Chapter 7
The healing took just under three hours, although, by the time Taurus recovered enough to move off the table and get his ass in a shower, the meeting in Aries’ office had completed. He entered to find Sage sitting with the baby in the rocking chair.
“How’d it go? What’d I miss?” He bit his tongue rather than blurt out his first query; Where’s Circe?
The knowing Sage answered anyhow. “Circe is in the room across from yours refreshing herself. As to the discussion, it would appear you’ve stumbled across a grave peril that goes beyond the impending meteor.”
“How so?”
“The man who injured you might have been infected by an alien species.”
“Parasite?” An itch developed between his recently healed shoulder blades in response.
“That remains to be determined. Olivia made an appearance and spoke of you and Circe having to go on a quest. Apparently, a new Antikythera mechanism needs to be built, but not from the hypothetical versions currently available. The plans for it are hidden, and knowing you, you’ll like to know where. The Labyrinth.”
His brows rose. “The one mentioned in Greek legends?”
Sage nodded. “Yes. I had a vision, a brief one, showing you and Circe entering it.”
“And you saw us coming out?”
The query twisted Sage’s lips. “That remains to be determined, but I have faith in your abilities. Along with the proper blueprints, a special stone needs to be retrieved, as it is part of the device. While I am unsure how that will work, it appears to be the key to countering the threat.”
“What’s a machine with a rock going to do against an asteroid?” He couldn’t hide a skeptical note. “Wouldn’t it be better for us to link our star power and shatter it?” It had been done a few times in the past to prevent potential impacts with Earth.
“The stars cannot see the threat.”
“What do you mean can’t see? The Astraeus see everything.
” The beings, for lack of a better term, had almost omnipotent powers.
Or so he’d been led to believe. No one ever actually met or spoke to them, except for Zora.
Before she’d become the Thirteenth Zodiac, she’d conversed with the Astraeus imprisoned in the void.
“While they might seem godlike in comparison to us, they are not infallible. Whatever wicked thing comes this way, it is invisible to them, which leads me to believe it is likely an alien species.”
“That can inhabit people?”
“Maybe. We don’t know anything for sure yet. However, it seems likely they had some way of peddling influence on Earth, given this Andreas’ actions. Olivia mentioned that the stone we need to acquire came in contact with him, indicating a possible infection or parasitic transfer.”
“And knowing that, you still want us to find it?” He arched a brow. “Not worried it will try and control us?” Again that itch came between his shoulder blades.
“A Zodiac warrior is immune to most conditions.”
“Because of the blessing of the Astraeus, but you said it yourself, they can’t see this threat, so who’s to say our bodies will reject it?”
Sage’s lips pursed. “You raise a valid concern.”
“Seen anything else that might help?”
Her head shook. “I’ve been too tired. I get occasional flashes. Like earlier, when I told Circe she’d have to enter the maze and that a threat thought dead might still be alive. Alas, that was the only clue I received.”
“Are you saying the minotaur is still guarding the Labyrinth?” He wouldn’t have minded pitting himself against it.
Taurus versus the bullman. Could have been epic.
The maze, featured in Greek mythology, had supposedly been created by an ancient king to contain a minotaur—the result of the king’s wife getting frisky with a bull, the details of which made any sane person want to barf.
However, those same stories also claimed it had been slain.
“Again, I didn’t see the threat, just sensed great danger.”
“Where even is the Labyrinth?”
“Somewhere in Greece.”
“So helpful,” he drawled.
Her lips quirked. “Its location has been lost for centuries, but Library most likely has a book with a clue.”
“I can’t wait.” Taurus cracked his knuckles.
“Check your eagerness. This won’t be an easy quest. The Labyrinth is a place of magic, and given it’s apparently a repository for things that need to be hidden, expect traps and other perils, some the likes of which we might not have ever seen.”
“You don’t need to sell me on it,” he teased. “So, find the maze, get the blueprints, and then fetch the rock. Any clues where that is?"
“The stone is apparently in the hands of…” Sage’s lips twisted as she said, “Bad People.”
“Sounds like something Olivia would say.”
“Because those were her exact words. As to who and where to find them, our only clue is Andreas.”
“Who’s dead,” he murmured. “Meaning we need to look into who he hung out with, called, texted.” Aquarius would likely be able to compile a file by hacking into the exploding dude’s accounts.
Then, once Taurus had some names, he could simply bash a few heads—while wearing gloves to avoid a possible infection—make the bad people squeal about everything they knew, retrieve the stone, and then set them on fire to make sure whatever infected them didn’t spread.
Cruel? Not when it came to preserving humanity.
“Capricorn and Zora have already gone to Athens to begin gathering everything they can on Andreas. Leave that to them. You must focus on finding the Labyrinth,” Sage warned. “The entire planet’s fate rests in the balance.”
“Then good thing you’ve chosen me for the job,” he exclaimed. “I’ll hit the library tonight to find the maze’s location and leave first thing in the morning.”
“With Circe.”
Say what? “Must I bring her along? She’s not combat trained, and you said it yourself; it’s gonna be crazy dangerous.”
“The only thing I can say with certainty is you must go on this quest together.”
“I’m cool with it, but has Circe agreed?”
“Circe is still mentally coming to grips with all the changes. Speaking of which, you will have her help you with the research.”
“I know how to read,” he huffed.
“Yes, but she’s the expert when it comes to the Antikythera mechanism.”
“And what if she won’t help?”
“Then you will do whatever it takes to convince her,” Sage growled.
The seer had spoken, and Taurus wasn’t dumb enough to stick around and see what else she said.
He headed down the stairs to his floor. Despite his level not having a door across from him the last time he’d looked, this time, lo and behold, a new apartment had appeared. Tower sure did like redecorating.
He rapped on the door and waited. When it opened, Circe stared at him with pursed lips.
“You.”
“Yes, me. Expecting someone else?”
“I don’t know what to expect anymore,” she groused as she moved to allow him entry to her new place.
Big and open concept, same as Taurus’, but with softer décor.
A thick cream-colored rug in front of a crackling hearth, flanked by recliners.
The suspended light, a replica of the solar system with each planet glowing a different color.
The bed against the far wall sat on a slightly raised platform and pulled-back curtains on the canopy frame showed plush bedding and more pillows than anyone needed.
Since he’d last seen Circe, she’d changed, her clothing clean and her hair still damp from her shower.
“I take it you no longer think this is a dream,” he stated.
She snorted. “Feels like one, but I am definitely awake.”
“How can you be sure?” he asked teasingly.
Her gaze narrowed. “Because I stubbed my toe and even my worst nightmare wouldn’t be so cruel.”
He almost laughed. “I’m sorry.”
“Why? Not your fault I’m clumsy.”
“Other than a bruise, you doing okay?”
“What do you think?” She waved her hand around. “This isn’t supposed to be possible. Magical tower. Portals. People exploding. Stars that choose people as their puppets on Earth—”
“I’m not a puppet,” he protested.
“Yet, you do their bidding,” she countered.
“To do good. To protect and serve humanity.” He paused. “I take it you received a bit of a crash course on us.”
“Yeah. Sage gave me a rundown when she brought me to my room, which, by the way, is exactly how I always dreamed of having mine.” Her lips twisted. “Not sure what I think of your magic tower reading my mind.”
“Tower’s main purpose seems to be making sure we’re comfortable. A perk for having to put ourselves in danger on a regular basis.”
“But I’m not a warrior.”
“No, but you’ve still been enlisted to help in the next battle.”
“I’m not sure how you think I can fight an asteroid.”
“Didn’t they explain? You’re supposed to find the plans for that machine and—”
She halted him. “Those plans don’t exist. Don’t you think when the Antikythera mechanism was discovered they looked? Other than a few mentions of it, no schematic has ever been found, hence why the replicas had to be reimagined.”
“Well, our quest is to locate the original design so we can create a new one that is one hundred percent accurate.”
“Still don’t see how that would help. Even if it proves the data at the observatory is wrong, a machine that calculates planetary positions can’t stop an asteroid.”
“Which is why part two of our quest involves getting a special rock away from some bad people so we can use it to complete the machine.”
“One, I am not going on a quest, and two, a rock?” She shook her head. “A nuke would be the only thing that might break up this thing, but even then, I doubt there’s enough time to get countries organized enough to do anything.”
His annoyance had him snapping, “If you think everything is so hopeless, then why haven’t you given up?”
“Because I wanted to be wrong.” Her soft reply turned her lips down.
“Well, you’re not, and because you were smart enough to discover the danger, now we can do something about it.”
“You really believe we can make a difference?”
“We’ve stopped every other threat to Earth, including asteroids, in the past.”