Even without her Immortal qualities that made school easy for her, despite her determination not to let it interfere, she was a really good chef. She put me to shame on a daily basis.
Although I was getting better; but only because I made her go over every new skill she learned at school with me once she got home. She’d begged me to just sign up for classes so I would stop bothering her, but we both knew she loved it. She loved getting extra practice in and she loved sharing something with me that we both cared about.
Besides, I had signed up for classes at her school, I just hadn’t told her yet.
I wanted to surprise her on my first day. It wasn’t easy to keep secrets from this girl, but as soon as the war was over, I wanted to quit being away from her. I wanted it to be about her and me and nothing and nobody else. I would do whatever it took to get us to that point.
Including culinary school.
Not that I was going to complain about it.
College had been interrupted for me when I followed Avalon to Omaha and joined the Resistance. With my pending resignation from the Monarchy’s staff as soon as Terletov was taken care of, I couldn’t think of something I’d rather do than go back to school and spend every waking and sleeping moment with the love of my life.
It had been two months since the Citadel fell.
Two months since the Kingdom had fallen back into turmoil and chaos reigned again.
Two months since I’d told this beautiful, spirited girl that I loved her and she had promised the words back to me.
Things were bad right now. I lived my life hunting Terletov’s followers and plotting ways to storm a castle that should already be in our possession. I’d killed more men in the last two months than the rest of my life combined.
And yet I had her to come home to. I had Liv’s Magic to keep me company and her sweet seduction to bring me back to her.
I would fight for this Kingdom with everything that I had; but the truth was, I had more now. Liv had given me more and demanded more from me.
She gave me hope and forced me to trust again. She let me love her and loved me in return.
This was more than a relationship between us, this was forever.
This was more than a connection, this was eternal.
And it still didn’t feel like enough time.
“How long are you home for?” she asked me softly.
“Just tonight,” I told her. I stood behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her back tight against my chest. I pressed my forehead into the curve of her neck and inhaled her. I loved that she said “home” like it was ours. This wasn’t our home, and we wouldn’t have one to ourselves in the foreseeable future, but we didn’t need one. We were home whenever we were together.
That was all there was to it.
“Is O doing alright?” I asked in a soft voice since she was probably just upstairs.
“She’s okay,” Liv shrugged and I felt the movement of her shoulders in my entire body. I let my fingers slide beneath the hem of her t-shirt and explore the silky softness of her perfect skin. “Her eyes changed a couple days ago. They’re pretty fiery orange. That freaked her out, but other than that, I’m teaching her how to control her powers and what to do with them.”
“How did you learn to do that?” I trailed kisses across her shoulder blade, so proud of her for how she was dealing with Ophelia and her sister’s frustrations.
“I had a pretty good teacher myself,” she murmured and then sighed when I let my tongue slide up the column of her neck.
She made a delicious little moaning sound and sunk into me. “How’s Eden? How are the babies?”
“Great,” I told her.
Eden and Kiran had made it out of the Citadel that night. Avalon and Sebastian had gone back for them. They were unsettled when they’d joined us and Eden had Syl do an immediate workup on her and the babies. But so far, everything seemed to be fine.
They were lying low and staying surrounded by their Guard.
I didn’t blame them.
It was funny how happy I felt for them now. I mean, I’d always been fine with their relationship, even though it had always felt like I lost. They were meant for each other, even I couldn’t deny that. But I’d also be a liar if I said there wasn’t a little bit of jealousy and bitterness mixed in there, too.
When I’d walked out of the tunnel, after we escaped Terletov, the early morning sun had hit Liv, making her glow in the soft light. In that moment, I knew that whatever feelings I had for Eden were long gone.
And not even comparable to the love and devotion I felt for Olivia.
The entrance to the secret tunnel into the Citadel was an odd place to confess all my feelings for her, but I couldn’t wait another minute.
Years ago, I’d helped Avalon rescue Eden and Amory after her fateful courtroom interruption at Lilly’s trial. I remembered walking over a hill and catching Eden looking up at the sun. The early light had hit her face in much the same way as it had shone on Liv’s that morning and I had felt my lungs lose breath completely. I had never seen anything more beautiful than Eden in that moment.
It was in that very second I started to fall for her.
She had been so brave to face Lucan and fight for her friend. She had been through hell and risked everything… and then she was just this vision of light and sacrifice, loyalty and purity.
I didn’t stand a chance.
Yet, that vision of Eden’s loveliness faded to black and white with the image of Liv I held in my mind. I couldn’t even compare the two. They belonged in totally different realms of reality.
Eden was my past and a short, temporary moment of time.
Liv was my present, my future… my forever. Our love would grow stronger through the ages and there would be nothing that could come between us or tear us apart.
“I don’t want you to go,” Liv sighed against me. She set her spoon down and laid her hands over mine.
“Then come with me,” I offered. “Come help me.”
“You want me to go?” she sounded truly surprised. “I’m not trained. I could get you killed.”
“You won’t get me killed,” I laughed. “You’ll probably save my ass faster than anyone else on my team.”
“Sebastian won’t be mad?”
“Who cares,” I grunted. “If I have the choice to share a room with you or that smelly bastard, I’m going to pick you every single day. Besides, if Lilly wakes up, he promised Talbott he would help secure a location for the wedding. I could use the backup.”
“Is she still the same?” Liv’s voice dropped with sympathy and my own heart squeezed at the pain and suffering Lilly and Talbott still had to face.
I just wanted her to wake up. I just wanted her to be okay, for once. For once I wanted her to be out of danger.
“Alright,” Liv agreed and I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Are you going to tell your parents?” I asked her cautiously. She was an adult, besides being an Immortal, but she had the opportunity to have a relationship with her parents while they were still around and she wanted to do everything in her power to preserve their relationship and cherish it.
I wholeheartedly agreed with her.
While my own mother was still missing, along with Analisa and my father confirmed dead… I could admit that family was important. Especially when you had one as good as Liv’s.
I’d had some issues with my dad’s death at first, but Olivia helped me work them out. I knew the grief would hit again, and continue to hit. And not just the grief, but the loss of any substantial relationship and of the man that I thought he could be but never was.
There were a lot of issues for me to deal with and sometimes they felt overwhelming. But other times, I held this girl in my arms, completely drowned in her love and her Magic and I knew that everything would be fine.
Everything would work out.
“I love you, Jericho Bentley ,” she whispered as she let the sauce bu
bble and burn.
“I love you too, Olivia Taylor,” I promised against her ear. “Forever.”
“Forever,” she sighed sounding truly happy.
Liv hadn’t been the only one afraid of forever, but now that we had each other I knew it would never be enough time together.
But I would live out the time we did have together to their fullness, with Olivia at my side.
Acknowledgments
To my God. Every book is yours. Every book is your miracle.
To Zach, the best man I know. Thank you for feeding the kids, cleaning the kitchen and reminding me that I need to get to work. Without you this wouldn’t be possible. Without you I wouldn’t know how to write love. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.
To my children. One day I want you to fight for your dreams and never, ever stop fighting. I can’t wait to see what you can do.
To my mom, thank you for being my biggest fan. Thank you for the hours upon hours upon hours of babysitting and encouragement. And thank you for knowing how a mother should react. A mother should faint.
Thank you to Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations for envisioning and creating such a phenomenal cover. I had no idea what this should look like. But you did. And I’m blown away by your talent.
Thank you to Carolyn for editing and the hours that go into that monumental task. Thank you for making me sound smart and educated. Thank you for putting up with my phrasing that doesn’t make sense and my thousands of dashes that don’t belong. Thank you for your advice and your tips and for taking time out of your life to help me follow my dreams.
Thank you to my dear friends Candice, Diana, Jenn and Lindsay. Your support means the world to me. And thank you for believing these characters are real. Because they are. I just need people to talk about them with. I should hug you all… you know, if I did that kind of thing.
Thank you to my Hellcats. Amy Bartol, Georgia Cates, Lila Felix, Shelly Crane, Quinn Loftis, Angeline Kace and Samantha Young you MAKE this industry. You all are the most talented women I know. And I’m so thankful for your advice, friendship and support. You make this lonely job feel like a community. I love you to pieces.
Thank you to my Reckless Rebels. You girls are some of the best people on this planet. I am so thankful for all of you! Thank you for your opinions and excitement and thank you for always being honest with me. You don’t feel like readers at all. You feel very much like friends.
And thank you to the readers!! You have been impatient and passionate for and about this book for way too long now! When I didn’t think I would be able to give Jericho what he needed, your enthusiasm pushed me forward. I hope this story gives Jericho the Happily Ever After you believe he deserves. And I hope that you fell as in love with Jericho and Olivia as I did. I love you all so very much. You make my dreams come true and there is no amount of gratitude that is enough for you. Thank you.
About the Author
Rachel Higginson was born and raised in Nebraska, but spent her college years traveling the world. She married her high school sweetheart and 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 2014.
Love and Decay is taking a two month break and will begin again in February, 2014.
Other books by Rachel to be released in 2014 are The Redeemable Prince, the seventh book in The Star-Crossed Series and The Fall, the second book in the Siren Series.
Other Books Out Now by Rachel Higginson:
Love and Decay, Episode One
Love and Decay, Episode Two
Love and Decay, Episode Three
Love and Decay, Episode Four
Love and Decay, Episode Five
Love and Decay, Episode Six
Love and Decay, Episode Seven
Love and Decay, Episode Eight
Love and Decay, Episode Nine
Love and Decay, Episode Ten
Love and Decay, Episode Eleven
Love and Decay, Episode Twelve
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)
Starbright (The Starbright Series, Book 1)
Sunburst (The Starbright Series, Book2)
The Rush (The Siren Series, Book 1)
Bet in the Dark (An NA Contemporary Romance)
Follow Rachel on her blog at:
www.rachelhigginson.com
Or on Twitter:
@mywritesdntbite
Or on her Facebook page:
Rachel Higginson
Keep reading for a sneak peek at Rachel’s new Dystopian Serial about the Zombie Apocalypse.
Love and Decay
Chapter One
647 days after initial infection
Oh, god.
The smell was the worst. The absolute worst.
It wasn’t enough that I had to pick my way through dismembered and half eaten bodies, or that at any moment one of them could spring up from the ground and make an afternoon snack out of me.
It wasn’t enough that I hadn’t had a shower in over a year and a half, hadn’t worn eye liner in even longer than that and my hair was somehow simultaneously disgustingly greasy while frizzing into a perpetual fluff ball.
Oh no, that would never be enough. My ugly tan work boots were a size and a half too small, I ripped my too big Grateful Dead t-shirt off a very, very dead man, and my jeans…. or what was left of my jeans was the last of my stash from my once excessive closet.
After all of that- and I mean, the shower alone should have been enough suffering for any living being to suffer through- it was the smell that got to me.
Putrid, rotting flesh from both the dead that littered the ground around me and the remnants of stench that lingered in the air when the Feeders were finished was what triggered my gag reflex and watered my eyes. There weren’t enough words in the English dictionary to describe my revulsion, or the way my empty stomach flipped with every breath.
I probably would have puked if I had eaten anything in the last two days.
The best thing about the Zombie Apocalypse? I was no longer addicted to sugar and caffeinated beverages.
I wiped my forearm across my sweaty forehead and then re-aimed my handgun in the general area in front of me. This is the point of the story where I’m supposed to tell you what kind of gun I’m carrying, but let’s be real…. Before the end of the world I was a cheerleader at a small town school, where I was the debate team captain and student council secretary. I lived for throwing parties when my parents went out of town, making out with my football captain boyfriend and doing the occasional trip to the homeless shelter where I would put in my monthly two hours of good deeds.
I’d never even held a gun, scratch that, I’d never even been in the same room as a gun until the world went to shit. Who knew the cure for herpes would turn all those sexual deviants into people-eating, brain-dead, infection-giving assholes?
Not me.
The whole phenomenon gave a girl a serious complex about safe sex.
Not that I was having sex. Or would be any time soon.
I hadn’t even seen an eligible bachelor in a good six months and it wasn’t like I had exactly been interested when we passed each other with guns raised and a suspicious glint in our eyes. Although there was a sort of mutual give and take between us that could have been considered an instant connection, possibly love at first sight. I let him loot the dead gentleman that had his head literally severed from his body by Feeders, and he let me raid the vending machine with that literally only had a bag of Funions that had been smashed into pathetic crumbs.
But then we both went our separate ways and I will never know if he got eaten, turned or found the promised land of Zombie-free showers an
d espresso machines.
Plus, I was still pining over poor, deceased, Quarterback-Chris.
Just kidding! Quarterback-Chris had apparently been less than faithful to me during our two year relationship and after things with the government, army and general world went to hell, Quarterback-Chris tried to eat me!
So I did what any loving, devoted girlfriend that just found out she had been serially cheated on by her now zombie boyfriend would do. I plunged a butcher knife into his eye socket and when that didn’t effectively do the job, I drove over him with my mom’s Escalade until his head detached from his body.
God, I was glad I held onto my v-card.
Could you imagine me as a zombie?
Ugh, it made me shudder just thinking about it.
A rustling to my left had me bring my gun up, pointed and steady at whatever was stupid enough to make noise in a regular Feeder playground. I only had three bullets left, so this kill would have to be spot on.
That was the thing about living in a world in which it was a very likely possibility that you could end up as someone else’s meal before lunchtime, you got to be very good at shooting, very quickly.
So even though the most I knew about my gun was that it was a Berretta from the label on the handle, and the exact kind of bullets it took, .40 S&W- because those were an absolute necessity and I was always on the lookout- I knew exactly how to use it. I knew exactly how to get my bullet from my gun to the perfect dead zone right between the eyes.
In fact, it was kind of freaky how good I was at killing things.
Well, killing already dead things.
It was like I was born for the Apocalypse. No, I couldn’t find a hot shower, figure out how to make food last longer than twenty-four hours and effectively loot a Walgreens that still had hair products available. But I could stay alive.
The Relentless Warrior Page 34
