Knight Awakening

by Zanetti, Rebecca

  Tace swallowed and shook his head, looking around. “Jax?”

  Penelope had discovered on the run to the infirmary that the mean looking soldier who looked like Marcus was actually the leader of Vanguard, a group of soldiers whispered about as infallible. He covered the door, his back to the wall and his focus on Marcus.

  Jax looked toward Tace. “We got you the injection. Feel any different?”

  Apparently Tace had needed a special concoction to counteract a bad reaction to vitamin B, which usually helped people infected with the Scorpius bacterium. Man, Penelope hoped she’d given him the right vial.

  Tace blinked. “No dots in my vision.” He turned to look at Marcus.

  “That’s Marcus,” Sami whispered. “Right, Jax?”

  Jax wavered in place, his face unusually pale. “Yeah. That’s my brother.” He seemed almost in a daze.

  Penelope started. Yeah, they looked alike. Did Marcus actually have family still alive? That would be good. She closed her eyes as dizziness swamped her. Fighting nausea, she opened them.

  A grunt came from Tace as he pushed himself up in the bed. “Do you have vitamin B?”

  Penelope swayed. “I had an injection yesterday.”

  “If you’ve been infected, you need another one now.” Tace shifted his legs to the edge of the bed.

  “I’ll get it.” Sami patted his shoulder and crossed the room to take out the B. She filled a syringe and paused when Marcus growled.

  Penelope jumped.

  “It’s okay,” Sami said calmly, handing the syringe to her. “Penelope can inject herself.”

  Marcus settled back down, his gaze scanning the room.

  “Marcus?” Jax said, leaning forward like he was approaching a wild animal. Hope and fear sizzled in his eyes. “You remember me?”

  Marcus looked him over, no expression on his hard face. “No.”

  Tace looked at Marcus. “Are you a Mercenary?”

  “No,” Marcus said.

  Jax shuffled in place as if unsure what to do next. Emotion swirled in his dark eyes.

  Tace eyed Penelope and then turned back toward Marcus. “Marcus, are you a soldier here at the Bunker?”

  Marcus stilled. Tension rolled from him in a swell of heat. “No.”

  Penelope reached out to touch him and then stopped. When he got this angry, he didn’t want to be touched. Even if he was bleeding to death. “Marcus was held in the cells.” At her words, Marcus’s face went blank.

  Sami shook her head. “We let everyone out two months ago. Where were you before that?”

  Marcus kept his gaze on Penelope and didn’t answer.

  “Marcus,” Penelope said gently. If she was about to die from infection, she had to make sure he’d be safe with these people. So he had to at least talk a little and not look like such a threat.

  He didn’t blink. “This wasn’t my first Bunker.”

  “How many are there?” Jax asked.

  “Dunno,” Marcus said. “You infected?” he asked Penelope.

  She nodded, fear sweeping her along with a thin edge of pain. “I’m sorry. I think so.”

  “Told you to run. You promised,” Marcus said so softly Penelope barely made out the words.

  “I also promised to get you out of there.” Penelope lost her balance and sagged against the wall.

  Marcus stood and gently laid her down on the bed. “You’ll be okay.” Gun still in his hand, he sat on the bed between her and everyone else. “We’ll move after the fever. Tomorrow.”

  She wanted to agree and give him hope, but the odds sucked. The thought that she didn’t want to die, after everything, ran unbidden through her brain. But she didn’t say the words. Marcus was tortured enough. She looked at Jax, trying to tell him with just a look that he needed to reach out.

  The soldier apparently read looks well. He cleared his throat. “Slam? I’m your brother.” His voice shook.

  Marcus studied Jax but didn’t speak.

  Penelope fought down nausea and tried to focus. Jax’s features were similar to Marcus’s, but Marcus’s were broader and more rugged. Marcus’s eyes were more green than brown, and Jax’s were all brown. They were both finely muscled.

  Tace groaned. “I’ll go help Raze.” He shoved to his feet.

  Sami grabbed his arm. “You need to stay here. We don’t even know if the injection worked.”

  “I know.” He reached for a gun in his boot. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. If I go dark and pass out again, it didn’t work. For now, isn’t there a computer center we need to secure? Just think of the data you could get there, Sami.”

  Her eyes glowed. “I guess we could go make sure Raze has it all under control,” she said, giving Penelope a soft nod.

  Penelope nodded back, her head feeling a thousand pounds heavy on the pillow.

  Tace took lead, his vision incredibly clear. “Stay behind me, Sami.”

  “I can fight,” she grumbled.

  “If we go hand to hand, you can lead,” Tace said.

  Jax opened the door. “Yell if you need backup.”

  Tace nodded, dodging into the now-empty hallway. “Copy that.” Just as he finished the last syllable, the blue-eyed guy strode out of the computer center, a man over his shoulder. “Looks like we have injured.”

  Oh. That was her job. “I can handle it,” Penelope said, pushing from the bed. Marcus stepped back, effectively blocking her. “Please,” she whispered. Without a word, he shifted to the side.

  Then the entire world went dark, and Penelope fell back onto the bed. Maybe not. She let unconsciousness take her again.

  * * *

  Not one moment of the torture he’d endured the last several months came close to the devastation sweeping through him at seeing Penny moaning on the bed, caught in the throes of the fever.

  Marcus leaned against the wall, his chest still bare save for multiple bandages and bruises. A gun was tucked into his waistband, and a knife felt secure in his back pocket.

  Movement caught his attention from the door, and the woman named Sami hovered without coming inside. Taking a deep breath, she took two steps closer and then stopped.

  She cleared her throat. “Penelope started working here just a week before we escaped.”

  Marcus lifted his chin.

  Sami nodded. “She didn’t know a thing about the Bunker—only that she wanted to get free to find her family. The Bunker leaders wouldn’t let her. She didn’t know about the cells or human experimentation going on.”

  “I know,” Marcus said. Only kindness lived in the small woman fighting for her life.

  Sami swallowed. “I discovered the truth about the experiments, and I opened the doors to let everyone free the second I could.”

  That was before his time, so it was irrelevant. Marcus catalogued her for weapons, not liking any except his near Penelope.

  “Your brother has been looking for you since he returned to the States. Jax is a good guy,” Sami said.

  A brother? That just didn’t compute. Marcus blinked and then turned his attention back to Penny. If Sami made a move, he was faster. He could tell.

  Sami took a step back. “How is Penelope doing?”

  “She’ll survive,” Marcus said, meaning the words to whatever soul he had left. “She has to.”

  Sami nodded. “You and Penelope are together?”

  Marcus frowned. “No.”

  “Oh.” Sami blinked. “Okay. You don’t owe me anything, but I’d consider it a favor if you’d at least talk to your brother. Jax has been frantic about finding you.”

  There wasn’t any room in his brain for anybody but Penelope Kim right now. Her fight for life and not death was all that could matter. Marcus leaned his head back on the wall but kept Sami in his sights. She moved like she could fight. Maybe she was a bigger threat than he’d figured.

  She cleared her throat when he didn’t answer. “All righty, then. Good talk.” Turning on her heel, she walked out into the hallway, quickly d
isappearing.

  The atmosphere in the room relaxed, and Marcus stood closer to the bed, looking down. Penny’s eyes were closed, and sweat covered her forehead. He reached for a washcloth from a bucket of water and gently wiped down her face, arms, and neck.

  She moaned softly and moved slightly.

  He hated himself for doing it, but he reached beneath the bed for restraints and secured her arms, shoulders, and legs with as much gentleness as he had inside him. A figure passed by the doorway, and he growled, the sound more animalistic than human. The figure kept walking, leaving them alone. Finally giving up the fight, he moved for the door, shut it, and locked it.

  There. Now nobody could get to her.

  He returned to the bed and smoothed back her silky black hair. For months, he’d wanted to feel the soft strands. Now he just wanted her to live through this. He dropped to his haunches, resting his chin on the bed. “Fight hard, Penny. You can do it,” he whispered. “You’re strong.” From day one, when she’d stood up to Ramirez, he’d seen her strength. It was only surpassed by her kindness. “I’m going to get you through this.”

  Her eyes opened, the brown cloudy. “Marcus.”

  He nodded, setting his hand to cover hers. “I had to bind you. I’m sorry.”

  She blinked, confusion blanketing her features. “Everything hurts.”

  “Yeah.” He kind of remembered the fever of infection. “You’ll survive. We shot you full of Vitamin B and morphine. It’s still gonna hurt, Penny. You’re strong. Fight.” It was the longest sentence he’d said in longer than he could remember.

  She focused, her face pale and her lips tinging with blue. “You’re angry. I can see it in your eyes.”

  “It’s the only emotion I have left.” He crouched again, putting his face closer to hers. If there was a way to give her strength, he’d do it in an instant. “You should’ve let me die.” Many times.

  “No.” She struggled against the restraints and then subsided with a sigh. “You need to live. You deserve a life.”

  No, he didn’t. He was a rabid dog that needed to be put down. After he saved her. “Risking your life for me was a mistake. You have to be smarter than this. Promise me.”

  She rolled her eyes, even as her face contorted in pain. “You have to make me a promise.”

  “Anything.” He meant it.

  “If I don’t make it—”

  “No.” He covered her hand with his again, this time letting the full weight settle on her fragile bones. “Don’t ask me for that. If you don’t make it, I’m following you wherever you’re going.” It was probably his only chance to go to heaven and not hell. They probably wouldn’t let him in, but at least he’d see her get to a safe place. “Don’t ask me. You can’t.”

  “Marcus.” The delicate cords in her neck stretched. Pain cascaded from her.

  He shook his head. “I’m begging you.” Sweet death was so close for him, he could almost taste it. But not if Penny lived and needed protection. That lure was stronger than any other. He could die once he made sure she was safe.

  “Fine.” She coughed, blood dribbling from her mouth.

  He wiped it away with his thumb, his body electrifying at the small touch.

  She exhaled slowly, her breath hot. “Then promise me that if I make it through this, you’ll get to know your brother. That you’ll try to live with these Vanguard folks.”

  He blinked. Why would he want to live with anybody else? Why would he want to live at all?

  “Promise me, Marcus. It’ll be you and me, both alive and trying to stay safe, inside Vanguard.” She groaned the last.

  There was only one answer to give her. “If you fight and live, I promise.”

  “Good.” Her eyes fluttered shut, her body shuddered, and she began to fight the illness.

  His life, once again, was in the hands of Penelope Kim. He slipped his hand beneath hers, entwining their fingers. By morning, they’d either both be alive or both be dead. He didn’t much care which. His eyes closed and he edged his cheek closer to her burning one.

  So be it.

  3

  As usual, I’m bombarded with wounds and desperation. These people don’t care that I never served a day as a doctor before the pandemic. I can’t let them down. Any of them.

  —Dr. Penelope Kim, Journal

  Present day in Vanguard Territory

  Penelope jumped as thunder rolled across the sky outside. She sat on the threadbare sofa in her assigned apartment in Vanguard headquarters, her shorts too big and her shirt too tight, her bare feet resting on a box that served as a coffee table. Not that she had any coffee in this secured territory in Los Angeles. Well, what used to be LA.

  She’d spread medical files across the couch, going through the injuries from the last big battle that had taken place more than a month previous, with bombs, guns, fire, and knives.

  Everyone who’d lived was healing nicely. Well, as nicely as possible.

  But the pregnant women faced fear every day, and she didn’t know how to help them. Her stomach cramped at the thought.

  She looked toward the open window and the darkness outside. Streetlights were a thing of the past. An electrifying September breeze, warm and stormy, pushed inside. July and August had been devastatingly hot and dry, so any breeze was welcome now.

  No sound came from outside her apartment, but she could feel him there. Sighing, she pushed papers to the side and stood, walking across the rough carpet to open the door.

  Yep. Marcus Knight sat across the hall, his back to his door, his gaze on hers. He wore a black T-shirt and ripped jeans, his flack boots crossed at the ankles and huge on the worn carpet.

  She exhaled, once again struck by the sight of him. As usual, bruises were visible on his bronze skin, either from raiding or training. His face was rugged and strong, and his body unbelievably muscled and tight, especially since he’d healed physically and gotten decent protein once they’d left the Bunker. But his eyes, as always, drew her attention. Greenish brown, more green than brown, filled with determination, anger, and a devastating glint of pain she hadn’t been able to ease.

  “You should be sleeping.” His voice was still hoarse. Probably always would be.

  “So should you.” She studied him head to toe. No new injuries. “How did the raid go?” He’d been joining more raids for supplies, but he hadn’t made friends. Not even close.

  He lifted one shoulder. “Didn’t find much. The surrounding areas are picked over.”

  That’s what she’d heard. “Did you and Jax talk?” It was time Marcus and his brother bonded.

  “He said ‘go,’ and I went through the door.” Marcus cocked his head, his gaze remaining directly on her face. “Get some sleep, Penny.”

  Okay. This wasn’t working. Sure, he was leaving her side more, but then he had to readjust by sleeping outside her apartment. He was trying, and she appreciated that. Worse yet, she liked having him near. When he was gone, she missed him. No way could she tell him that. “You can’t sleep in the hallway again.” It bothered the other soldiers.

  “I’m not sleeping.”

  Her lips pursed. “You know that’s not what I meant.” One of the possible effects of Scorpius was obsession, and Marcus was solely focused on her. “It’s time to try something new.”

  One of his dark eyebrows lifted. “You want to leave? Fine with me. Where should we go?”

  She sighed and opened her door wider. “No. Come inside, Marcus.”

  He blinked. “No.”

  Not once since they’d moved in had he entered her apartment.

  “Yes.” She put her hands on her hips, not caring that the shorts had fallen to her hips and the shirt had tightened across her small breasts. Marcus wouldn’t look away from her face. He was way too disciplined. “This whole obsession, protect from afar unless anybody else is near, isn’t working any longer. It’s been almost two months, and it’s time we moved on.”

  “Why?”

  She fumbled wit
h his question. It was a good one. “Because it’s not good for either of us. Instead of protector and protected, why don’t we try to be friends?” She’d talked to the shrink earlier, and it was time for something new. “Come on. I know you’ve been hanging out with the kids for an hour or so a day, and that was a good experiment, so how about me? Why not be my friend?”

  “I don’t know how to be a friend. I do know how to protect.” His head still rested on the door behind him, but his body remained alert, as if he could jump into action in a second. He could. “So I protect. You.”

  “I didn’t save you,” she said softly. “Your brother did.”

  “You did. Many times. Then you risked your life. Thus, I protect it.”

  The answers were so simple to him, weren’t they? She went on instinct. It was time to shove him out of his comfort zone, or he’d never leave it. Not that he was comfortable. “Come inside. I filched a bottle of bourbon from a stash found last week, and we can have a drink and act like normal people back in the day.”

  “I’m not normal.”

  “Nobody is normal.” She wasn’t going to let him tick her off. Not this time. “Either you come inside, or I shut and lock the door…and then climb out the window. I’ll go wandering around in the dark by myself.”

  “No, you won’t.” His eyes turned a deeper green with only a few specks of brown remaining.

  She tried to stand taller, even though her feet were bare. “Wanna bet?” It sucked to manipulate him like this, but enough was enough. Two of the soldiers had warned her they’d take him out of the hallway if he kept sleeping there, and she didn’t want to have to stitch them both up. Marcus would destroy them. “Now come inside.” She pushed the door back more with her butt, sweeping her hand toward the interior of the space. “Or else.”

  His eyes flared, but he stood gracefully to his large feet. “I don’t like being threatened.”

  Interesting. They’d never clashed. Not really. How confusing that would be for the guy who instantly obeyed her every request. “Why won’t you come inside?” Curiosity ticked through her. He always did what she asked.