Page 19 of Capture of Capricorn (The Thirteenth Zodiac #3)
His lips pinched. “Given how scattered each monster sighting is, I want to say unlikely, but I don’t like it.”
“Why, baby, are you afraid to leave me by my lonesome?”
He dragged her close. “More like I was hoping to drag you back to bed to finish what we started.”
“Guess you’ll be extra glad to see me when you return. Speaking of which, how long do you think you’ll be gone?”
“At best, a few hours. If the gargoyle proves elusive, a day or two, which would suck.” He grimaced.
“I doubt your boss is going to want to be gone that long. Sage looks ready to pop.”
“Which is why I’m surprised we’re even going, but then again, as warriors, we swore an oath. It is our duty to protect, and I’m pretty sure Aries wanting to hover over his pregnant wife wouldn’t count as a reason to shirk.”
“From the sounds of it, it will be just me, Pisces’s partner, Mike, and Sage in the tower.”
“Actually, Mike won’t likely stay. He runs an animal rescue so can’t be away for long. Luckily, they live close to one of the portals so he doesn’t need Pisces to starbeam back home.”
“So just us gals, then. Don’t worry. We’ll hold down the fort.”
His lips pursed. “If anything hinky happens?—”
“I will handle it because I’m not some delicate flower who can’t handle herself,” she chided but then softened the rebuke with a light kiss.
“Don’t worry about me. You’re the one going off to be a hero, while I plan to soak in a hot bath, do a bit of reading, and…
” She leaned close to whisper against his earlobe, “Touch myself while thinking of you.”
He groaned. “Now that’s just mean.”
Her laughter made him shiver. “More like torture because the whole time I’m doing it, I’ll be wishing it was your hands stroking my body.”
Capricorn had never wanted more to say fuck his vow. Surely staying behind to pleasure Zora was more important than… Sigh. No, it wasn’t. “I’ll be back soon as I can,” he promised.
“I’ll be waiting. Naked.”
With those words—and that tantalizing image—ringing in his head, Capricorn readied himself to go. He couldn’t have said who looked grimmer. Him or Aries, who kept staring at Tower when they exited to use the special sandbox for more precise beaming to non-portal locations.
He patted Aries on the back. “I’m sure Sage will be fine. She wouldn’t let you go otherwise.”
“Sage hasn’t been able to see a damned thing since you returned with Zora,” Aries grumbled. “I don’t like it.”
“Then let’s get this done quick as we can. You got the coordinates?”
“Yeah.”
Aries left first, drawing the required symbols in the sand before turning into what many would assume was a shooting star. Capricorn followed not long after.
As hoped, they hunted down the gargoyle rather quickly and were only gone a few hours.
A few hours too long.
When they tried to return home, using their tattoos for a quick transference, they zipped off into the cold, and when their atoms reassembled, they found themselves right back where they started.
Aries frowned. “That’s odd.”
More than odd, unheard of.
“Let’s try again.” Once more, they both activated their tattoos, the link to their constellation that gave them quick access to Tower.
Once more, it failed. Their starbeaming ability appeared to be working but, for some reason, couldn’t seem to deposit them into the portal room.
Capricorn gave up after the third failed attempt.
It took six tries before a grim Aries declared, “Something’s wrong.”
“No shit. Try calling Sage,” Capricorn suggested, knowing Aries had brought a satellite phone.
His friend just about smacked himself. “Fuck. The phone. Right.” Aries whipped it out and dialed. It rang several times and went to voicemail.
Hi, this is Sage. Don’t bother leaving a message. I know what you want.
Capricorn didn’t say shit. The boss held on to his panicked sanity by a thread, and Capricorn wasn’t far behind. Had something happened? Were Sage and Zora in danger?
Aries hung up and dialed again. This time, the phone was answered.
“Aries, oh thank the stars,” Sage sobbed, which chilled Capricorn more than everything because the seer always controlled her emotions.
“I’m here, honey. What’s going on?”
“Tower is under attack. It’s sealed all the rooms.”
Which explained why they couldn’t beam into the portal chamber.
“Do you know who’s attempting to breach?” Aries kept his tone calm, but the stress showed in the white knuckles as he clutched the phone.
“A man with the relic,” her reply. “He’s here and done something to Tower. Everything’s dark, and Tower’s not responding. I think he might have killed it,” she whispered.
It led to Capricorn asking, “Is Zora with you?”
“No. I don’t know where she is. She was supposed to join me in the library, but she never showed, and now the door is sealed.”
“Are you safe?” Aries queried, his expression taut with worry.
“For now,” she whispered. “But the baby’s coming. Please, Aries, I need?—”
The call cut off, and no amount of redialing reconnected. The phone went flying, accompanied by a stream of curses, as Aries lost his fucking mind.
In direct contrast, Capricorn descended into a cold, calculated state as he barked, “Freak out later. We need to find a way to reach Tower.”
Before it was too late.