Friction (The Frenzy Series Book 4) (18 page)

He could feel everything I did. I didn’t want Saul as a husband or anything else, but I was still attracted to him. I couldn’t imagine how it would be for me to feel Tage have a response to another girl.

Chat time was over. Time to ignore my friend and work.

Porschia was going to be the death of me. Saul wanted her back; everyone knew it. But feeling her response, her reciprocal attraction to him? It was going to kill me. I couldn’t watch them get back together. I wouldn’t.

Maybe it was shallow and maybe it was immature, but I decided to walk away instead of witnessing their heated exchange. When I passed by the gate, I heard a far-off but very welcome sound: the clopping of hoofs and nickering of horses. The cavalry had come. Roman knocked into my shoulder. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Who is that with you?”

“Ford Grant.”

I groaned, throwing my head up at the sky. “Porschia’s going to come undone.”

“Porschia should put her big girl panties on and deal with it. He wanted to see her. For some reason, he just doesn’t think I’m trustworthy.”

“Hmm. I wonder why that is,” I deadpanned.

“Like you’re any better.” He had me there. Roman scanned over the people, his eyes landing on Porschia, who narrowed her eyes at him. “Trouble in paradise?”

“A thorn in my side,” I answered gruffly.

He chuckled. “Drain him and get it over with.” I growled, watching Saul reach for Porschia’s hand. She didn’t take it. Good girl. “No one would have to know. You know you want to,” Roman goaded.

I
did
want to, and that was the problem. If I drained Saul and ended him altogether, Porschia would hate me. She might even kill me for it.

“It’s just because she’s working this all out in her head, man. Give it time. She likes you.” Roman was being nice and sincere, and my first thought was that he wanted something. He just hadn’t asked for it yet. I should have counted it down. Three, two, one... “So, can you let Porschia know that her baby brother is here?”

“I’ll tell her, but you’ll deal with her as soon as I do, so get ready.”

Walking quickly back to kitten, I crouched low, waiting for her eyes to meet with mine. When they did and the puzzled look scrunched her brows together, I told her, “Roman’s back. And before you smell him, you should know that Ford is with him.”

Her eyes widened for a second before she was gone.

I ran to Roman, knocking him to the ground and standing over him as he gasped for breath, clutching his chest. “What the hell? My brother should be safe back at the Colony! Not here in the forest!”

The pounding of hooves on gravel and movement from behind me caught my attention as Ford guided the horses and hay wagon into the gate. He smiled and waved, but his hand withered downward when he saw the look on my face.

Roman jumped up, rubbing his pectoral muscle like I’d permanently injured him. “What was
that
for? I was just helping.”

“Helping? If this is your version of
helping
, Roman, I’d hate to see you try to
hinder
something.”

Roman’s dark eyes narrowed. “Yes, you would,” he warned. “He wanted to see you and Mercedes, and help the people who are coming. I needed a human to guide the horses. I kept him safe,” he enunciated.

“And put him at risk in the process,” I countered.

“Agree to disagree.” He snorted derisively. “He’s not a little boy anymore, Porschia. Look at your brother. If your father would allow it and it was still ongoing, he could enter the rotation. He’s not a child.”

“He may not be a child, but he is still my baby brother. If anything happens to him, I will hold you personally accountable. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Roman stared at me in disbelief, but he’d better believe it. If a single hair on Ford’s head was harmed during this escapade, I would scalp Roman for it. And then he ended the stare-off in typical Roman fashion.

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘accountable’, Porschia. You helped kill my brother, so what else could you possibly do to me other than kill me?” He fumed, and then composed himself with a smirk. “And for the record, you’re really hot when you’re mad. I can see why Saul and Tage are still fighting over you.”

I smoothed my dress. “They aren’t fighting.”

“Not out loud, but they will. This isn’t going to end well. Surely even you can see that coming from a mile away. Can you smell the blood yet? I wonder whose will be spilt over Porschia Grant?”

“Nobody’s.” I would see to it. If there was friction between the men, they would need to resolve it. I was with Tage. I was friends with Saul. Period.

“You can’t blame him for being angry.”

“Tage?”

He smiled. “Either of them, really. Tage has every right to be angry that you’re forgiving Saul and letting him back in. Saul loves you, so Saul has every right to be angry that Tage made a move when he was off rotting in the city. No surprise that there’s bad blood between them.”

Roman’s fangs scraped his bottom lip as he looked over my shoulder at the progression of refugees. “Who is
that
?” I’d forgotten that vampire Roman was horny Roman. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Delilah approaching, wearing a gray tank top and jeans that were a size too large for her small frame. Her flaming hair waved behind her in the wind, a flag of warning and fire.

“That,” I said, clapping Roman on the shoulder, “is Delilah.”

“Delilah?” he mused.

“Yeah. Better keep sharp objects away from her.”

His lips made a pout. “I don’t think I’m the one she’s interested in.”

I turned to see Delilah petting the horses and talking with Ford. My hackles, every single hair on the back of my neck and back, stood at attention. A low growl rolled through the hollow of my chest.

Roman’s arm stopped me from moving.

“Easy. She’s just saying hi and petting the animals. And why do you care what Ford does?”

“Because I don’t trust that girl.”

“Didn’t you find her? Bring her here?” Roman and I watched as she combed her dark hair back from her face, draping it over her right shoulder and chest. On her neck was a tattoo.

“What is that?” I asked myself.

“A serpent climbing a tree or... something,” Roman said, squinting. “It’s intricate. The details are surprisingly clear, but she seems awfully young to have gotten a tattoo before all the world went to hell...”

“You don’t trust her either?” I asked hopefully.

He shook his head. “I’m not nearly as mistrusting as you, Porschia. I like to see the good in everyone, in every situation: rainbows and hearts and...”

“Shut up, Roman.”

He just laughed. Asshole.

Holy shit. Porschia looked like she was going to kill me, or Roman, or both. She was talking to him and he was rubbing his chest. She probably hit him. Being a night-walker made her mean. Or maybe it was the Infection in her. Something sure did. Porsch wasn’t mean growing up, but she had teeth now. Literally and figuratively.

A small hand stroked the mane of the stallion I was driving. He was usually a stubborn bastard, but something had him under a spell. My eyes followed the line of the arm to the most beautiful face I’d ever seen, freckled skin and hair as dark as red as a rose. Her eyes were big and brown and her lips were pink and full. “Hey,” I said. It was basic but all I could get to come out.

She peered up at me from beneath her dark lashes. “Hi.”

I watched her with the horse. She was comforting him, or he was comforting her. I wasn’t sure which.

“He’s a beautiful animal.”

“Thank you. His name is Boots,” I offered, pointing at the stallion’s white feet, a stark contrast against the black that covered the rest of him. I climbed down from the wagon, my eyes flitting between my pissed-off sister and the girl standing in front of me, more often sticking on her. “I’m Ford,” I said, extending a hand. She looked at it for a second and I thought she wasn’t going to shake it, but then she slipped her hand into mine and all the breath in me left, or maybe my lungs forgot to work.

“My name is Delilah.” Her voice was husky and as warm as her skin.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, finally letting her go.

“I can take him, if you want,” she offered.