Sins of Leo (The Thirteenth Zodiac #2)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

“I hate sewers,” Leo grumbled, and he had good reason. After all, he’d visited his fair share.

In his experience, sewers tended to be smelly, damp, dark cesspools, but, of course, monsters loved them. Hence why he slogged through almost knee-high muck, following a tunnel that would supposedly lead him to the creature absconding with people—and most likely killing them. The stench of rotting flesh that permeated the air certainly indicated death.

In this particular case, what they hunted appeared to have a craving for young children, and, given said youngsters usually tended to be in the care of their mothers, they went missing too. Heinous and unacceptable, which was why the Zodiac Warriors currently converged on the creature’s lair. It took them some time to track it, the sewer system under New York City extensive and the monster sly enough to cover its tracks. However, Aquarius, who excelled in the tech field, had been working hard to triangulate its hunting grounds.

Their biggest break came from the mole people—persons who’d chosen to live underground for various reasons, most of them economic. Some of the fleeing subterranean dwellers had emerged from their sewer homes to announce the demise of friends and family. Alas, they’d not been taken seriously, despite taking their concerns to the cops. At least the officer who spoke with them filed a report, which ended up on Aquarius’ info-searching radar. It turned out they were telling the truth. An entire community of tunnel dwellers had disappeared, but no one noticed—or cared—until the creature expanded its hunting grounds and dared to start snatching non-moles. Given the public outcry, law enforcement searched for the perpetrator, but they were ill-equipped to deal with an actual monster.

“I am maybe ten seconds away from the main cavern,” Leo heard Capricorn state through his earpiece.

“Time to turn the goggles off, boys,” added Scorpio. “Tossing the flashbang and glow sticks in five seconds, starting now.”

They’d worn night vision goggles as they made their approach. However, the plan was always to remove them before the fight so as to not be blinded when they lit up the place. After all, a monster who chose to live in the dark might be at a disadvantage if exposed to light.

A push of the goggles put them resting on Leo’s head. He then gripped a revolver in his left hand and a sword in his right. Depending on what they faced, one or the other might prove useless. He still recalled the chitinous creature they’d taken out a few years back with a carapace that sent bullets ricocheting.

At the sight of the bright flash that exploded up ahead, emitting a strident sound, he charged, racing as best he could through the muck that sucked at his boots, splashing shit—literal shit—all over as he made his way into the target chamber.

A chamber of nightmare.

In the greenish glow they’d created, he could plainly see the remains and clothing of the monster’s victims strewn all over. Each step he took crunched, the brittle bones sucked dry of their marrow, which included the tiny skeletons of children and infants. Leo’s stomach tightened as he thought of his newborn daughter—thankfully safe at home.

Or so he hoped.

He’d asked—begged—his wife, Kylie, to go somewhere more secure given the threat in the city, but she’d refused. “Isn’t my big bad warrior husband going to protect me?” Said with a sneer. Things had been rocky with them for a while, and the birth of their child hadn’t helped. After this mission, he’d make a point to spend more time at home and see if they could find a way to reconnect, even as he feared the marriage was over.

“Where is it?”

Leo didn’t need his earpiece to hear Scorpio’s query. They’d entered from three different spots and swept their guns back and forth looking for their target.

“Don’t tell me it’s out hunting,” groaned Capricorn.

That would be the worst of luck because, most likely, if the monster realized they’d infiltrated its lair, it would relocate, meaning they’d have to start the hunt all over again.

The smell in the place—rotting sewage and rancid meat—made it hard to think when all Leo wanted to do was spew. Yeah, even tough warriors sometimes puked.

A sudden drop of liquid plunked from above, making Leo crane to look. He caught sight of a thing of gangly limbs, with horns and a visage even a mother couldn’t love, that hung upside down like a spider, its malevolent gaze fixed on him. He yelled, “The fucker’s on the ceiling.”

Even as Leo shouted, he took aim and fired, the silencers on his weapon only dulling the booming blasts in the confined space.

Somehow, he missed. The monster moved fast, dropping from its perch as the bullets sprayed where it had lain in wait.

It threw itself at Leo, who dropped the gun and grabbed the sword in two hands to swing. As his blade arced, he had time to see the gaping maw, with its jagged and sharp teeth, and the red pinprick in the depth of the monster’s pupils. As his sword connected with its neck, the creature exhaled, the fetid breath washing over Leo’s face.

The last thing the monster ever did.

Plop . The severed head landed in the muck, and the body collapsed.

“What the fuck is a wendigo doing in New York?” grumbled Scorpio as he slogged to Leo’s side.

“Easy eating, I imagine,” Capricorn’s comment.

“Who’s carrying it for disposal?” Leo asked, because they never left monsters behind for civilians to find.

“I’ll take the head,” Scorpio muttered with a grimace as he grabbed it by a slimy horn.

“I’m really thinking we should revisit the whole warrior who kills doesn’t have to do cleanup,” grumbled Capricorn as he reached to yank the body from the sewage.

“Not my fault I’m better at my job,” Leo boasted.

“Are we heading straight to Tower?” Scorpio asked.

“Reports seemed to indicate only one creature,” Capricorn stated as he stood with the wendigo’s body draped over his shoulder.

“And wendigos aren’t known to hunt in groups,” Leo added, recalling some of the lore he’d learned ages ago. Upon their ascension to Zodiac Warrior, they were given a book on the various threats they might have to deal with.

“Who’s checking that pile in the middle to make sure there’s nothing else hiding?” Scorpio asked, even as he began to poke at it one-handed with the tip of his blade.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll check to make sure there’s nothing else,” Leo offered.

“Sounds good. We’ll give Aquarius the all-clear,” Capricorn stated.

Next step would be notifying authorities, anonymously of course. The world didn’t know about monsters—or the Zodiac Warriors—and they preferred to keep it that way. Their job stopped once the threat was eliminated. The cops could sort the bodies and notify families. At least there would be no more victims.

As Leo crunched his way to the mound in the middle, his gaze was stopped by something bright pink draped at the very top. A baby’s footed pajama with a unicorn on the front.

His mouth went dry, and he rocked on his heels.

Capricorn noticed. “What’s up, bro?”

“No.” It couldn’t be. He’d left his wife and child only a few hours ago to prepare for this mission. The pair had been in their apartment. Safe. He panicked for nothing.

His glance next fell on a beige sherpa jacket, identical to the one Kylie had been wearing of late. Bloodstains had turned parts of it red.

It could be anyone’s. After all, Kylie had recently bought it from a chain clothing store.

Scorpio muttered, “Oh fuck,” as he plucked a chain, barely visible against the fabric, and dangled it.

Grief swarmed every inch of Leo’s body because there was no mistaking the pendant of diamonds in the shape of his constellation. He’d given it to his wife on their wedding day.

Leo collapsed to his knees, uncaring of the filth, numb to the stench and the fact he knelt on bones.

Nothing mattered.

Kylie and his baby daughter were dead, and it was all his fault.

He should have found the monster faster.

Should have forced Kylie to go to Tower, where it would have been safe.

Should have never left them alone.

And nothing anyone said, nor how much booze he drank, could ever make him forget his greatest sin.

Not protecting his family.