Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
I am such an idiot. Rebecca couldn’t help the feeling, seeing her current dilemma. In her defense, hearing Sage’s ominous words in the library had sent Rebecca into a panic. “What do you mean Scorpio will die without me?”
The woman had ducked her head and whispered, “I see an ominous future if you’re not by his side. Death. Destruction. A world in flames.”
“But how am I supposed to help? I’m not a warrior. I cringe when I kill a bug.”
At that, Sage had shrugged. “I don’t see the why, just the result.” She put a hand on her belly. “There will be no hope for any of us if Scorpio doesn’t retrieve the relic.”
“Well, maybe you should have stressed that before they left,” huffed Rebecca, slightly miffed. “It’s too late now. Even if I hopped the fastest jet, I wouldn’t make it in time.”
“Not true. There is one left who can take you.”
It took her a moment to blurt out, “Do you mean Aquarius?”
“No, he’s needed here, but another has just returned from a sabbatical. Capricorn can take you.”
“Assuming he agrees.”
“He already has. I spoke to him before finding you. He’s waiting in the portal room. Hurry. There is little time to stop what is to come.”
With that warning, Rebecca had bolted from the library. She put her feet on the stairs but didn’t have to do anything, as the tower took over, zooming her to the bottom, where a burly fellow, his face covered in a shaggy beard, stood waiting by a pile of luggage.
“You must be Rebecca. I’m Capricorn. I heard you need to go through the portal in Maine to meet up with the crew.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to impose,” she’d stated.
“When Sage speaks, we listen.” His lips quirked. “Although, at times, I think she uses that to her advantage. The things she had me buy while I was away…” He indicated a bulging knapsack.
“I don’t see how I can help, though,” Rebecca had grumbled as she walked quickly to match his long stride.
“We often don’t know what we’re capable of until put to the test,” his words of wisdom.
“Yeah, well, I don’t see how I’ll be able to do much, seeing as how the last time Scorpio starbeamed us, I passed out for a bit.”
“Starbeaming is hard on unmodified bodies. Portal travel, however, is much gentler. You should be fine.”
He entered a room that had her gaping. Scorpio had mentioned the portal room when they’d passed it on the way to the stardust room, but he’d not said anything about the size of it.
Massive. As her gaze moved around, she noted thirteen free-standing arches formed a crescent-moon shape on the back end.
Embedded in the floor before them, on a stone dais, all but one of them carved with a zodiac symbol. The thirteenth was blank.
“What’s wrong with that spot in the floor?” She’d pointed.
“Nothing. It’s always been like that. A tower quirk, I assume.”
“Where to?” she asked, eyeing all the doorways.
He pointed to one on the far left. “This will take us where we need to go.”
“Only thirteen portals to cover the entire world. That doesn’t seem like enough.” She babbled to hide her nervousness as she followed him across the room.
He shrugged. “Yeah, not sure why that number. These were here long before I came along. It is an oddity, though, especially given the distance between some. The boys were lucky the Maine one worked for their mission because the only other one in North America is situated on the West Coast.”
“Couldn’t they have starbeamed?”
“Yeah, but bringing equipment can be tricky if you get the math wrong.”
A reminder of how she’d first met Scorpio.
Capricorn paused in front of the arch. “You ready?”
She glanced upward at the structure, a good ten feet tall and made of sparkling stone. Deep breath in. Exhale. In again. She did her best to quell her quivering nerves before she said, “Let’s do this.”
“I’ll need to hold your hand, if you don’t mind.”
“Is that enough? Scorpio had me plastered to him last time.”
Once more, Capricorn’s lips tilted. “For this, yes. The portal isn’t as finicky as starbeaming. It just needed to be activated by someone with the Zodiac genes. Technically, we don’t have to touch, but if we don’t go through together, at the same time, it can get messy.”
Her eyes widened.
“I’ve never seen it happen,” he’d hastened to add. “Rather not, either. Still ready?”
No, but she kept that to herself as she clutched his calloused hand.
“On the count of three, step with me. One, two…” On three, they both moved forward, passing through the arch.
Disorientation hit as she went from staring at the wall on the other side of the room to blinking at an orange velvet couch and an honest-to-goodness avocado-green shag carpet. In good news, she remained conscious. In the bad, her stomach protested.
She held in her dinner and asked, “Where are we?”
“Zodiac safe house.”
“In what year?” she asked, glancing around at the seventies décor.
Capricorn chuckled. “We haven’t gone back in time, despite the look of this place. We’ve owned this house since it was built to protect the portal. Used to be where Pisces lived back in his disco days.”
“Where to now?”
“Aquarius gave me the coordinates to the farmer’s field, where they’re waiting.”
“How are we getting there?”
“There should be a second SUV in the garage. All safe houses have a pair in case we need to transport the entire crew at once.”
In moments, they were on the road, Capricorn somehow managing to catch all the lights green, getting them quickly out of the town and into the country, where darkness encroached on the land.
“How far is it?” she’d asked.
“Half-hour.”
“Will we make it in time?”
He’d grinned. “It will be tight, but don’t worry, I’ll get you there.”
And he had, exceeding speed limits, whipping them down single-lane roads that had her fearing for her life. If anything had wandered out in front of them…
They didn’t hit anything or crash, and she knew they neared the place when she saw a distant explosion in the sky.
Her mouth rounded. “They did it. They took down the plane.”
“That wasn’t a plane,” was Capricorn’s grim prognosis.
When he’d skidded to a stop, she’d tumbled from the car, recognizing Scorpio’s distinctive bulk against the backdrop of a burning wreck.
She’d run for him. Happy to see him alive. Then scared because he barked they had to go.
Only they didn’t escape.
A net fell upon them, Scorpio couldn’t beam them out, and next thing she knew, she woke in the back of a cargo truck, hands tied together in her lap. Ankles tethered too. Across from her, a scowling Scorpio. Between them, the orb.
“Hey, Doc. How you feeling?”
“Groggy. Dumb. So much for Sage’s prediction you needed my help,” she grumbled.
“I can’t believe she told you to come after me.”
“I had to. She said you’d fail without me. Guess I got there too late.”
“I doubt it would have mattered. The entire thing was a trap.” He leaned his head back. “Cetus knew we’d be there and came prepared. The net they used on me was threaded with meteorite and impeded my ability to beam. The cuffs appear to be made of the same shit.”
“Everyone else escaped at least.” She tried to inject something positive, despite her own fear.
“Not really. They caught you.” His lips twisted.
“Caught us. And it’s my fault. You would have escaped if I’d not distracted you.”
“Maybe.”
“Where do you think they’re taking us?”
“Nowhere good, I imagine.” He inclined his head at the glass box. “Nothing like the enemy taunting you.”
“At least we know where it is.”
He uttered a short barking laugh. “True. Problem being, how we can escape and take it with us?”
The truck slowed and stopped. A rattle at the rear doors had them opening to reveal four mercenaries wearing helmets and holding guns.
“Get up,” barked the burly fellow with a green stripe on his arm.
They had to shuffle to reach the door, and then Rebecca was grabbed and placed on the ground. Not Scorpio. He scowled and leaped, despite his tied ankles. He bent his knees as he landed before standing and towering over the men.
“Move.” The guy in charge pointed with his weapon at a steel door flanked by a facial-recognition scanner. He had to raise his visor for it to read his features.
They were prodded inside and led along a corridor with plenty of closed doors to an elevator, which took them down a level. From there, they were placed in cages.
Actual cages.
For some reason, this more than anything that had happened thus far had her trembling. It didn’t help they appeared to be in a pristine lab. Gleaming counters, spotless floors. Machines waiting to be activated.
The guards left without untying them, making it feel so much worse.
“What do they want with us?” she whispered, despite knowing anything she said or did would be seen most likely by a security camera.
“Nothing good, I imagine,” Scorpio drawled.
“I’m scared,” she admitted.
“I’m sorry, Doc. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you,” her hot retort.
“I can handle whatever they dish out.”
“You shouldn’t have to handle anything. This is illegal.”
“Pretty sure they don’t care about laws.
She grimaced. “Obviously.” She wanted to ask him if he thought the other Zodiacs would come to the rescue. Most likely, yes, so no reason to have those listening beef up their security. As it was, the location appeared well-guarded.
“Listen, Doc, whatever they ask of you, just tell them.”
“Tell them what? I know nothing.”
“Exactly. Don’t resist.”
She arched a brow. “And are you going to follow that advice?”
His lips quirked. “Not a chance. But no point in both of us being tortured.”
Hearing him say it brought back the trembles. “You think they’ll hurt us?”
“I’d count on it,” his grim response.
“Way to reassure,” she grumbled.
“Would you rather I lie?”
“No.” A sigh escaped her. “How long do you think they’ll keep us waiting?”
“Given the late hour? Probably until morning. You should get some rest.”
“I doubt I’ll sleep.”
A sudden hissing had her tilting her head to see the vent over the cages spewing a whitish fog.