— Everett —

I loved her when she was just a splattering of freckles and big brown eyes.

When she brought an extra sugar cookie just for me in the first grade.

When our class goldfish died and she held me in front of everyone until I stopped crying.

I loved her even more when she had another man’s baby.

But I hate her for what she did, a chess move in a game of unforgivable sin. I hate myself even more for what I’m going to do to her. I wanted her gone, but I was the one who left. Now, I’ve returned, and I have no intention of leaving again.

This is my campus, and it’s time to pay for your sins, little mouse, because I am a vicious king.

— Molly —

I loved him the first day I met him on the playground, when he was all gangly elbows and knees.

When we buried our toes in the sandbox and pretended we didn’t have legs.

On our first day of middle school when he smiled at me across the quad.

He was my white knight, my protector, the one who always made sure I was okay.

But that boy’s dead and gone, and I killed him.

I can’t undo what happened.

I never meant to hurt him. I never meant to hurt anyone.

I was the nudge that toppled the dominos.

Hold my hand, E, and let’s find our way out of the shadows. Before we are both lost to the dark.

Note from the author: Vicious Love is a dark enemies-to-lovers, college romance. It features mature themes including an incendiary heat level, bullying, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and, like my other novels, struggles with mental illness.

It is a standalone novel but part of the larger Wicked Empire universe, which follows characters introduced in my Voclain Academy series after they leave high school and enter adulthood.

For a list of all content warnings, please check the author's note at the beginning of the book prior to reading.

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