Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
The kiss took Rebecca by surprise and, at the same time, didn’t. After all, they’d both almost died. This time, she didn’t protest but let him kiss her because she felt the same joy as he did at the fact they’d survived and beaten whoever built those traps.
His lips moved sensually over hers, stealing her breath, increasing her pulse, boiling her blood—and warming other parts. However, the embrace ended almost as quick as it began with him murmuring. “We should probably see where we ended up.”
He had a point, but she couldn’t help a tinge of disappointment. She didn’t let it show as she stated, “Holy darkness. Can you get the rock to do that glowy thing again?”
“Let me see. First, I need to find a wall.”
“Find it.”
He moved away from her—which made her a little nervous given they could see nothing. Who knew what lurked or what pitfalls waited to be triggered?
“It should be right around here somewhere,” he murmured. A few seconds later, the walls began to glow, and unlike the other tunnel, all of them lit up at once, showing they stood in a strangely shaped room, maybe twenty or so feet across. It took her a moment to count and count again before she stated, “I’ve never seen anyone use a tridecagon shape for a building.”
“A what?”
“Thirteen-sided shape,” she murmured. “So odd, seeing as how it’s considered an unlucky number.”
“Only in Western cultures. The Egyptians actually loved it.”
“You think they built this place? They would have had the skills to do so,” Rebecca mused aloud.
“Possible.” He crouched to eye the floor of smooth stone.
“Are there more traps?” She clasped her hands and didn’t move, worried, and with good reason, that an inadvertent step might send her plunging—or make her lose her head.
“Doesn’t seem like it. Give me a second to scout.” He cautiously treaded the circumference of the space, empty of anything—including an exit. But given the puzzles they’d encountered thus far, she didn’t panic.
Yet.
Surely there would be a way out. They just had to decipher its secret.
“Seems like we’re safe.”
She snorted. “Seems like a bit of an oxymoron to use the word safe. We’re trapped underground in a place that did its best to kill us.”
“Not us, but those who didn’t belong.” He glanced at her. “Good thinking with those symbols by the way. I’d completely forgotten that, in older times, the Zodiac started with spring. Aries would have known, though.” He grimaced.
“I only thought of it because the calendar way failed. Good thing the builder didn’t start with a different constellation, or we’d be….” She couldn’t say it. The way they’d narrowly evaded death hitting her suddenly.
“I don’t see any objects,” he stated after having walked around twice. “Nor holes. No symbols either on the floor or walls.”
Which left only the ceiling. She craned to look. The room peaked at a point overhead. She indicated. “There’s something up there.”
“Which I can’t reach,” he grumbled. He eyed her. “Maybe if you stood on my shoulders?”
Rebecca shook her head. “It’s still too high.”
“Then how are we supposed to reach it?” He glared at the ceiling.
“It’s obviously another puzzle.” She chewed the thumb of her mitten even as she debated removing layers. It was warm in here. Too warm.
“Um, Scorpio, is it me, or is the room getting hotter?”
He frowned from his spot in the center. “Not from where I’m standing.”
She approached him, and the air noticeably cooled. “Odd. It’s chillier here.”
As if he didn’t believe her, he stalked for the wall then back before announcing, “You’re right. The temperature is rising. It’s radiating from the walls.”
“Meaning we’d better figure out this next puzzle or we’re going to get cooked,” she stated, doing her best to keep her panic in check. It would help if they had a clue.
She remained in the center of the chamber and glanced upward, the nodule at the peak intriguing, as it appeared to be silvery in color instead of the stone she saw everywhere else.
Scorpio joined her. “Any ideas?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t see any markings or holes. Nothing.” And it was getting hotter. She unzipped her coat but couldn’t stop the sweat from pearling.
Scorpio grunted. “Fuck me. What are we missing?”
She tucked her gloves in her pocket, along with her hat. “A ladder.”
He chuckled. “I’ll have to remember to store one in my back pocket next time I go on a mission.”
“You know, it’s ironic that in the coldest place on Earth, I’m about to be killed by heat.”
Saying it aloud had the words hot and cold rattling around inside her head. It made her note that, while she was warm and sweaty, Scorpio remained cool-looking.
She thought of how they’d gotten in, how her hand and arm—but not his—fit through the hole in the first chamber allowing her to open the door. How he could light the stone walls. How the sigils for the last puzzle reacted to her despite her not being some Zodiac Warrior person.
How they were opposites who’d had to work together.
She eyed him. “I’ve got a weird idea.”
“Go ahead. We’re running out of options,” he stated.
“Kiss me.”
“What?” He glanced down at her.
“You heard me. Kiss me or touch me. Skin-to-skin contact.”
“I’d ask why, but if I’m gonna die might as well be having fun,” he stated with a grin.
He dragged her up on tiptoe and pressed his mouth to hers. Right in the middle of the room. Right under the peak. Hot-blooded meeting cold-blooded.
The kiss was more than fun. It exhilarated. Made her tingle head to toe. Made her forget they would probably be baked to death. Made her wish she had more time to explore this oddly fascinating man.
His hands tucked inside her coat and pressed her firmly to him. His tongue peeked past her lips. She tickled it with her own and moaned. As his hands cupped her ass, and he ground against her, the heat curling around them suddenly vanished, and she opened her eyes to see Scorpio staring back. “Did a kiss seriously save our lives?” His query held an incredulous note.
“Seems so.”
“Why didn’t the first one work?”
She shrugged. “Wrong spot? Maybe it wasn’t long enough? Does it matter? Look.”
She pointed, and he glanced overhead, his jaw dropping at the sight of the silver ball lowering, floating without string. When it got close, Scorpio grabbed the sphere, the size of a large grapefruit.
“What is it?” she murmured, still a bit flustered from the embrace.
“I don’t know.” He tucked the sphere under an arm and frowned. “What made you think a kiss would work?”
“I wasn’t sure it would do anything, to be honest. Magic or star power or whatever you call it is a rather new concept to me. However, it occurred to me that this place, while built with Zodiacs in mind, obviously needed a human.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because I assume you and your other warrior friends are all bulky.”
“Yeah, we’re all kind of buff.”
“Meaning no way you could have unlocked that first door. And the spring solstice is a human thing, meaning not something you might have thought of. Ultimately, though, it was the heat in this place versus the extreme chill outside. Hot and cold, extreme opposites. Man and woman. Also opposites. Human and warrior, not quite opposites, but definitely not the same.”
His lips quirked. “Most definitely not the same. Good thinking. I see now why I needed you for this mission. Now, how about you use that gorgeous brain of yours to figure out how we escape?”
“I’m working on it.” Only she had nothing. The room remained unchanged?—
Creak .
The noise had them both glancing overhead to see cracks suddenly spreading across the ceiling.
“Um, that’s not good,” she stated.
“No shit. Let me see if I can get us out of here. Tuck close.”
“How does hugging you help?” she asked, glancing up at his face.
“Because all warriors have a built-in homing device for home. I just need to…” He frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“My tattoo isn’t activating.”
“You have a magical tattoo?” She marveled that she still had the capacity to be surprised.
“Yeah. It links me to the portal in the tower where I live. But I can’t get it to do its thing.”
“Is it because we’re underground?”
“That, or the meteor around us is interfering with my ability. Fuck.” He spat the word just as the first chunk of stone fell from the center of the roof, crashing and exploding into shards.
“It’s coming down,” she stated unnecessarily. “We’re going to get crushed.”
“Not necessarily. Get to the wall.” He dragged Rebecca to a section and pressed her tight against it as the ceiling continued to collapse. Not just rocks tumbled, but hunks of ice, too. Scorpio turned Rebeca so her face was smushed to the wall. His body shielded hers as the room caved in.
It seemed to be an eternity, but probably only took minutes, before the rumbling and crashing ceased.
“I think it’s done falling down,” he announced. “And look, it left a way out.”
A glance showed a shaft of light descending from where the room once peaked, a room now filled with rubble and ice.
“You think we can climb out through that opening?” She couldn’t help but sound skeptical.
“Only one way to find out.” He kept the sphere tucked under his arm as he nimbly navigated the mound, but he didn’t leave her behind. He steadied Rebecca as she struggled to follow, her bulky boots and suit making her less agile. He gave her a hand when she wavered. At the peak of the mini mountain, daylight beckoned.
The brightness had her squinting as she glanced upward to see a narrow shaft that must exit at the top of the glacier.
“Now what do we do? There’s no ladder or handholds.”
“It’s the perfect width to chimney climb.” A term that quickly became clear as Scorpio leaped into the opening and braced his legs against the inside. He began moving upward, making it look easy.
For him. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
“It’s easy. Watch me.” So easy, he did it one-handed, the other holding the sphere. His legs and feet moved, his bare feet gripping the ice. He reached the top quickly and peered down.
“Now you try.”
“Yeah, because I totally have the skill and strength,” Rebecca grumbled as she tried to leap and brace.
And failed.
She landed on her ass and scowled. “So much for easy.”
“Hold on a second. I’ll come help.”
He descended, both hands free, having left the orb at the top.
“Want me to carry you?” he asked.
“I’m not useless,” she grumbled. “Give me a boost and I should be able to manage.”
With his aid, she maneuvered inside the shaft. Copying his movements, she began to climb. Slowly. Laboriously. Huffing. Panting. Her muscles screaming. And for that effort? Only a quarter of the way there.
She sighed. “I changed my mind. Is that offer to carry still available?”
“Of course it is. I got you, Doc.” Scorpio immediately sidled his way to position himself in front of her, making the shaft even more narrow. “Loop your arms around my neck, legs around my waist. Hold on tight.”
She tucked against him, resting her face on his chest while he did the work. Most annoying part? He wasn’t even breathing hard by the time they made it to the top and her set her down outside.
A good thing he had air to waste, because the stream of expletives he let out needed a lungful.
The reason? Surrounding the opening of the shaft, a dozen men in expensive snow gear, which included concealing helmets and pointed rifles.
“Hands up,” one of them barked.
A scowling Scorpio obliged, as did Rebecca, her confusion mounting. Who were these people? Why did they threaten?
The only stranger who didn’t wear combat gear or hold a gun had the sphere cradled in his hands. At the sight of them, the man, his hair graying at the temples, smiled. “Excellent job, Doctor Guthrie, in locating the relic.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Because I hired you.”
At his words, she noted the insignia on his coat, a familiar company logo.
“You work for Cetus?” She couldn’t help a surprised note.
“I do, and as I was the one who nominated you for this job, I am delighted to see it was the right choice. The last scientist proved to be such a disappointment. Then again, he didn’t have one of the Zodiac Warriors helping him.”
Scorpio scowled. “What do you want with the orb?”
“You’ll soon find out. If you’ll follow me…” The man tucked the orb into a pouch slung crossbody before he turned and began to climb down a ladder dangling from the top of the glacier.
They had no choice but to follow since the man also stated, “If they don’t cooperate, shoot them.”
Rebecca needed no other threat. She obeyed, as did Scorpio, if unwillingly.
“Who are you? Where are you taking us?” he hotly demanded once he’d finished climbing down.
“I work for Cetus, which is also where we’re heading.” The man indicated the oversized chopper planted on the ice field by her camp.
“Why?” Rebecca asked, joining him. “You have the orb. You obviously don’t need us anymore.” A bitter response to the realization she’d been used.
“Given you’ve proven clever, you might be useful yet. Three people we’ve sent looking for the relic, but you’re the only one who managed to find it. As for the warrior, we’ve long hoped to capture one of the famed Zodiac Warriors, but they’re not easy to locate.”
“Who says you’ve captured me?” Scorpio declared.
“Even you cannot think to escape this many armed men,” scoffed the man.
“Don’t be so sure about that.” Scorpio suddenly grabbed hold of Rebecca and murmured, “Hold tight.”
“What?” she exclaimed as he tucked her to his chest.
The stranger yelled, “Shoot him before he starbeams.”
As bullets suddenly fired, the world went blurry and cold, intensely cold.
For a brief moment, she felt as if she were flying.
Then…. darkness.