Friction (The Frenzy Series Book 4) (21 page)

He agreed to go without argument, the hunger having won out, and Roman quickly agreed to stay. He was bouncing with energy that no one else possessed and promised to put it to work finishing up the last of whatever needed to be done. The final group of people would be taken to Blackwater tomorrow. We only had one night remaining.

I finally told Mercedes what happened with Pierce. She didn’t say a word for the longest time and when she did, the only thing she did say was “Thank you.” I wondered what he’d done to her while she was Infected.

Every day Delilah orbited my brother, and every day he became more enamored with her. With each passing day, my anxiety over the pair of them increased. More often than not during the hours Ford was away, she was nowhere to be seen. I searched for her. Her scent was missing from Mountainside, so I decided to ask for help. Tage was too busy avoiding me, so Roman was the logical choice. I waited until the sky darkened, becoming an odd shade of green; when the wind began to howl around the mountain and the hail stones began to salt the earth. All of the humans covered their heads and took cover.

Roman worked steadily alone during the downpour.

I approached him slowly. Part of me wanted his help, but the other part was testing him. Rain sluiced down too-long strands of his hair and poured in rivulets down his face and neck. His clothes were soaked and in a matter of moments, I was too. He didn’t bother looking up at me. He knew I was there.

“I can’t heal your lovers’ spat.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

He sat back on his haunches as thunder shook the earth; violent and demanding. “What do you want?”

“Do you know Delilah?”

A slow smile spread across his lips. “Of course I do. Are you jealous? Is she toying with Tage?”

White hot rage filtered through my veins. “Is she?”

He chuckled and stood up. “Not that I’m aware of. Seems she’s more into your brother.”

“Do you know her scent?”

He looked up at the angry sky. “I... I can’t smell her. Could just be the storm, though.”

“It could be, but the thing is, I never can pick up her scent when Ford isn’t around, and she disappears as soon as he leaves.”

“Strange things are afoot.” He grinned. “I love the scent of a spring thunderstorm.”

I looked all around me at the thrashing tree limbs in the forest beyond the wall, water falling down the stones of the wall itself, and the thunderous torrents running down the mountain. Rain fell sideways, pelting both of us until it stung, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was perfect. Gritty and angry and everything I was feeling on the inside.

“If it’s bothering you, let’s see if we can find the little minx. I’ll go left.”

I smiled. “I’ll go right. Meet me at the top?”

“
Beat
you to the top!” he yelled, leaving me standing alone in the rain, watching his rapidly retreating back.

Roman didn’t find her scent and neither did I. It was like she had vanished, but she had to be here somewhere. Anger and frustration leaked from Saul. I could feel it pouring from him. No doubt he was sitting in the forest watching everyone get comfortable in the Colony and city.

Evening fell, leaving me wet and cold. Tage was still being stubborn. He was in his usual spot, which left only me and Roman, and we didn’t need a fire to cook things. I could eat raw meat, if there was any to be had, and Roman only needed blood. It was still storming and the rain would extinguish a fire faster than we could fight to keep it lit. Drying out wasn’t an option.

“You’re shivering,” Roman said from his chair as I laid on the makeshift bed he’d lain so ill in when we first arrived.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re stubborn.”
So was Tage.

“Ford said he would start at dawn instead of mid-morning,” I continued, ignoring his statement. “That means he’ll arrive sooner and we can get home, and then hopefully Saul can find meat for the Colony.”

“And for you – when is the last time you had anything other than Garreth’s blood the other day?”

“It’s been awhile.” The earthen walls were closing in on me. The space seemed smaller and smaller with each passing breath.

“Tage told me what happened.”

I sat up. “He did?”

Roman nodded. “Can’t blame him for being angry. Any guy would get pissed.”

“I didn’t mean it the way he’s taking it.”

“Does it matter whether you meant it a different way than he interpreted it? He’s angry and has a right to be. You don’t trust him.”

“I don’t trust anyone.”

“You trust Saul.”

“I do not.” I didn’t. I might be okay with having him in my presence and was trying to be friends again, but I still didn’t trust him for the important things. I would never again trust him with my heart, and maybe that was why I didn’t trust Tage completely with it. It had been battered, bruised, torn out, and put back in. Everything was so new.

Or maybe it was Mother’s words constantly resounding in my head as though she were haunting me.
Who could ever bring themselves to love you, Porschia?

Did I even know what love looked like? Felt like?

At one time I thought Saul loved me and that I loved him back, even through all of the muddled mess of the rotation, Tage’s strong come-ons, and Roman’s confusion. I thought Saul was
it
for me. Or at least I convinced myself he was.

Maybe it wasn’t Tage I didn’t trust.

Maybe it was me.

But how did I tell him that?

“I can see steam pouring from your ears. You’re overthinking this.”

“Maybe, but I think I just had an epiphany.”

“Big words for such a small girl.”

I groaned, wishing I knew a way to mend everything with Tage. Roman watched from his chair, his dark eyes taking in too much of everything around him. I preferred him human.

Then he muttered the strangest thing. “Though she be but little, she is fierce.”

“What’s that?”

“Shakespeare.” Seeing the blank look on my face, he added, “Never mind.”

“It’s beautiful.”

He picked at his cuticles. “It is. But ferocity doesn’t always win the fight, Porschia.”

My heart sank. Did he know?

Porschia’s body was trembling, so she laid back down and folded herself into the fetal position. It was going to be a long night. I let out a sigh. The wind howled outside the door. The wood clattered violently against its metal lock, making Porschia jump a foot into the air. She sat up and we watched as it was torn open and stood straight out on its hinges, the rain pouring over it in small rivers.

Gusts blew Porschia’s hair everywhere. She’d been wearing it down more since the incident at The Manor. She wasn’t cut out for this, for killing, but she damn sure was a survivor. I’d give her that.

“How is it just standing open?”

“The wind? Or maybe it’s broken,” I stood and walked toward it, catching the most delectable aroma. It was earthy and rich; spices and maybe myrrh? I’d only smelled it once, but maybe it was enough to remember it. I stood still, trying to inhale as much of the scent as I could, to commit it to memory.

“What’s wrong, Roman?”

“Nothing at all. Do you smell that?”

She sniffed the air and stood up, moving toward me. “What
is
that? It’s...amazing.”

Suddenly the scent was gone. Faster than it had wafted in, it was gone. Porschia looked at me, her lip curled in disgust. I couldn’t see the irises of her eyes at all. The ashy green color was gone. Just black remained.

She growled. “I should kill you right now.”

“For what?” Fire licked its way through my veins, my heart supplying its oxygen, fueling the flames. “All I’ve ever done is help you!”

“Did you help me when you used my mother as a test subject? When you followed me around like a sad fucking puppy all year? Was that helping me, Roman?”

“We needed a cure, and I don’t have to defend my actions to you. You aren’t judge and jury over everyone, Porschia, but you sure as hell act like it. I’m beneath you because of what I did to your Mom, okay? I’m sorry! I’m fucking sorry. If I could go back in time and make another choice, I would. And at the manor, how you failed to keep my brother safe from those witches, I’m sure you’d erase that shit, too. I see how it eats at you. You say you’re fine, that you’ve made peace with the situation, with yourself and with Saul, but I say bullshit! You are hanging on by a very fine, very frayed thread. And if you don’t watch out, I’ll bite the fucker in half!”

“I don’t think you can,” she teased, a half-crazed smile on her face. “You’re not stronger than me anymore. You aren’t stronger than anyone. You’re just a night-walker. And if nothing else, we’ve all learned that there are much worse things out there.” She pointed angrily toward the black storm raging outside the door, which still stood open.

Where did this anger come from all of a sudden?

I didn’t have a chance to think of anything else before she plowed into me, her shoulder into my stomach. My head and back hit the wall just as a clap of thunder vibrated through the earth and sky. Porschia tried to sink her tiny fangs into my throat, but hell no. That wasn’t happening. I used everything in me to push her back, my biceps and shoulders straining from the effort. Everything in me was holding her away from me, but I was weaker than her. She was right.

Thank God Tage wasn’t a complete asshole. He blurred into the room and pulled her off me. She kicked and thrashed against him, but he held tight until the storm in her calmed. It took over an hour of both of us trying to subdue her until she finally relaxed and fell asleep on Tage’s chest.

I finally breathed out, the tension ebbing from my body. “What was
that
? One minute she was cold and resting, and the next she was insane.”

Tage shook his head. “I felt the anger swell and I’ve never felt her get that angry before.”

“She was going to kill me, and the crazy thing was, I was almost as angry as she was. I felt like throttling her.”

“Over what?”

I shook my head. All I knew was that she was laying there, the door flew open, and then Porschia attacked. Nothing about it made sense.

“I have no idea.”

Tage stroked Porschia’s hair gently and leaned back against the dirt wall. I collapsed into the only chair in the place.

“I’m not saying this to piss you off,” I started, “but could she be overwhelmed with Saul’s emotions?”

Tage’s lips thinned into a tight line. “Could be.”

“It’s just weird, that’s all. We were fine! She was going to sleep, and then the storm kicked up and the door flew open. That’s when she attacked me, unprovoked and out of nowhere.”

Tage shook his head. “I don’t know. Nothing makes sense anymore.”