Shadow Falling (The Scorpius Syndrome #2) Read Free Page B

profiler?”
    “Yes, except we’re not really called profilers.” That life already seemed so long ago. “I worked for the FBI Behavioral Analysis unit.” She missed her friends there, in fact. They’d all succumbed to Scorpius.
    “Ah.” He gently pulled her to the right and away from a gaping pothole filled with rainwater. “You seem young to already be with the BAU.”
    She nodded. “I was a special agent for three years, but I mainly worked on cold cases, not in the field. I had some luck with the cases and was fast-tracked to the BAU.” Her insight into the criminal mind had bordered on psychic even before Scorpius.
    “Why the BAU?” he asked quietly.
    “I wanted to make a difference to society, and with an analytical mind, I figured that was a good way to do it.” She gave her routine answer without a hitch in her breath.
    He glanced sideways at her just as they reached another road and turned left to go by a warehouse that housed vehicles and fuel. The headquarters, where the elite soldiers lived, was next to it in a building of heavy red brick. “That’s not all, is it?”
    She paused.Raze Shadow could see beneath the surface, now couldn’t he? “No. That’s not all.”
    He took a step away from her, giving her space. “It’s none of my business.”
    No, but something in her, something so alone, wanted to confide in him. Wanted to share. “Remember Scott Rysen out of Boston?”
    Raze frowned. “The Back Alley Butcher?”
    She sighed, her stomach turning over. “That’s what the press called him. My mother was his third victim when I was eight years old.”
    “Ah, shit, Vinnie.” Raze ran a hand down her arm, slowing his stride.
    Raze’s touch settled something inside her, and she breathed in his masculine scent.
    “I’m sorry. Your dad?” he asked.
    “Cop who threw himself into his work.” She forced a smile. Man, she’d loved her dad, even though he’d definitely had problems. “Died of cirrhosis of the liver a week after I graduated college.”
    Sympathy glowed in Raze’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s in the past.” She hustled her pace and stumbled over a pothole. Raze reached out to steady her. His hand, so large and heated, enclosed her upper arm. Tingles shot through her entire body. As soon as she’d righted herself, he released her and took his warmth with him. She frowned. Realization dawned. “You haven’t been infected, have you?”
    He kept walking, scouting the area around them, even though they were inner territory. “No. Why?”
    Because he rarely touched her. She shrugged her shoulders. Talk about ego. Maybe he just didn’t like her. Or perhaps he felt no attraction to her. “Just asking.”
    “Why?” They reached the back entrance to the two-story building and he paused, turning to face her.
    She swallowed and fought the urge to step back. He wasjust so . . . big. “The way you try to stay away from me, I, ah, was confused. I mean, it seems like we’re kind of friends, as much as you can have friends in this crazy lonely world these days, but you always back away, and I—”
    He held up a hand. “Whoa.”
    She winced, pricks of heat dancing through her. Man, why wouldn’t her mouth just stop? Before the drugs, she could’ve played poker with the best of them. She had been calm, cool, and totally in control. Now? She couldn’t even keep a thought to herself. “Sorry.”
    He crossed muscled arms. “For what?”
    Her mouth gaped open and she quickly shut it. Words tumbled out anyway. “For going on and on. For making you uncomfortable. For—”
    “Whoa,” he whispered. Again.
    The soft rasp licked down her body. She jerked her head, trying to find some control. “Sorry.” Turning to go, she tripped, and he reached out to steady her again. Somehow, his hold was both protective and restrictive.
    He shook his head. “Vivienne, I’m not afraid of getting infected.”
    Oh. An odd hurt spiraled through her chest. “I see.” So he just