The Frenzy Series (Book 2): Frantic (21 page)

Saul met me as I crossed the boundary into Blackwater, his long stride infused with determination. “What’s wrong?” I asked, stopping just shy of the trunk’s roots.

“The Elders want to talk to you this morning,” he replied resolutely.

What?
“Why?” Would they officially tell me to leave?

“My Dad, or the Elders—it doesn’t even matter. But I told them this morning. I told them you can control yourself; that you just took one drink and let me go.”

A game. It was all a big game to them. “My life is not a figure on a board, Saul. You had no right to test me! Your dad had no right.”

I tried to push past him, but he caught my elbow. “I know this isn’t a game to us.” He pointed toward town. “But
they
are the ones playing it!”

I shook my head. “Then you are their pawn. You know what? I really can’t deal with this right now.”

“What can’t you deal with?”

“You!”

His head ticked back as if I’d backhanded him. “You can’t deal with
me
?” The muscle in his jaw worked back and forth angrily. “But you can deal with him, huh?” His eyes fixated on something over my shoulder. Looking back, a fuming-mad Tage was standing a few feet behind me.

This dance was exasperating, around and around and around, never going anywhere but in circles. “He’s helping me, and if you can’t deal with that, I don’t know what else to say. I cannot get through this alone. And now, because you played in to their plan, because you took a bet from your own father, I’m going to be fed to the wolves!”

Saul pulled me forward, the heat from his hand searing my skin through the long sleeves of my shirt. “Just remember that I never doubted you for a second. I knew you could handle it.”

Pulling my arm away, I blew out a tense breath, my upper lip ballooning outward. “Tage, I need to feed before I go.”

“Why do you think I’m here?” he rasped, holding out the flesh of a small bird. “It’s not much, but it’ll help take the edge off.”

“Thank you.” I held my hand out and accepted his offering. “We should start walking.” Tage nodded and fell into step beside me, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

“I’m coming, too,” Saul said, following us.

Tage stopped. “What if she doesn’t want you?”

Uh oh. Boy drama. I maneuvered between the men, sandwiching myself between Tage’s and Saul’s chests. “She wants
me,” Saul answered defiantly.

“There,” I inserted.

Saul’s eyes flicked to me. “What?”

“She wants me
there.
That’s what you meant to say, right?”

“Not what I mean, Porsch. He said, ‘What if she doesn’t want you?’ and I’m informing him that you still do. You still want me, don’t you? One little fight can’t ruin what we have, right?”

“No, it can’t ruin it. And of course I still do.”

A low growl rumbled against my chest from Tage. “She wants
me,
too,” Tage inserted.

“Because you claimed her? It’s not real!”

Tage shoved Saul’s chest from around me. “It is! It
is
real!”

“Enough,” a voice boomed. From the side, Roman approached and Tage stepped back, immediately relaxing. Roman was compelling him, but I knew he wasn’t working his magic on me. Every muscle in my body was tense, some shaking, and I backed away from Saul nervously to chew the bones of the tiny bird I’d forgotten about during the argument.

“We’ll all go.” Roman motioned for us to follow him and we did.

“Roman, I need to go to my room and get something really fast.”

“What do you need?” he asked.

I glanced at the three men surrounding me. “Something that will make me seem more like…me.”

“Go. Come straight back here.”

I ran away, tossing the bones of the bird behind me in my wake.

Climbing the steps of Town Hall was like climbing the steps of the gallows. I felt the noose being tucked tighter around my neck with each step. Behind Roman and flanked by Saul and Tage, I walked down the center aisle, the dingy, once-red carpet underfoot. The Elders were waiting, their black robes making them look regal and frightening. I’d grown up knowing that their word was the law. Now, I hoped that Roman had some sort of say in this matter.

Saul’s dad was nowhere to be seen.
Thank God.
To think that at one point I wanted Saul to introduce me to his family.

The Elders rose from their seats around the rectangular table behind the podium and raked their eyes over me. Hopefully I made the right decision in running home to change. The dress that I started and Maggie had finished for me fit perfectly. The sleeves fell at my wrists, and there was plenty of material at the waist to keep the empire seam from riding up the way Mercedes’ dresses had. I even plaited my hair and pinned it back the way I’d always worn it. I looked like me, before I became a night-walker. Just a week ago. Time flew. Had any vampire in the history of the curse beaten Frenzy in only one week?
No. They hadn’t. And I am nothing special. I’m a mess. I can’t do this.
My palms began to dampen.
I’m losing it. I’m going to snap, like a twig bent just a millimeter too much.

Elder Beckett spoke first. “We see you are well, Porschia. Please step forward.”
I’m not well. I feel like I’m going to explode. I feel like I’m dying. I feel like I can’t die. I feel like...
Tage nudged my side at the same time Saul did.

Roman eased to the side but stayed close, letting me step up beside him. His eyes never wavered from the trio of men in front of us. It was like a battle of wills. Old versus young. A traditional school of thought being challenged as much men’s stubborn pride.

Elder Beckett began, “You were forced into this situation, so please know that we understand there was no other choice for you. Infected or night-walker? That is no choice at all. Given the situation, you did what any prudent person would have done. You used the ring given to you and chose life over death. In changing though, you’ve put the Colony’s citizens at risk. Do you understand our concern?”

“I do,” my voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I do.”

“Blackwater has only seen a night-walker in Frenzy once, and she killed several before we were able to contain her. I’m sure you recall the details, Roman,” Elder Yankee said snidely.

I glanced over at Roman, watching his upper lip shake with barely restrained fury.

“It hasn’t been long at all since the transformation, yet I’m told that you can restrain yourself,” Elder Brown said. “That when tempted, you will not falter. You won’t harm a human being. Is this true?”

Roman spoke for me. “She is in control of herself.”

“Completely?” Elder Brown questioned.

“She is,” Roman answered.

Elder Yankee smiled unpleasantly. “Then you wouldn’t mind a small test.”

I swallowed. Roman’s hand moved to the small of my back, his thumb drawing tiny calming circles into the fabric of my dress. It was working. I felt okay. A little nervous, but okay.

Elder Yankee motioned to the back of the room. I turned to see who he was signaling to, but only saw someone’s back disappear into the foyer. The doors slammed open and morning light spilled into the back of the room, mingling with that from the unfortunate hole in the ceiling. “Bring her in.”

Tage and Saul gasped. Thrashing legs were the first things I could see, and then her voice cut through the small space. “Let go of me!”

“Mother?”

Roman’s hand clamped down on my hip, holding me in place. She kicked and clawed, even though her hands were bound together with twine in front of her skirts. “Don’t look at me, Porschia! This is all your fault!” She spat at the two men bringing her in. I recognized them but didn’t know them well.

If the Elders thought Mother could upset me, they were wrong. I’d been down this road with her for far too long. Her words, her hatred? They couldn’t hurt me anymore. She fought the two men all the way down the hall.

Her dress was drenched, but it wasn’t raining. The dark fabric looked soggy and darker than normal. “What’s all over her?”

“Blood,” Roman answered, still holding my hip.

I smelled it. The scent hit me when she kicked her leg up again, as the wind stirred behind her and the odor wafted toward me.

The blood wasn’t hers. I could smell hers, and the smell of it was rancid. “Whose blood is that?”

Elder Beckett cleared his throat. “Your mother escaped your father’s care last night. She was caught inside someone’s house, attacking them.” The scent swirled through the air again. Familiar. Something was familiar about the scent. “She was attempting to stab them in the neck with a small, sharp metal instrument.”

“What?” I gasped. “
You
did this? You killed Meg and those people? They were our neighbors! How could you? Meg was my friend—my only friend.” Tears leaked from my eyes, the crimson splashing to the red carpet beneath my feet. Roman’s fingers dug into me, but couldn’t hold. “Why would you do that?”

Father burst through the door, followed by a worn-out, wild-eyed Ford. “Because she’s insane,” Father expelled in one breath, leaning a hand against the door facing, exhausted.

“You
are
insane,” I said to her. “You are absolutely out of your mind. I should have let you cross the river and let Mercedes have you. I shouldn’t have saved you.”

“You didn’t save me! I
wanted
to go to her. I love her. Mercedes needs me! She
needs
me. I feed her. I still do. Or at least I did before you locked me away!” She turned to Father, kicking at him like a feral animal. “You locked me away and now Mercedes is starving. I hear her at night. I can hear her now. She needs me.”

I stepped forward, giving Roman a nod. I had this. “You’ll be put to death or banished. Banishment is the same as death, Mother. Mercedes can certainly help speed things long, but you’ve done this to yourself. You’ve brought it all on yourself. Why the wounds in the neck? Why would you try to frame the night-walkers?”

She blew a crinkled strand of gray-streaked hair from her face. “They were supposed to protect her, but they let her get bitten. Where were they? Hmmm? Was it you?” She craned her neck to look at Roman. “Or you?” she asked Tage. “Who was with her? Why won’t you tell us, you cowards? Own up to what you’ve done! You
let
her get bitten. You
wanted
her get Infected. You were supposed to protect her. The treaty...the treaty said so. You said the treaty was there to protect our citizens,” she muttered, pointing her two index fingers at the Elders. “You all lied. YOU LIED!” she screamed, thrashing and biting at the two men who tried to keep her still. “You still lie! All of the colonists should know that nothing you say is truth.”

Father’s eyes were emotionless, dead. Ford’s glistened. We were losing Mother today, one way or another.

The Elders looked to me. “You’ve handled this well.”

“She can’t hurt me anymore,” I replied simply. I wouldn’t let her.

“You’ll escort her across the river, then?” Elder Yankee asked.

“I will.”

“Alone,” Elder Beckett added. “You’ll go alone. Just you and her.”

“Fine.” The men backed away from Mother and she stilled, her eyes tracking my movements. “You got what you wanted, Mother. Let’s go.”

A mad laugh burst from her lips along with spittle. “Let’s go for a walk, Porschia. It’ll be like when you were little.”

That was a lie. She never took us for walks, never did anything with us at all. Not like the other parents who made time for their children, who played games and sang songs with them. Mother led the way out of Town Hall, stopping to spit on my father and then walking out the door. Ford handed him a handkerchief and father blotted her hatred away. Only the soaked remnant remained.

The further away from Roman I got, the more agitated with her I became. “They want you to lose too, you know,” Mother taunted. I ignored her. “They want you to attack me. They want to be rid of both of us. You kill me, and you’ll be banished. It’s all a trap.”