After picking up all the fallen pans, I headed back outside, determined to finish the chore as fast as possible. Night-walker strength would have come in real handy right about then.
Saul worried himself sick over me and the baby. I just lost my balance. It wasn’t a big deal. When he rushed outside, I heard the axe fall much more frequently. Then I became the worrier. I didn’t want him to make a mistake and hurt himself, just because he was trying to hurry up and come back inside with me.
He was saved an hour later when my brother pulled the cart up the slippery hill and stopped in front of the house. I stepped onto the porch to see what he needed.
“Mercedes sent me to get Porschia. Weather’s turning bad again. If we get much more, I won’t be able to get Marjorie up here, or her back down to Blackwater,” he told Saul.
“I’m right here,” I said, exasperated that they were talking about me as if I were an inanimate object.
“Mercedes is right, Porsch. You need to come into town where it’s safe,” Ford said patiently. “Just until you have the baby. I promise to bring you back home when you’re okay.”
There weren’t many people who could break my will, but my baby brother was one of the few who could. The walls around my heart did not seem to apply to Ford. Maybe because he was kinder than most people; he was good. Ford only cared about the welfare of others. He always gave, never took. So when he came to get me and take me to a safer place, I listened.
Saul approached with his hands out. “I think you should listen to him—”
“I’ll go pack,” I said, cutting off his speech.
His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Yeah. Give me a hand?”
“Of course. Yeah,” he sputtered, shooting Ford a thankful smile. “We’ll be ready in a few.”
Ford laughed and told us to hurry. “It’s freezing out here!”
It was a whirlwind of throwing things into baskets and sacks. We took what food we had, changes of clothes, blankets I’d knitted and clothes I’d sewn for the baby.
A strong wave of pain washed around my stomach and across my back. I cried out, clutching the edge of the dresser in my room.
Saul was beside me in an instant. “What’s wrong?”
“Just a contraction, I think.”
“You’ve done too much today,” he said, softly. “Do you want to sit down?”
“No. Ford’s right. We need to get into town, I think. The clouds are already dark.” The spell passed and I was able to take a deep breath. “Let’s keep packing.”
Saul did most of the packing while I waddled around the rooms, telling him what to take with us. He didn’t complain about helping or being bossed around, just loaded everything into the cart outside. When he helped me onto the porch, I wondered where we were going to sit. I might have gone a little overboard.
He locked the door behind us with the iron latch and helped me across the planks, already slick with snow and ice. Then he lifted me up into the cart and jumped into the back himself. “Just sit in the middle, that’s where the clothes and blankets are. It’ll be more comfortable.” I was comfortable where I was, I just couldn’t get down. That was the problem.
I looked at him and he was already beside me, holding out a hand so I could ease down slowly. “Thanks.”
He nodded, made sure I was okay, and then settled beside me. “Go easy, Ford.”
My brother just laughed. “Gee, thanks for telling me! I was planning on racing down the hill, but I’ll try to restrain myself.”
Saul just smiled and put a blanket around our shoulders. “Smartass.”
I bit my nails until I couldn’t anymore—not without bleeding. Ford told us where he was going before he left to be sure she could stay with us if she didn’t want to stay with him and Father. Of course she could, I told him.
I’d never been more relieved that he was going to get her off that hill. The snow was deep and the dark clouds looming overhead meant it would soon be even deeper. I worried about the horse and cart slipping and all of them getting hurt, but she couldn’t walk down. This was the safest option, even though it wasn’t a great one.
She wanted separation from Blackwater, or from people in general. I hadn’t figured out which or if it was both, but I understood. Porschia never felt like she belonged here, and most of that was self-imposed. Instead of defying Mother and making the most of her life here, Porschia hid herself away, too afraid to be embarrassed by the harsh words Mother would fire in her direction. She had felt isolated since birth. But being so far along in her pregnancy, in the winter, in the woods, was dangerous.
Roman came to stand beside me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
I smiled. “I’m worried about them.”
“Ford’s good with the horse. He’ll make sure everyone’s safe.”
He was. Ford was incredible with every animal he came in contact with, but the horses were especially his. They obeyed. “It’s just that it’s slick and getting dark.”
“He’s got this, babe,” Roman reassured me, turning me around and wrapping me in a hug.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “How’d we get here from you wanting to kill me?”
“All psychopathic thoughts were erased when I was healed?” he teased.
“Wish I could thank Tage for that, too.”
He nodded outside. “Lantern.”
As usual, Roman was right. I could see Ford’s lantern hanging from his cart, snow beginning to fall in thick, poufy clumps as they pulled up. It was like the sky was raining tiny clouds. I opened the door to welcome my sister and heard her yell out.
“What’s wrong?” I screamed into the frigid air as I slipped on the concrete path. Roman caught me before I fell on my butt.
“She’s having another big contraction,” Saul yelled.
“How many has she had?”
“A lot. Get a bed ready, Ford’s going after Marjorie now. We might need Roman’s help for a few.”
“I need to help Porschia get inside!” I yelled, slipping again.
“I’ve got her,” Saul said. I kept trying to get to her, but the tone of his voice stopped me. “I promise, Cedes. I’ve got Porschia.”
Swallowing, I caved. He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. I knew that much. He was like a worried mother hen anyway, the way he hovered.
Porschia cried out again, then roared through gritted teeth. He sat her feet on the ground before picking her up, one hand around her back and the other beneath her knees. When he got to us, Roman held the door while I ran inside to make the bed with extra blankets and pillows. Porschia’s lips were already blue, and her teeth were chattering violently.
Roman kissed my cheek. “I’m going with Ford. Be back soon.”
“Thank you,” I said, squeezing his hand. He was gone in a flash and I wondered if he would always be fast, night-walker or not.
Saul climbed the steps, carrying my sister. I heard his boots fall on the board of each step until he came to the landing and into her room. He laid her down on the bed as gently as possible, every muscle in her body tight as shivers wracked her body. I covered her immediately.
“I’ll be right back,” Saul said, staring at Porschia. “If you need me, yell.”
She nodded. “O-okk-ay.”
I shooed him away and then sat beside Porschia as softly as I could. “Are you in labor?”
“I don’t know. The contractions aren’t super close together, but they sure do hurt.”
“Is the baby kicking?”
“I can’t feel anything but pain right now,” she panted, not even able to shiver through the contraction. I let her squeeze my hand when she needed, flexing when she didn’t to keep the blood flowing. My sister was still stronger than I was somehow.
She relaxed after a wave of pain. “Why didn’t you want to stay a night-walker?” she asked. “As soon as we freed those people from The Manor, you wasted no time in changing back.”
“I hated feeling so out of control emotionally, and I knew that given the chance, eventually I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I’d hurt someone, maybe someone I loved, and maybe for no reason at all except that I was hungry. In the end, I wasn’t strong enough to handle it.”
“No one was.”
“You did,” I argued.
Porschia laughed. “I didn’t handle anything at all. I was a mess.”
“It’s good you can talk about it now. You haven’t in months; almost a year.”
She winced. “I know.”
Ford and Roman were back in no time, but not with Marjorie. The woman was too ill to deliver a baby. Instead, Garreth stood inside the door, removing his snow-covered shoes. “What’s wrong with Marjorie?” I asked.
“She’s old,” was his reply. She was one of the oldest people in the Colony now that the Elders were gone. I’d asked Brian about his father just the other day. They were still in the woods, only a couple of miles from Porschia, but that didn’t comfort me. She’d effectively had them banished, and they weren’t doing well. Time was catching up with them quickly, so I didn’t think they could reach her cabin—if they even knew about it.
Garreth shrugged his thick coat off and handed it to me. I tipped my head. “She’s upstairs. Second bedroom on the right.”
His loud steps echoed up the hallway. Turning to Ford, he waved him forward. “Bring my bag, son.”
Ford answered fast. “Got it.” He hefted a large leather satchel onto his shoulder, bending beneath its weight.
“Good.” Garreth opened Porschia’s bedroom door, from which heavy panting could be heard. She was in pain and that caused me pain of a different kind. “Breathe through it,” Mercedes said to her.
“Gonna be a long night. You bring my bag,” he said, pointing to me, “and then all of you wait downstairs.”
“No,” I said sternly. “I’m staying.”
Garreth paused. “You the father?”
“Yes.”
He narrowed her eyes. “Fine. You can stay if Porschia wants you to – and only then. Understood?”
I swallowed, hoping Porschia would let me stay. She probably wouldn’t. “Understood.”
“Good.”
Porschia let me stay until Garreth got concerned. “The baby is upside down. I need to turn it.”
“You should go outside for a little while,” said Porschia. Her hair and skin was wet with sweat.
“I’ll be right outside the door.”
Garreth huffed. “You need to boil some water and find me some rags. Or make them. Tear up a sheet if you need to.”
“Porsch, I’ll have Roman boil the water and get rags, but I will be right outside your door. You need me, you yell.”
She nodded fast and watched as I closed it. I wanted to tell her I loved her, that I loved this baby because it was a part of her, but now wasn’t the time. The baby was breech and this was going to be a difficult delivery, especially for a first-time mother.
I sat on the landing, my feet on the steps below me, and prayed to whomever would listen.
Don’t take her from me.
Watch over her.
Please, don’t take her.
I repeated those words through Porschia’s screaming, when I would close my eyes as tightly as I could and say them out loud. I repeated them through the panting and through Garreth’s stern instructions.
Then things went silent before a tiny cry erupted from within the room. A small cry became louder. “Oh my goodness,” Mercedes giggled. “It’s a boy! Welcome to the world, little man.”
I stood and paced the floor outside her bedroom door.
Garreth’s voice filtered to me. “Praise be. He’s a healthy one. Listen to those lungs.”
The baby wailed.
I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” Cedes yelled. “But it’s going to be a little while. Garreth needs space to work.”
“Porschia?” I yelled.
“Yeah?” she answered weakly.
“Are you okay?”
No answer came back to me. “Porschia?”
Mercedes came through the door holding a tiny bundle, but she wasn’t smiling. Every line on her face told me she was scared out of her mind. “What’s wrong?” I rushed to her, gently grabbing each of her biceps. “Talk to me, Cedes.”
She shook her head, tears falling onto the cheek of Porschia’s son. “She’s lost a lot of blood. Garreth’s doing what he can.”
“What?” The breath in me was sucked away in an instant.
“He told me to take the baby and go, but he needs us to tear some sheets and boil more water.” Mercedes’ hands were shaking, her lip was quivering.
“Roman!” I yelled.
He jogged up the steps with a smile. “Is this the little guy— What’s wrong?”
“She needs you. Porschia’s in bad shape,” I said, my voice cracking. “Can you have Ford boil more water? I need to find another sheet to tear for her.”
The fact that Porschia needed cloth was the only thing that kept me from breaking the damn door open and rushing to her side. That, and the fact that Garreth needed to help her, not be distracted.
Roman guided Mercedes down the steps, and she closed her eyes tightly once they reached the bottom. “This isn’t fair.”
“She’ll be okay,” Roman whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“You don’t know that, and there’s nothing we can do to help her now. There’s no magical night-walker blood to heal her body and keep her young. There’s nothing.”
I never imagined longing for one of the curses to save the one I loved.
I took the strips of cloth in and sat them on the bottom of the bed as Garreth instructed. “The water?” he barked.
“I’ll get it now. It wasn’t boiling a few minutes ago, but it should be hot enough now.”
“It’s close enough. I need it.”
Taking the steps two at a time, I listened to the baby cry. “Is he okay?” I asked, using a towel to remove the pot from the fire.
“He’s hungry, I think,” Mercedes answered, bouncing the little guy and shushing him sweetly.
The little guy was uncomfortable, but he would be okay.
Porschia opened her eyes when I sat the pot on the side table. “Saul?” Her lips were so dry they stuck together, pulling apart when she said my name.
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“I’m not doing so well.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “I know, but you’re going to be okay.”
She tried to smile, her eyes glassy and fixed on my face. “Maybe. But just in case, I wanted to tell you goodbye.”
I shook my head. “No. Don’t you tell me goodbye. This isn’t goodbye. You’ll be okay and I’ll come back as soon as Garreth lets me.”
“You always say it’s not goodbye, but sometimes it is,” she said, her head falling to the side on her pillow. Her pale skin was a testament to how much blood she’d lost. The scent of iron permeated the room.
Garreth kneaded her stomach over and over, working her abdomen like he was making bread. “You hang on for me, girl. I haven’t lost one yet.”
“There’s a first time,” she inhaled slowly, “for everything.”
I’d never seen Saul cry. Not when he turned into an Infected. Not when he became a vampire, despite the intense pain of turning. Not when he learned that Porschia hated him. Because Porschia was alive at each of those milestones, and even if she hated him or he was a monster, she was still there. Where my sister was, there was hope.
But when he came out of her room, he was broken. Not in half, two parts separated, but shattered and splintered into a million shards of man. “She’s not doing well, Mercedes. If you want to go see her, I’ll hold him.”
He sobbed, trying to hold himself together. When Roman reached out and took the baby, I ran up the steps.
My sister was fading fast. “Porschia?�
�
Garreth waved me in.
When my sister lazily opened her eyes, she tried to smile. “Where’s Father?” she asked.
“Ford ran to get him. We were so worried, we forgot to tell him you were in labor. It’s stupid and I’m so sorry.”
She shook her head weakly once. “S’okay.”
“Did you think of a name for the baby?” I asked, grabbing hold of her hand. It was freezing. Her fingers didn’t have enough strength to grip mine.
“Seth.”
“After TageSET?”
She nodded once. “He looks like Tage.”
Garreth’s concerned eyes looked to mine and I knew we were in trouble. We needed a miracle.
“You’ll take care of him?”
“Seth? Of course.”
“And Saul. Don’t let him hide away. Burn the cabin down if you have to.”
I promised I would, but I knew it was a lie. That cabin was all she wanted in the world after things finally calmed. Burning it would be the last thing I would do.
Father burst through the door. “Porschia?” he exclaimed, frantic.
“Hi, Father,” Porschia answered. I moved aside, setting her hand on top of the blankets so that Father could visit her. By that point, Garreth had stopped his ministrations and was simply using a damp towel to dab my sister’s forehead.
“You listen to me,” he said. “I was never stern enough with your Mother, but I am not making that mistake again. I need you to live. I need you to want to live. If not for me and your siblings, if not for Saul, then live for Tage and that little boy downstairs. Do you understand me?”
Porschia never answered. She’d already closed her eyes, her head supported only by the strength of the pillow beneath it.
One month later…
“Seth, are you hungry?” I asked as I bounced him around. He was always starving, just like his mother, and he had dark hair and golden eyes like Tage. His nose came from the Grants. It looked like Ford’s and Carson’s, strong and square.
From the bed, Porschia groaned. “He’s hungry again?”
Fraud (The Frenzy Series Book 5) Page 14