Friction (The Frenzy Series Book 4) (2 page)

She glanced up at me. “Roman is very sick.”

“Sick? What kind of sick?” ‘Sick’ could mean a great many things. It could mean nothing more than a cold or it could mean death would follow.

She shook her head. “I need you to come and see him, and there’s no way he can travel, despite his stubborn argument.” She crossed her arms angrily.

Mercedes had been spending a lot of time at Roman’s for the past two days and now I knew why. I noticed her coming and going, and at first I thought he’d worked his charm on her. He had no power of compulsion now, but I’d learned that his personality was still pretty charismatic. He didn’t need to wield compulsion; he only needed to smirk and wink. Mercedes had visited Saul recently as well. I could smell his scent lingering in her hair. He was living in an abandoned home situated deep in the woods, far from the Elders and any other human being. I’d passed by it during the hunt one night and though he wasn’t inside, his scent was strong there. So strong, I nearly lost my balance and fell to the forest floor. The familiarity and comfort that were once associated with the scent of his pine soap and skin now haunted me.

As far as my sister, I imagined that guilt fueled her steps to him. After all, she was the one who bit him, passing the infection knowingly, and made him a monster. Part of me still blamed her for the fire, even though his hands were the ones to set it and his conscience failed to tell him that such an act was wrong.

I knew it wasn’t her. It was him. He may have chosen his own path, but blame didn’t make sense. It simply was.

I’d seen Saul twice, staring from the forest as I passed through, hunting meat for the colonists and for us. Between the former Infected, the current night-walkers, and the humans who’d always been only that, there was still a distinct divide, possibly a deeper and more severe chasm than before the cures were discovered. From the cover of foliage, he stared but never spoke. Each time, a small slice of my heart hardened into something solid and impenetrable. I didn’t tell Tage he was lurking for two reasons. One, he knew but didn’t talk about it. If I could smell his scent, Tage certainly could. Two, Tage would tear his head off.

Between the infection and the vampirism, there had been enough victims, enough death. At some point it had to end. Perhaps we could spread peace via the cure instead of spreading more hatred and disdain.

Father and Ford stopped by early that morning with a basket of smoked meat, cans of food, and bread for Mercedes and Roman. Their horse was ready and we were supposed to leave within the hour, but now I hear that Roman is sick.

“I’ll go check on him.”

“Thank you,” my sister said, awkward silence enveloping both of us. I left her behind and ran toward Roman’s, where I found him upstairs in his bed. His breathing was deep and rhythmic, but his scent was different, medicinal. What did Mercedes give him?

I approached his bed. “Roman?”

He stirred slightly, his eyelashes fluttering. “Roman,” I said more forcefully. This time, his eyes opened and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“What are you doing here?” he said weakly.

“My sister sent me. You’re ill?”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s just a cold.”

His skin was flushed and he shook slightly, though he tried to mask it from me. It was definitely more than a cold. “Flu?”

“Maybe it is. I’m okay to ride, though.”

“Did Mercedes give you something for the fever?” I could sense the heat rolling off his forehead and body.

“Yes. I think it made me drowsy.”

He needed to stay home. “You aren’t well enough to go.”

“You won’t survive without me.” I stared at his dark, brown-black eyes. “You won’t. Some places are safe, but others aren’t. In those places, people will be mistrusting of you. God help you if they find out what you are.”

Shivers ran up and down my spine. “They’d only see the fangs, but... Why would they care?”

“Because they’ll either fear you or be fascinated by you, and neither option bodes well for Porschia Grant.”

“And you’ll keep them from knowing? Save me from all the bad in the world?”

He shook his head with a smile. “I’m only human.”

I smiled. Roman was enjoying being human again, despite the fact that his brother had disappeared from the forest. He worried for him.

“But some of them knew me as a vampire. They’ll see irrefutable proof of the cure.”

Snorting, I scoffed. “They’ll see that now you’re a human and you feel like you’re dying. I’m sure they’ll all stand in line to be just like you.”

His expression fell, growing serious as his brows folded together. “You already know some won’t want to change. Well, all Infected will, but some vamps will be reluctant.”

“I realize that, and I know we can’t make them change; we can only give them the information. What they choose to do with it is their choice.”

“If anything happens, do not approach The Manor without me.” The only thing Roman would say in detail about The Manor was that it was a vampire stronghold. There were no Infected, but the vamps there didn’t bow to humans. The human population feared them, and for good reason. Roman didn’t give me details, but my imagination ran wild with that assertion.

It was my turn to frown. “We’re only going to tell them about the cure…we don’t go inside the walls. Right?”

He shook his head. “There aren’t walls. There’s a moat, but you don’t cross it and no one goes inside the front door. If you take one step inside the building, you’re not likely to leave.”

“If your fever isn’t gone by the time—”

“I’m going, Porschia. It’s only a day’s ride to Mountainside and it’s safe there. I can rest for a day or so before we move on.”

I gritted my teeth, a bad feeling in my gut telling me he shouldn’t go, that he was too sick. Mercedes was right about that, but Roman was the only one who knew the way. He was also the only proof that might help persuade people of the cure easily, rather than demonstrating that it was real.

Familiar arms wrapped around my waist and a slow smile spread across my lips. “What’s wrong?” Tage asked, warm breath fanning my hair. “I like this dress,” he said in a barely audible voice.

Roman groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes and burrowing further back into his pillows. His hearing wasn’t as acute anymore, but he was still a guy. He knew what Tage said and how he felt.

“Roman’s sick.”

Tage snorted. “Poor baby.”

“No, look at him.”

It took a few seconds, but Tage found the same thing that I did. Roman was too ill to travel. “He can’t go. Not like this.”

“I have to.” Roman pushed himself up onto his pile of pillows.

I offered an alternative. “We could postpone it.”

“We’ve postponed it twice already because of the spring storms,” Roman argued. “Look – Mountainside is another haven, a lot like Blackwater, only...mountainous. They’ll let us stay for a few days and I can recuperate there.”

“What if they aren’t as accommodating as they’ve been in the past?”

Roman winced, sitting up straighter. “They will be.”

When we planned our first journey, Roman told us about the three places we would travel. The first, Mountainside, had no treaty but welcomed night-walkers as long as the vampires provided meat from game in the forest that they resided in. It was a poor system, Roman argued, secluding themselves on one mountain, securing it around the bottom with a tall, thick stone fence that kept the Infected out of their safe haven. A poor system, because even safe havens could become cages. Much like Blackwater, the people of Mountainside’s separation became a weakness as much as a strength. They depended upon the night-walkers for food that they couldn’t grow themselves on stepped gardens that striped the sides of the mountain. Their dwellings were basically caves, hand-hewn into the rocky hillside. They lived primitively, he said. But didn’t we all to some degree?

Tage stepped back. “If Roman says he can make it, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Jerk. He was just thinking that if Roman died along the way, that would be one less thorn in his side. Tage’s eyes twinkled, knowing I caught on to his game.

Roman groaned again. “Would you two go home for a little while? You’re making me nauseous.”

I ran across the log, my feet slipping. The soles of my shoes were worn slick and nearly all the way through the soles in spots. Normally, Tage or Porschia would ease the bridge that the carpenters made across the river when we needed to cross, but I didn’t want them to know who I was meeting. Across the bank and over the hill, he waited. “Hey,” I said, out of breath.

“Are they still traveling today?” Saul asked.

“I think so. Roman is too sick to go, but he’s too stubborn to stay.”

“You have the fabric?”

I patted my pocket where lumps of fabric were piled together. “I do. I’ll leave a trail for you.”

Saul craned his head toward the Colony. “No one knows you’ve been coming?”

“They haven’t said anything, so I don’t think they know.”

“Porschia knows,” he said. My body tensed. She couldn’t know. She would be furious. She would snap.

“I don’t think she—”

Saul smiled sympathetically and then said, “She’s stronger than ever. She can probably smell me from here. She can probably smell you, too.”

I hadn’t thought of that. We were so far away. I handed him a bag of bread and cheese. Ford had brought extra for him, but only because I promised Saul would be led away from Blackwater and wouldn’t return. Ford harbored mixed feelings but would be glad to see him go. So would Porschia, though I knew she warred with herself over residual feelings. Emotions that strong couldn’t be erased by a single act, but her stubbornness ran deep. She could be judgmental of others without giving them the benefit of the doubt. It would take time, possibly a lifetime, before Porschia’s forgiveness would even begin to show its head, unless a miracle or tragedy happened. Both were strong enough to spark change; catalysts of life-altering changes of perspective, as we’d all learned lately.

“Thank you for the food,” he said, looking up but refusing to meet my eyes.

“You’re welcome. What do you plan to do after you leave here?”

“If Mountainside will allow me to stay, I will do that and see if it’s a fit. If not, I’ll follow you to the next settlement and try there. I’ll keep trying until I find somewhere to belong.”

My chest tightened. “I’m sorry, Saul.”

“No sorrier than I am, Mercedes.”

The pieces of fabric were small but bright red-orange, and would be an effective trail of bread crumbs as long as Porschia or Tage didn’t catch on. Hopefully Roman wouldn’t feel well enough to pay close attention to anything. I was the one who bit Saul and turned him into a monster, so I was partially responsible for the monstrous things he did and would be responsible for making sure he survived. In another settlement, he could start anew. As a human, with a new life, new prospects and possibilities, he could live out his days in peace. Saul could become anyone he wanted to be. Hovering around Blackwater was torturous to him, as it was to the Elders. Although he didn’t have much contact with them, he watched the forest closely and saw the ones who came to offer them help, his former boss included.

I jerked my thumb back toward Blackwater. “Keep a lookout. I need to get back in case they leave soon.”

He shifted his feet. “I’m ready and I’ll watch for you.”

“Okay,” I said with determination, already turning my back to him and jogging back toward the river. I firmly believed it wasn’t a betrayal to my sister; it was simply helping someone who needed it. As I approached the swirling currents of the water, I saw that Porschia was waiting for me on the other side. “What are you doing, Mercedes?” Her voice wasn’t angry, just exasperated and tired.

Pursing my lips together, I tried to think up a good lie but decided with her uncanny instincts, it was pointless. “Saul needs food so I took him some.”

She inhaled deeply. “Was it some of what Father sent for you and Roman?”

“Ford packed extra.”

“Did he know who was getting the extra rations?” she bit out crossly.