Free Shadow Falling (The Scorpius Syndrome #2) by Rebecca Zanetti Page B

didn’t waiver a millimeter.
    “I’ve been traveling and gaining intel,” Raze said, giving part of the truth. “I’m not going to harm you or yours, Jax.” Except Vinnie. He was going to betray her, and that would hurt.
    A ruckus started up behind the other shop.
    Raze reached for his weapon, able only to turn a little, while Jax slid to his right.
    Instantly, four men ran around the far side. The lead two held guns, the next two knives and leashes. Jax settled his stance, switching his aim to the men.
    The long leashes were attached to women running on all fours, who careened around the building, snarling.
    “What the fuck?” Jax muttered.
    The lead guy, a man in a pale green suit, smiled. “You’re trespassing.” Without blinking, he fired.

Chapter Eight

    We find our friends by chance in the oddest of places, and only we can decide to keep them in our hearts.
    —Dr. Frank X. Harmony,
Philosophies
    Vinnie triedto roll up the sleeves of her borrowed sweater, leaving clumps at her wrists. Maybe the scavengers could look for some petite clothing on their next run. At least the yoga pants only went to her ankles and not beyond. Of course they were supposed to end right below the knee.
    She hurried across the soup kitchen in the direction in which Lynne had disappeared and crossed into what looked like a former medical office. Long reception desk, waiting room with old magazines, and dark carpet. “Lynne?”
    “Back here,” came the call.
    Vinnie nodded and inched around the desk, heading down a hallway. A door to her left held a couple of hospital beds and, farther down, an opening led to a kitchenette. Well, what used to be a kitchenette. Now a couple of old microscopes sat on a table surrounded by reams of paper and articles.
    Lynne glanced up from a microscope, her eyes focusing. “How are the new digs?”
    “Fine.”Vinnie moved inside to take a plastic orange seat.
    “Good. You know, when I first got here, Jax and I shared an apartment.” Lynne rubbed her pointy chin. “Not that I wanted to.”
    Vinnie sat back. “He, ah, forced you?” She’d been told that women didn’t barter for sex and were never forced in Vanguard, unlike much of the remaining world.
    “Kind off.” Lynne shoved curly brown hair off her forehead. “I mean, he gave me the couch if I wanted it, but we had to share the room for safety reasons.” She blushed a deep pink. “Then I decided to stay and share for other reasons.”
    Right. Vinnie scrutinized her. Love shone in her eyes. Of course in drastic times, being tied to a guy like Jax Mercury also meant safety. “You make a nice couple.”
    Lynne rolled her eyes. “We make an explosive couple, but I like us.”
    A former head of a CDC unit and a special ops solider? Yeah. That probably did lead to an explosion or two. “Does your blue heart hurt?” Vinnie gasped and covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry. Since the drugs, sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain and I just can’t control it, I really didn’t mean—”
    Lynne held up a hand and grinned. “Take a breath.” She glanced down at the glowing blue through a pink T-shirt. “The blue doesn’t hurt, although sometimes it feels, well, weird.”
    Vinnie leaned forward, her gaze fastened on the glow. “Weird how?”
    Lynne lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. Just like my chest feels heavy or constricted.”
    “That could be anxiety.” Or heartburn. Or any number of things.
    “I know, but I can’t help wondering.”
    “Why isit blue?” Vinnie asked. “I’ve never understood that fact.”
    Lynne shook her head. “When we first started experimenting with vitamin B to cure Scorpius, I was injected with an experimental concoction, turning my heart blue. We were never able to duplicate the exact formula again, although since it didn’t cure me, I’m not sure it matters.”
    “Why blue though?”
    She sighed. “I have both photosphores and chromatophores in my heart, which without the initial