Page 23 of Capture of Capricorn (The Thirteenth Zodiac #3)

The many explosions inside Tower left Zora partially deaf. Crius had indeed brought some bombs, and he used them.

Over and over.

The main hall’s walls resembled Swiss cheese with the many holes blasted in them. While Crius might know of the portal room’s existence, he had no clue where to find it—and Zora refused to tell him.

It should be noted Crius tried to get her to spill. Her bruised face, cut lip, and other bodily aches and pains could attest to it. However, helping Crius would be tantamount to abetting his goal to become some supervillain. Fuck that.

Her refusal to aid didn’t just incur a beating.

When they began blowing holes in walls, no one offered her a mask, or any type of protection for that matter.

As a result, her eyes stung from the dust and her lungs burned from coughing and inhaling too much of it.

As for her ringing ears, while she could hear, everything came across muffled.

“Sir, I think we found it,” someone hollered.

A bleary-eyed Zora peered through the dust-filled air but failed to see if they’d actually succeeded. She also didn’t hear whoever approached and roughly grabbed her by the arm.

“Let’s go. Boss wants you.” The baddie hauled Zora to her feet, and she stumbled to follow as he led her through a jagged hole into the portal room. A portable light had been set up to illuminate, and a fan blew the dust out of the chamber, making it less hazy than the entrance.

Atop the incomplete thirteenth dais stood Crius, his lips tugged into a shit-eating grin as he cradled the damnable sphere. Upon seeing her, he swept a hand and taunted. “I told you’d I find it with or without your help. Hope the black eye was worth it.”

“Fuck you,” she croaked.

“You’re not my type. Kylie, though… A shame she died.” Crius shook his head. “But then again, now that I’m a widower, I can take a new spouse. Perhaps the seer the Zodiacs are so fond of.”

“You have no shame.”

“Great men never do, but we do like witnesses, the more, the better. Behold and prepare to be awed as I release the thirteenth Zodiac.” Crius flung the orb at the nearest portal. It went through. Literally. Flew in one side, emerged out the other, and clanged as it hit the floor.

The failure creased Crius brow. “That should have worked.”

Zora didn’t know enough about the portals to comment, and even if she did, she’d have kept her parched tongue still.

“Most likely it needs someone living to take it through. Back in a second.” Crius walked around the portal and grabbed hold of the sphere.

He returned to the front of the doorway and, this time, stepped through, gripping it.

Nothing happened. He moved to the next portal and did the same thing.

Then a third, where he once more didn’t disappear, but he did get angry.

“Why isn’t it teleporting me?”

“Maybe it doesn’t like you,” her raspy reply.

Crius glared at her for a moment before smiling. “Actually, the reason is much simpler. I’ll wager my portable black hole that nullified the tower also disabled the doorways. An easy fix.” He glanced at one of his goons. “Close the lid on the box.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man hadn’t been gone two seconds when suddenly the room illuminated as some of Tower’s functions returned.

Rather than be happy, Crius frowned. “That was too quick.” The moment he spoke, gunfire erupted outside the room, resulting in a few screams and yelps of pain.

The noise widened Crius’ eyes. “Those sneaky bastards found a way back.”

His sudden worry acted as a balm to Zora’s despondency, and she chirped, “Guess you can kiss your plans for world domination goodbye.”

“I don’t think so.” Crius whirled and lobbed the orb through a portal. The doorway flashed with light, and the sphere disappeared.

Uh-oh.

Crius grinned and clapped his hands. “Ha. The warriors are too late.” With cocky confidence, he strode from the archway to the thirteenth dais, which began to glow, and as Zora watched, the missing piece suddenly filled it, making it whole.

The sigil upon it illuminated and pulsed, while the air took on an electric feel that reminded her of that moment before lightning struck.

Or should she say a supervillain was born, for Crius stood atop the dais, raised his hands to the ceiling, and shouted, “Give me your power.”

Nothing happened.

He glanced at his feet, stamped the medallion before growling, “Why isn’t this working?”

Zora knew because of the book she’d read upon her arrival, but she wasn’t about to tell him.

The gunshots outside the room ceased, and in that silence, she could hear Tower’s hum. At least it lived, of sorts, but with its injuries, how much could it help?

Fixated on the doorway, Zora didn’t notice Crius lunging for her but certainly felt the arm that wrapped around her neck. The chokehold had her gasping and clawing, but Crius held her tight against him, using her as a shield just as two shirtless men entered the room.

Not just any men. Zodiac Warriors, who looked more savage barbarian than anything, given Capricorn and Aries wore ill-fitting pants and nothing else. The pair toted guns, which they aimed.

“Let her go, asshole. It’s over,” snarled Capricorn.

“I didn’t come this far to give up,” Crius replied.

“You won’t succeed,” Aries coldly stated. “Nor will you be leaving here alive.”

“How are you going to kill me?” taunted Crius. “You gonna shoot the blacksmith? What about your vow to protect the innocent?”

Capricorn’s jaw tightened. “I don’t need to shoot because you’ll eventually tire. Or do you really think you can hold her forever?”

He didn’t need forever. Zora could feel herself fading, the lack of oxygen making her vision blur.

Aries must have noticed. “He’s choking her out.”

“Fuck me. Do you have clean shot?” Capricorn asked, his voice reedy with a hint of panic.

“No.” Aries’ somber reply.

“Tell me how to transfer the power from the thirteenth dais, and I’ll let her go,” Crius offered.

That would be the worst idea, but Zora saw Capricorn contemplating it and managed to croak, “Shoot him.”

“I can’t,” Capricorn cried out. “You’ll be hurt.”

“Do. It,” she managed to whisper as darkness began sucking her into its limbo.

Aries murmured something she couldn’t hear, to which Capricorn replied, “If she dies, I’m blaming you.”

Crius jerked her sideways just as someone fired a gun. She heard Capricorn yell, “He fucking moved, and I hit her in the chest. Fuck. Fuck.”

Zora didn’t feel any pain, but Crius did, for he cried out abruptly and released her.

Lacking strength to stand, Zora collapsed atop the dais, doing her best to heave in much-needed air.

But breathing wasn’t enough. She suddenly felt her injury, the throb in her ribs, the gushing of blood.

It pooled under her, coating the dais she’d fallen upon.

Soaking it.

Activating the medallion for the thirteenth Zodiac and drawing her into a cold and nothing place.

Wait, not nothing. She could see pinpricks of light. The twinkle of stars, hundreds, thousands, millions of them. Had she died?

You’re not dead. A voice replied to her unspoken words.

While she had no lips to speak, she could still think. Where am I?

You are in the void of space.

Are you God?

No, but there was a time I was worshipped as one, Female.

Clear disdain in that last word, and she didn’t let it pass. Sexist much?

I was expecting a male.

Well, excuse me. Or not, actually. So what if I’m a chick? It’s the twenty-first century. Women can do pretty much anything a man can. Maybe you should get with the times.

You are impertinent.

Oh, I’m sorry, did I hurt your misogynistic feelings?

I’ve waited eons to be made whole, and now you insult me.

Exactly who are you?

The Astraeus known as Ophiuchus or, as the humans once called me, the thirteenth Zodiac.

The statement would have dropped her jaw if she had one in her disembodied state. Guess you being gone for so long explains your attitude.

Not gone by choice. I suffered an unfortunate incident with my last avatar.

What happened?

He tried to rule the world. In his defense, he grieved the loss of his wife and child.

How does ruling the world make that kind of pain better?

It doesn’t. But to fill the void within, my avatar chose to sow death and destruction.

Why didn’t you stop him?

I couldn’t. Astraeus are restricted in what we can consciously do. Once we are melded to our avatar, they can use our gifts any way they wish.

Let me guess. The other Zodiacs put a stop to the rampage and then locked you away for bad behavior.

They would have tried had they known, but my last avatar proved sly before revealing his intent.

One by one, he stalked the warriors of that time, but rather than kill them and risk the Astraeus creating new champions, he took them prisoner.

Experimented on them in a bid to steal their gifts.

He had to be stopped. Given there was no one strong enough to eliminate my avatar, I took action.

The following dramatic pause prompted Zora to ask, What did you do?

Went supernova.

It took her a second before her thoughts blurted out, Wait, are you saying you killed yourself?

Not in the sense you understand. One of my stars was sacrificed, exploding and thus shattering my constellation, severing my tether to the avatar, rendering him powerless.

If you killed one of your stars, then how is it you’re still here?

The Astraeus gathered a few of the broken pieces and put them in hibernation, giving them a chance to regain strength.

The orbs. They held a part of you.

Yes. When the three relics were released back into space, they joined together, recreating my missing star, completing my constellation and returning me to my rightful space in the galaxy.

And in the process almost sticking you with someone just as bad as your last avatar.

That would have been catastrophic, especially since I don’t know if I could have sacrificed myself a second time, Ophiuchus replied.