Wow. Surgeon General? Penelope swallowed. That was a lot, but who else could do it right now? She snuggled into Marcus’s lap.
Damon continued. “April, I need you as Head of HUD, because we’ll need housing and all land allotments for the country, as well as plans for orphans. Deke? I know the Brigade wants to continue as a special force within the government, and I’m fine with that if that’s what you want.”
Deke nodded and held Nora’s hand. “That’s exactly what we want, and we need to take out the Rippers still threatening anybody. I don’t like it, but it has to be done.”
Nora leaned forward. “We can still take care of interior threats while also searching for labs and medical equipment that still works. I like our mission.”
“Good,” Damon said, looking around. “Raze? I need you to head the FBI and coordinate with the Brigade, as well as integrate the Elite Force members into our own, along with Greyson.”
“Copy that,” Raze said.
Damon turned toward Vinnie. “I need a new division that deals with the brain aspects of surviving Scorpius. You’d be in my Cabinet and can choose whatever title you want. What do you think?”
The woman hopped in her seat. “So long as I can still be a shrink, you betcha. I want to keep working with Marcus, and now with Lena, since she can speak. We should also keep exploring any new abilities we’ve developed from Scorpius, if there are any.”
Penelope smiled. This was getting interesting.
Damon grinned at Lynne. “I need a new CDC, a new head of the CDC, and I’ll get you all the research materials and laboratory equipment I can find. Choose your own title.”
She smiled, her blue heart glowing up to her face. “Happy to serve. I really do think Scorpius is dead, except when still in the body. We survived it.”
Damon turned to Tace. “I need local law enforcement set up in every state, and I think you’re the guy to do it. Choose an agency name and a title for yourself that does not have the word Texas, Longhorn, or yeehaw in it.”
Tace snorted. “Sounds good.”
“Maureen?” Damon said. “Obviously, with your background in food development, you’re the head of the Department of Agriculture. Pick any title you want.”
She nodded. “I like Perfect Princess, but I’ll come up with something better.”
Damon then turned to Marcus. “I need a Vice President, Knight. What do you say?”
Marcus stiffened around her. “Are you nuts?”
“No, and neither are you,” Damon returned evenly. “You just strategized the best evacuation plan I’ve ever seen, and because of you, we’re all alive. You’re smart and logical, and I think you’d do a great job. You’d work closely with your brother and your fiancée , and I need you to have my back. I’m asking you.”
Marcus’s hold tightened on Penelope. “I accept.”
This was huge. Penelope leaned up and kissed his chin.
“Well then,” the new president said,. “I guess we should get to work.”
Jax stood. “To the future. We actually have one.”
Penelope stood and held Marcus’s hand. Life was good. She pressed a hand to her abdomen. Heck. Life was an absolute miracle.
Exactly nine months later, Luna Marie Knight was born. The adorable little girl joined her friend, Julian Penelope Shadow, Jill and Byron’s baby Lillian, as well as many others, including Frances Joe Mercury, who was perfectly healthy, without a blue heart like his mama. Finally, they’d won the battle with Scorpius.
The future was not only a possibility but a reality.
A hopeful one.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my wonderful family, Big Tone, Karlina, and Gabe. I love you very much.
A huge thank you to Joan Lai for naming this book!
Thank you to my agent, Caitlin Blasdell; thanks to Asha Hossain Design for the fabulous cover, Kasi Alexander and Karen Fisher for the fantastic edits, and Michael Pauley for the wonderful audio narrations of the Scorpius Syndrome Books. Thanks to Jillian Stein, Minga Portillo, Margarita Coale, Anissa Hammons, Rebecca’s Rebels, Writer Space, and Fresh Fiction for getting the word out about the books.
Thanks to my constant support system: Jim and Gail English, Debbie Smith, Stephanie West, Jessica Namson, and Herb and Kathy Zanetti.
Links-Also By Rebecca Zanetti
The Deep Ops Series
Hidden
Taken Novella
Fallen
Shaken (in Pivot Anthology)
Broken
Driven (February 2021)
The Scorpius Syndrome Series
Prequel: Scorpius Rising
Mercury Striking
Shadow Falling
Justice Ascending
Storm Gathering
Winter Igniting
Knight Awakening
Scorpius Syndrome/The Brigade Novellas
Scorpius Rising
Blaze Erupting
Power Surging (Summer 2020)
Hunter Advancing (Summer 2020)
The Dark Protector Series
Fated (Book 1)
Claimed (Book 2)
Tempted (2.5)
Hunted (Book 3)
Consumed (Book 4)
Provoked (Book 5)
Twisted (5.5)
Shadowed (Book 6)
Tamed (6.5)
Marked (Book 7)
Vampire’s Faith (Book 8)
Demon’s Mercy (Book 9)
Alpha’s Promise (Book 10)
Hero’s Haven (Book 11)
Guardian’s Grace (Book 12)
Realm Enforcers (Dark Protector spinoff)
Wicked Ride
Wicked Edge
Wicked Burn
Wicked Kiss
Wicked Bite
Dark Protectors: Reese Family novellas
Teased
Tricked
Tangled
Dark Protectors: Rebels
Vengeance
Vixen
The Sin Brothers series
Forgotten Sins
Sweet Revenge
Blind Faith
Total Surrender
The Blood Brother series
Deadly Silence
Lethal Lies
Twisted Truths
The Maverick Montana series
Against the Wall
Under the Covers
Rising Assets
Over the Top
To keep up to date:
www.RebeccaZanetti.com
https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaZanetti.books
http://rebeccazanetti.com/rebeccas-newsletter/
READING Order of Series
I know a lot of you like the exact reading order for a series, so here’s the exact reading order, although if you read most of them out of order, it’s okay.
*
DEEP OPS SERIES
Hidden (Book 1)
Taken Novella (On the Hunt anthology) (Book 1.5)
Driven (Book 2)
Shaken Novella (Also in PIVOT anthology) (Book 3.5)
Broken (Book 3)
Driven. (Book 4)
Dark Protectors / Realm Enforcers / 1001 Dark Nights novellas
Fated (Dark Protectors Book 1)
Claimed (Dark Protectors Book 2)
Tempted novella (Dark Protectors 2.5)
Hunted (Dark Protectors Book 3)
Consumed (Dark Protectors Book 4)
Provoked (Dark Protectors Book 5)
Twisted novella (Dark Protectors 5.5)
Shadowed (Dark Protectors Book 6)
Tamed novella (Dark Protectors 6.5)
Marked (Dark Protectors Book 7)
Wicked Ride (Realm Enforcers 1)
Wicked Edge (Realm Enforcers 2)
Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers 3)
Talen novella (Dark Protectors 7.5)
Wicked Kiss (Realm Enforcers 4)
Wicked Bite (Realm Enforcers 5)
Vampire’s Faith (Dark Protectors 8). ***A great entry poi
nt for series, if you want to start here***
Demon’s Mercy (Dark Protectors 9)
Vengeance (Dark Protectors/Rebels 1001 Dark Night Novella)
Alpha’s Promise (Dark Protectors 10)
Hero’s Haven (Dark Protectors 11)
Vixen (Dark Protectors/Rebels 1001 Dark Night Novella)
Guardian’s Grace (Dark Protectors 12)
*** The Dark Protectors/Reese Brothers 1001 Dark Nights novellas (Teased, Tricked, Tangled) can be read any time after Marked. There’s no crossover.
————
SIN BROTHERS/BLOOD BROTHERS spinoff
Forgotten Sins (Sin Brothers 1)
Sweet Revenge (Sin Brothers 2)
Blind Faith (Sin Brothers 3)
Total Surrender (Sin Brothers 4)
Deadly Silence (Blood Brothers 1)
Lethal Lies (Blood Brothers 2)
Twisted Truths (Blood Brothers 3)
______
SCORPIUS SYNDROME SERIES
**This is technically the right timeline, but I’d always meant for the series to start with Mercury Striking.
1. Scorpius Rising (Prequel novella)
2. Blaze Erupting (Scorpius/Brigade novella, 1001 Dark Nights)
3. Power Surging (Scorpius/Brigade novella)
4. Hunter Advancing (Scorpius/Brigade novella)
NOVELS (Can be read without the novellas)
5. Mercury Striking (Scorpius Syndrome 1)
6. Shadow Falling (Scorpius Syndrome 2)
7. Justice Ascending (Scorpius Syndrome 3)
8. Storm Gathering (Scorpius Syndrome 4)
9. Winter Igniting (Scorpius Syndrome 5)
10. Knight Awakening (Scorpius Synd. 6)
____
MAVERICK MONTANA SERIES
Against the Wall
Under the Covers
Rising Assets
Over the Top
FREE Short Story - Scorpius Syndrome
The Scorpius Syndrome Series
INTRO: This is a short story written for the Scorpius Syndrome and can be read any time. It takes place before the first book. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
A coyote mourned in the distance, the sound weaving through the southern Nevada desert. No wind, no breath, no sense of movement filtered in the rapidly cooling air. The moon rose high and full, cutting yellowish light through waiting blackness.
Dr. Sharon Haung sidled around scrub brush, scattering dust with each footstep. Hopefully the worn boots would protect her feet from scorpions and snakes. The metal detector weighted heavily in her gloves, and she flipped on the device.
A shadow fell across the moonlight in front of her. “If this isn’t illegal, why are we here at night?” whispered Tim Norton, an assistant professor who taught with her at the small local college.
She shrugged and swept the detector in a wide pattern. “It’s perfectly legal for a person to collect one meteorite a year so long as the material doesn’t weigh more than ten pounds.” Of course, that wasn’t why they were hunting the elusive rocks at night. “From public lands, anyway.”
Tim groaned. The light glinted off his spiked dark hair. “We’re not on public lands, are we?”
Kind of. “We’re on the boundary line of BLM lands and land owned by a cantankerous old bastard who won’t let us search on his property.” But she’d viewed several larger meteorites hitting the earth the previous month through her telescope, and she’d made note of the locations. “We just want one or two.”
Hunting meteorites in the Nevada desert was a sport for many, and tour guides earned decent money leading tourists to abandoned lake beds to find the hard rocks.
But these meteorites were new, and she needed to get her hands on one. NASA had watched and chronicled the Scorpius Comet two months ago. As it had veered away from the earth, a meteor shower had occurred.
Nothing new or out of the ordinary there.
But the comet? Yeah. Scientists believed the comet came from somewhere around the Antaras star in the Scorpius Constellation, hence the name.
Tim sighed and flipped on his metal detector. “Meteorites are all about the same—why do we need yet another one?”
Sharon jabbed the hat off her forehead. “Seriously? We’re looking for a rock from outer space, buddy. How can you say they’re all the same? If we find one, it might have traversed galaxies we can’t even see right now.” Man. Talk about no imagination.
Tim sniffed. “You’ll write me an excellent evaluation for committing a felony with you, right?”
“Yes, and trespass is just a misdemeanor. Especially if we accidentally cross over from public to private land.” She smiled.
“We jumped over a fence. How is that an accident?” Tim groused.
Well, when he put it like that.
The wind flushed out of nowhere, skittering chills down her back. A ding nearly stopped her heart, and she dropped the metal detector to the side and fell to her knees. “Here we go,” she murmured, her heart kicking into gear. A ten pounder, at least.
Clouds covered the moon, and she squinted to see better.
Tim aimed a flashlight beam at the rock. “Great sample, and it’s a little bigger than the one I found.”
Yeah, but his still weighed about five pounds, which pleased her. She nodded and carefully dug around to extricate the rock. “This has traveled from places we can’t even imagine,” she whispered.
He held out the sack. “Okay.”
Truck lights rose over a sand dune.
“Shit.” Sharon jumped to her feet and extended the sack toward Tim. “Run, and I’ll get the equipment.”
“I can’t leave you.”
“Trust me. Get those rocks back to the lab, and if you cut into yours tomorrow in the Intro class, leave mine alone.” She tapped his arm. “Go, now.”
The guy turned on his heel and burst into motion, much faster than she would’ve managed. She scrambled to retrieve her backpack and secure the tattered material over one shoulder.
The cloud cover thickened, and she couldn’t see.
She patted the dusty ground for the metal rod. If she used a flashlight, the truck driver would see her.
The vehicle drew closer, careening over rocky terrain, the bright lights slicing through darkness like danger on the hunt. Anybody out this late at night wasn’t seeking a friend. Stories of serial killers and images from the latest Criminal Minds episode shot through her brain.
She swallowed and tried to keep from being noticed. Hopefully the moon would remain in hiding.
Her fingers touched metal. Ah ha. She grabbed the detector and bunched to run.
The truck turned her way. More lights flashed awake into a blue and red pattern, and a siren trilled.
Shit, shit, shit.
A split second caught her in the grip of a decision on whether to flee or not. If caught trespassing, she might lose her job. Both her jobs. Could she outrun the vehicle?
The police truck swerved to avoid a grouping of cacti, propelling her to make a break for it. Blood rushed through her veins and filled her head while her lungs compressed.
The moon managed to peek through clouds to help her, and she swiveled away from careening into a luminous rock and around a cactus to head north. Probably. Maybe east.
Right now, she just had to get away from the truck on her butt.
The moon plunged behind darkness again, throwing off her eyesight. Her foot caught on something, hopefully not a snake, and she flew through the air, yelping and trying to regain her footing.
She hit solid earth, her hands slapping the ground before her knees impacted. Pain cut into her palms, and sharp agony ripped up her legs.
The truck pulled to a stop, spitting dust in every direction.
She tried to shove to her feet, stumbled, and went back down.
A presence warmed over her. “Freeze, and show me your hands,” a male voice ordered.
She froze. Head to toe. It couldn’t be. It really couldn’t be. She turn
ed around, blinking into the harsh light of an industrial sized flashlight.
“Well, hell,” he breathed.
Yep. She knew that voice. Her stomach dropped through her tail bone against the chilled earth, and she sighed, blinking dust from her eyes to see him. He stood silhouetted in the truck lights, big and broad, and definitely the most dangerous thing in the entire desert. “Brett?” she breathed, her nerves firing with instant heat.
Silence ticked for precious seconds. Long enough for her to realize she lay on the ground probably surrounded by creatures that wanted to sting or bite. “Brett?” she repeated.
“Fuck me.” He reached down and hauled her up with one strong arm. “When you divorced my ass, I figured I wouldn’t have to deal with your craziness.”
She regained her footing and shrugged off his hold. Awareness rose the hair on the back of her neck, and her body flared awake, even as a familiar hurt pummeled her chest. “You don’t.”
His chuckled swept along her skin as if he licked each inch. “Oh baby. I don’t think you understand.”
She tried to settle her stance, anger slowly boiling. Of course she’d known he worked as the sheriff in the small county, and she figured she’d run into him at some point. Not in the middle of the desert bathed in moonlight, however. All she needed was to tangle with Brett Pierce again.
His Stetson shaded his face, but even so, his bourbon-colored eyes lasered through her, easily overcoming the simple darkness. Dark hair brushed his collar, and more than a shadow covered his hard jaw. So much for the straight military cut and clean shave.
She fought to ignore her curiosity as well as her suddenly clamoring body. “I have to go, but it’s been lovely.” The bite in her voice matched her ram-rod posture.
He chuckled again, smoothly pivoted, and somehow slid handcuffs over her wrists. “Nice try.”
The cold metal shackled her skin, and her mouth dropped open. “No.”
He tugged the bracelets, and they held tight. “I’m takin’ you in for trespass and for resisting arrest.” His good old boy twang was smoother than silk. “You have the right to remain silent, the right—”
Knight Awakening (The Scorpius Syndrome Book 6) Page 30
