Magic and Decay by Rachel Higginson Page A

her. Ryder needed to move and he
needed to move now.
    I wasn’t going to bite him. I couldn’t.
    I couldn’t hurt him again.
    I wouldn’t do this.
    Unfortunately, I didn’t know if I would be able to
stop myself. Excess saliva gathered at the back of my tongue and I felt the
hunger sear through my veins hot and demanding.
    A whimper pushed out of my chest and the sickening
feeling that I wouldn’t be able to stop this, myself or this disease settled
like lead in the bottom of my stomach.
    Oh, god. I was
going to eat someone!
    Ryder’s entire chest vibrated with fury when he
shouted, “Shoot me too, then! I’m not going to let her die like this! I won’t
let you do this!”
    “Think of what she’ll become! Do you honestly think
Ivy would have wanted this? Don’t you think she’d rather die? Let us put her
out of her misery.” Hendrix begged Ryder, his voice hit a low pleading that
punctured my Zombie haze and forced me to feel for possibly the last time.
    They should shoot me. They should end this before it
begins.
    I don’t want to
hurt someone.
    I don’t want to
taste blood and flesh and bone.
    I looked out at the sea of Zombies that pounded
against some kind of invisible wall of Magic. They were desperate to get to us.
And I would be one of them soon.
    Please shoot me.
    Please.
    “What’s that?” Reagan asked sounding slightly
hysterical.
    “What the hell?” Ryder held me at a distance just as
the urge to snap my teeth at him hit me hard. I held it back, but just barely.
    Something cool misted around
my ankles. I felt it through my stiff jeans. The sensation brought relief, the
first of it in several minutes. I let out a slow exhale and my lungs moved with
the effort.
    I perked up when I realized that my lungs had all but
stopped because of the infection, but could now move with some freedom.
    What was happening now?
    Was this a good sign? Or a sign that
the disease had gotten worse?
    The tingles of relief moved up my body. A gentle
breeze washed over my thighs and waist. My heart started beating with purpose
when it reached my chest. My neck stopped burning like the sun. The heat pulled
back and the agonizing pain eased.
    “Ivy,” Ryder whispered.
    He let go of me and I stood on my own. My mouth
stopped watering and my blood rushed through my veins with purpose and life
again.
    Just as I felt the life slowly drain out of me, I now
felt it return with vigor.
    I wiggled my fingers and after that, I wiggled my toes
in my shoes. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
    I felt the infection dissipate inside of me.
    I felt my thoughts organize and my consciousness piece
itself back together.
    I felt my body heal.
    By this time, I couldn’t make out much through a
thick, wispy navy blue smoke that covered me completely. It looked like someone
had let off a few smoke bombs right at my feet.
    I expected to start choking on it, but I breathed
through it easily.
    I couldn’t really see though. I stepped forward,
hoping to find Ryder.
    Three or four steps later I left the smoke behind me.
Ryder stood on the outside of it with his hands grasping at his wild hair and
his gray eyes brimming with unshed tears.
    I threw myself at him. I was too happy to care about
our history and the bad feelings between us. I didn’t care that we weren’t
supposed to care about each other and that our world was falling apart. I
didn’t care that there were hundreds of Zombies trying to get to us, trying to
kill me.
    All I cared about was Ryder.
    His arms wrapped around my waist, and he squeezed me
so tightly that he lifted my feet off the ground.
    “You’re okay?” he whispered into my hair.
    “I’m okay,” I swore to him.
    His lips pressed into the curve of my neck where he
kissed me. His chin scratched my skin, but I relished the sensation, drowned in
it.
    His heat wrapped around me and my heart swelled at our
closeness. Tears fell again, wetting my cheeks and soaking his filthy t-shirt, but I didn’t care .
    We