Mercury Striking (The Scorpius Syndrome #1)(70)

Not enough. Not nearly enough. Gunfire erupted around them, and they both rolled in opposite directions.

Tace landed next to Jax, rolled, and kept firing. He grabbed Jax’s arm and started to yank.

“No,” Jax yelled, spit flying from his mouth, scrambling to go after Cruz. A blow to the head sparked stars behind his eyes, and then darkness crashed through him.





Chapter Twenty-Three





I have never, not once in my life, met a hero who saw himself as such. Not once.

—Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony




Lynne shivered, once again in the makeshift graveyard many hours after the world had blown apart in the morning. They’d had to restore their defenses before turning to the dead. She’d never seen a mass grave before, and the thought brought bile into her throat. Night was beginning to fall, and they’d need to take cover under darkness soon.

Jax stood on the other side of the grave, his left arm cradled against his stomach, bruises and cuts deepening on his face. It had been too long since he’d slept, and exhaustion glimmered in his dark eyes. Tace and Sami flanked him, while Raze circled the group, scouting out, looking for threats. Sami cried freely, but neither Jax nor Tace showed any emotion. Any hint of an expression of pain.

All of the bodies, all seven of them, had been wrapped in whatever old sheets had been available and then placed in the hole.

Seven. They’d lost seven of the group, and at least five more were too wounded to leave the infirmary. Most of the damage had come from the early grenades.

Several men started piling dirt on the bodies until only a mound remained.

Tace looked at Jax, who didn’t move.

Lynne stiffened. Wyatt was gone. Who would speak?

She waited and then caught Jax’s gaze. He blinked. She tilted her head, trying to convey sympathy and support. This wasn’t his bailiwick, but he was the leader.

Fury lit his eyes, but she kept his gaze. Finally, he stepped forward, his voice gravelly low. “These were our friends, our people, our soldiers. They fought hard, and they died well. We will miss them all.”

Jax turned his focus to Wyatt’s grave. “Scorpius made you a soldier, but you made yourself a friend. We disagreed about what’s next after life, and I hope to hell you were right and I was wrong. If so, rest in peace, and send some help our way. Hooah, my brother.” His voice cracked.

Tears clogged Lynne’s throat as Jax stepped back.

Other folks talked about the dead, and then Sami said a short prayer.

The group attending the funeral, about fifty people not needed in protection, security, or anywhere else at the moment, turned toward the inner compound. Lynne moved around the mound until she reached Jax. “How badly are you hurt?” Rumor had it he’d fallen out of a second-story window.

“I’m fine. Go back with Sami, and we’ll talk later.” He glanced over his shoulder at Raze. “I need help with a job.”

Raze jogged toward him.

Tace’s gaze remained on the mound. “I’ll come help you burn the Twenty bodies.”

So enemies got burned while friends were buried. Lynne wasn’t quite sure which was better. “I can help.”

Jax shook his head. “The doctors are all overwhelmed, and I need you at the headquarters infirmary.” He turned and focused on Tace. “We need to talk, too.”

Tace’s chin lifted. “About me or about you?”

Jax’s jaw clenched. “You shouldn’t have knocked me out, and I’m definitely gonna return the favor, but for now, we’re talking about your brain.”

“I know. Tomorrow when we’re clearheaded,” Tace said. “You haven’t slept in too long.”

Lynne frowned. “Let’s go, Tace.” She pivoted and sloshed through the mud to the concrete, trying to wipe off her shoes on the cracks. Tace strode next to her, scanning the area around them. “You knocked out Jax?”

“Bullets were whizzing at him, and he was trying to run into them to get to Cruz.” Tace spoke matter-of-factly. “I had to knock him out to get him to safety.”

Yeah, she could see Jax holding a grudge, although he hadn’t said anything all day while directing the cleanup after the attack. “What else does Jax want to talk to you about?” she asked.

“I’m turning into a Ripper.” Tace stretched his neck to focus on the former soup kitchen. “At some point, he’ll probably have to put me down.”

Lynne tripped, her mind fuzzing. “You’re a Ripper?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’m not feeling anything, and I was fine plugging Shawn in the face this morning.” Intensity rolled off Tace. “Before the fever, I would’ve balked at that.”

Lynne tried to shove down fear. “Any big urges to mass kill or obsess about anybody?”

Tace rubbed his chin. “No.”

What she wouldn’t give for an MRI or PET scan of his brain. “Then don’t ask Jax to kill you quite yet. Perhaps your brain has changed, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be a danger.” Right? If Tace became a danger, how would they know if he decided to hide it? Tace lifted a shoulder. “The weird part is I don’t really care, you know?”

“Part of that could be shock. There’s been a lot of trauma.” Lynne followed the group into the front entrance and then wound around to the makeshift infirmary.