Love and Decay (34 page)

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

Or on her Facebook page:

Rachel Higginson

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