Knight Awakening (The Scorpius Syndrome Book 6) Read online

  Penny belonged on a pedestal. Away from all monsters, including him. Especially him. Marcus leaped over a series of tires, his breath still even. Whatever Scorpius and those doctors had done to him had left him in amazing shape. He’d probably be difficult to put down, if he fought back. He wouldn’t. “I kissed Penny.”

  Jax coughed and nearly tripped, easily catching his balance and not losing his pace. “Did she kiss you back?”

  Marcus growled. “Yes.”

  “I don’t suppose you remember the sex talk I gave you when you turned thirteen?” Jax asked dryly.

  Marcus cut him a look. “I don’t remember anything from before.”

  Jax rolled his eyes, a dot of sweat rolling down the side of his face along his scar. “I wasn’t being literal.”

  Oh. A joke. Sometimes Marcus caught a joke, but usually not. “I am not going to have sex with Penny.” He wouldn’t even allow his imagination to go there. During dreams, he couldn’t control his brain. Right now, he could. “She’s your main doctor now, Jax. You have to protect her better than this.”

  Jax chuckled. “Not a chance, brother. If there’s a possibility of you finding happiness, I’m not standing in the way.”

  Happiness? “That doesn’t exist for me.” Even if it did, he wouldn’t feel it, so why bother? “You just don’t understand me.”

  Jax laughed harder. “You said the same thing to me after the sex talk.”

  Was he kidding again? Marcus couldn’t tell, so he just kept running along the back edge of burned-out lawns and crumbling houses that some soldiers chose to inhabit—away from the apartment buildings. Vanguard had placed turned-over semis, truck tires, and other large barriers on the other side of the fence, far enough away to create a clear zone in plain sight, should anybody dare come near without using the front gate. “You’ve done a good job here.”

  “Thanks.” Jax slowed slightly to examine the fence and then sped back up. He nodded to a couple of patrolling soldiers before talking again. “You really don’t remember anything about our childhood? Nothing?”

  Something in his brother’s voice seemed sad, but Marcus couldn’t find the right words to ease the pain. “No. Nothing.” It was the truth.

  “Not even in dreams?”

  Marcus thought about it. “No. When I dream, it’s either a nightmare about the scientists and Bunkers, or it’s about Penny.”

  They reached the front area, which used to be a parking lot for the businesses and crappy apartments that now made up headquarters. Jax slowed to a stop, so Marcus did the same.

  Jax stretched his back. “Well, then. It seems like Penelope is your lifeline here, and you’d be crazy not to explore what you could have with her.”

  Marcus stiffened. He couldn’t have anything with Penny. “I’m a sociopath, Jax. As I understand it, they’re not real good in relationships.” Not to mention he was a killer. A good one.

  Jax shrugged. “Scorpius changed us all. Messed with everyone’s brains. Some people may be psychic, some stronger, some whatever. You still gotta live.”

  His brother would never understand him. Marcus strode toward the guards at the gate. “I’m running outside territory. I’ll be back by dawn.”

  “It’s dangerous out there,” Jax protested from behind him.

  “Nothing out there is more dangerous than me,” Marcus muttered, once again telling the damn truth.

  11

  I’m running out of drugs and Vitamin B, and I agree with Jax that it’s time to move. This week, we had three broken arms, a broken leg, and a series of rib breaks for the scouts. On a personal note, I feel like something is about to happen, and I’m not sure what that means.

  — Dr. Penelope Kim, Journal

  A hint of warning thickened the muggy morning as Penelope made her way toward the inner section of Vanguard-Merc territory, where the housing and school had been placed for the kids. A sense of an impending storm crackled through the air and a hot breeze lifted her hair. She found April Synder sitting on the table of a picnic table, her feet on the bench, making notes with the stub of a pencil. Several kids laughed and played on various playground equipment, not seeming to mind the humidity.

  “Hi.” Penelope sat on the table, careful not to catch her blue sundress on the rough wood.

  “Hi.” April finished her notes and looked up, her blue eyes clearing. She wore a white T-shirt, green shorts, and a massive straw hat over her head. “Hey there. Are you early or did I get caught up with work?”

  “I’m on time.” Penelope’s gaze caught on the mammoth man sitting in the shade, leaning against the brick building, his legs extended as he looked at playing cards in his hands. She hadn’t realized Marcus would be there this early. He sat between Lena, a blond girl of about seven years old, and Tina, a stunning dark-haired beauty who was probably about eight. At least part of her heritage was African American, and Penelope had discovered that the girl’s skin was prone to burning quickly in the sun. “Do the kids have on sunscreen?”

  “Of course.” April tapped her pencil against the notes. “Although Rory told Tina he liked her new freckles, so she keeps trying to freckle more.”

  Rory, a tow-headed eight-year-old, was pretty much inseparable from Tina. He sat on her other side, staring intently at his cards. They two had arrived in Vanguard together, and nobody knew all of their history. Thank goodness they’d found each other.

  There was a sense of relaxation to all four of them, surprising to see in Marcus. “He’s good with the kids,” she mused.

  April turned and caught her focus. “Yeah. They’re calm around him as if they trust him. He seems to find peace as well.”

  “He probably doesn’t push any of them to do anything,” Penelope said, her medical training forcing her to study them all. “We’re always trying to get Lena to talk, and I bet Marcus has never even tried.” Little Lena hadn’t said a word since arriving in the territory, apparently. It seemed she could talk, but she never did. She met with Vinnie and Penelope once a week, and they worked with her, but she didn’t seem interested in speaking. Yet.

  “Probably not.” April partially turned to face Penelope. “Rumor has it you kissed him. Or he kissed you.”

  Penelope flushed and slid her sunglasses closer up her nose. “This place runs on gossip.”

  “Yep,” April agreed. Beneath her notes, an orange clipboard held everything together.

  Penelope chuckled. “New clipboard?”

  April kicked her foot happily. “Yeah. Damon found it for me last week when they scouted the last known houses used by the Twenty gang. The houses were empty, which has him concerned, for some reason.”

  The woman did have a penchant for a good clipboard, and her soft voice spoke of true happiness with the ex-LAPD SWAT team tough guy. It was wonderful they’d found each other in this devastating world.

  “I assume you sterilized it first,” Penelope said, unable to let go of being the doctor for even a moment. Not in this world.

  April shrugged. “Sure, but do you really think that’s necessary any longer? Neither Damon nor I have been infected, and we’re around survivors all the time. I deal with puke, poop, sweat…you name it with the kids.”

  Penny couldn’t seem to stop watching Marcus with the kids. He smiled and handed a card to Lena, who giggled and settled it in her hand. “I think there’s a good chance the Scorpius bacteria has died out and we’re safe from surface or air infection.” Otherwise, surely April or Damon would’ve caught it by now. “However, we know that the bacteria lives on in bodily fluids, so you need to be very careful. If you have a cut, stay away from everything.”

  “I know.”

  Unfortunately, Rippers seemed to have the compulsion to bite and spread the infection. Penelope cleared her throat. “Damon really shouldn’t be going on raids outside the territory, since he hasn’t been infected.”

  April chuckled. “You tell him that.”

  Good point. Nothing seemed to stop any of the soldiers. They all
had a job to do. Which meant Penelope should probably get down to hers. “Anything you need to report on the kids?”

  “Nope. Had to have a sex talk with a couple of sixteen-year-olds. I still wonder if we should force them to take the test for Scorpius, just to make sure we know who’s had it or not.” April frowned. “Or is that a violation of the 4th amendment? I just can’t decide.”

  “I don’t know, but I would like complete medical records on everyone,” Penelope said. “I could keep the results private.” Although she’d have to ask the Pure church for the tests, since they were the ones who had them. “Think the Pure will share the tests?”

  April shrugged, looking toward the other side of Vanguard, where the church members lived. They’d gotten rid of the fence around their holding, and armed guards no longer stood at the doorway. “Maybe?”

  Penelope sighed. “What’s the word there? Any chance they’ll let me examine the pregnant women?” At least a couple of them had to be around seven months along. Since they were uninfected, they had good chances of giving birth.

  “No.” April pushed her brown hair away from her shoulder, looking so much like Diane Lane, it was uncanny. “In fact, they’ve started giving me a hard time about visiting. Saying that I either need to live there or live here, but that I can’t do both.” She huffed. “I’ve been taking such good notes about being a midwife, too.”

  “Do they have a new pastor?” The last one had been killed during a fight because he’d tried to infiltrate Vanguard for the president.

  April nodded. “Sharon is their new pastor, and she’s doing a good job. I understand her main focus has to be protecting everyone from becoming infected. I think her sermons are more about hope and light, which is good.”

  Penelope snuck another peek at Marcus. “I wish we could find a doctor for the Pure group who hasn’t been infected.” Or more doctors, anyway. There was a definite lack of doctors and all medical personnel after the Apocalypse, probably because so many had been infected and had then died trying to help others.

  “Me, too.” April held tighter to her clipboard. “I had a nice talk with Maureen the other day. She’s really scared about the baby.”

  She should be. “I heard Marcus is going to be hypnotized to maybe find those other Bunkers,” Penelope said, her eyebrows drawing down. Would that harm him? Maybe there was a reason his brain didn’t want to remember what had happened to him in those experiments. He’d gone through so much before she’d met him.

  But she needed help saving those pregnancies. Now.

  Lena pushed to stand, using Marcus’s leg as balance. She put her cards on the ground and jumped over a couple of rocks to head their way. Today her blond hair was secured beneath a purple baseball cap, which looked cute and girly with her pink shirt and jean shorts. She walked toward them, her steps sure and her movements graceful. Penelope ducked her head to see better, noting that the child’s eyes were clear and a healthy hue showed beneath her pale skin.

  The girl reached them and smiled, showing a missing tooth.

  Penelope smiled back. “Hi, Lena. I hope you’re winning at cards.”

  The girl nodded, her fathomless black eyes wise and dancing with fun. She seemed to be thriving in the small community. A plastic stethoscope hung around her neck. She pulled on it.

  “Ah.” Penelope held out a hand for the girl to hop up and stand on the bench. “I didn’t see your stethoscope there. Are you learning to be a doctor today?”

  Solemnly, Lena nodded. She pressed the round edge to Penelope’s upper chest and leaned in to listen.

  Penelope steadied Lena with a hand on her shoulder and then held her breath.

  Finally, Lena stepped back and jumped to the ground. She nodded.

  “I take it I’m okay?” Penelope asked, her lips twitching.

  Lena nodded again. She turned to look back at her friends.

  Penelope followed her gaze to see Marcus staring at her, those eyes almost all green in the shade. The impact was hotter than the surrounding air, forcing her lungs to adjust. That look, deep and knowing, went right to her toes. She couldn’t move. Didn’t really want to. Her breath picked up, and she pressed her lips together to keep calm.

  “Oh my,” April murmured, balancing her clipboard on her knees. “It’s nice when you give me something to gossip about. It’s so rare that I can contribute.”

  “There’s nothing to say,” Penelope said, her voice breathy.

  Even Lena rolled her eyes. Then she reached into her pocket.

  Penelope tore her gaze from Marcus and instantly felt cooler. Then she perked up. Lena often gave gifts to people, and some folks tried to read meaning into the baubles. Usually, Penelope received some sort of medically-themed present. “Do you have something for me?”

  Lena pulled out a bandage still in its package. Looked like an old one decorated with Disney characters.

  Penelope reached for it. “Oh, I love it.”

  Lena frowned and shook her head, shoving the bandage in her other pocket. She reached in again and drew out a rusty keychain, which she dropped into Penelope’s hand.

  A keychain? Penelope turned it over and then paused at seeing the scratched form of a Rottweiler, his eyes a burnished copper.

  “It’s a guard dog,” April whispered, looking over her shoulder toward Marcus.

  Penelope forced out a laugh and ignored the shiver that tickled down her spine. “Thank you, Lena. I love it.”

  Lena patted her knee and then turned and ran back to Marcus and the kids.

  April opened her mouth to say something.

  “Not a word,” Penelope said, pushing the keychain into the pocket of her sundress. “I mean it. She may have heard somebody call Marcus my guard dog, or she might just think I like dogs.” There just couldn’t be any more to it than that. “I’m a woman of science. Period.”

  “Right,” April drawled. “Before I forget, I’m low on aspirin. How are the supplies?”

  “Not good,” Penelope admitted. “The scouts keep looking farther and farther out, but we need a big haul at some point. Maybe when we go up north?” There was a chance that places far from the cities still had good supplies, but she wouldn’t bet the farm on it. If she had a farm. Did farms even still exist? “For now, I’ll get you what I can.”

  She gave up on the fight to keep her attention away from Marcus, watching Lena run back to him, grab her cards, and plunk down right next to him. The girl yawned and leaned against his arm.

  He looked down, his gaze softening.

  Penelope watched, entranced. Why, he was a big old bear with the kids. She’d known that gentleness was inside him, but he tried hard to hide that part of him.

  Why?

  Clouds began to roll in, and the air cooled. Penelope rubbed her arms, although she enjoyed the relief. “I feel like a good storm is coming.”

  April made another quick note on the top page. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So I brought the kids out early today and figured we’d have school inside when the storm comes. I’m ready for it, to be honest. This humidity is a killer.”

  A cough came from around the corner of the adjacent building. Sounded deep. Maybe a former smoker?

  Penelope settled back and lifted her face to the breeze. No doubt, the rain barrels were already set up around the territory. If they could catch some water, it would relieve Jax’s burden for maybe a week.

  The cough came closer.

  Penelope kept her body relaxed but turned her head to see a man stumble around the building, blood on his face, his hair sticking up in every direction. She stiffened and sat up, studying him. He was about forty with oily brown hair. Sweat stained his torn red shirt and dirty jeans. “April?”

  April turned and looked. “Who’s that?’

  “I was hoping you’d know.” Penelope stepped on the bench and down to the ground, noting the position of each child. Sweat broke out down her back.

  The man spotted her and paused. This close, she could see blood co
vering his shirt and up his neck. His lips peeled back, revealing bloody teeth. Another Ripper? Inside territory? Penelope’s mind fought the reality. That wasn’t possible. Right?

  “Crap,” April said, jumping down.

  “Get the kids inside,” Penelope said, her mind spinning. She had to cut him off while April got the kids to safety.

  The man lowered his head and charged.

  12

  Even if I wanted to keep a journal, I don’t have anything to say.

  —Marcus Knight, Still Not a Journal

  Marcus looked up from little Lena just in time to see a man rush at Penny. He jumped up, set the kids behind him, and ran full bore toward the threat. “Get the kids inside,” he ordered April, moving past her to stop Penny from putting herself in the way to grant them time.

  He couldn’t get there and skidded to a stop.

  The guy grabbed Penny and swung around, his hand gripping her neck in front like he was ready to rip out her throat. His dirty nails dug into her skin and blood dribbled out of scratches.

  Her eyes went wide and she grabbed for his wrist, up on her toes with her feet barely touching the ground.

  Marcus set his stance, his hands loose, his sole focus on the Ripper. A roaring filled his head, and heat flashed down his back. The sensations nearly dropped him, and he fought to remain standing. “Let her go. We can fight.”

  The guy’s eyes glittered and he sniffed, pressing his nose closer to Penny’s head. “Sweet. Sweet like blood.”

  Where the hell did a Ripper come from? Again? Marcus edged to the side. There had to be an opening somewhere. The Ripper probably wasn’t strong enough to rip out her throat, but he could do serious damage. He was just the right height to keep her off her feet so she couldn’t get her balance to fight. The day wavered, and he paused. What had just happened?

  His solar plexus hurt and his temples ached. A pit exploded in his gut. Was this fear? Couldn’t be. His body chilled. If it was fear, he had to deal with it. He had to shove it down and out of the way. Now.