Shadow Falling (The Scorpius Syndrome #2) Read Free

his waistband. His greasy hair cascaded out of a knit cap, which didn’t cover enough of his long, crusty face. Apparently it was difficult to find medicine for impetigo nowadays. “Well?”
    Raze kept his arms loose at his sides. “Well what?”
    “Where’s the woman?”
    “Not here,” Raze said.
    Ash shook his head, his entire rail-thin body moving with the effort. “We made a deal.”
    “No. We don’t have a deal,” Raze said silkily, allowing every violent urge he was feeling to show in his eyes.
    Ash swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I represent Greyson and you know it.”
    Raze didn’t move a muscle. He’d learned early on that his ability to hold perfectly still constituted a threat in some circles. Especially the despair-riddled streets of an innercity—before and after the end of civilization. “I know Grey wouldn’t mourn your death.”
    Ash snarled. “I’m important to Grey and the Mercs. He’d rip your skin from your body if you harmed me.”
    “I doubt that,” Raze said evenly.
    Ash paled even more. “Are you bringing the woman or not?”
    Raze took in the rapidly lightening sky outside. It was time to get back to Vanguard. “I have until the end of the week. So get the fuck off my back and stop coming into my territory.”
    Ash cackled, revealing stained and crooked teeth as he no doubt realized Raze didn’t plan to kill him this time. “Your territory? You’re claiming Vanguard territory as your own now, are you?” He snorted. “You don’t have territory, dumbass.”
    Raze straightened.
    Ash breathed out and backed into the counter behind him. “I’m just sayin’. You belong to the Mercenaries and don’t you forget it.”
    “I don’t belong to anybody.” Fury threatened to grip him, so Raze focused on the world around him. The room was rank with the smell of sewage and raw fish. He glanced at the window to see morning arriving in full force. “I have to go.” He turned for the door, keeping Ash in his sights.
    “One week, Shadow. We’ll give you the plan next time we meet.”
    “Give me the plan now.” Heat circulated through Raze’s chest, leaving a piercing pain. Even so, he shot Ash a hard look and waited until the guy turned pale.
    “Nope. Grey wants to keep you on your toes,” Ash said.
    “Tell Grey I’m looking forward to settling up with him.”
    Ash smiled and flashed his disgusting teeth. “Oh, I will. You will turn over Vivienne Wellington, or you know what happens. Grey wants confirmation you’re on track.”
    Raze breathedin and said the words that would finish off any soul he still had. “I’ll deliver her to him, per our agreement. I’ll see you in five nights for your fucking plan. Midnight.” Without another word, he turned and strode into the storm.

Chapter Two

    A sociopath is both born and made.
    —Dr. Vinnie Wellington,
Sociopaths
    Vinnie heldher meager possessions in a canvas bag near the sliding glass door, her eyes closed, her breath even. In for seven counts, out for eleven. She’d learned the trick while earning her doctorate, and she’d relied on it more than once during her time working for the FBI.
    Her eyelids slowly opened. The storm had ebbed, leaving tracks of churning gray clouds separated by startling blue sky. The LA summer would soon arrive, and rain would be a distant and fond memory.
    Water was scarce.
    But now, with the sun trying valiantly to shine down, the scraggly weeds and crumbling asphalt road only appeared all the more despondent. As if even nature didn’t want to try to exist within the enclosed barbed-wire fence.
    A lone flower, purple and attached to what must be a weed, bloomed in the middle of the overgrown path to the road.
    Vinnie studied the brave petals. The flower reminded her of a poster she’d seen in an FBI office a lifetime ago—thecaption had been something about perseverance, with a flower growing from a rock cliff.
    Her very life existed on a damn cliff these days, and she was no