The Frenzy Series (Book 2): Frantic
Frantic
Copyright © 2016 by Casey L. Bond. All rights reserved.
First Edition.
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This book is a work of fiction and does not represent any individual, living or dead. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible,
King James Version, Cambridge, 1769. All rights reserved.
Book cover designed by Cover Me, Darling.
Professionally Edited by The Girl with the Red Pen.
Formatted by Cover Me, Darling and Athena Interior Book Design.
Published in the United States of America.
ISBN-13:
978-1523475810
ISBN-10:
1523475811
To Elton. Some people say that love can’t exist at first sight. I’m glad we disagree. I love you and always will.
Porschia.
Porschia’s in trouble.
The urge to run burst over me like a wave against the shore.
She’s in the forest. Why is she in the forest? She used the ring. Did the Infected attack her? Why would she leave the Colony? Did Roman know?
If I knew she was in trouble, he would too.
Roman was going to kill me, but if I didn’t reach her before he did, he would claim Porschia first. The moment she changed, the instant my blood was absorbed into her, I felt her. It was a new awareness, something that reached all the way into the marrow and took root. She was out of control. My kitten wasn’t tame now. Kitty had claws, and if I was right, she was about to claw my face off.
My feet pounded the pavement and loose strings flopped from the boots I hadn’t laced, threatening to fall off with each step forward, but I was still faster than Roman. Being a newer vampire had its perks. Brick and white blurred as I raced through town, leaving a wake of wind that kicked dead leaves into the air. It was daylight and colonists were out and about. Their gasps meant they saw me, which meant trouble for our kind.
The Elders wouldn’t be happy.
Wait until they find out about Porschia.
She is hurt. She hurts. I need to help her.
From ahead came the sound of rushing water from the river. I focused on it, trying to sharpen my senses further. She was close. Her scent floated to me on the slight breeze. I inhaled her deeply and pushed harder. She was
mine
.
Town Hall was my least favorite place. The Elders, three old men who had the nerve to think they could threaten to banish us from the Colony, coolly stared at me. Although they didn’t believe my assurances that it hadn’t been one of my coven who killed the colonists of late, I
knew
it wasn’t. “The bite marks are spaced too far apart. Measure our fangs and you’ll see. But that isn’t the most compelling argument in our defense.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I explained the same thing to those in the rotation who were worried about their safety. If a vampire attacked a human being – if they drank from them with the intent to kill – the humans would have been drained almost entirely.”
“You say it isn’t a night-walker? Then explain the wounds on the victims’ necks,” said Elder Beckett, the alpha male in the room; the unequivocal leader, despite their proclamations of this being a council-style democracy. He was fast becoming a thorn in my side.
“I can’t,” I replied in frustration. “Perhaps someone or something is trying to make you believe it was us, but I’ll say it again: It was not a night-walker who killed those people. My—”
I grunted, holding onto the edge of the pew beside me. A deep, wrenching feeling filled my abdomen and tugged me toward the river. It was either Mary or Porschia. One of them had consumed my blood. One of them had changed.
Clutching my stomach, I stood up clumsily. “We will make ourselves available and help in any way we can, but I am not feeling well. I need to go,” I explained, fighting through the pain of the binding. I could feel her, but I wouldn’t be able to claim her unless she fed from me first.
The sharp pangs were hard to breathe through, but even stronger was the pull to her.
Porschia
. She was near the river. I jumped down the steps and landed with a loud thud, drawing the eyes of every human milling around.
My senses were dulling. My reflexes, too. Something was very wrong with her.
Hot. Cold. Pain
.
Tripping over tree roots, I ran toward the river. A cool sheen of sweat coated my body and I shivered. I hadn’t shivered since I first changed, and that was thousands of years ago.
Since the first time I met her, I knew she was mine. She just didn’t know it. Then the human, Saul, got in my way. Now nothing would keep us apart. She was one of us. And I didn’t even have to turn her myself.
