Decadence (Tree of Life Series Book 1)

by Nichole Austin

  A burst of laughter comes from in front of us. “You honestly think I would hurt her? You’re the one that’s allowed her to be hurt.” The spiteful way he says this almost makes me explode. Xavier takes another step toward us, and I know that things are close to spiraling out of control.

  “Lawrence, go,” I urge, pushing him. “I’ll be fine with him, and I promise I’ll come find you shortly. You need to trust me.” My powers come to the surface just in case I need to use them, but Lawrence listens to me. Bending down, he kisses my forehead and smirks at Xavier when he’s done. Xavier growls and takes another step forward, but Lawrence turns and leaves.

  Facing Xavier, I put my hand up and glare. “If you lay a hand on him, you’ll answer to me and I’ll never speak to you again.” I threaten him with such sincerity he stops in his tracks. Our strained relationship can only take one more thing before splintering completely.

  Xavier gapes at me for a moment while he figures out what to say. He finally pulls himself together and gets in my personal space. “You’re honestly going to choose him over me?” he asks incredulously as his eyes search mine. Both of his hands are running through his hair, and his tone softens when he starts talking again. “What happened to us, Addy? When I told you to find some new friends, I didn’t mean to be his friend, and I definitely didn’t mean to find a new relationship.” He paces in front of me, shaking his head, his voice raising in volume. “He’s been giving you hell since you were old enough to train, and now you want to pursue something with him?” His hands go up in exasperation and form fists as he stops pacing. I gape when he’s suddenly crouching down so the tip of his nose almost touches mine. His cerulean blue eyes cut deep into my light blue ones. “We’re supposed to be together, Rosalyn. I feel it deep in my bones, and now you’re rejecting me. For the life of me, I can’t understand it.” Heartbreak and confusion are clear in his voice.

  He leans down to kiss me, but I throw him back into a tree, following once he hits it. Bending my knees so I’m close to his face, I brutally explain, “It’s not that hard to understand, Xavier. You ruined us with the choices you made. Why would I want to be with someone who constantly chooses other women over me? If you felt we were supposed to be together deep in your bones, you would have never kissed my mother.” Taking a deep breath, I enlighten him, “As for Lawrence, that’s none of your business. What I choose to do with my love life is my choice, and who I choose to have for my friends is my business.” I turn my back to him, but glance behind my shoulder one last time to deliver a parting line. “You really should have thought about what you said when you advised me it was time that I found more friends. You set up the perfect storm, Xavier. Stay away from Lawrence!” My voice echoes through the clearing, causing birds to fly from the trees. The guards stand at attention, and Xavier snarls in my direction. Turning around, I stomp back toward the castle door, knowing that Lawrence is probably headed that way.

  My heart rate spikes suddenly when someone grabs my arm, but I’m pulled into a chest that smells of leather. I look up and see Lawrence. The grimace on his face tells me he heard at least the last part of the conversation. He pulls me to the side so nobody can hear us. “You want to tell me what all that was about?” he questions gently as he releases my arm. I turn around to look at him and realize he’s worried about me. This whole situation has become complicated. Wait, not just this situation, my whole life.

  You’re just now figuring this out, sweetheart? Alaric chuckles inside my head. I figured that out days ago.

  If Alaric were here, I’d probably strangle him. It’s time I turn the tables back on him. Alaric, how’s Jacque and the situation with your sister going? Blessed silence . . . finally. Quietly, I chuckle to myself. He wants to talk about my life being a mess? At least my sister isn’t trying to kill the person I’m in a relationship with.

  No, your ex is trying to do it. . . Is he your ex, though? The whole relationship confuses me. He chuckles in my head.

  My fists ball up at my sides. I yell through our connection. Errr . . . Get out of my head, Alaric! Through our connection, I see a flash of him holding his head. Now, I feel horrible about yelling at him. But suddenly, I feel a cord snap, and a part of me feels empty. I rub at my chest but can’t shake the feeling. It’s like a piece of me is missing, and I want it back, which is weird.

  “Rosalyn?” My head snaps up to look at Lawrence. What was once concern has transformed into intense worry. He slowly reaches for me in question, and I go to him, throwing myself in his arms. When he engulfs me in them, I feel safe. It’s going to take some time to get over the years before this, but I’m hoping I can get him to tell me why he let Scarlett do what she did to me. Tipping my head up, I rest my chin on his chest so I can look at him. I love staring at his face. His hands frame mine, and he says, “I heard your conversation with Xavier.” My audible gasp doesn’t stop him. “He’s right when he says I treated you horribly for years, but I don’t want to do that anymore. I truly regret it.” The sincerity in his voice repairs more of the damage done to our relationship over the years of abuse. Tenderly, he declares, “I want to see where this can go. We’re friends, and I want to take things slow, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. I won’t tell you I wasn’t angry after what happened after that training session.”

  “She almost killed me, Lawrence. But I felt horrible for what happened to her and blamed myself for it,” I interrupt him angrily.

  He lays his finger on my lips. “Shhh. I don’t blame you for what happened to Scarlett. If anything, I’m to blame.” His breath caresses my face as he dips and kisses my cheek, making me melt. Lawrence smiles. “Your mother pulled Scarlett, and I thought you were to blame. I didn’t realize until the next day that you never wanted any of those things to happen.” He strokes my cheeks tenderly. The blood drains from my face, and my breath quickens when I realize what he actually said. “Rosalyn, what’s wrong?” he asks, concern in his voice as he stares at me.

  Choking, I plead, “Please tell me my mom didn’t do something to you, too.” Tears glisten in my eyes. If he was tortured too, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it. The emptiness I felt when Alaric disappeared is suddenly gone, and I know he’s back, but he stays quiet.

  Lawrence pulls me back to his chest so I can hear his heart thudding in his chest. “Don’t cry, amare.” Affection is clear in his voice as he kisses the top of my head. “Believe me when I say I’ve been through much worse than what your mother did.” A sob breaks through, and he rubs my back. “Rosalyn, none of this is your fault. I let things go too far that day, and I should have protected you. You need to let go of what happened,” he implores, pulling my head away from his chest to wipe my face. “You need to let go of the guilt or it’ll eat you alive, and I don’t want that to happen.”

  As soon as I’ve calmed down enough to head back inside, he kisses my forehead and grabs my hand. We head to the back entrance of the castle so he can take me back to my chamber. Halfway there, we’re stopped by Alizon, and she notices us holding hands. She looks up at Lawrence and hurriedly says, “I’m stealing her.” She grabs my arm and pulls me away from him. All I hear is Lawrence’s chuckle as I’m dragged down the corridor to my room. When the door closes behind us, she excitedly says, “You’ve been holding out on me. Tell me everything. That man hated you a few weeks ago, and now you’re holding hands.” She runs over and plops down in one of the chairs by my window, jumping up and down on her butt. Following slowly behind, I sit across from her and look out at the snowy landscape before turning to her.

  Letting out an exasperated sigh, I say the words I’ve said many times already. “We’re friends, Allie. How many times do I have to tell you?” I put my arms on the sides of my chair and lean back, exhaustion kicking in.

  She draws the words out slowly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, “I don’t believe you . . .” Her voice is tinged with sarcasm. “You wouldn’t be holding hands with him if you were just friends.”

  Fru
strated I sigh. “Would you just leave it alone, Alizon? Please? I’m not ready to talk to anybody about this yet. I’m still trying to figure everything out in my head. When I’m ready to talk about it, you’ll be the first person I discuss it with,” I tell her frankly.

  She grips the arms of the chair as her eyes become hard. “Fine, I’m going. It seems I’ve been replaced.” Hurt vibrates through her voice as she gets up to leave.

  Quickly, I get up and follow after her. “Allie, that’s not the case,” I say gently. “I just don’t want to talk about it.”

  My hand shoots out and grabs her arm. She stops, proceeds to look at my hand, and then slowly her eyes raise to me. “Find me when you’re ready,” she bitterly says before storming out of my room and slamming the door. I sit on the ground, with tears falling down my face. I’m the bad guy because I don’t want to share every piece of my life with everyone. I’m not being treated fairly.

  You’re right, Rosalyn, you’re not being treated fairly. That’s one of the things we have to get used to when we’re next in line to take the crown. Everyone’s going to want something from us, and sometimes we have to say no. Get used to people being mad at you.

  Chapter Nine

  Lawrence

  The last five weeks have been a dream. I’ve been able to spend each day training with Rosalyn, and she amazes me with all she knows about combat. I shouldn’t have doubted her for a second. Our sessions are the highlight of my day, and she brightens it more when she laughs or looks up at me with adoration with her big sky-blue eyes. Not once in over two hundred years of existence have I been this enamored with a woman, or frankly, wanted a woman this much.

  Rosalyn is a compassionate young woman who doesn’t stand for acts of cruelty toward another person. She’s better fit to rule than the monarchy in place. I’m a lucky man because she noticed me and gave me a chance after the way I treated her for all those years. For once, something seems to be going right in my life. Well, I hope.

  I’m broken from my inner thoughts when I enter a noisy area in the castle I rarely visit. It has more dirt caked on the stones, and the doors are closer together because here, the families are on top of each other. This is where the common folk of our kingdom live. It’s not as bright as where the monarchy and guards live because around a thousand citizens are jammed into the three floors in this wing of the castle. Sometimes a family of five to six Witches will be living in two rooms, but you’ll never hear them complain. They would rather be in here than living in one of the shacks behind the castle in the woods, trying desperately to stay warm by a fire in this freezing weather.

  When I arrive at a door that’s not as regal as the ones in the part of the castle where I spend my days, I wipe my sweaty palms on my leather pants. Taking a deep breath, I knock three times, hoping she’ll answer. Scarlett was finally released from the dungeons yesterday. After five minutes with no answer, I push the door open to make sure she’s okay. My heart is racing, and until I can see her with my own two eyes, I won’t calm down.

  When I walk in, I see a couch and chairs in their chambers, and off to the right is the door that leads to Scarlett’s room. Going straight there, I knock on the door twice. “Scarlett.”

  There’s rustling behind the door, and it creaks loudly on the hinges as it opens. The air leaves my mouth when I gaze at the girl in front of me. Where once there was beautiful hair, there is now only peach fuzz. Her face is many shades purple, green, and blue. Scars cover her arms, and the side of her neck looks like someone took a knife to it. Everything in me wants to crush her to me, but I know that may be hard for her after what she’s been through. Being a victim of the dungeons myself, I know I have to let her come to me.

  She folds her scarred and slightly shaky arms around her middle. “Lawrence, what are you doing here?” Her voice is quiet, not strong and confident like it used to be. Not once does she look me in the eyes or stare at my face and instead, stares at the ground.

  Releasing a shaky breath, I move down to my knees and look up at her. “Scarlett, what did they do to you?” I run my hands through my hair, and I draw my fists into my lap, so I don’t reach out to her.

  A harsh laugh leaves her lips. “What did they not do to me? And apparently, you spent the entire time they were torturing me with Rosalyn.”

  Shaking my head, I get to my feet, and my hands go limp at my sides as I look at the floor. “I’ve spent time down there, Scarlett.” Sighing, I ask, “What did you want me to do? Storm the dungeons and break you out?”

  Her hands touch my chest as she pushes me. “You spent all your time staring at her during training. While they were busy almost killing me, I had to listen to them tell me you’ve all but fallen in love with her. Once again, I’ve lost everything that means anything to me because of her,” she sneers.

  Before she can push me again, I grab her hands and glare at her. “Your resentment toward her needs to stop. She’s never done anything to you. Your parents are the ones who left you alone.” Releasing her hands, I calmly tell her, “Let go of your hatred for her. She’s a good person, Scarlett. Give her a chance.”

  Her lip trembles, and she gulps, mumbling, “Would you please just leave?” Her brown eyes, a window to her soul, gloss over with tears. She’s a shell of her former self, and her heart is broken. No, it’s crushed. I back off to give her the space she desperately wants.

  As I walk toward the door, I stop and turn to look at the girl who used to be so strong, self-assured, and borderline conceited. “I’m always here to talk,” I promise her. Swiftly, I walk from the chamber to get out of this wing of the castle. I feel like it’s closing in around me. I pull at my collar and pick up speed. The look I saw on the face of the young woman I raised will live with me until the day I die. My lips are in a thin line. I know there are only three people who would torture Scarlett with the information that Rosalyn and I are spending time together, and they’ve broken her spirit because of it. Right now, I need to get to the woman who can make me smile.

  Rounding the corner to Rosalyn’s room, I find Xavier standing outside her door. I stand back and lean against the wall, waiting to see what’s going to happen. Very rarely will I use my advanced hearing, but I’m desperate to find out what’s going on.

  Xavier exhales noisily, “Come on, Rosalyn, just let me in.” The pleading in his voice makes me snort. He’s begging a seventeen-year-old girl to let him in her room. Rolling my eyes to the ceiling, I smirk while shaking my head.

  “We’ve been over this, Xavier. I’m not letting you in until you tell me why you kissed my mother,” she explains, annoyed. The yawn I hear from behind the door has me looking around the corner with a cocked head and raised eyebrow. I’m interested to see how Xavier will react.

  He grips a corner of the wall and pounds on the door. From a distance, I see his lips pressed together in a firm line while he glowers at the door. “I deserve an explanation for what’s going on between you and Lawrence. You’ve been avoiding the question for far too long,” he barks.

  “Who’s the adult in this situation, Xavier? You’re standing outside my door, beating on it, demanding answers from me,” she admonishes. “I’ve given you easy terms. Answer my question, the one I just asked. Once you answer it, I’ll happily answer yours. Right now, you’re demanding things from me like a two-year-old. Grow up and get the hell away from my door before I make you. I’m done with your petty games.” I think she’s done, but there’s a pronounced sigh as she moves on. “We’ve been going at this for weeks now, and you still haven’t learned. You can’t demand things from me when you’re the one who ruined things between us. When you decide to talk to me like an adult about what happened between you and my mother, maybe we’ll be able to move past everything.”

  My brows raise and pull together as a vein pulses in my neck. What happens to us if they work things out? Will she push me to the side and pick things up with Xavier? Thoughts continue to race through my mind when Xavier roars at the door. I’m
down the hallway in a flash before the situation gets out of control.

  Xavier’s eyes clash with mine, and I’m thrown against the wall and held there. With nostrils flaring, he stomps over to me. “Do you realize I could kill you right now and there wouldn’t be anything that you or Rosalyn could do?” he sneers.

  An energy ball forms in my hand, but before I can throw it, Rosalyn’s chamber door opens, and she tears down the corridor toward us. Xavier is suddenly on the opposite wall. Rosalyn’s skin is red, and the cords of her neck are rigid. “I’ve warned you, Xavier. I’m done. I told you to leave him alone, and you haven’t.” With a growl, she continues, “Either let him go or I’ll make you.”

  I slide down the wall, and she released him. She runs to me, but before she gets close, Xavier sneers, “This isn’t over, Lawrence.” He abruptly takes off, his cape rippling behind him.

  Rosalyn bites her lip, and her chin trembles as she moves to me. “I’m so sorry, Lawrence.” She’s unable to look at me. “I should have never brought you into my world or my drama.”

  Grabbing both her cheeks, I pull her face up so I can look into her eyes. Smiling at her, I honestly tell her, “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad you’re in my life. I’ve decided to stay planted by your side through all the drama. Just know we’re exactly where I want us to be.” I wrap my arms around her and bring her to my chest. She fits perfectly, and I know she was made for me. Rosalyn lifts her head up and moistens her lips with her tongue. My pulse starts picking up. Slowly, I lift my head and lay my lips on her moist ones for a second. Her eyes widen, and she gasps. I’m not going to take advantage of her, so as I stand up, I pull her with me. There are still some things we need to talk about, and I tell her to get her wrap. But she tells me she wants to talk in her room where we can have some privacy. She walks inside. My thoughts scatter at the thought of being alone with her in her chamber. Standing still for a second, I finally make up my mind, and follow her in to see she’s sitting in a chair by her window.