Friction (The Frenzy Series Book 4) (16 page)

While it was true that I was sorry for hurting Roman, I wasn’t sad that Pierce’s warped mind couldn’t hurt someone else. Just like I wasn’t sorry that those evil women had gotten their comeuppance. I was just sorry to have hurt someone in the process. And I understood now more than ever that sometimes split-second decisions regarding good and evil, life and death, are necessary—even when they hurt someone you care about.

Roman told me he needed space so I walked away, leaving him to his thoughts.

The walk must have been exactly what she needed, because when she finally arrived, the last to enter the gates of the abandoned settlement, Porschia seemed and looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. We stayed at the homes in The Glen overnight, Roman and I repairing and then guarding the wall to make sure all felt safe to sleep within it. He was quieter than normal, working and not talking. The loss of his brother hung heavily on his face.

The next morning, we yelled out to the gathered assembly that we would need to leave early since Mountainside was a farther walk. Most gathered just inside the fence a half hour later. A few people decided to stay at The Glen, against our advice, but we couldn’t force anyone to do something they didn’t want to do.

Porschia came out of one of the homes wearing jeans and a deep blue tank top that made her look like someone I’d follow to the edges of the earth, powerful and fierce. She crossed yards and streets and carved a path through the people waiting in front of the gate, lifting the bar easily and opening it for them. “We will protect you. Until you get to Blackwater we will keep you safe, but you have to stay together and listen to us. We mean you no harm and no harm will come to you in the Colony.”

The people who had been so frightened and still after their ordeal in the cages at The Manor began to clap. They thanked her for what she’d done. The freed woman told them when they were released, and Roman explained it again last night. He told them that Porschia ended the women who made them blood slaves, that she was the only reason they were being released, and to follow her until she asked them not to. Then he told them to begin walking, and that she would follow and make sure all was well.

They didn’t fear her like she thought they would. I saw the surprise in her face when she realized this, the way her brows lifted and she blinked, startled for such a reception. She didn’t revel in it like most men would, just waved them out of the fence and pointed in the direction they should travel.

We followed them, flanking each side with Mercedes among the people, all the way to Mountainside. Most had found shoes and better clothing in The Glen so the walk, though longer, wasn’t as difficult on them.

I squeezed her hand as I took off toward the front of those walking. She returned the squeeze with a smile and I could see that this wasn’t going to break her. I didn’t know if anything truly could at this point. She had survived more in a few short months than any one of us had in as many years.

It was dusk when Mercedes, the last of the humans, walked into Mountainside where they were all welcomed and invited into their homes. They made space when there was little of that left. Garreth met Porschia at the gate. She didn’t have to compel him to open the doors.

We were going to try to hunt. The people needed food and I could see it in the strain of her forehead that Porschia needed meat, blood, and rest. Scuffing my boot on the rocky path, I waited for her just inside the woods beyond the stone wall. It didn’t take her long.

She’d changed into one of the dresses she brought with her, one of Maggie’s. A soft yellow, it looked too delicate and feminine for what lay ahead of us. The crunching of boots from behind her drew my attention away from the dark hair spilling over her shoulders.

Saul cracked his knuckles arrogantly, wearing a big grin I’d love to knock off his face. “Are we hunting alone or in groups?”

Roman answered from behind him. “Two groups of two?”

“Or one in each direction,” Porschia offered, refusing to look up at me. “I’d like to hunt alone.”

What the hell was going on?

I shoved my hands in my pockets and nodded. “Either way, we’re going to have to run far to find anything at all, let alone enough to feed all of the people in Mountainside.”

“True,” Saul agreed.

“How’s Mercedes?” I whispered to Porschia.

“Doing a little better this evening. I think she’s just tired at this point. She’s resting.”

I nodded.

Roman clapped and talked loudly. “Let’s hunt alone, then. Nothing’s too small. Every bite will count.”

Porschia offered a small smile and she tilted her head toward the south. She was gone in an instant, her scent lingering in the gentle breeze of her wake. Saul took off to the east and Roman clapped me on the back before heading north. With the shortest straw, I took the west.

It was selfish of me, but I ate the first thing I could find; a gray squirrel that was well fed despite the famine plaguing the area. Without his meat, I wouldn’t have lasted the evening. I could feel my strength waning with each stride forward, but I had to find something to bring back.

Five squirrels, a feisty raccoon, and a fox were all I could come up with. I gathered as many edible mushrooms as I could find, as well as clovers and dandelion. They weren’t the tastiest things in the forest, but they could help stave off the hunger until we could get to Blackwater. Someone would need to run ahead and ask the Colony to prepare for the people’s arrival.

Hunting should be better closer to home, too.

I couldn’t believe how different everything was. We weren’t even that far away from home, yet the rotation had always provided a steady source of meat, at least one or two animals each night, even if they were small. Had the hunts provided much more in the past?

A branch snapped on the hill above me. I looked up, and in the darkness saw her holding tightly to the trunk of a Sycamore tree. The sound of her fingernails digging into the bark grated at my ears. Her deep red hair hung silky straight as she looked around the tree trunk at me. She was trembling. Sniffing the air, I could tell she was human, her heart thrumming through her neck, and for a split second I imagined feeding from her.

“What are you doing in the forest?” I yelled.

“Help me,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and raw. “I’ve been trying to keep up but I got left behind at The Manor. My ankle is... I don’t know if it’s broken or just injured, but I can barely walk at this point.”

“You were at The Manor?”

“Yes. A girl came to let us out of the awful cage they had us in and told us to follow a female night-walker toward The Glen. After what we’d seen at that place… everyone was afraid. We preferred staying in the cage to trusting them. In the panic to get away from the cage’s door, my ankle twisted. It wasn’t long before humans from another cage came to get us and reassure us that we were being set free and that no one would be harmed.” Her voice broke, but after a moment, she continued. “I made it to The Glen and spent the night in one of the homes, but I decided to walk to Mountainside on my own. I didn’t want to slow anyone down. I kept up for a long time, but then my ankle bent again and I couldn’t keep pace with the others. It may be broken. It hurts so badly.”

A silvery tear fell from first one and then the other eye. Her eyes were the strangest color of pale green, the color of lichen on a tree.

Why didn’t Mercedes say anything? Mercedes was at the end of the trail of people. Maybe she didn’t notice her. She had just changed, after all, and her mind was on other things.

I walked slowly toward her. The girl was younger than me, probably closer in age to Ford, with a face streaked with sweat and mud. “Will you help me get to Mountainside?”

“Where is your family?” I asked softly.

She blinked more tears, looking up at the sky or canopy above, I wasn’t sure. “Floating in the sickening river surrounding The Manor. My mother, father, and sister. There’s no one else left. I’m all alone now.”

More tears. She tried to limp away as I stepped forward, wincing and crying out with a shrill scream, “Don’t hurt me!”

“I won’t. I’ll help you, but you’ll have to carry a few things.”

She nodded. “I can carry them.” She nodded toward the animals I’d killed and the edibles I harvested. She was wearing what looked like the remnant of a table cloth or curtain, knotted at the sides and as dirty as she was. “I fell a lot. The mud is pretty unforgiving.”

“We’ve all fallen, but at least you chose to get up. What’s your name?”

The girl took hold of my things, clutching them tightly as I picked her up. “Delilah.”

“Let’s get you to Mountainside, Delilah. I’m Porschia.”

Her eyes widened along with her mouth. “You’re the one.”

“I’m a night-walker.”

“You’re a
good
night-walker. You set us free.”

“I did, but there are no
good
night-walkers. There are no good humans, either. I don’t trust you, and you’d be wise not to trust me either.”

She pursed her lips, gulping silently. “Fair enough.”

Something about her bothered me. I didn’t know if it was her story or her tears, but I could see that she was in pain, both physically and emotionally. That part seemed true.

I should have felt empathy. She was hurt, alone in the forest, and her family had been killed, but something felt ‘off’ and I’d felt that same nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach before.

Above almost everyone I knew, I trusted Maggie – and Maggie always said to trust my gut instinct. My gut said that Delilah was bad.