Knight Awakening

by Zanetti, Rebecca

  Yeah, he liked her, too. Even though he’d never seen her.

  Penelope walked out of the room, followed by Maureen. “We’re good to go with the van idea. Although, I want to check in with Moe every time we stop at the designated places.” She looked around the clinic. “I need to run out back, use the facilities, and then I’ll be ready to go.”

  Marcus took her hand and walked to the back door, working through the planned drive in his head. He waited outside the outhouses for her to get ready and then slowly relaxed as they walked one last time through the clinic toward the front parking area and open gates.

  “I might miss this place,” she murmured.

  He opened the clinic door for her just as the rain started to fall harder. “I’m sure we’ll like the new place.” He didn’t much care where he lived, so long as she was there. He should probably figure out a way to tell her that.

  April hustled up, a yellow clipboard in her hands. “Get in your truck so I can mark you off, would you?”

  Man, that woman was dangerous with a clipboard. Marcus smiled and propelled Penny toward the green truck he’d chosen because it could really move if needed. “I’ve repositioned us right in front of the van holding Maureen.”

  “Good.” She stepped up into the front seat.

  Tace and Sami had already took taken point in the back seat, both armed and ready to go. They were a striking couple. He was big and broad with blond hair, and she was smaller with curly dark hair and spirited eyes. They’d be good backup for the drive.

  Marcus shut Penny’s door and walked around to the driver’s side, double checking the weapons he’d set in the door. “All right. Let’s move out.”

  April dashed by, checked them out, and then scribbled on her notes before moving down the line.

  Marcus grinned. “Okay. I’ll drive for a while with you, and at the first stop, I need to change with one of the front scouts. We’re on a schedule, and I’ll ride the bike for a while. You’ll be safe, though. I promise.”

  He started the truck, waited his turn, and then pulled out of Vanguard territory.

  It did feel a little odd to be leaving. Feel. Interesting. He really was starting to feel again. It was probably because of Penny. He reached for her hand on the seat, and she slipped it beneath his.

  They were soon on the way he’d chosen, leaving behind the fortress his brother had built.

  Rain splattered, wind blew, and he started to relax as the caravan approached the interstate. An odd humming caught his attention, and he looked up out of instinct.

  A helicopter came into view, and then a grenade exploded in front of them.

  42

  I’ve been in love with Marcus Knight for longer than I can remember. I don’t want this life without him.

  —Doctor Penelope Kim, Journal

  Penelope’s head jerked and she instinctively ducked as bullets impacted the side of the truck.

  “Take cover,” Marcus bellowed, pulling Penny across the seat and out his door.

  She panted, her breath painful. Bullets came from every direction, including the sky. The black helicopter fired wildly toward all of the Vanguard-Merc vehicles.

  Marcus handed her his gun. “Keep your head down. If you need to shoot, do it.” He crept past Tace and Sami, who were returning fired toward soldiers hiding behind what looked like cement blocks. “Get the missile out. I want that helicopter taken. Now,” he yelled.

  Jax dove toward them, rolling and coming up fast. “There’s only one copter, but we’re surrounded.” He wiped blood off his head. “Plan A, everyone. Plan A, fight out.”

  Marcus nodded. “Agreed.”

  Penny inched toward him, balancing her hand on Sami’s calf as the woman fired into the fray. “Plan A? We have different plans?” She clutched the gun to her chest. Being surrounded didn’t sound good.

  “Of course,” Marcus said grimly.

  All firing stopped.

  Jax looked at Marcus, who shrugged.

  “Lynne Harmony,” President Bret Atherton yelled through a bullhorn. “Come out now, and we’ll halt this attack. You have my word.”

  Penelope gulped. The president was actually there? “He came himself?” she whispered.

  “He thinks he’s invincible from Scorpius,” Tace said grimly. “I say it’s time he learned otherwise.”

  “Cover me so I can get to Blue before she does something stupid,” Jax ordered, just as Lynne ran full bore for them. He leaned up and fired toward the enemy along with Tace to provide cover.

  She landed next to Jax, her heart a wild blue beneath her shirt. “Holy crap,” she coughed, her green eyes wide.

  Jax pulled her closer, shielding her with the vehicle and his body. “Glad to know you didn’t do something incredibly dumb and try to sacrifice yourself,” he muttered.

  She pulled a weapon from the back of her waist. “He’s a liar. Even if I went over there, he’d still try to destroy you. To destroy everyone.”

  Penny noted blood dripping from her arm, and she reached for her friend. “Were you shot?”

  “No.” Lynne pulled up her shirtsleeve. “Just caught a fragment. I’m fine.”

  The helicopter hovered menacingly above them. Marcus looked back several rows, where Damon waited with their one rocket launcher. “We good, Jax?” Marcus asked.

  “Light them up,” Jax said.

  Marcus gave some weird hand signal, and Damon lifted the launcher, aiming for the helicopter through the rain. A quick swish sounded, and then the helicopter blew to hell.

  Penelope ducked as debris flew in every direction.

  “Damn it, Mercury,” the president yelled. “Where the hell did you get rockets?”

  Jax leaned up and pointed his gun. “Find that bastard,” he muttered and then his voice rose to yell back. “I guess your stooge didn’t find all of our resources, now did he? Sorry about Larry, by the way. He made the mistake of pissing off my brother.” He ducked back down. “Cover me. It’s time we ended this.”

  Marcus grabbed his arm. “I’ll go.”

  Jax looked at him, his brown eyes fathomless. “No. This one is mine.” He turned and kissed Lynne hard before ducking and running back the way he’d come.

  Marcus leaned up and provided cover. “Penelope? Watch our backs. If you see any movement behind us, let me know.”

  She turned, holding her gun tight. “Okay. Got it.”

  The gunfire started up all around them again, and the sounds of pain and destroyed metal filled the rainy day. Marcus fell back with a pained groan, landing on his back. Blood spurted.

  Penelope screamed and lunged for him. His eyelids were shut. “Marcus!”

  He slowly opened his eyes. “What?”

  Frantic, she ran her hands over his chest, trying to find the source of the blood. She pulled his shirt away to see a bullet hole in in his upper chest, closer to his shoulder than his heart. She sagged. “You need stitches.”

  “Not now.” He wiped a tear from her face. “Penny?”

  “I love you. Don’t die.” She kissed him on the cheek, blinking against the rain. “Where’s the nearest first-aid kit?”

  He winced and sat up to fire again. “Every vehicle has one in beneath the driver’s seat. We’re well prepared, Doc.” He used his good hand and kept firing.

  She reached into the truck and floundered beneath the driver’s seat, pulling out the kit. Her man had definitely prepared for everything. She grabbed the Quick Clot and went to work on him, even while he kept firing back at the Elite Force. The fight was brutal.

  Several odd pings echoed above her, and she stiffened. “What was that?”

  Cries of pain echoed from the other side.

  Marcus looked around them. “Raze and Greyson apparently reached the sniper positions for this quadrant.”

  She swallowed. “You found sniper positions on the way?”

  “Of course.” He reloaded and then waited for Tace or Sami to require reloading. “That was my job.” He crouched,
prepared to fight, and smiled. “I love you, too. Just so you know. And I love the baby. In my way, which might be different than anybody else’s way, but it’s real and it’s for you. Always.”

  Wow. She smiled and then turned to guard their backs.

  She had everything to live for, and she wasn’t going down without a heck of a fight.

  Jax Mercury had waited for this day since Bret Atherton had first made a claim on Lynne Harmony. The firefight continued around him, bullets flying along with grenades. Not many, actually. The president must not be much better equipped than Vanguard. It did beg the question of ammunitions and where it all had ended up, but right now, he had more important issues to handle.

  The rain pummeled him. He took a wide berth of the fight, knowing exactly where Atherton was holed up. The guy really did think he was invincible. Yet another way Scorpius fucked with the mind. Although Atherton had been nuts even before infection.

  Circling the fight, he zeroed in on the left flank, taking the enemy out from behind. It took him a bloody mile, but he soon reached where Atherton fired from behind a massive concrete block. Apparently they’d been planning this for a while.

  If Larry had been feeding them information, it wasn’t a surprise.

  Jax lifted his weapon and took out the men on either side of Atherton. The president slowly straightened and then turned, standing upright. “Jax Mercury.” His brown eyes gleamed, and his perfectly cut hair sprang a little curly from the rain. He was as tall as Jax but not as broad, and cut muscles showed in his arms. They had to be around the same age at early thirties.

  Jax kept his gun at his side. “Gun or knife?”

  Atherton set his gun on the ground. “Definitely knife.” He looked around, and but his soldiers were occupied in every direction as Vanguard and the Mercs advanced. “Your people are good. They should join my forces.”

  Jax looked around while setting his gun on a burned out barrel. “You don’t have as many soldiers as I figured.”

  Atherton advanced, shaking out his hands. “I brought who I thought I needed.”

  Jax studied him. “You’ve lost soldiers? They found out how batshit crazy you are and left?” The country couldn’t be in disarray like that. They needed a military and a solid leader to deal with the rest of the world when it was time. “Who’s the Vice President these days?”

  Atherton gestured toward the dead man on his left. “You shot him.”

  Well, shit.

  The skies opened up, pouring rain with the force of an angry god. Atherton fetched a knife from a sheath on his calf and held it like he knew what to do with it. Jax took his out and circled the man. Everything in him, the soldier he’d been, the warrior he’d formed in the service, rejected the idea of putting Atherton down.

  But the man he’d become, the leader of the Vanguard nation and the fiancé of Lynne Harmony, knew there was no other choice. Not for his people or for his woman. Definitely not for him. Movement caught his eye, and he saw his brother coming up. He shook his head. This was his vow and his mission. Marcus halted and took position to make sure nobody else came up on him.

  An Elite soldier, this one weathered looking and tough, emerged on Marcus’s right, his gun pointed at Jax.

  The president shook his head. “No. Stand down. Both of you. Stand down.”

  The soldier looked at Marcus and then nodded. Interesting.

  Atherton charged.

  Jax swiped his blade across Atherton’s arm and pivoted, barely missing being cut by Atherton’s blade. The guy had been practicing.

  Atherton ducked and dodged, cutting Jax neatly across the neck.

  His neck burning, Jax lowered his head and waited, his boots sinking in the mud. Atherton rammed into him, taking him down to the muddy ground. Jax punched up, cracking the bastard’s nose.

  Atherton struck down just as fast, seeming not to feel the pain.

  Jax twisted his legs around Atherton and pushed up with his arms, cutting off the guy’s air and sending him sideways.

  Atherton punched him in the groin.

  Jax gasped, pain shooting down his legs. His gut rolled over. Agony rippled through him, and he lessened his hold.

  Atherton slid out and shoved to his feet, spraying blood and mud. “You don’t deserve her,” he yelled, his face red in the dim storm. “You bastard. She’s mine. She has always been mine.”

  Jax stood, forcing pain somewhere else for now. He widened his stance. “That’s where you’re wrong, asshole. What is your obsession with her? She doesn’t want you, and she never will. Don’t you have somebody named Georgia? Why don’t you fix this nation and do your fucking job with Georgia at your side?”

  Atherton spit out blood. “Georgia is dead along with her lackey, Ramirez. It was quick and painless, but I can only have one Lynne, and I came to get her.”

  Jax settled. His limbs loosened. There was no other choice. “You’ll never stop coming for her.”

  Atherton smiled, his teeth bloody. “No. Never.” Yelling the last word, he lifted his knife and rushed forward, aiming for Jax’s neck.

  Jax dropped to his knees and plunged his knife up and beneath Atherton’s ribcage, not stopping until he hit the heart.

  Atherton’s eyes widened, and he grabbed Jax’s hand. Blood gurgled out of his mouth. He dropped to the side and landed in the mud, where blood pooled around him. Jax released the knife, leaving it right where it was.

  Months ago, on the side of an Interstate much like this one, he’d promised Lynne Harmony that he’d keep her safe. Now he had.

  The president was dead.

  43

  I’m pregnant, I’m in love, and there’s a future. A real future. I actually feel lucky.

  —Dr. Penelope Kim, Journal

  Penelope finished with her last patient and found Marcus sitting at a campfire not too far from where the firefight had occurred. Everyone was still taking stock, and supposedly Jax was talking with the Elite soldiers who had survived. “Hi.” Why was he just staring into the flames all by himself?

  “Hi.” He looked up and smiled, holding out a hand. “I didn’t have anything to do.” His brows drew down.

  She chuckled and dropped onto his lap, letting him keep her safe. “You already did a great job planning for every contingency, which turned out to be a good thing. You guys finished burying the dead?”

  He nodded, his expression sober. “We did. Even with all the planning, we lost twenty. They lost more.”

  She exhaled and leaned into him, kissing his neck. “What happens now?”

  “I have no idea.” He rubbed her back. “Are all of your patients taken care of now?”

  “Yes. Maureen is fine, and I’ve stitched, glued, and bandaged everyone I could.” She yawned and looked up at the cloudy sky. The moon was bright enough to light the clouds, and at least it had stopped raining. “I meant what I said. That I love you.” She leaned back to look up at his face.

  He kissed her. “I know.”

  Yeah. That was her Marcus. “You said that you loved me, too.”

  “I do.” He kissed her, so strong and solid around her. “I always will. Not sure what’s going to happen in this life, but it’s you and me, like you said.” He looked down at her stomach. “Plus the baby. You figured out a cure.”

  She sighed. “Lynne, Nora, and I figured out a cure. Now we can take some time and perfect it. Jax has promised we can raid a few labs on the way, and who knows what we’ll find. I’m looking forward to it.” It was amazing to have hope. She had love and hope. The world might’ve ended, but this was a new beginning. That meant something.

  Jax and Lynne walked up, bringing lawn chairs with them. “Everyone is congregating here in a few minutes, so get the kissy face stuff out of the way right now,” Jax said.

  “Okay.” Marcus kissed her again, holding her tight, letting her know that his love was perfect just for her. He leaned back. “Marry me?”

  She laughed. “Yes.”

  Marcus looked over at hi
s brother. “All right. We’ll continue the rest of the kissy face later. What’s our plan?”

  Jax looked up as Vinnie and Raze brought seats, then Tace and Sami, Nora and Deacan, Damon and April, and Greyson with Maureen all brought chairs to surround the fire. All of the key lieutenants of the Vanguard-Mercenary family.

  Penelope didn’t feel like moving from Marcus’s lap, so she didn’t.

  Jax cleared his throat. “So. This is the deal. The country needs leadership, and we need a president and VP as soon as possible. I think we should move the capitol to the Willamette Valley like we decided. I told the Elite soldiers that they could join us or go on their way, and most decided to join us. I don’t think they liked Atherton much.”

  Penelope blinked as the fire heated her. “So you’re going to be the president?”

  “Hell no,” Jax said. “That’s not me. I don’t want that.”

  Marcus looked at his brother. “Who’s going to be the president, then?”

  The group looked around the circle. “Damon,” Jax, Greyson, and Raze said at the same time.

  “What?” Damon’s dark skin flushed. “No. I’m not the president. You be the president.”

  Sami pushed her curly hair over her shoulder. “Damon, you are the most reasonable out of all of us.”

  Damon shook his head and reached for April’s hand. “Come on, you guys. I was a SWAT member. Not a politician.”

  “Exactly,” Jax said. “Everyone who votes for Damon Winter to be the first president after Scorpius, the first one who matters, say Aye.”

  A chorus of ‘Aye’s’ instantly went around the entire circle.

  Damon looked at April. “What do you think?”

  She smiled, her eyes glowing. “I think you’d be incredible and you should do it. Besides, I could totally organize this entire country.”

  Damon looked back at everyone. “Well then, I accept. Until we get the states and government put back together. At that point, we’ll get elections going.” He rubbed his hand across April’s knuckles. “So, here we go. I need a cabinet, and I’m using new titles. Jax, you’re the head of the military. Choose whatever rank you want. Penelope, Surgeon General; Greyson, head of Homeland Security; and Sami, head of cybercrime and all energy resources.”