Decadence (Tree of Life Series Book 1)

by Nichole Austin

  Quinn puts his hand on my arm before I go after my guard, and there’s more movement by the door. The guard moves, and Lucas is standing there with a young man who looks a lot like him.

  “Lucas, it’s so good to see you got out of there okay,” I tell him while I calm down. “Come on in here. I know she’ll want to see you in the morning. She’s not in a good place right now.”

  “I heard,” he says remorsefully. He motions to the young man by his side. “This is my son, Andrew. He was about to be enslaved, so I brought him with me.”

  Shaking Lucas’s hand, I tell him, “He’s more than welcome here.”

  Brailyn emerges from her room because of all the commotion, and I motion for her to come in. “Can you find Andrew a room in our wing?”

  She smiles at me and motions for Andrew to follow her. He looks a little scared, so Lucas talks to him quietly. Caleb is out of his room, too, and comes skipping over, taking my sister’s hand. He looks up at Andrew and smiles. “Hi, I’m Caleb. I can’t wait to hang out with you.” It seems to put Andrew at ease. Caleb always does that.

  Andrew follows them from the room, and the guards close the door. It’s now the three of us and Rosalyn.

  Lucas looks at us and says, “It’s official. A warrant has been issued for her death.”

  To be continued . . .

  Are you rocking in a corner, or do you feel the need to kill me?

  Come join us in the spoiler room.

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  Acknowledgments

  This is the part I most looked forward to writing because so many people helped me while I went on this journey.

  To my husband and best friend: I know you sacrificed so much for me so I could chase this dream, writing in our garage and spending so many hours in my writing cave. Thank you for your patience and for being the love of my life. That you took care of our kids and cheered me on while I wrote this book means the world to me.

  To my amazing children: You guys were so wonderful during this process. Even though I was home, but in my make-believe world, you still cheered me on. The thing is, you were instrumental in making this dream become a reality. Playing with you is my greatest source of inspiration and kept my imagination wild. I’m so happy you took me on the biggest adventure of all and made me a mom.

  To Jackie, my best friend, PA, and sister from another mother: Through this entire journey, you kept me sane. We serendipitously met on an ARC team, and the rest is history. I don’t even know how many hours we’ve spent on the phone. You should know your excitement, patience, and especially your support has helped more than you’ll ever know. Thanks for keeping me grounded through a monstrous revision when I thought I was going to lose my mind and for being by my side during some of my most difficult days. You really kept me going so many times when I wanted to throw this book out and just give up. I love you, Jackie, and I don’t know what I would do without you.

  To my writing coach: Jessi, there aren’t enough words to describe how grateful I am to you. I’ll never forget your fateful message that started the revision process. It was absolutely brutal, but I’m a better writer for it. I always joke about your #mom-voice, but honestly, there were so many times I needed it. You pushed me through so many difficult moments when I didn’t want to keep going. Thank you for being an amazing writing coach and for making me a better writer.

  To my big brother: Josh, I’ll forever remember that momentous night when we sat out in the garage talking. All you said was one word and gave me the support I needed to go after my dream. For giving me that initial push to go after what I wanted, I will always be thankful. I love you tons, and thank you.

  To my alpha and beta readers: Kristen, Pamela, Brandelyn, Jackie, Michelle, Chantelle, Jami, Mariela, Tovah, and Stacy. Thank you all for putting in the multiple hours of work that helped shape this book. Thanks especially to my alpha readers, who had to go through two rounds of editing for this book. Your hard work helped make this book what it is today.

  I had two wonderful editors who helped me during this process. Dena, thank you for keeping me calm toward the end when I was a mess and the deadlines were creeping up on me. You were amazing at keeping me calm. And Amber, thank you for working with me and helping with the content edits.

  To Cassie Chapman: There aren’t enough words to thank you. You have become a mentor to me through this whole process. You jumped in to save the day and talked me off the ledge when I was a neurotic mess. Your friendship saw me through a revision that I absolutely hated and through editing. Thank you for showing me the amazing side of the indie world. I love you tons!

  To Author K. Webster: I’ll never forget messaging you the first time and talking to you. Not only are you an extremely talented author who became a valued mentor, but you also have become a treasured friend who helped me stay lucid during the revision of Decadence. Thank you for your amazing advice and wonderful stories.

  To my amazing readers group, Nichole’s Deadly Sinners: You guys are the best support I could ever ask for. Thank you for cheering me on, sharing my cover, and being excited about the book. This book isn’t possible without readers like you.

  There’s one more person that I need to thank: Jami Kehr, you stepped in toward the end and became a great friend and a tremendous support system. You helped me stay calm leading up to the release and made things go so much smoother by helping plan everything with Jackie and me. I’m so grateful I was blessed to have you in my life and that you are now part of my amazing team.

  About the Author

  Nichole Austin is a PNR writer from Denver, CO. She’s been writing since elementary school, when her first short story was published in her school paper in second grade. Before embarking on publishing epic adventures, Nichole spent time serving her country and being a military wife. Those adventures helped her settle down to write the journey of a lifetime.

  You can always find Nichole somehow working on her next idea because she always has inspiration. One of her greatest passions is helping her own children fall in love with reading. When Nichole isn’t writing, she’s curled up with a book and falling in love with her next book boyfriend.

  In her spare time, you can find Nichole enjoying adventures with her husband, scrapbooking, or online, interacting with her readers.

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