Friction (The Frenzy Series Book 4) (26 page)

I’d hunted last night and brought down a raccoon and a possum, draining them both. They weren’t much, but the Colony could use the meat so I decided to start that way. When I saw Porschia holding up Mercedes, flanked by Tage and Roman, I knew something was wrong. “What’s going on?”

Roman ran to me, stopping short of smacking into my face. I stepped back. Personal space and all. “We need you to watch Mercedes,” he said hurriedly.

“Why does Mercedes need watching?”

“Because I didn’t drink enough Infected blood to completely change me back. My fangs hurt like hell and they think I’m gonna kill the whole damn town if I go into Frenzy in the Colony without another night-walker to stop me,” Mercedes answered, out of breath by the end of her explanation.

Was there a set amount of blood to consume in order for the cure to work? Why would she be turning back? “We don’t know any more than you do,” Roman said, as if reading my mind.

I held the two animals up. “Thought the Colony could use the meat.”

Roman nodded. “The Colony doesn’t deserve the meat, but okay. After Porschia has a portion.”

“I’m okay,” she said, but her eyes locked onto the raccoon and wouldn’t let go.

“Eat some, Porschia. You need to be strong,” Tage coaxed.

She swallowed and asked Tage to help Mercedes. “I’ll take them to Blackwater and feed on the way. Meet back at your home?” she asked me.

“Yeah.” She would probably beat us there. And I was surprised she knew where I lived. I’d seen her in the forest, but never saw her near my house—if you could call it that.

She was gone before I could offer to help Mercedes, her scent on the breeze she left in her wake. I breathed her in, aware of Tage’s growl and the fact that Porschia probably knew how I was feeling. I didn’t give a damn anymore. Trying to hide it was useless.

Roman’s voice snapped me out of my daze. “Don’t push it today, Saul. Maggie died this morning, and they didn’t bother to let us know that her funeral had begun.”

My heart stopped for a second, beating slow and hard in sadness and anger. Porschia loved Maggie.

“If we’re gonna meet Porschia, we’d best get a move on. She’s fast and even faster when she’s fed,” Tage announced with a clap of his hands.

His hands? I wanted to tear them off simply because they’d touched her. I even hated his voice. How could she love him when he was so different from me? Could he compel her to? Did she choose him because he was my opposite? I’d give anything to undo what I’d done. I’d give anything to have Porschia back again. I loved her, and seeing her with him was killing me. Being anywhere near Tage made me want to kill him.

Roman picked Mercedes up in a fireman’s hold and the three of us ran toward my home. Porschia was already waiting on the step when we arrived. The white stucco was mostly green and grey now. Poison ivy climbed up the outer walls and crept into the gutters. “The inside is nicer,” I said, trying to erase the look of disgust from Mercedes’ face.

“It’s fine. We appreciate you letting her stay,” Porschia reassured. She smiled slightly, her eyes locking onto mine for a moment. As Roman took Mercedes inside and Tage followed them in, I wrapped my fingers around Porschia’s wrist. “I’m sorry about Maggie.”

She nodded. “I could tell the moment they told you.”

“I wanted you to hear it, though.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, pulling away and walking into the dimness indoors. Little sunlight made its way through the canopy and into the broken windows. There was an old couch, stained and half moth-eaten. “The cot in the back has clean bed clothes. I stole them from my parents.”

“Have they visited you yet?” Porschia asked.

“In a manner of speaking. They met me at the crossing and threw some food across, then they told me not to contact them again. They said they were disappointed in my decision to set the fire in the city, and of my choice to become a night-walker after having been cured from the Infection. Then they said I wasn’t welcome in my own home.” My father was on the council now. Apparently being seen with your formerly-Infected, currently-vampire son was frowned upon.”

“I’m sorry,” Porschia said, her brows drawn together. “I truly don’t understand. They were always so understanding. They love you.”

“Things change. And don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s them,” I said, standing up straight and shoving my hands in my pockets. “So no one knows you’re starting to change back?” I asked Mercedes as Roman settled her on the bed.

“Not yet,” she answered.

“That’s good.” I turned to the others. “I’ll take care of her. You go hunt down an Infected.”

I wasn’t sure where they’d have to go to find one or how far. We might be here for a few days. Mercedes scrunched her nose up as she looked around my house. It was going to be too long a visit, regardless how short. For her and for me.

Saul fought hard to hide his irritation at Mercedes’ disdain. He was offering to help, yet she was more concerned with examining her surroundings. Not posh enough for her, I guessed. It wasn’t like anyone in Blackwater lived in luxury, though this house wasn’t exactly the best in the woods. I’d have to tell Saul about the other houses.

“Where would you suggest?” Porschia asked.

“I’ve been thinking about that, and the best bet might be south. There’s a small town probably fifty miles away. It’s not ideal, but we can’t go back toward Mountainside. That would be pointless. We could go north, but the village there is probably sixty or seventy miles away.” Plus the woods are thick in that area. It would make this evening much more fun…

“We could split up,” Porschia suggested.

“No,” Tage said. “We stay together.” He pinned his eyes on me, and I knew what he was thinking. Bad things happened when people split up. I was actually a fan of splitting up.

“Makes sense, Tage. It would be so much faster.”

“No.” He was a stubborn one. “We stay together.”

It made no sense that Mercedes hadn’t been cured. She seemed fine – sick and miserable for about a week, sure – but for days she’d seemed human. Now, her fangs were growing back and she was slowly becoming a vampire again.

Did she just take a sip? Could she have accidentally consumed vampire blood? Or was this something else entirely? It wasn’t that I cared about Mercedes at all, but for my own neck, I hoped it was the former. I hoped she’d made a mistake, consumed too little from the “gross” Infected or accidentally took in a drop of vampire blood. If the cure wasn’t permanent…

“South it is,” I said, cracking my knuckles out of habit. With another round of goodbyes and one forlorn Saul bracing himself against the door jamb, we ran; skirting the city and then turning south.

Fifty miles isn’t that long when you can travel as fast as a vampire, but we would need to feed when we arrived. I just hoped the people of Vansburg were still alive and well, and that the Infected that surrounded it were, too.

We could feed from them, or I could feed from Tage before I tore Porschia apart. She thought I didn’t know that she killed my brother? She sank her fangs into him and he was gone. Just like that. I heard her and Mercedes talking about it. I felt the sharp blade of the knife turn in my back, tearing flesh and sinew, chipping bone.

Being out in the woods with her alone would be more ideal, but I could take Tage in a fight. I’d wait until Porschia weakened and then pounce. She would regret having lied, having murdered, and ever having laid eyes on me.

Mercedes was miserable. She laid on the bed, crying. “Is there something I can get you? Do you need to feed?”

She raised her head off my makeshift pillow to scream, “I can’t feed, you idiot! My fangs aren’t in,” and then promptly let it fall again.

Her tears were still clear. She hadn’t fed. She wasn’t going any crazier than normal. Maybe the fangs were just a fluke. Maybe she wasn’t turning back into a night-walker, after all.

We would be stuck there for a couple of days at the minimum, and from the looks of things, it was going to feel like two months.

I hunted that night, for the Colony and for me. I drained the deer I took down and then dragged the carcass over to the crossing where Ford waited. I was surprised to see him.

“I figured someone would hunt,” he said with a shrug. “But Father forbid me from entering the woods until we figure out what’s happening to Mercedes. How’s she doing?”

Should I lie? “She’s not great.”

“Upset or in pain?”

“Both, I think.”

Footsteps cut through the silence between us and Delilah smiled, holding a basket out for Ford. “I thought you might get hungry, waiting out here all night.”

He grinned and accepted her offering. “Thanks. I’m starving.”

She settled onto a rock on the bank beside him. “Do you mind if I keep you company for a little while? I can’t sleep.”

“No, I don’t mind at all. That’d be nice,” he said. I could feel his heart beat faster. Ford was already a goner.

Lifting the bridge into place, I carried the venison across the water and sat it on the ground, careful not to take one step onto the Colony’s boundary. Ford jumped up to help and met me at the edge of the bridge. “Thanks for the meat, Saul. Do you think they’ll be back tomorrow?”