Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
Rescue was imminent, and Scorpio had never felt more the weak fool. A prisoner of the people he’d sought to bring down. His lover, threatened. His body bound and samples taken from it. Yet, what could he have done differently?
If he’d beamed out before they threw the net from the helicopter, it would have been Rebecca alone captured, and he had no doubt that sick fuck Monroe would inflict harm if she didn’t do what he wanted.
Not while Scorpio lived. Monroe was a dead man walking. Soon as Scorpio got free, he’d make sure of it.
Speaking of getting untied, he eyed Rebecca, who tugged at her flex cuff to no avail.
“You need something sharp to cut it.” He had to shout to be heard over the alarm.
“You don’t say. Any suggestions or should I gnaw at it with my teeth?” She’d not lost any of her fiery spirit.
“What do you have in reach?”
“Other than this troublesome orb, nothing.” She glanced around before frowning at the ceiling. “You really think it’s your friends coming to save us?”
“Yes, but even if it’s not, this is the distraction we needed to free ourselves.”
“Not sure how this helps. I take it you still can’t beam out?”
“No, and I wouldn’t leave you alone if I could.”
“The drawers are locked,” she grumbled as she tugged the handles projecting under the counter.
“What about smashing the orb onto the ring holding the cuff?”
“Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try,” she said with a shrug before grabbing hold and slamming it down. It made little sound, definitely no metallic bong as she smashed it again and again. While she couldn’t get much force with her single-handed grip, in a stroke of luck, it actually worked. The bolts holding the ring snapped, and while she still wore the flex cuff, she could now move around.
“I’m loose,” she crowed, holding up her freed hand.
“See if you can free me now,” he suggested. As she went to join him, he added, “Keep the orb with you in case we have to make a hasty retreat.”
She tucked it under her arm before she moved to his side. A frown marred her brow as she eyed his restraints. Thick canvas straps threaded with meteorite.
“The buckles have locks on them,” she complained, rattling the tiny contraption.
“Smash ‘em.”
She bit her lip. “It’s too close to your wrist. I might hurt you.”
“Don’t worry about me. Better some bruises or broken bones than staying here.”
“Good point.” She held the orb two-handed and began smashing, hitting the little padlock over and over until it snapped. She smiled. “One down.” She tugged it from the loop and undid the buckle, freeing his hand before she moved to his other side to repeat the process. He didn’t tell her it would be faster if he did it, the few extra seconds it would take to give her a sense of accomplishment worth it in his mind.
“And there goes number two!” she crowed as the lock broke.
Soon both his hands were free, and he could flex his arms. “Chest next.”
Off she smashed while he glanced around for a weapon. No guns in sight; no surprise. No sword either, but the tray did have a scalpel stained with his blood.
The siren abruptly went silent at the same time the lights went out. Machines stopped whirring. A thick darkness fell that lasted only a few seconds before emergency floodlights kicked in but not the many appliances.
In that silence, and despite the thick walls of the basement level, he heard the distant pop of gunfire. Definitely his brothers.
Crack . “Got it,” she crowed, yanking the broken lock and undoing the restraint keeping his upper body prone.
“Give me a second to get my legs free and then we’ll blow this joint.” He grabbed the scalpel before he bent over and inserted it into the lock holding his ankle. He strained against it, using the scalpel as a lever. The loop on it snapped.
“Can you undo the buckle while I do the other?” he asked.
“On it.” She knelt and was finished by the time he’d broken the last padlock.
Freed of restraints, he rolled out of the bed and stood, ready to rock—and roll some heads.
“What do you say we get out of here?” he asked, reaching for her hand.
“We can’t leave soon enough,” her high-pitched laughed reply.
Only it wouldn’t be that simple. His tattoo still didn’t respond. The lab had obviously been built with the imprisonment of Zodiacs in mind.
“Looks like we’ll have to leave the basement before I can beam. Stay close behind me.”
“Who’s holding on to the orb?”
“You. I want my hands free in case we have to fight our way out.”
Before he’d taken two steps, he heard a door open, not the one he’d aimed for. As he whirled, he caught sight of Monroe.
The doctor snarled. “How did you get free?”
“Did you really think you could hold a Zodiac Warrior?”
Monroe’s brow creased in anger. “I should have kept you drugged. Hand over the orb.”
Rebecca hugged it to her chest. “I don’t think so.”
A gun emerged from Monroe’s lab pocket. “Hand it over or I will shoot.”
The man probably would anyhow, but while Scorpio could handle bullets, Doc wasn’t as tough as him. He grabbed her and used his body as a shield just as Monroe fired.
The searing pain went through his midsection—right through—which meant it hit Rebecca too.
She gasped, and the coppery stench of blood filled the air. She hit the floor on her knees, and the orb fell out of her grip and went rolling on the floor.
Ignoring it, Scorpio dropped beside her. “How bad is it?”
She pushed him away. “Forget me. Don’t let him get the relic.”
At her words, Scorpio glanced over his shoulder and saw Monroe diving for it.
“Like fuck, asshole.” Ignoring his own wound, Scorpio rammed the so-called doctor with enough force the man went flying and hit the bed Scorpio had just escaped.
Scorpio stalked for Monroe, who held up his hands and whimpered, “Don’t. Take the orb. Leave.”
“So you can continue being a sick fuck? Don’t think so. Hope your affairs are in order.” Because this was the end.
Scorpio didn’t screw around, not with Doc bleeding. He grabbed the other man, lifted him, and then did a famous wrestling move that involved slamming him down on his knee. Only he didn’t hold back and fake it. Crack . The spine snapped, and a moment later, so did Monroe’s neck.
Scorpio dropped the limp body to the floor and scooped the orb before he returned to Rebecca’s side.
“Hold on, Doc. Let’s go find you someone who can stitch you up.”
“It’s bad, Scorpio,” she whispered, fear trebling her words.
He could hear it, a hissing of air indicating a compromised lung. “You’ll be fine. Promise.”
She tried to laugh, but blood bubbled past her lips. He crouched and handed her the orb. “You hold this while I carry you, okay.”
“M’kay,” she murmured. While she clutched the orb tight to her bleeding chest, the rest of her was limp as he lifted her in his arms.
Hands full meant he had no defense when a door slammed open. To his relief, Capricorn stood there with a semi-automatic rifle.
“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’re playing the hero without us,” his friend quipped.
“Some hero. Doc got shot. I need to get her to a hospital.”
“Fuck. That’s going to be a problem. Our storming of the Cetus headquarters didn’t go unnoticed. Cops have started to arrive. The building is surrounded.”
Meaning they couldn’t leave without being seen or caught.
“I don’t know if the tower can do anything for her.” Stardust didn’t work on humans.
“If it can’t, then you can hop into another portal. The one in Vancouver has a medical clinic nearby.”
“Yeah, well, that’s a bit of a problem seeing as how I can’t currently beam to the tower.”
“Not from this level you can’t,” Aries advised as he arrived. “Basement has traces of meteor in its walls, but the first floor doesn’t seem to have that issue. Soon as you hit the lobby, you should be able to beam.”
“What about the cops storming the place?”
“They’ve not made it inside yet. Cancer and Leo are popping off just enough to keep them hunkered behind their cars. They’ll soon realize they’re not shooting to kill, though, so let’s get our asses out of here before we do have to use deadly force on the good guys. Follow me.”
Aries led them from the lab and down a hall to a door marked EXIT and Stairs, currently propped open with a body. They emerged from the stairwell to find themselves in a lobby. Scorpio’s gaze went to the elevator, beside which sat a head, but no body.
“Talk about losing your head,” Scorpio quipped.
“We were using it with the scanners to open doors until the power went out.”
Pop . Pop . A glance showed Cancer and Leo kneeling and taking random potshots, not at the cops—Zodiacs didn’t shoot the good guys doing their job—but at their parked cars and the lights.
“Everyone prepare to beam out,” Aries shouted.
“Is that wise?” Scorpio asked. Much as he wanted to leave, duty did remind him of a few key things. “If we go, the cops will confiscate everything here as part of a crime scene, meaning they’ll discover what Cetus was really up to.”
“They won’t be finding anything,” Capricorn announced as he emerged from the stairwell with a grin. “Explosive are set. Just tell me when and this baby is going to blow.”
Aries glanced at Aquarius, whom Scorpio hadn’t seen sitting behind the reception desk, his face bent over his laptop. “Are the civilians cleared?”
“Yup. As far as I could tell, they all evacuated when the alarm went off. Should just be us left and maybe a few stray mercs that got scared and hid,” Aquarius replied, slamming the laptop shut before standing.
“Good enough. Zodiacs, move out.”
Usually, Scorpio would be last to go. Not today. Hugging Rebecca tight, he called on his tattoo, pulled on the power of his constellation, and beamed home.
Only to arrive at the tower empty-handed.
Not only was the orb gone, but Doc was too!