Mercury Striking (The Scorpius Syndrome #1)(50)

She hadn’t spent much time with Raze and had yet to hear him speak a complete sentence. He’d tied his shoulder-length black hair at the nape, showcasing sharp features with definite Native American markers. His light blue eyes showed no sign of emotion, but he seemed to be on constant alert. She could ask him about himself, but forging another connection with a person, even so lightly as with general conversation, was just too much right now.

Dinner had consisted of some sort of bread meal mush that had actually filled her belly. The mood in the rec room remained somber, and death hovered all around. She cleared her throat and focused on the man she already kind of knew once her brain kicked back into gear. “How are you feeling?”

Tace rubbed his whiskered jaw. “Like I got run over by my granddaddy’s farm pickup. Twice.”

Yeah, that about summed up the fever. She needed the right words, but the time for niceties had passed. “You’ve been getting injections of B now, so that’s good. How’s your cognitive functioning?”

Raze lifted an eyebrow but didn’t comment.

Tace tapped fingers on the table. “I don’t know. I don’t want to kill anybody or plan a mass murder, but . . .”

“But?” Raze asked.

“So you can speak,” Lynne blurted out.

Raze cut her a look and focused back on the medic. “But what?” he asked.

Tace rubbed the back of his neck. “My brain processes seem . . . slow. Muddy and hindered.”

Lynne breathed out. “You had a high fever, and your body is still reeling. It can take weeks to get back to normal.”

Tace nodded. “I know, and if I get the urge to bite somebody, I’ll let you know.”

Raze shoved back from the table, stood, and stalked toward the outside door.

“Well, good-bye,” Lynne said without heat. What an odd guy.

Tace smiled with a definite lack of humor. “He doesn’t talk much.”

They needed to get back to work, but for a moment, her eyes stung. So she stayed put. “What’s his story?” Not that she cared. Sometimes the scientist in her reared up when she least expected it, and curiosity won out.

Tace shrugged. “Hell if I know. He walked into camp two weeks ago, fully armed, and said he wanted every member of Twenty dead. That was good enough for Jax.”

Yeah, that would be. “Will Jax go after Cruz now that Haylee has died?” Lynne asked, trying to sound casual. She needed Jax Mercury alive and ready for the next battle. One he didn’t even know was coming.

“Yes.”

That made sense. Her body shook in a yawn, and her vision blurred.

“You’re exhausted.” Tace pushed back and stood. “I can escort you to your quarters if you’d like?” While the suggestion was posed as a question, his manner said it was anything but.

Lynne stood. “So I’m still under house arrest?”

“I don’t see that changing.” Tace grabbed their dirty dishes to place in a hollowed-out tire near the food. “Sorry.”

“I can keep working for a few hours.” She swayed.

Tace shook his head. “Come on, Dr. Harmony. You know as well as I that sleep is necessary for brain function.”

She regained her balance. A couple of hours would probably do her good. She should probably ask who did the dishes, but at the moment, she didn’t really care. “Are we meeting in the, ah, lab tomorrow?” It was still early, but exhaustion lived in every one of Lynne’s movements.

“Yes. Maybe the info from Baker will give us more information on inoculations or other businesses turned into production labs. For now, get some sleep.” Tace escorted her out of the main hall. “I plan to do the same soon, but right now I need to go hash out the scouting schedules with Wyatt.” They walked up the stairs, and Tace left her at her doorway.

Okay. She’d sleep on it and let her subconscious work on the code. If that didn’t help, she’d get paper and pen the next day and try to decipher the numbers. If the numbers even related to Myriad. It was possible they had nothing to do with the lab, but it was all she had.

Lynne drew in air, opened the door, and slipped inside, only to draw up short. Apparently Jax had sought his quarters after burying Haylee. Chaos had touched down in the little efficiency apartment. Broken dishes, a demolished chair, and clothing littered the floor. Even the counter had been partially pulled from the wall. She quietly closed the door.

Jax Mercury, his back to her, stance wide, faced a broken window as Mother Nature pounded outside. He’d torn the wooden boards away. Shards of glass, covered with red and dripping rain, were scattered around his feet. Tension rode him, stronger than raging nature out the window. Muscles rippled down his back like those of a beast about to lunge.

Holy hell. Lynne faltered and swallowed. A year ago, she would’ve probably backed away and shut the door. Instead, she locked the door behind her. “When you throw a tantrum, it’s a big one,” she murmured.

His shoulders stiffened. “Leave. Now.”

“No.”

He turned in a gracefully slow arc that sped up her breath. His eyes had darkened to almost black, and an unholy wildness, one not quite human, glimmered in their depths. “Go.”

“No.” She tried to breathe out evenly to keep from having a stroke. She’d only been in camp a short time, but she could see the problem. Could he? “We don’t have time for this. You don’t have the luxury of this.”