Shadow Falling

  “Oh my goodness. What happened?” asked a female voice, one that slid right through him to land hard somewhere he didn’t know existed. Somewhere inside him that had been closed off forever.

  He blinked sweat out of his eyes.

  She peered down, beautiful blue eyes concerned, her stunning blond hair pulled back at the nape. “Oh, Raze. What in the world happened?”

  He tried to reach up and touch her—to feel that softness one more time. “Vinnie. I’m so damn sorry.” Then darkness yanked him away.

  Chapter Ten

  Sometimes a demon just wants to snuggle.

  —Dr. Vinnie Wellington, Sociopaths

  Vinnie smoothed Raze’s hair back from his heated forehead as he kept eerily still. His muscles twitched once in a while, but even unconscious, he seemed to be in perfect control. Most patients thrashed around and cried out.

  Not Raze.

  The fever swelled from him, and perspiration dotted his now pale face.

  She sat next to him, gently patting and soothing him. An hour or so ago, she’d tried to leave, and he’d mumbled her name until she’d returned to his side. Her hands trembled, but she kept her touch light. “You’re all right,” she whispered, trying to guess at his fever. It was high. Way too high.

  Tace reached her and handed over a semicool washcloth. “We’ve been keeping some of the rainwater in the basement.”

  She placed the faded blue cloth over Raze’s forehead, trying to will him to live. He was the strongest man she’d ever met, and that had to count for something, right? “Is it still raining?” she whispered.

  “No. We’re probably finished with the rain,” Tace whispered back. “Should conserve water, but he needs to be cooled down.” The medic leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. “The fever is really high. That’s a warning.”

  “I know.” Her stomach cramped. “The higher the fever, the more likelihood . . .” Of death. The more likelihood of death.

  A soldier like Raze, one who’d faced death more than once, just couldn’t succumb to a tiny bacterium. It wasn’t right. The idea of facing Vanguard and its people without him providing his natural shield made her want to cry. Or run.

  Tace grabbed scissors from a small counter and reached Raze, quickly ripping open his sweaty T-shirt. “Put the washcloth on his chest.”

  Vinnie’s eyes widened. She hadn’t taken a good look at Raze’s chest the other night. Ripped and predatory, his muscles showed strength, while a myriad of scars proclaimed a life of battle. Burns ran up his arm and over his shoulder, whitened with age. She flattened a hand on his heated flesh, counting two bullet holes, a knife wound, and a couple of other punctures she couldn’t identify.

  Tace reached for the cloth and dropped it on her hands. She rolled the faded material over and flattened it on the scars. “He’s not moving. That’s weird, right?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Tace murmured. “That’s the tightest control I’ve ever seen. Elite soldiers, the really dangerous kind who face torture, are trained to control themselves even in drugged or nearly unconscious states. That man is well trained.”

  She swallowed. It was more than that. “He’s strong. Incredibly strong, body and brain.” She smoothed the washcloth over his hard body, her lungs compressing. Oh, he was amazing to look at, but that strength? She wanted that. Not only to have it but to hold it. Life was so terribly dangerous, and he could keep her safe.

  Man, she was a wimp. “I can keep myself safe,” she muttered.

  A snort sounded to her left, and she turned her head.

  “You’re a total wimp,” Lucinda said cheerfully, floating around the bed. “You should get a brawny guy like this to cover you. That Lynne Harmony knew what she was doing when she landed Jax.”

  “He’s not a fish,” Vinnie hissed to her annoying hallucination.

  “Huh?” Tace asked, his gaze sharpening.

  “Nothing.” Vinnie turned back to Raze’s too-silent form.

  Her stepmother sighed, and Vinnie could swear she felt the breath stir her hair. “He’s not going to survive,” Lucinda said mournfully. “How about the Texan? He’s blond and cute. Good body. A little dark and moody, but so is the entire world.”

  Vinnie ignored her. “He’s going to be okay.” She said the words out loud, just in case Raze could hear her. “He’s strong enough to survive this fever. He has to live.” Statistically, it was unlikely he’d survive the night, but surely Raze had beaten statistics before. The scars on his body proved that fact.

  “What is it with you and men who keep secrets?” Lucinda muttered. “Remember that boy who kept stealing your underwear?”

  Vinnie rolled her eyes. “He was twelve.”

  “He was wearing them,” Lucinda countered.

  “Who was twelve?” Tace asked, glancing around the room.

  Vinnie coughed, turning to face him. “Sorry. My mind wandered.”

  “Uh-huh.” Tace’s sharp gaze narrowed on her. “When you fainted a while back. What happened?”

  What happened was she’d forged some sort of link with the kid in excruciating pain, and she’d actually felt the agony. Her body had shut down in protection. “Ever since I was kidnapped, I’ve felt weak. I just got dizzy for a moment,” she lied.

  Tace’s eyebrows drew down. “Humph.”

  There was a sound by the door, and Jax strode inside. “Is Raze still secured?”

  “Yep.” Tace didn’t move from the wall, shifting his focus to the Vanguard leader. “He’s out cold, Jax. We won’t be able to question him for several hours, probably not until morning.”

  Vinnie’s breath caught. “Question him? What do you mean?”

  “Keep me apprised,” Jax said to Tace, his gaze squarely over Vinnie’s head.

  “You got it,” Tace said.

  “I’ve already searched his quarters. If he wanted to hide a letter, where would it be?” Jax asked.

  Tace rubbed his chin. “Raze scouts the entire territory, but if he died and wanted you to read it, it’d be somewhere you’d eventually find it. My guess? Not in his room but somewhere close by in headquarters.”

  Jax slowly nodded.

  “What letter?” Vinnie asked, wanting to stand and face Jax but needing to keep touching Raze. She’d figure out why later. “Jax?”

  Jax glanced at her hand resting on Raze’s chest. “Where do you think he’d hide a letter, Dr. Wellington?”

  For some reason every time he used her former title, she felt self-conscious. “I have no clue, Master Sergeant Mercury.”

  He smiled, a flash of white against his bronze face. “Fair enough. One of you call me if he regains consciousness.” Gracefully pivoting, the Vanguard leader strode out of sight.

  Raze shifted his weight and Vinnie gasped, turning back to him. “Raze?”

  “Maureen,” he groaned. “Get Maureen.”

  Vinnie reared back.

  “Interesting,” Tace drawled. “Who the hell is Maureen?”

  Now that was the question of the evening. “Raze hasn’t ever mentioned her?” An odd burst of heat exploded in Vinnie’s chest.

  “Nope, but we’ve all lost people to Scorpius. He’s certainly alone now, so I wouldn’t worry about it,” Tace said.

  “I’m not worried about it.” Vinnie drew in air, and she was sorry Raze was alone. Her first memory after being rescued from Bret Atherton was Raze carrying her to safety, and she’d pretty much attached herself to him at that point. “I’m a duck.” She’d imprinted on him just like a baby duck.

  Tace chuckled from behind her. “You are not a duck. We form attachments out of necessity and loneliness. Raze seeks you out more than you do him.”

  Vinnie frowned but her heart leapt. “That’s true.”

  Lucinda popped up at the other side of the bed.

  Vinnie jerked her head and then tried to cover the weird movement. Tace was already suspicious.

  “I think he just wants in your pants,” Lucinda said slowly, her gaze
on Raze’s bare chest. “Use a condom. I taught you to always use a condom.”

  Vinnie bit back a groan. Of all the people to haunt her, why did it have to be her crazy stepmother?

  “Of course, like I said, he probably won’t make it through the night,” Lucinda muttered.

  He had to live. Raze just couldn’t die. Vinnie would figure out later why that mattered so much to her.

  “You always did like the lost causes.” Lucinda sighed. “But this one? Even if he survives, he’ll definitely break your heart. It’s written all over him.”

  “I know,” Vinnie murmured softly, her gaze on the warrior fighting so valiantly. She didn’t need any psychic ability to see that one coming. “We are who we are, and we’ve done what we’ve done. Heartbreak makes no difference.”

  Lynne Harmony poked her head inside. “Tace? How’s the patient?”

  Tace kept his gaze on Raze. “Still alive.”

  “Good.” The brilliant scientist’s eyes darkened. “Keep giving him vitamin B through the night, and when he awakens tomorrow, if he does, please let me know before you talk to Jax.” On that ominous note, Lynne moved out of sight.

  Vinnie focused on Tace. “Why? Why would she want to know first?”

  Tace stared down at his fallen comrade. “I assume she wants to prevent Jax from torturing Raze for information.” The Texan lifted a shoulder. “But I could be wrong.”

  Lynne Harmony nodded at the few folks eating sandwiches in the old soup kitchen as she passed through and entered the stairwell. She’d been almost positive Jax wouldn’t shoot Raze on the mission, but a part of her had wondered. Jax Mercury protected the Vanguard citizens with an absolute focus and no mercy.

  Love mellowed most men.

  Not Jax. If anything, he gripped life harder than before committing to her, his determination almost frightening.

  She reached their door and nudged it open. Her entire life she’d solved puzzles but had rarely understood people. A man like Jax was so far out of her wheelhouse, she didn’t have a clue how to solve him. How to help him.

  But God, did she love him.

  He sat on the sofa, long legs extended, boots on the cracked coffee table. His dark hair brushed his neck, while his golden-brown eyes saw everything. A black T-shirt stretched across his broad chest, and he’d pulled the material out of his ripped jeans. “Where have you been?”

  Her mouth watered. Whatever fate had brought her to the sexy soldier deserved a kiss. So did he. She shut the door and crossed to him, leaning down to press her lips against his.

  He manacled her waist and pulled her onto his lap, taking over the kiss.

  When he finally allowed her to back away, she could barely breathe. She smiled. “That was nice.”

  He lifted one dark eyebrow. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Sometimes she forgot the sharp intelligence behind that handsome face. “I was back in the makeshift lab working on the research materials we found at the Los Angeles labs.” She’d found several notations about making vitamin B permanent in the body, but even more exciting, she’d found hints of a cure for Scorpius. “There were several mentions of the Bunker in a log left by a Dr. Jonas, but no concrete evidence that it exists.”

  Jax smoothed the hair back from her face, his fingertips calloused but his touch gentle. “Do you think it does?”

  “I do.” She leaned in and nuzzled the whiskers on his chin. “The more I read, the more it makes sense.”

  “If there was a Bunker, and it contained emergency labs and resources, then the scientists there would’ve immediately begun working to cure the Scorpius bacteria once it began infecting so many people,” Jax said thoughtfully.

  “Exactly.” Lynne smoothed her hands over his wide chest. “Some of the inventory logs I’ve studied showed materials arriving from a place called TB, and that has to be the Bunker, right? I mean, why else just put the initials? All of the other labs are clearly identified.”

  “The mysterious TB,” Jax said. “If there’s a secret lab, and if they had a cure, they would’ve shared it with the military at least.”

  “I know.” Lynne’s shoulders slumped.

  Jax brushed his thumb across her lips and sent tingles through her entire body. “My best guess is that there is a Bunker created by the military, but that Scorpius got the researchers, too.”

  “Or maybe there isn’t a cure, and the researchers are safely underground with tons of medicine and food,” Lynne said.

  Jax nodded. “That’s possible as well.”

  “We need to find the Bunker. If nothing else, they have to have some research about pregnancies. I’m worried that the rumors are true and there have been no live births since Scorpius.” Lynne rubbed her eyes. “It’s only been six months, but all pregnancies terminated. We haven’t had enough time yet to see if we’ll be able to procreate after being infected.”

  He sighed. “We have one pregnancy here, and that’s it.”

  “Yes. Jill Sanderson.” A sweet sixteen-year-old girl who was about two months pregnant. “So far, she’s doing all right.”

  Jax frowned. “As far as we know. It’s not like we have ultrasound equipment.”

  Lynne leaned into him. “You didn’t kill Raze.”

  “He got bitten.” Jax flattened his hand between her shoulder blades.

  “You could’ve left him,” Lynne said gently.

  “No. He’s vulnerable now, and I need to find out his agenda.” Jax leaned in and let his mouth wander along her jaw.

  Pleasure rippled through her, and she tipped her head back to allow for more access. “You like Raze,” she murmured. “It’s okay to like him and still not completely trust him. He hasn’t trusted you yet.”

  Jax stopped and leaned back, capturing her gaze. “You need to understand that I’ll end him if necessary. Whether I like him or not is irrelevant. If he’s a threat to you, a threat to Vanguard, then he dies.”

  Lynne swallowed. She did understand that fact. “I’m sure he’ll come through.”

  “We’ll see.” Jax tightened his hold. “If I decide he’s more liability than asset, it’s a done deal. Get on board now, Blue.”

  Chapter Eleven

  When the end for humanity arrives, it’ll be in the form of a whisper and not a shout.

  —Dr. Frank X. Harmony, Philosophies

  Needles poked through his skin from the inside. Raze opened his eyelids as he shuddered, heat and freezing cold sweeping through him.

  “You lived.” Jax Mercury kicked back to his right, boots on the bed and a sandwich in his hand. “I bet against you. Sorry about that.”

  “Who bet for me?” Raze croaked out, his vision wavering.

  “Tace bet you’d make it.” Jax dropped his feet to the floor.

  Raze drew in a deep breath. “The fever broke?”

  “Yep.”

  His entire body thrummed with residual pain, and his muscles felt like he hadn’t moved in a year. He tried to sit up and failed to move. A quick glance down confirmed his suspicions. “Why am I still restrained?”

  Jax finished his sandwich and dusted off his hands. “You know why.”

  Ah, hell. Race had been tortured before, more than once, but never when he’d been already so worn down. He glanced around the room, noting the door had been closed.

  “You’ve been out for about eighteen hours. Tace is guarding the outside, and we’ve forced Vinnie elsewhere for the day.” Jax cocked his head to the side.

  Raze blinked. “Did she put up a fight?”

  Jax rubbed his cheek. “The woman has a decent right cross, truth be told.”

  Raze’s lip quirked. Sweat rolled down his cheek. “She stayed with me the entire night.” As he’d drifted in and out of consciousness, the one constant was Vinnie. Her voice, her scent, her soft touch. “All night,” he murmured, a possessiveness rolling through him he’d have to figure out later. When his brain worked fully.

  “Yep.”

  Raze sighed. “Jax,
I’ve been tortured by the best, and I’ve never broken. Not once. You’ll kill me before I break.” Unfortunately, it was the damn truth.

  “I know.” Jax leaned forward. “That’s why I’m not going to torture you.”

  Raze lifted an eyebrow. “All right.”

  “It’s too bad about Vinnie, though. She would’ve been a welcome addition around here.” Jax’s gaze gave nothing away.

  Raze grinned. “You are so full of shit. No way would you torture a woman.”

  Jax slowly nodded. “Yep. You read me right. I mean, I would torture a woman if I absolutely had to, but in this case, I don’t even know what you’re hiding.”

  Raze lost his smile. “So?”

  “So one word from me, and Tace will work her over until you give me what I want.” Jax’s voice remained almost pleasant, but a thread of heat wove through the tone. “He’s not right, and he’ll do it.”

  Raze studied the man. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I would.” Absolute conviction showed on Jax’s face. The white scar along his jaw seemed to stand out in warning. “Two months ago, and Tace would’ve been in here arguing with me to let you find your way. After Scorpius? He’ll torture her in ways I can’t even imagine, I’m afraid.”

  A ball landed in his gut and exploded. “Don’t do this,” Raze hissed, struggling against the bindings, which held tight. If he had to kill both Jax and Tace to save Vinnie, he’d do it.

  “Then tell me what I want to know. Where’s the letter?”

  Raze stilled. “Letter? What letter?”

  Jax sighed heavily and strode for the door to open it. “Tace?”

  Tace poked his head in, surveyed Raze, and then nodded. “Yeah?”

  “It’s time for that talk with Dr. Wellington,” Jax said, his gaze remaining on Raze.

  “Tace, don’t even think about it,” Raze growled. “I’ll take your head off myself if you even give her a slight scare.”

  Tace’s gaze remained steady, and his eyes had turned a darker blue lately. “You can’t frighten me with threats. Nothing scares me since Scorpius. That part of me, the part that feels, well, doesn’t. Sorry.”