Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
Leo didn’t waste much time on the main living floor of the shrink’s place because he could hear the receding footsteps of the intruder as they fled up some stairs. He quickly followed, cursing himself for not bringing more than a pocketknife. Then again, one didn’t expect a session about his fuckups to require physical defense. Mental armor, yes, but he’d left the guns at home.
He moved up the stairs swiftly and caught someone clad in black clambering out an open window. No point in shouting “ Halt !” Criminals never listened. Leo gave chase instead. He swung out the window after them and noticed a few interesting things. One, it was a thin wiry dude who’d broken into the shrink’s place. Two, they wore slim-fitting, dark clothing that included a head-covering mask, making them more than a simple thief. And three, an expensive SUV idled in the alley below, appearing to be waiting for them.
The person clambered quickly, racing down the noisy metal steps, heading for the already lowered ladder. Leo outmaneuvered by swinging himself over the rail and dropping, timing his descent to grab at the last section. He grunted as his body jolted, but he recovered immediately, swinging himself to a spot in front of the ladder, ready to snare the would-be thief. The intruder saw him and did an abrupt about-turn. Leo grabbed him by the calf before he could go hopping upwards.
Rather than the thief admitting defeat, he pulled a knife and slashed in Leo’s direction. Poorly, he should add.
A fast-thinking Leo yanked the leg he held, throwing the guy off balance. The knife went tumbling, and the man hissed, “Let me go or you’ll regret it.”
“I don’t think so.” He grabbed the fellow by the jacket and lifted him. “Care to explain why you’re breaking into this house?”
“None of your business, neanderthal.”
“I’m making it my business.” Especially because he’d hate to think that knife was meant to threaten or hurt the doctor he’d just been talking to.
The front of the thief’s jacket bulged, and a frowning Leo went to unzip it, which led to the guy struggling. Not a smart thing to do on their narrow rickety perch, especially since when the guy, unbalanced, managed to drag Leo with him.
As they plummeted the last twenty feet to the ground, Leo did the only thing he could think of to avoid crushing his skull on pavement.
Called on his Zodiac tattoo to bring him home. Spanning his entire back, part of his transformation, it provided a conduit that linked to his constellation, which, in turn, beamed him home to Babel Tower.
A bright flash of light later, he landed in a heap in Tower’s portal room still holding the would-be thief.
A thief who went into hysterics.
“What the fucking hell? Where am I? What did you do?”
Rather than reply, Leo set the thief loose. He wouldn’t get far. As a matter of fact, his unwilling guest ran so fast for the nearest doorway that he slammed into Aries, who stood framed in the entrance for the portal room.
The thief bounced off Aries’ chest and hit the floor hard, hyperventilating. Not so cocky now.
“What the hell, Leo? I thought you were supposed to attend a therapy appointment,” Aries growled in his direction.
“I went, but in the midst of yapping with the shrink, this little fuck interrupted. He decided to be a dumbass and rob the doctor during my session,” Leo explained.
“And you brought him back here?” Aries snapped. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking we were falling and that this was preferable to me smashing my skull on pavement and splitting it open like an overripe melon.”
Aries pursed his lips. “What am I supposed to do with him?”
The him in question scrabbled backwards, blubbering. “Ain’t no one told me I was messing with wizards. Here, take it. It ain’t worth what they were paying me.”
From the jacket emerged a picture frame, which the thief tossed. The glass on it cracked as it hit the floor and slid.
Aries crouched to snag it. He glanced at what the frame held, frowned, then narrowed his gaze on the thief. “Why did you steal this?” The boss sounded angry.
“Because I was told to. Almost didn’t find it. She had it hung on the wall. I barely managed to grab it when I heard the door opening.”
The plot thickened, and Leo, who usually didn’t show much interest in anything these days, found himself curious. He treaded to Aries’ side to peek at what the frame held. His brows rose. It was a pencil drawing of what appeared to be a doorway set within a rockface covered in vines. Of more interest, what appeared to be zodiac symbols lined the edges of the entrance. The bottom corner was dated April 9, 2004.
“Who ordered you to take this?” Aries waved the picture in the thief’s face.
“The people who hired me. I don’t know their name. They contacted me on the dark web. Told me they had a job for someone with light fingers. Once we negotiated a price, some dudes picked me up, rather than telling me where to go, and dropped me off at the target location.”
Aries glanced at Leo and mouthed, Cetus .
“Might not be them,” Leo muttered, even as it seemed likely. Cetus, a company that seemed benign on the surface, had shown interest in the Zodiacs of late. An unhealthy interest. Apparently blowing up their headquarters might not have been enough to discourage it.
“One way or another, we need to find out who sent him.” Aries turned his stern gaze back on the thief. “I want to know exactly what was said. Was this image the only thing you were supposed to take?”
“Nah, I was also told to look for a journal by a Dr. Octavius Warmstone, which I didn’t find.”
Octavius Warmstone. Obviously related to his shrink.
“You said they contacted you on the dark web,” Aries stated. “Did you keep those messages?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll need to see them,” Aries demanded.
“No way. If it becomes known I ratted out an employer, I’ll get blacklisted.” The thief had the nerve to whine.
“Let me make something clear to you. One, I don’t give a fuck if you get any more jobs to rip off people. Two, if you don’t tell me what I want, then you’ll force me to do unpleasant things to get those answers—hope you’re not attached to your body parts. And three, I have no problem ridding the world of scum, so give me an excuse.”
Turned out Aries didn’t need to offer a fourth reason to cooperate.
The thief, one Theo Brown, AKA Magpie, spilled everything he knew. He gave Aquarius, the Zodiac tech expert, access to his dark web account for a task board that catered to those looking to hire people who didn’t care about laws. The messages for Theo’s current job weren’t very detailed. Basically, steal two specific items—a journal and the image—then earn fifty grand. No reason given. No identity listed for the hiring party.
Aquarius, who’d been the one to do the digging on the dark web, cracked his knuckles. “Guess I better get hacking to see who hired Theo.”
Speaking of whom… “What are we doing with the thief?” Leo asked Aries. For the moment, Theo blubbered in a cell.
“I don’t know. Execution might be extreme for a guy who’s just a high-priced crook.”
“He tried to use a knife on me,” Leo reminded.
“He also swore he’s never stabbed anyone.” Aries rubbed his jaw. “Still, even if he doesn’t physically harm his victims, he’s far from innocent.”
“Want me to take him out to the desert and make him into vulture food?” Leo believed in recycling, and that included bodies. Cycle of life and all.
“No. He’s scum, but his crimes don’t merit death. At the same time, I don’t think we should dump him back in New York.”
“What are you thinking?”
“That we give Theo a fresh start,” Aries replied with a grin.
The boss had Sage cook up a forgetful potion, which the thief chugged after being persuaded with threats of being dumped naked in the desert. When the guy’s eyes glazed over, Aries had Leo take him through a portal—the kind that linked to a specific location. The one chosen led to Australia. Theo would be released with only the clothes on his back, a thousand bucks cash, and a subliminal message to get a job, a real one. As for his ill-gotten gains spread across three banks? Aquarius siphoned the funds. After all, it wasn’t as if the Zodiacs got paid to protect the world. Let Theo realize crime didn’t pay. Maybe he’d turn over a new leaf. Maybe he wouldn’t. Whatever the case, Leo didn’t care. What did bother was the knowledge that someone hired Theo to target his shrink.
A shrink Leo had been told to see specifically by Sage—Sage being the Zodiacs’ seer.
Why the sudden interest in Dr. Warmstone? Upon meeting her, Leo had taken in her appearance. A woman somewhere in her thirties with a chin-length haircut that went well with her no-nonsense suit. A professional outfit that didn’t manage to conceal the generous hips, nipped waist, and bosom that strained behind her blazer. Despite not wearing makeup, her lips were full and her lashes thick. All in all, very attractive.
Leo almost slapped himself at the last thought. Her looks didn’t matter. He’d sworn off relationships after Kylie. Women were nothing but trouble.
But apparently, he wasn’t done with this one yet. When he went to grab dinner, Aries beckoned Leo to join him and his wife, Sage.
The mystic, currently a few months pregnant, smiled. “How did your first therapy session go?”
“Didn’t do much, seeing as how it got interrupted,” Leo replied before shoving food in his mouth in the hopes of avoiding a conversation about his mental state.
“I’m sure the next one will be more productive,” Aries replied.
“Ha,” Leo snorted. “As if I can go back.” Leo kept shoveling his dinner as fast as he could so he could escape to his room and the bottle of whiskey that awaited. He’d not had a sip in hours, as he hadn’t wanted to be falling-over drunk for his first session.
“Why wouldn’t you?” Aries asked with a furrowed brow.
“Because how am I supposed to explain how I disappeared?”
“At your next meeting, you will tell her you chased after the intruder,” Sage murmured. “And as proof, you’ll return the picture.”
“What?” Leo wasn’t the only one to shout.
Aries shook his head. “We can’t hand it over. I think the image the thief took might be a clue to where we can find the next missing relic.”
“There’s another one?” Leo stated with a frown.
On Sage’s advice—which also constituted an order—Scorpio had recently located a mysterious orb in Antarctica. The discovery devolved into a clusterfuck as some corporation named Cetus, which was supposedly in the business of studying climate change, stole it from them. They also kidnapped Scorpio. Hence why they’d destroyed Cetus headquarters after beaming to the rescue. Unfortunately, the orb ended up being lost in transition.
“There are three, in total,” Sage stated. “And that image is a clue to the next. But to solve that mystery, you’ll need the journal.”
Leo stiffened. “You mean the book the thief couldn’t locate. I take it the shrink has it?”
“Oh yes. It was her father’s.” Sage canted her head and her eyes closed as she murmured, “There are forces stirring, and they want the next piece to be found. However, it must not fall into the wrong hands. The thief was but the first attempt to steal the journal. Ruth is in danger, and only Leo can protect her.”
“Me?” Leo almost fell off the dining chair. “I am the last person anyone should rely on.”
“This is your quest, Leo,” Sage whispered, staring at him with her uncanny eyes. “You must not fail, or all is lost.”
With that kind of warning, Leo wanted nothing more than to get royally drunk. What kind of idiot would put that kind of pressure on a failure of a man and a drunk?
Apparently, the stars had a sense of humor—or hated humanity. Whatever the case, it resulted in Leo having the shakes because, for the first time in years, he didn’t dare drink his grief away.
Couldn’t.
The world—and his shrink—depended on him.