fall (The Siren Series, Book 2)

  The Heart (The Siren Series, Book 3)

  Bet on Us (An NA Contemporary Romance)

  Bet on Me (An NA Contemporary Romance) coming 2016

  The Five Stages of Falling in Love, an Adult Contemporary Romance

  Every Wrong Reason, an Adult Contemporary Romance

  Follow Rachel on her blog at:

  http://www.rachelhigginson.com/

  Or on Twitter:

  @mywritesdntbite

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