Mercury Striking (The Scorpius Syndrome #1)(81)

Manny took his measure, eyes sober, and then he nodded at Jill. “Go with Jax, sweetheart. If he’s mean to you, I’ll kill him in his sleep.”

Jax wanted to smile, but Manny was probably telling the truth. “Follow me.” He turned and crossed through the rec room/dining hall to the small war room.

Jill followed him, not making a sound, and then took a seat at the table, her gaze down.

He faltered and shut the door, dragging a chair to sit on. Wyatt would normally do this shit, but Wyatt was gone. The sharpness of the pang in Jax’s heart caught his breath. He slowly released his lungs. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly.

Her head lifted, and her lips trembled. “Yes?”

That’s what he’d figured. “Listen, honey. I just want to make sure you’re feeling okay and you know you can reach out if you need help. I’ve never had a kid, so I can’t offer advice, but a lot of people here have, and you might need help. I’ll find baby food somewhere.” They had nine months, right?

She nodded, her hands clinging to each other. Tears filled her eyes. “We didn’t mean to.”

Yeah. Words spoken by teens for eons. He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable as hell. “Well, you know how it happened? Right?”

Her head jerked, and she giggled. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but mirth filled her eyes.

“Jill?” he asked.

She moved her hand, her face pinkening even more. “I know about sex, Jax. We had classes on it and everything.”

Now heat filled his face. He cleared his throat. “Um, okay. Good.” Did he have to worry about sex education for the younger kids? He rubbed the back of his aching neck. Tension. Too much tension. “I just, ah, wanted you to know that you weren’t alone. You’ll be okay. You and the baby.”

“I know. I love Byron. It’ll be fine.”

Nothing was going to be fine, and young love was about to make Jax’s life a lot more difficult. “All right. Good talk.” He stood and walked to the doorway, where he turned around. “Do you mind if I ask why you looked so terrified when I wanted to talk to you?”

She bit her lip and shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just, that, well, I don’t know you. I just see you with guns and knives telling people what to do.” She smiled. “But now I’m not scared of you.”

“Okay.” He opened the door, his mind reeling. “Make sure you up your rations of dried milk and protein. I think you need more of that stuff now.”

She nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Jax.”

Jax left the room, rubbing his chest. God, he missed Wyatt.





Chapter Twenty-Seven





The next world war will be between man and nature. Nature has never lost.

—Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony




Jax topped off the disastrous talk with horny teenagers by scouting outside and making sure his barriers were in place. When Los Angeles had begun to fall to looters and survivalist gangs, he’d immediately gathered any allies he could find and had taken over the food distribution center with the crappy slum apartments next to it. He’d sent groups to gather weapons, fuel, and medicines. Then he’d created two surrounding lines of defense, the first with downed Mack trucks, and then an inner circle of overturned minivans. They’d spiraled inward, creating barriers as they went.

The air was cool but finally dry. He checked the line, signaled to the guards at post, and finally reached the eastern end, where a truck met headquarters. Marvin padded by, turned his massive head, studied Jax, and then moved on. Obviously he’d already eaten.

Raze leaned against the brick wall, odd blue eyes cutting through the darkness. “That’s a lion. A real lion.”

Jax nodded. “Name is Marvin.”

Raze shook his head. “Marvin. How was the heart-to-heart with the kids?”

“Completely sucked.” Jax noted Raze’s alertness even while lounging. “How good are you, anyway?”

“Pretty damn good,” Raze countered. His broad chest expanded and slowly relaxed as he let out air. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you that I’m sorry about Wyatt.”

The name sliced into Jax’s gut, and he fought a wince. “Thanks.”

“Seems like he was the heart around here.”

Jax nodded. “Yeah. Well, he and Tace were both full of heart.” Now Wyatt fed the worms and Tace searched for his humanity. “Lynne is a sweetheart, but people don’t trust her, so she can’t take that role. Sami is fighting her own demons, whatever they are, and she doesn’t reach out to others. And we both know you’re here for reasons of your own.”

“Yep.”

“Most special ops guys don’t share much.”

Raze twirled a knife end over end. “I never said I was special ops.”

“Like you needed to.” Jax crossed his arms. “You’re not army.”

“Nope.” Raze cocked his head to the side.

“Not Green Beret or Secret Service.” Jax rubbed his chin. “Beyond a SEAL.” He smiled. “SEAL Team Six, were you?”

Raze lifted an eyebrow. “No such thing.”

Right. “How did you end up here, man?” Jax asked.

“A story for another day.” Raze slid the blade back into the sheath at his belt. “I knew you needed to take out Twenty, and I had a score to settle, so I figured I’d help out.”