Free Friction (The Frenzy Series Book 4) by Casey L. Bond Page A

with me. I carried him all the way. One night when we were very close, we came across The Manor. The woman who originally turned me, Veronica, was there.”
    “Why do I feel like this isn’t going to be a happy story?”
    “Because it isn’t,” he continued. “I was in Frenzy. I’d just carried my brother, who I couldn’t even stand to smell, let alone feed from, about three hundred miles. Hungry and tired didn’t begin to cover it. ‘Insane’ only skimmed the surface of how I was feeling. When I saw her, I snapped. That’s what Porschia doesn’t know. Porsch said to me... I wouldn’t get answers to my questions about her note, about why she did this and what any of it meant, unless I asked the woman who turned me—the woman who wrote it. But I can’t ask her…because I killed her.”
    “You drained her.”
    “Yeah, and her sister is still pissed about it.”
    Mercedes huffed. “Well no wonder! And now the sister has Porschia! Does this woman know that Porschia knows you?”
    “I think so, yes.”
    “How do you know that? What the hell is going on? What aren’t you telling us?”
    “You told us about what Tage said, the Infected in the woods knowing about Porschia? Well, I think Pierce is the one spreading the word about ‘the hybrid.’ He may have left Blackwater, but living in the woods was never his style. I went to look for him after I was made human again. I found some of his things in an old shack, but he was long gone. When the people here said they were afraid, I wondered whether it was of Porschia or of the ladies of The Manor. They’re old and strong as hell. They feed, but not off a drink or two a day; they drain two or three humans each per day, sometimes more.”
    “How long did you stay at The Manor after you killed the sister? How long before they knew it was you?” Saul yelled.
    “I didn’t stay. After I fed from her, I ran like hell. I did what I had to do in order to survive,” Roman shouted, stepping into Saul’s face. “Like you didn’t!”
    “How’d they know it was you?”
    “They could follow my scent!”
    “Why didn’t they come after you?”
    “They tried a few times, but for a long time, Blackwater had more vampires. They could attack, but they still couldn’t overcome the fact that we were more powerful in number. Over time they gave up, but I knew that if I left they’d hunt me down.”
    “And now you’re human. You’re like bait for them. Even if they didn’t have Porschia, they would come here for you and slaughter everyone in Mountainside just to get to you,” I said, shaking my head.
    Roman looked to the rocky roof, bracing himself against the wall. “I thought this would be a simple trip. The people of Mountainside and The Glen are good people, but distrusting. They had seen me before as a vampire, so I thought my presence here would help. I didn’t mean for all of this to happen.”
    I laughed mirthlessly. “Well now that it has, what can we do to get Porschia back?”
    “We destroy The Manor.”
    “And how do you propose we do that, Roman? Are you going to club them? Swing a shovel? You won’t last a minute.”
    Roman smiled. “You’re going to turn me again.”
    “No. No way. You were hell on wheels as a night-walker. I’d hate to see you in Frenzy.”
    Mercedes stepped forward. “Then turn me.”
    “And me,” added Saul.
    Roman smiled. “These women are incredibly strong, but smart too, Tage. They have hundreds of years of tricks up their sleeves. You can’t win this battle alone.”
    “I can’t handle three vamps in Frenzy, either.”
    Saul huffed. “Neither can the witches at The Manor.”
    I closed my eyes. Porschia always wore her poison ring, even now. “Does anyone have a ring?”
    Saul nodded. “I do.”
    “I’ll turn two of you, but only once we get close, and the third wears the ring just in case they need to turn.”
    Roman shook his head. “If they catch a human, the human dies. If they catch any of us, even