The Frenzy Series (Book 2): Frantic (17 page)

I heard boisterous laughter coming from upstairs at Roman’s. Dara, Roman, and Julian were obviously in good spirits, although Tage wasn’t here yet. He was tailing me when I followed Dara to Saul’s. He didn’t follow me to Maggie’s, but he didn’t come back here, either.

I pulled the door open, only to be met with silence before Julian’s voice echoed from above. “Come in, Porschia. We were just discussing you.” Of course they were. I hid my dress in a small cabinet just inside the door, knowing that Dara would tear it just to spite me. I trudged up the steps and into the kitchen, where the three sat around the long, wooden kitchen table. “And what have you decided?” I asked haughtily. Would they make me leave?

Julian smiled. “You’re lucky. It seems that Roman is siding with me instead of Dara regarding your immediate future.”

I smiled slightly. “Dara sees me as a threat.”

Julian nodded while Roman simply stared at me. “And are you?”

I shrugged. “Depends on her actions.”

Roman chuckled. “At least she’s honest.”

Dara calmly stood up and brushed the strands of her golden hair back before launching her chair across the room. The wood splintered into a thousand pieces, denting the sheet rock. She grabbed a shard and was in front of me in a second, the sharp end of a chair leg raking against the hollow of my throat with every breath I took.

“Dara, don’t,” Roman warned.

Julian’s hand stopped him. “Let them handle this. They need to get it out of their systems.”

Dara’s eye flicked to Julian for a split second, and while her attention was focused on him, I grabbed her wrist and twisted. A loud crack filled the room, followed by Dara’s gasp. “You bitch!” She released the piece of wood and it clattered to the floor.

“Don’t ever threaten me again, Dara. I may be a new vampire, but I’m strong. Do
not
underestimate me. Sniff around Saul again, and a broken wrist will be the least of your worries. This is the last time I’m warning you.” I stared at her until she looked away toward Roman, her eyes beseeching him for help. She wouldn’t find it. His lips were compressed in a tight line. He never said a word, never defended his lover.

I let go of her wrist and she rushed from the room, glancing back at Roman once, followed by the sound of her bedroom door slamming and more curses. Turning back to Roman and Julian, I found them smirking and Tage standing in the doorway looking bored. “So are you kicking me out?” I asked, uncertain.

“Not yet,” Roman answered honestly. “Though you still need to work on your self-control.”

“That
was
controlled. You have no idea what I wanted to do to her.”

I ran and got my dress before heading to my room to hide it. My legs were leaden and every part of my body ached. Tage followed me up the stairs.
Always following me
. “Why did you track me to Saul’s?”

“To keep you out of trouble.” He shouldered past me and stood in the middle of my room.

Well come on in, Tage.
I closed the door behind us and leaned back against the wood. “Why do you care if I get in trouble or not?”

He stared at me, waiting for me to understand something I clearly wasn’t comprehending. “What? Why do you even care? Is it the blood bond thing?” But he just kept staring.
Great
. Suddenly, I was so tired and wanted nothing more than to get to the bed. I stood up too fast and my vision began to fill with tiny black dots. I fell into the room, my head striking the wooden floor boards.

“What the hell?” Tage said, lifting my head with his hands.

My teeth chattered together. “So tired and c-cold.”

He shook his head. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

I smiled, unable to hold my head up. “Maybe I’m dying.”

Warm arms lifted me into a cool, soft cloud. They wrapped around me and pulled warmth overtop me, and I floated away.

When I woke, Tage was sitting in a chair beside my bed, his face lit from the warm light of a flickering candle as it dripped onto the bedside table. “What time is it?”

“After eight.”

Trying to shake the cobwebs from my mind, I took a deep breath. “Wasn’t the rotation tonight?”

He nodded.

I sat up, heart thundering. “The hunt?”

Tage nodded again.

“Who’s going with them?”

“Roman, Dara, and Julian.”

Julian? I threw the covers off and ran to my boots, shoving my sock-covered feet inside. Somehow the fact that Julian was in the woods with my loved ones and neighbors didn’t sit well with me.

“You aren’t in any shape to go into the forest, Porsch.”

“The hell I’m not,” I said, lacing one boot tight, then the other. I looked around the room for my jacket. My fingers were icicles.

“Roman said you are to stay here.” Tage raised his voice as he stood, maneuvering between me and the door.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Who’s going to stop me?”

“Me.”

“You can’t.” It was as simple as that.

“I can and I will.”

I huffed out a laugh, shrugging on my coat, but when I tried to step around him, he blocked me with his body. “Move, Tage.”

“No.”

“Move.”

He crossed his arms and planted his feet firmly. “Nope.” The popping of the
p
was what enraged me.

“FUCKING MOVE!” I tried to shove him, but he wasn’t budging.

“You’re weak.
One
of us hasn’t fed,” he said in a sing-song voice.

I squeezed my eyes closed. “Is that why I feel this way?”

“Probably,” he said on a shrug.

“Then I should go find something to eat. I need meat. And you know the best place to find meat?” I grinned, watching him silently curse me.

“Fine, but we can’t let Roman know you’re there. We go, we hunt, and we come home.”

“Right.” I nodded happily.

“We go. We hunt...”

“We come back here. It’s not home, though – but we come back here – to this house.” I nodded, watching him grab his leather jacket.

“Why isn’t it home?”

“Home is where the heart is, and my heart isn’t here.”

Tage stared at me for a second. “It wasn’t at your other house either.”

“No it wasn’t, but I’m hoping to make one someday.”

“A home?”

“Yes. I want to make a home—somewhere I want to spend time at and can’t wait to go to at the end of the day. A house is just made up of brick and wood, but a home is filled with the people you love the most.”

Tage snorted. “You think the human boy can give you a home?”

The smile fell from my face, along with my mood. “No I don’t. But if I give up hope, there isn’t much left to live for.”

“You begged Roman for death. What changed?”

“I have no idea.” My mood swings were either going to get me killed or have me killing someone. I wasn’t sure which would happen first, but I prayed neither would.

As we walked out the door, Tage paused. “There’s something you should know.”

“Why do I get the feeling that I’m about to get very pissed off?”

“Because you are, but don’t shoot the messenger.”

“Fine. What is it?”

He blew out a harsh breath. “Ford’s hunting.”

I.

SAW.

RED.

And then I ran.

“Porschia!”
Good luck keeping up, messenger.

At the pavilion, I was glad Porschia didn’t show. She’d freak out if she knew I was in the rotation, and no one wanted that. Least of all me. I’d heard about Mary falling and hurting her ankle. The doc wasn’t sure if it was broken or just badly sprained, but she wasn’t in any shape to walk. Someone had to help, and I knew there wouldn’t be any volunteers from the Colony.

Father was trying to rein Mother in when I left the house. If anyone was in real Frenzy it was her, not Porschia. Porschia was more human than Mother in a lot of ways. At least she could be brought back to normal, whereas Mother might never see normal again. And if she didn’t, neither would Father.

I made up my mind. Once Porschia learned to control herself, I was going to see if I could live with her. There were plenty of houses on the vamp side of town that sat vacant. Hell, I could just go ahead and stay in one now. No one would have to know.

My neck didn’t throb. The bite from Julian didn’t hurt at all. “You’re shaking like a leaf, boy. Calm down. I will not hurt you,” he said with a chuckle. But something in the darkness of his eyes was cold. Something said he might enjoy hurting me. That was why I attached myself to Saul like a dog tick.

“You okay?” he asked as we climbed the steep hill.

Panting, I answered, “Yeah.” I was pretty fit, but this climbing up and down wasn’t something I was used to doing every day…or ever.

We both had crossbows, although it took me eight tries to pull the arrow back. My boot held the stirrup steady, but damn if I wasn’t too weak to pull the string into place. “Keep trying,” Saul said, his eyes telling me that I had to do it myself, but that he would stay until it was done. He was great. Saul never treated me like a boy, but like an equal.

A shrill scream split the night air and stilled my feet.
Infected
. Saul put his finger over his lips and we listened for it again. For several minutes, the only sounds in the forest were the shallow breaths we took, visibly puffing into the cold night air. My muscles were rigid.