Knight Awakening (The Scorpius Syndrome Book 6) Read online

  Soldiers ran around the building behind him, and Marcus held up a hand to stop their advance.

  The Ripper growled and dragged Penny several feet away. “Mine.”

  “No,” Marcus said softly.

  Penny clawed at the hand holding her throat and kicked back with one foot.

  Marcus took advantage of the moment and stepped forward just enough to put himself within range.

  “Another Ripper?” Jax muttered, coming up silently on his side.

  Marcus didn’t answer. “The kids safe?”

  “Affirmative,” Jax whispered. “Raze is heading up to the roof with his sniper rifle.”

  While Raze was one of the best, Marcus didn’t want anybody shooting near Penny. He inched closer without seeming to move, zeroing in on the hold on Penny’s neck. If he could get his hand beneath the Ripper’s, he could prevent any more damage.

  “Slam?” Jax whispered. “I can go for the head.” His gun came into view, lifted and pointed toward the Ripper’s head.

  “No,” Marcus said. Penny was all that mattered, and she was his to protect. He’d worry about the ultimate sense of possessiveness sweeping through him at a later time. Right now, he had to get Penny free.

  Her eyes were wide and pleading on his—and calm.

  Ah. He dropped his to her shoulder and then lifted his chin. All he needed was an opening. She could do it.

  She frowned, her nails digging into the Ripper’s hand.

  The Ripper pulled her back another foot, blood from his mouth dripping on her shoulder. He eyed all of the soldiers but returned his gaze to Marcus. “Wanna go. Leaving now.” Madness and pain swirled in his eyes. Whatever humanity had once been there was gone. Oh, he was alive, but his brain had deteriorated completely.

  They were running out of time. Rippers had earned their name, and at some point, the guy would just kill her. Marcus jerked his chin again toward her free arm.

  She bit her lip and then shut her eyes. When she opened them, determination glowed hot and bright in those brown depths. Fast as a shot, she shoved her wrist between her cheek and the Ripper’s arm, pushing out with a force that had her breath loudly exhaling.

  Marcus ran in and shoved his arm in with hers, propelling the guy’s arm out and forcing him to release her neck. He grabbed her shoulder and threw her toward Jax while diving forward.

  The Ripper punched him in the face, and it focused him as nothing else could have. Pain ricocheted through his head, and Marcus clotheslined the guy’s neck, lifted him, partially turned so he could twist, and flipped the guy completely around in the air, pulling back against his neck at the last second.

  The crack of the guy’s neck breaking echoed through the now silent street.

  Marcus dropped the limp body face-down and turned to see Jax and several soldiers staring at him. Penny’s mouth dropped open, her face pale in shock. She held her bleeding neck, and her wide pupils swallowed up the pretty brown of her eyes. “You’re going into shock. Somebody get her a bandage,” he said, his voice sounding calm while his heart had started racing. When was the last time that had happened?

  Moving slowly, she looked down at the body on the ground.

  Even Jax looked a little surprised.

  “He had to die,” Marcus said. The guy had threatened Penny. He’d hurt her. It really was that simple.

  Jax nodded and motioned for a couple of his soldiers to remove the body. “He was a Ripper, and there was no choice.” He tucked his gun back in the holster attached to his thigh. “Another Ripper inside territory? Let’s go see if this one somehow escaped from the inner hospital as well.”

  Marcus motioned for Penny to go back with the soldiers. “Go get a bandage and don’t forget to use the anti-bacterial gel. I know you like to save it for the kids, but that guy’s fingernails were filthy.”

  She didn’t move.

  Should he feel badly about her seeing him kill? He didn’t. In fact, he was back to himself and not feeling anything. It was good she’d seen the monster inside him. It was time she learned who he really was deep down, so she could decide on her own to stay away from him. “Let’s go, Jax. Later, Penny.”

  Penny kept her hand on her burning throat and tried not to watch the soldiers haul off the body. Marcus had killed so quickly, the whole thing had been one blurry movement. Sometimes she forgot how deadly he could be. “I’m coming with you guys.” She was the main doctor in territory, and if there were injured people from that Ripper, she was needed.

  “No.” Marcus halted. “Go put on a Band-Aid.”

  Oh, that was it. “No.” She removed her hand and barely kept back a wince as the air heated her neck. “These are just scratches, and they can wait.” She walked past Jax and the playground equipment toward the inner territory hospital. If Marcus tried to stop her, he’d regret it. Her stomach still revolted from terror, and the adrenaline still poured freely through her veins. Now was not the time to mess with her.

  “Okay, Doc Penelope,” Jax said, falling into step beside her. “It’s not like you can’t get bandages in the hospital. Please stay behind me as we enter.”

  It was nice that he’d said please.

  Marcus flanked her other side, displeasure cascading off him with a warmth that competed with the breeze.

  Thunder rolled in the distance. Perfect. The storm was coming. She kept her hand away from the scratches on her neck as they approached the outside door.

  Marcus gently took her arm and put her behind him as Jax led, his gun out once again. Why didn’t Marcus ever use a gun? Although, based on what she’d just witnessed, he didn’t need any other weapon. Sometimes he had a knife with him.

  The hospital took up the far half of a massive brick building, with the school house on the other side.

  Jax opened the door, and the smell of blood instantly assaulted Penny. “Shit,” Jax muttered, ducking inside and going low with Marcus on his heels.

  Penny followed them, noting the empty reception area protected only by an old desk. She skirted it after the soldiers and walked down the long hallway, where blood had dropped every few yards. The Ripper must’ve been running when he’d gone out. She coughed. “The infection rooms are at the end.” The place they had to secure new victims until they either survived the fever or not.

  They moved to the end of the dark hallway, and Jax shoved inside a room with three empty beds, all with straps hanging on the floor. “Doc?”

  Penny pushed past him to see Dr. Harrington on the floor, his back to a makeshift cabinet, his hand over a wound in his neck. “Harrington.” She dropped to her knees and reached him. “I need—”

  “No,” he croaked, a bubble of blood popping out of his mouth. “Too late. There were three. Gone.” He gasped and his body shuddered. His eyes closed, and he sank down, his chin hitting his chest. A rattle echoed, and then silence.

  “No,” Penny protested, grasping his shoulders and setting him down. Blood coated his shirt and pants, even congealing on the floor.

  Strong fingers curled over her shoulder. “He’s gone, Penny. Lost too much blood.” Marcus’s voice was soft and steady.

  Tears filled her eyes, and she reached out to shut Harrington’s eyelids. “His wife died from the fever and he didn’t have any other relatives. Was a teacher at the medical school in Portland, and when Scorpius infected everyone, he just wanted to help. Never asked for anything.” Why hadn’t she spent more time getting to know him? Time was flying by too quickly.

  Marcus reached beneath her arm to gently pull her away from Harrington. “Should there be more people in this place?”

  “No.” She swallowed over a lump in her throat. “We only have a couple of doctors and a smattering of nurses, so they rotate. There’s often a couple people here, but if there aren’t any patients, then they’d be elsewhere seeing folks.” She forced her legs to hold her upright. “We might need to get Tace Justice back here from the Century City Bunker.” The soldier had been a medic in the service, and they were runn
ing out of doctors. If another illness swept through the community, even the flu, it’d be a disaster.

  “Okay,” Jax said, still in the doorway. “Hold on here. I’ll clear the clinic, just in case.” He disappeared for a couple of minutes and quickly returned. “We’re clear, and I’ll get Tace back soon. For now, we have another problem.”

  Marcus looked over at the three rumpled and vacant beds. “Two more Rippers?”

  Penny reached for one of the leather restraints and lifted it. “These were taken off. Not ripped or destroyed in any way.” She angled her head to view the others. “Same with those.”

  The far outside door opened, and Jax leaned into the darkened hallway. “Hey, Raze. I need a grid search of the entire territory for two missing Rippers. Also, send some guys in here for a body, would you? We’ll bury him at the cemetery by headquarters.”

  “Two Rippers?” Raze’s deep voice echoed down the hallway.

  “Yeah. Full order for everyone to shelter in place until we find them. I want everybody on this,” Jax ordered, he gaze returning to Penelope.

  “Copy that.” The door loudly banged shut.

  Penny’s knees still wobbled. How could Harrington just be dead? “I don’t understand this,” she mumbled.

  Marcus watched her, his gaze inscrutable. “How often do we end up with three new cases at once?”

  “Not very often any longer.” Now that her adrenaline began to ebb, all sorts of aches sprang to attention. She frowned and moved for the records in a binder on the counter. She’d go through them all back in her office. “Not only that, but it’s rare that all three would end up Rippers, if they were given the right concoction of vitamin B.” The CDC had found a good blend, although it had been after Scorpius had already taken over the world.

  Jax tucked his gun back in the thigh holster. “What are the odds that we’d have three newly infected, four if we count the guy the other day, all turn into Rippers…and then escape? In my territory?”

  Penny shook her head.

  “That’s what I thought. Get the vials of B here, and I’ll have Blue get to work with her microscope. Either the doctor didn’t do his job, or there’s something wrong with the B.” Jax’s jaw ticked. “Just when I thought the eve was smooth, the air crackles with the unknown.”

  Penelope paused. While she was accustomed to Jax quoting philosophers, she hadn’t heard that one. “Nietzsche?”

  “No. Spanish guy named Jesus Garcia Jones,” Jax said.

  Marcus wiped blood off Penny’s shoulder. “What does it mean?”

  Jax’s eyes hardened. “The enemy is inside our walls.”

  13

  Time goes too fast, even after the pandemic. I don’t want to miss any of it.

  —Dr. Penelope Kim, Journal

  Marcus’s left hand shook, so he shoved it in his front jean pocket and took Penny’s free hand. “I’ll get Penny settled and then will join you on the grid search.” Without waiting for his brother’s response, he led Penny down the dark hallway to the now cloudy day outside. She didn’t protest his hold, so he kept her hand, wanting to reassure himself that she was all right.

  A psycho Ripper had touched her.

  Marcus snarled and quickly caught himself, smoothing out his expression.

  “You can go help your brother,” Penny said, her tone oddly numb. “I can get back to the infirmary. It’s only a couple of blocks.”

  If the woman thought he was going to let her navigate Vanguard-Merc territory by herself with two Rippers on the loose, she was crazier than the bastard who’d grabbed her. Soldiers in squads of four jogged by, headed toward the back warehouses to search.

  A light rain began to fall.

  Marcus walked Penny past the training facilities and the warehouse holding vehicles and fuel, and around to the front entrance to headquarters, opening the door to her clinic. “Hold on. I want to sweep the place.” He locked the front door and set her against it. It only took a couple of minutes to clear the offices, storage room, and examination rooms before he returned to the reception area. Or what used to be a reception area. Most folks came in either through the cafeteria or the rear exit.

  Penny leaned against the glass door, her face pale with dark circles marring her dusky skin.

  He took her hand again, not surprised when she allowed it. She was in shock and no doubt feeling weak from the loss of adrenaline. He slowed his pace to take her into the nearest examination room. “Sit here.” He lifted her onto an examination table, his hands spanning her waist.

  She shook her head. “I’m fine, Marcus.”

  “Uh huh.” He reached for an antibacterial wipe stacked on the counter.

  “No.” She held out a hand. “I can make do with soap and water. Don’t use—”

  He ripped it open and tossed the plastic into a bin. “Oops.” Without waiting for her to object, he grasped her chin and tilted her head, wiping down the deep scratches on her throat until they were clean and sanitized. She held still and didn’t even wince. “Where’s the antibiotic gel?”

  She pulled her chin free and her nostrils flared. “The wipe had enough on it. We can’t waste any more.”

  He wanted to be doubly sure with her health, but she was right. “Okay.” He opened a drawer and fetched a bandage, which he placed gently over the deepest part of the scratches. “There you go.”

  Silence pulsed between them, enhanced by the vacant clinic.

  She cleared her throat. “Um, thank you for saving me.”

  “I’ll always save you.” It was the truth. “It’d be easier if you stayed away from Rippers, though.” His attempt at humor fell flat, but her lips twitched anyway.

  On the table, she appeared small and lost.

  “I’m sorry about your friend.” He wiped a smudge off her angled cheekbone.

  She blinked and looked up at him. “Marcus—”

  “No.” He didn’t know what she was going to say, but he responded anyway. Her glimmering eyes drew him in, and he had to get out of there. “You’re just upset. Everything will be okay. I promise.” He couldn’t make that guarantee, but he wanted to reassure her, somehow.

  She reached for his hand, entwining her fingers with his.

  His entire body jolted. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m not sure.” She drew their joined hands to rest on her thigh. “Harrington was a good man. He was here yesterday and gone today, just like most of the human race.”

  The warmth from her thigh was burning right up through his hand to his heart. What he wouldn’t give to touch her again. “I know,” he murmured. The urge to pull his hand free competed with the raw hunger to turn it over, lean in and—

  “We’re here now.”

  It took a moment for her words to register. “I know we’re here.” Why was she stating the obvious?

  She sighed. “Don’t you want to live, Marcus? Really live?”

  He shook his head. “No. I just want to make sure you do.”

  Her expression softened. “Oh, Marcus. Sometimes you are just so sweet.”

  Sweet? Had she hit her head? “Are you feeling okay?” Maybe he should find the one remaining doctor in territory to look at her. “Are you dizzy?”

  She clapped her free hand against her forehead. “No, I’m not dizzy, and yes, I’m feeling okay. You and I have been a team from the moment we met.”

  He’d never forget the anguish in her eyes when she’d first seen his condition. “When you said you’d save me.”

  She nodded. “You’ve saved me several times. It’s you and me in this world.”

  That was his view, but it shouldn’t be hers. “We’re not the same.” Surely, she saw that she was good and right, and he was just bad. “I’m a killer, Penny.”

  “We live in dangerous times. You’re who you need to be.”

  For a smart woman, she sure skirted danger. “Before the pandemic, we would’ve never met.” Supposedly, he’d been in a gang, and she’d been in medical school. Their paths would�
�ve never crossed.

  “You don’t know that.” She held up her hand before he could protest. “Besides, the world is what it is. You and I have met, we’re a team, and I don’t understand why you’re willing to act like one but not discuss it.” Her pink lips pressed together into a fine line.

  Every instinct inside him roared for him to take those lips and soften them with his own. “You can’t give me this type of opening.” Didn’t she realize what a fucked up, obsessive, desperate bastard he’d become?

  “What do you mean?” she whispered, her eyes luminous in the faint light.

  He slapped a hand on his chest. “I’m dark. Inside here, inside me, there’s this darkness.” He let the words roll, unwilling to lie to her. “There’s a piece of you, in you, that you don’t even realize exists until it snaps. Until it shatters into so many pieces you can’t find them. It’s too late. I’m broken, and there’s no way to fix me. Those pieces are gone.” The truth blasted out of him, his breath hot and the reality painful. When was the last time he’d felt pain?

  Her hold tightened on his hand, and tears filled her eyes. “I’m not diminishing what you’ve gone through, because nobody could understand what happened to you. But you have to know that the pandemic, the pain and loss, shattered all of us. If those pieces are gone, maybe we could form something else.”

  She didn’t understand. Nobody did.

  “I’m a sociopath,” he said slowly. “Not just from Scorpius.”

  “Maybe you have sociopathic tendencies, like a lot of Scorpius survivors,” she allowed. “Yet you do feel things, and you want to do the right thing. That counts.”

  Did it? Why? He’d broken that guy’s neck earlier without a second thought. He belonged in the darkness, protecting her from afar, but he didn’t have the self-control to stay away. Yeah, he was beyond screwed up. “The answer, to whatever you think you’re asking, is no.” The darkness inside him, the one he’d tried to hide from her, came to the surface and he let it show. The anger and the deadness in his eyes felt sharp.