in control of myself long enough not to disappoint someone else? “I won’t.”
“I’ll be back in a minute. Keep the spoon handy just in case.”
My body was ice, frigid and stiff. Had I been Infected like Pierce? Where was my brother? I couldn’t lift my eyelids and my back and legs were being poked by something hard; spikes or sticks. Straw, maybe? It made the pain worse. This had to be it, what Pierce felt like.
I was going to rot along with him.
Voices swirled around me. Some familiar, some not. Identifying the speakers I did recognize was impossible because of the fog. Then, they disappeared into the black void with me. We were gone.
Floating away…
Garreth yelled down to the guards, who began to argue with him. I sighed and left Roman to walk outside and see if I could help. Garreth muttered a curse and told me to go work my mojo on them as he stepped back inside to attend to Roman. At the gate, I was able to convince the guards to allow Tage and Mercedes to enter Mountainside, though I had to repeat myself a few times. Tage tried to compel them too, but the men looked away and refused eye contact with him. They obviously knew how to avoid it; so why did it work differently with a woman?
We would be allowed entrance, but our horse would be held as collateral and it would be killed and eaten if we didn’t provide meat for the people of the hill. Mercedes angrily handed Lady’s reins to the taller guard and he strode away with her, skirting along the inside of the giant wall.
Tage grabbed my hand as I began to follow my sister beneath the gate. “We have a problem,” he ground out from between clenched teeth.
“What’s that?”
“Me,” Saul answered, stepping out from behind a nearby tree. I hadn’t even smelled him.
“How’d you get here so fast?” I asked.
“Mercedes let him ride with her,” Tage said sweetly. How did he even catch up to us?
Saul stepped toward Tage in anger and I put myself between them because I could tell Tage was struggling to control himself. All the scents and sounds, the tension. It was getting to him. “One day my sister will hate you for what you did, so enjoy her charity while it lasts, Saul.”
“She’ll never hate me more than she hates herself. And one day Porschia, you’ll forgive me.” His eyes were hard, yet pleading, stormy, and angry.
“You underestimate the level of hatred I feel toward you, and that is a very dangerous thing. For you .” Forget fangs, I wanted to stab him in the throat with a twig; a small twig that should never hurt a human being. Or maybe I would fight fire with fire. Set him ablaze and let him try to fight his way free of the flames. Did Mother try to free herself from her confines?
His blue-gray eyes swirled with emotion. His jaw ticked. My fingers twitched. Tage’s arm on mine pulled me toward him. I looked toward the guard. “Is there another dwelling, a separate one that he can stay in, please?”
The guard looked down. “You all stay together if you want to shelter here.”
Tage breathed into my hair. “We could leave him outside the wall.”
“No!” Mercedes interjected, moving past me and Tage to stand with Saul. I’d honestly forgotten she was even there. “He stays with us.”
With a growl, I turned to the guard and nodded, rushing off to check on Roman and leaving my sister with her sympathy and the monster who garnered it. Saul had probably turned his sights on her. He was probably preying on her guilt and kindness. If that was the case, he would find that she had the former in spades, the latter only sporadically. Maybe it was best to keep them close. I didn’t fully trust either of them.
Garreth held a dampened cloth to Roman’s head. He didn’t bother acknowledging us when we came back into the home. “How is he?” I asked.
“Fever is drawing out.”
That was good. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”
Garreth stood, his scalp almost touching the
“I’ll be back in a minute. Keep the spoon handy just in case.”
My body was ice, frigid and stiff. Had I been Infected like Pierce? Where was my brother? I couldn’t lift my eyelids and my back and legs were being poked by something hard; spikes or sticks. Straw, maybe? It made the pain worse. This had to be it, what Pierce felt like.
I was going to rot along with him.
Voices swirled around me. Some familiar, some not. Identifying the speakers I did recognize was impossible because of the fog. Then, they disappeared into the black void with me. We were gone.
Floating away…
Garreth yelled down to the guards, who began to argue with him. I sighed and left Roman to walk outside and see if I could help. Garreth muttered a curse and told me to go work my mojo on them as he stepped back inside to attend to Roman. At the gate, I was able to convince the guards to allow Tage and Mercedes to enter Mountainside, though I had to repeat myself a few times. Tage tried to compel them too, but the men looked away and refused eye contact with him. They obviously knew how to avoid it; so why did it work differently with a woman?
We would be allowed entrance, but our horse would be held as collateral and it would be killed and eaten if we didn’t provide meat for the people of the hill. Mercedes angrily handed Lady’s reins to the taller guard and he strode away with her, skirting along the inside of the giant wall.
Tage grabbed my hand as I began to follow my sister beneath the gate. “We have a problem,” he ground out from between clenched teeth.
“What’s that?”
“Me,” Saul answered, stepping out from behind a nearby tree. I hadn’t even smelled him.
“How’d you get here so fast?” I asked.
“Mercedes let him ride with her,” Tage said sweetly. How did he even catch up to us?
Saul stepped toward Tage in anger and I put myself between them because I could tell Tage was struggling to control himself. All the scents and sounds, the tension. It was getting to him. “One day my sister will hate you for what you did, so enjoy her charity while it lasts, Saul.”
“She’ll never hate me more than she hates herself. And one day Porschia, you’ll forgive me.” His eyes were hard, yet pleading, stormy, and angry.
“You underestimate the level of hatred I feel toward you, and that is a very dangerous thing. For you .” Forget fangs, I wanted to stab him in the throat with a twig; a small twig that should never hurt a human being. Or maybe I would fight fire with fire. Set him ablaze and let him try to fight his way free of the flames. Did Mother try to free herself from her confines?
His blue-gray eyes swirled with emotion. His jaw ticked. My fingers twitched. Tage’s arm on mine pulled me toward him. I looked toward the guard. “Is there another dwelling, a separate one that he can stay in, please?”
The guard looked down. “You all stay together if you want to shelter here.”
Tage breathed into my hair. “We could leave him outside the wall.”
“No!” Mercedes interjected, moving past me and Tage to stand with Saul. I’d honestly forgotten she was even there. “He stays with us.”
With a growl, I turned to the guard and nodded, rushing off to check on Roman and leaving my sister with her sympathy and the monster who garnered it. Saul had probably turned his sights on her. He was probably preying on her guilt and kindness. If that was the case, he would find that she had the former in spades, the latter only sporadically. Maybe it was best to keep them close. I didn’t fully trust either of them.
Garreth held a dampened cloth to Roman’s head. He didn’t bother acknowledging us when we came back into the home. “How is he?” I asked.
“Fever is drawing out.”
That was good. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”
Garreth stood, his scalp almost touching the
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