Page 33 of Forever Frenzy
Tage pulled me into his arms and kissed my hair, resting his chin on top. “You could go to the funeral. Project there and see it. Just stay out of sight.”
I shook my head. No, I couldn’t. Someone would see, and this time Seth wasn’t here to clear it up. Seth. He didn’t know yet. Neither did Ford.
“I have to tell Ford and Seth.”
He hugged me tighter. “I can call to him and have him come here.”
I nodded. “Please.”
Within minutes, Seth opened the doorway and saw the pair of us holding on to one another. “What’s going on?”
I pulled away from Tage. “I have to tell you something.”
“Mercedes?” he asked, voice shattering. She was sick, but not dying yet.
“No, it’s your grandpa. He passed away,” I told him as I took his hand and pulled him into a hug. I could hear his shuddering breaths.
“When?” he croaked.
“Roman found him this morning. He died in his sleep.”
“At least it was peaceful,” he answered sadly.
“It was. Doesn’t make it easier, though,” Tage said, hugging Seth.
“I can tell Ford,” I said to him.
He nodded. “Project after I leave. He’ll want to hear it from you.”
When he left The Sand, I forced myself to follow him, and then swallowed the knot in my throat as I told my baby brother that our father was dead. Then I cried when I couldn’t hug him in real life.
The dark cloud that appeared after Saul died descended again, but I fought it this time. I didn’t want to drown or wallow or become that person again. I didn’t want to lose the Porschia I’d finally found.Father wouldn’t have wanted that, I reminded myself a thousand times per day.
And my inner voice was right. He wouldn’t have.
Tage was always there.
When I needed to talk, when I needed to be held, or when I needed companionable silence.
We walked, swam, and laid out under the stars just because we could.
The two of us became friends again. The tension I felt by seeing him again, knowing he’d been in The Sand all along—so close—melted away. He’d had his reasons. He wanted to give me what I’d asked for: a chance at a normal life. I had exactly that with Saul and Seth.
Fighting every fiber in his body, he put me first.
And I loved him for it.
I loved Saul. I still did.
But a part of me never stopped loving Tage.
That part was awakened and was now well aware of his proximity. Every brush of his hand in my hair, the way he stared as if trying to figure out a riddle, the way he smiled at me. Most of his smiles were guarded, like he was half afraid to let go, or maybe he was afraid I might disappear. That all this was an illusion, a great mirage in this endless desert.
Seth beamed as he and Amy explained how they might have found a way to ease the pain of some of the formerly Infected, using herbs to keep them as healthy as they could be for as long as possible. It wasn’t a cure, but it was a good start. The first person he was bringing the concoction to was Mercedes. It wouldn’t stop what was wrong, but it would help. No one lived forever, especially mortals, but they could live healthier and longer. He also had a theory that the blood of former vampires might be the solution to helping theailments of the formerly Infected.
He told Amy to leave The Sand without him, so she smiled and waved, her auburn hair whipping wildly in the wind behind her as she stepped through the doorway and disappeared. The wind kicked up even more. Porschia’s long dark strands curved toward me, beckoning me to her. The scent of her was intoxicating, even in this arid place. She was life.
Seth gave Porschia a lingering hug. “I miss you,” he told her.
