Knight Awakening (The Scorpius Syndrome Book 6)

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Jax partially turned around, still driving straight. “You’ve got something?”

  “Yeah.” He looked around and spotted the course coming up. More tall and burned grass that had turned into weeds. The flags at this place were red. A faded, sad, heavy-looking red after the heated summer. He rolled his window down and sniffed. Nothing. No familiar scents. But maybe the comforting smell of raspberries was messing with his senses.

  Jax turned the truck down a long drive with the now familiar golf carts overturned or stuck in weeds.

  Marcus’s heart began to pick up in pace, and his hands started sweating. He turned them over on his lap and looked. He never sweated. Interesting. The road turned into a cobbled drive, and they drove beneath another overhang, this one heavy wood. He blinked. “This is right.” Almost in a dream, he opened his door and stepped out, walking immediately toward the left and away from the main door.

  “Marcus,” Jax snapped, cutting the engine and loudly jumping from the truck.

  Marcus strode by flower beds covered in weeds and around the corner, stopping cold past a couple of shrubs in front of a partially concealed door with a sign reading ‘Employees only.’

  Jax came up on his side, his gun already out. “This it?”

  Marcus looked at the door. “I think so.” It was familiar. Right? He put his boot to it, and the heavy wood swung in, the lock broken.

  Silence. Dust wafted out, and silence came from inside. The vacant kind.

  Jax lifted a flashlight next to his gun, leading with the light. “I’m point. Stay on my six.”

  Marcus shook himself out of it to see the rest of the soldiers fanning out into defensive positions. When had they arrived? He’d lost time for a second, damn it. Penny and Lynne stood over to the side, next to Raze, both armed. Why had he let them come? This was crazy.

  Jax stepped inside, and Marcus instantly followed, trusting Raze to protect the doctors. He needed to protect his brother. Hell was in front of them.

  An industrial kitchen came into view, and Jax swept the flashlight in every corner. “Which way, Marcus?”

  Marcus looked around. “I don’t know.” He moved for the cupboards and opened a couple to find stainless steel appliances. He shut his eyes and centered himself like Vinnie had told him to do. “Stairs. Find stairs. We have to go down.” He vaguely remembered being carried up stairs when they’d left.

  “Copy that,” Jax said. “Remember we triggered bombs in the Reno Bunker. Keep an eye out.”

  He nodded, swallowing. Those bombs had been fast and deadly. “Keep Penny and Lynne outside until we clear the place.” If they even found the place. Where the hell were the stairs? There was something about the kitchen that was nagging him. He’d been carried through here, right? Or dragged. Yeah. He’d been dragged. He turned his head to see the impossibly large fridge. Memories, faint and elusive, teased through his brain. Across from the fridge was an island, and across from that was a wall with a large calendar on it.

  Moving slowly, he walked to the calendar and pulled it off the wall, tossing it to the side.

  “Slam?” Jax came up on his right.

  Marcus took the light and shone it over the wall. “I think…there’s a door here.”

  “If there’s a door, there’s a lever,” Jax said, turning to the island. “So far, they made them so they’d work even if the electricity went out. There’s a manual connection.” He reached under the overhang of granite and felt along the bottom. Then he shook his head.

  Marcus turned the light onto the island. “The floor. See that?”

  Jax crouched to examine the black part of a black and white checkerboard. He pushed a finger into a small crack and lifted up the entire tile. A red lever sat there, dusty but clearly defined. “Get ready.”

  Marcus turned and pointed the flashlight at the innocuous-looking wall with its white paint, his gun aimed the same direction.

  Jax grunted behind him. “This thing is really stuck.”

  Marcus couldn’t move. His feet were solid stone at the end of his legs, and he was stuck in place. Was he facing the place with the yellow metal doors? He tried to focus, looking all around the wall for any hint of a booby trap. Nothing but a plain, white wall with an outline of where the metal calendar had been. His hand shook and he forced himself to go dark. To blank out everything but this moment right now.

  Jax grunted again and then something clicked. A pressure lock released, and air hissed.

  In an instant, his brother was beside him, gun out and pointed.

  The door swung open, and they faced cement stairs and a gleaming white wall on the other side. Marcus’s stomach revolted, and he turned his head, puking into the sink.

  Jax waited until he was done. “You can go outside. Send Raze or Larry in, and we’ll clear it.”

  “No.” Marcus wiped off his mouth. “I’ve got it. Let’s go.” Then he willingly walked back into hell.

  30

  This whole relationship thing isn’t so bad, and I’m starting to settle in. Of course, based on my experience, that’s when everything goes to shit.

  —Marcus Knight, Journal

  Penelope could barely contain her sense of urgency as she ran down the cement stairs after the two hours it had taken the soldiers to clear the Bunker. They’d found it. They’d actually found it. Supposedly, it was smaller than the other two Bunkers and only had two levels. She didn’t care. There had to be some research there.

  Even better, Raze had found the generators, which still worked once started. They had lights. Real lights. She blinked, her eyes protesting after so much time with only lanterns.

  “The living quarters are on the first floor, along with a cafeteria and a fully stocked kitchen. When they moved, they did it fast,” Jax said, showing them the way. “The lower floor is where the labs, offices, storage, and the cells are located.” Lynne tripped, and he caught her like he’d been expecting it. “This way.”

  Penelope walked more carefully, the blaring white walls a stark reminder of her time in the other Bunker. Why were the walls a glossy white? It was just creepy. “Where’s Marcus?”

  “He’s in the cells,” Jax said, his steps quickening. “I couldn’t talk him out of it. He thinks he can remember more of his past. Maybe the locations of other Bunkers.”

  Penelope’s heart hurt for him. “You didn’t find any bodies?”

  “No,” Jax said, emerging onto a landing that led to what looked like a sprawling lab next to offices. Beyond the offices, the far door was open, revealing the cells. “Give him a few minutes, Penny.”

  She nodded, feeling like tears had just filled her chest. “All right. Lynne?”

  Lynne walked briskly into the lab and looked around, the lights bright on her blond hair. “Standard lab and equipment.”

  Penelope paused, a rotten smell hitting her. She covered her nose with her hand. “What is that?” It came from a doorway in the far end of the lab, so she hustled that direction. “We might have a dead body.” Or a few. Taking shallow breaths, she fumbled inside the room for a switch and flipped on the light.

  The sight rolled bile through her stomach. “Oh, God.” A mammoth tank was across the wide conference table, filled with dead squid and jellyfish. The stench of them and the putrid water made her gag. She turned away, her eyes tearing from the smell.

  Lynne coughed and backed up. “When the lab techs left, they didn’t even think of these creatures?”

  Penelope pressed a hand to her stomach. After all she’d seen, it was shocking to be, well, shocked. “When the power went down, their oxygen intake would’ve as well—not to mention food.” The lab where she’d worked had also held squid and jellyfish, since their production of vitamin B and ability to regenerate were supposed to lead to a cure for Scorpius. “I’m sorry, Lynne.”

  Lynne shut the door and cut off most of the smell. “It’s not like they’re relatives, Penny. I was just injected with whatever makes them.” Even so, she looked sad. “It’s still so d
amn wrong. We don’t need to go in there again. All of the computers and file cabinets are out here.”

  Penelope spotted a fridge on the other side of the room, nestled between shelves. She ran for it, opening the door. Empty. Completely. Her head hung and she shut the door, turning around. “Whatever samples they had, they took with them.”

  Lynne breathed out. “That figures, and it wouldn’t matter, anyway. The electricity has been off for a while.” She lifted her head. “Sami? Where are you?”

  The young soldier jogged down the stairs. “I’m here.” She turned the corner, her hair curly around her pretty face. “What is that smell?”

  “Dead jellyfish,” Lynne said, pointing to a row of computers against the far wall. “Feel like hacking today?”

  Sami cracked her knuckles. “Girlfriend, I always feel like hacking.” She all but hopped toward the computers and booted three of them up in a row.

  It looked like Marcus had started with the right idea. “I’ll start compiling all of the records,” Penelope said, her chest still aching. “We can take it all, as well as everything Sami gets off the computers, back to Vanguard.” She ducked her head. “Unless we need this equipment.”

  Lynne nodded.

  Penelope went for the first file cabinet out of five. “New plan. I’ll compile and read as I go, just in case there’s something we need.” With the squid and jellyfish both dead, she couldn’t get any samples from them, even if she needed them.

  Lynne moved for the other file cabinet and pulled it open, yanking out several yellow manila file folders. “They did like to color code everything, right?”

  Penelope emptied the first drawer and lugged the file folders over to one of the three desks in the room. She flipped open the first page and started to read about the first three patients seen by some doctor named Bobilini.

  Jax crossed into the room. “We have two guards outside on the door, and everyone else is clearing this place of all provisions. How long will you three need?”

  Sami looked over her shoulder. “Standard security here. I’ll be in probably within ten minutes, and I can print out anything I find. So about an hour for me?”

  Lynne looked up from an open file on the cabinet. “I can pack up in that time, although I’d like to read first.”

  “Negative,” Jax said. “If Sami can get everything off the computers, I’d like to get out of here.”

  Penelope shivered. “Me, too,” she muttered, turning back to the papers. Everything inside her wanted to go and help Marcus, but he had told Jax he needed space. Plus, she had a job to do.

  Something clanged two stories up. She lifted her head.

  Jax turned and ran onto the landing, looking up the stairs.

  “Door just shut and locked,” Raze called down.

  Penelope stood up. “What happened? How?”

  A blaring whistle pierced the quiet room, and Penelope looked up at the far corner to see an innocuous speaker set into the wall.

  “Hello, shoppers. Let me tell you about our bargains today,” a male voice said, laughter in each syllable.

  Lynne paled until her eyes glowed green in her too white face. “Bret,” she whispered to Jax.

  Jax’s head snapped up. “Atherton.”

  “That’s Mr. President to you, Mercury,” Atherton said.

  Marcus leaped out of his old cell and ran down the hallway, nearly colliding with Jax. “What the hell is going on?”

  Jax stood at point on the landing, looking up at Raze. “Tell everyone to find anything that’ll open that door,” he ordered.

  “Already on it,” Raze said, sounding like he was straining. Badly.

  Marcus’s chest heaved and his heart seized. He grabbed his chest. The room fuzzed, and pain exploded down his torso.

  Jax caught him before he fell, grabbing him in a bearhug and setting him on the ground. “You’re okay. Panic attack. Take a deep breath.”

  Marcus dropped his head and sucked in air. The room swirled around him, and his hands shook, but he grabbed on to his brother’s arm and kept breathing. In and out. Again. In and out. Soon, his vision cleared, and his heart rate slowed.

  Penny knelt in front of him, her hands light on his knees. Worry darkened her onyx colored eyes. “Marcus?”

  “I’m okay.” He cupped the side of her face. Then anger swept him, so fast it made his ears ring.

  Jax took a good look at him and then let go, striding to the landing again. “Anything?” he called out.

  “Not yet,” Larry yelled back down. “The thing is solid steel. We might have to make an explosive out of one of the generators.”

  The speaker crackled again. “As much as I love the thought of you blowing yourselves up with one of my generators, my Lynne is in there, and I can’t let you harm her.” His laugh was a low chuckle that might’ve been interesting if he wasn’t fuck-assed crazy.

  Jax moved toward Marcus and lowered his voice to a bare whisper. “Any chance there was a back exit?”

  Marcus shook his head. “If there was, I never saw it. They took me out the kitchen.” Which meant that there probably wasn’t a back door. He glanced at Sami, who was typing furiously. Jax nudged his arm, and he looked away, concentrating on his brother.

  What was Sami doing?

  “Did I mention that I have explosive devices set throughout that facility, and all I have to do is push a button and you’re all gone?” Atherton asked.

  “I thought you didn’t want me dead,” Lynne called out.

  Atherton sighed. “I don’t, honey. If I can’t have you, and all of that good stuff. But I will make you a deal. You remember how much I like to make deals, right?”

  Jax held up a hand. “We searched for explosives. There aren’t any.”

  Atherton sighed, his breath puffing whatever microphone he was using. “I didn’t just set them in cupboards this time, you know. They’re in the walls and the floors. You can’t get to them all.”

  It was possible. Just how close was the moron? Marcus ran his mind through the drive up to the clubhouse. What would a safe distance be for the president? He looked up at the speaker and squinted. A very faint red light showed for a second.

  Jax followed his gaze and then gave a short nod. Yeah, there was a camera in the speaker.

  Maybe the president wasn’t anywhere near. Had they somehow triggered an alarm? Marcus stared straight at that light. “Why don’t you stop pussing around and come in to talk to us? Let’s have this out.”

  Atherton laughed. “Listen, junior, it’s your big brother I’m dealing with. If I remember right, I already broke you. Or rather, my scientists did.”

  “Not even close.” Marcus showed his teeth. “Although I’m more than happy to give you a shot. Come on, big man. Isn’t it time to stop hiding behind those scientists and your soldiers?” His memory finally filtered, and he went on instinct. “I bet you smell like musk, Atherton.”

  Quiet came over the speaker.

  Yeah. He was on to something. “That pretty Georgia. Tell me. Did she cry out my name when you were fucking her?”

  “Enough of that,” Atherton snapped. “Here’s the one deal you’re going to get. Mercury? Get all of your people down in the lab right now. Then, Lynne, you come up the stairs by yourself, and my men will meet you right outside. If you come willingly with them, I’ll let your friends live.”

  “If I don’t?” Lynne asked.

  “Then you all die,” Atherton said. “The breath of everyone you care about is in your hands, darling. Make the right decision.”

  She edged up between Marcus and Jax. “If I go, he’ll just blow you up,” she whispered.

  “No shit,” Jax muttered. “Keep him talking, Blue. Whatever you have to do.”

  Lynne shook her head like she was arguing with Jax. Then she lifted her fact toward the speaker, as their soldiers began to fill in behind them. “Bret? No offense, but I don’t trust you to keep from exploding this place the second I step outside. You surely understand that.”
Her heart glowed brighter through her light shirt, showing her heart rate had definitely increased.

  Atherton chuckled again, the sound slightly off. “You always were a smart one.”

  Sami slightly lifted one hand and five fingers.

  Jax jerked his head toward Raze, who immediately turned and headed up the stairs with the other soldiers. Jax cut Marcus a look.

  Marcus nodded. He understood what was happening. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Penny’s ear, leaning back slightly. Even if he didn’t make it, there was a chance for her. “I want you to follow Raze up the stairs. Right now.”

  She stiffened and then didn’t move. Her head turned, and her lips brushed his. “It’s too obvious,” she said. “I’ll run fast. Try and keep up.”

  Sami lowered her left hand, showing three fingers.

  Marcus tensed.

  “Go,” Sami hissed, punching one last key on the keyboard and turning, running for the stairs.

  Marcus didn’t wait. He grabbed Penny and lunged for the landing, knowing Jax would get Lynne.

  “Damn it,” Atherton bellowed, his voice all around them. “All right. Die.”

  Marcus lifted Penny and took four steps at a time, bursting through the open door and kitchen to leap outside where Raze and Larry were already engaged in hand-to-hand with two Elite Soldiers.

  The earth rumbled.

  Shit. He kept running, and the entire fucking world exploded behind him.

  31

  Getting blown up hurts.

  —Doctor Penelope Kim, Journal

  Penelope came to with grass in her mouth and a devastating weight on her back. She lay on weeds that scratched her neck. “Marcus,” she croaked, trying to slide her hands out from under her.

  He jolted and rolled off her, coming up on his feet and into a fighting stance.

  Her ears rang, but she pushed herself up on her hands and knees, swaying in the rain. It was raining? Gingerly lifting her face, she let the cool droplets center her. Groaning, she pushed up with her hands to stand, weaving as she gained her balance. Somebody would need a doctor.