Page 8 of Capture of Capricorn (The Thirteenth Zodiac #3)

Thus far, Capricorn’s capture hadn’t gone the way he’d expected.

For one, from the beginning when he’d handed himself over, no one roughed him up.

The soldiers who took him into custody simply zip-tied his hands and told him to wait, which he did, leaning against his bike in the scorching sun.

Within ten minutes, a Jeep had arrived. He was loaded into the passenger seat and zoomed to the entrance to the underground bunker.

No one important came to greet him, although the soldiers did keep their weapons trained on him the entire time. They’d led him inside and, with a brisk pace, delivered him to the bowels of the installation to a room with a few chairs, where he was told to wait.

Wait for some gas, apparently. The room had filled with a fog that put him to sleep, and he woke strapped to a medical bed in time for the first set of needles. Those taking samples wore hazmat gear, making them faceless. Also voiceless, since not one would speak to him.

“Hey, so who’s in charge?”

No reply.

“What’s your name?”

Nada.

They had taken blood, hair, and tissue samples, as well as measurements.

Circumference and length of his limbs. Blood pressure.

So boring, but also a tad worrisome. Would they discover anything of import?

Capricorn wasn’t entirely sure how his genetics would appear if analyzed.

He left the sciency stuff to other people.

After spending a few days as a guinea pig, he really questioned why Sage advised him to be captured. He also behaved, being the model prisoner, running on the treadmill when asked, doing chin-ups over and over until the guy with the clipboard sighed and said, “How many can you do before tiring?”

“How many do you want?” he’d replied.

Things only finally became interesting with the introduction of Zora, who arrived with the artifact he sought. A woman with a sassy attitude, the fullest, most kissable lips, and an ass he totally wanted to grab.

Why had Cetus nabbed her? By her own admission, the discovery of the orb happened by accident. The fact she specialized in metal proved interesting, but surely, Cetus had their own specialists. Yet, they’d taken her, tasked her with studying the artifact, and now had her locked in a cell with him.

Was she a plant meant to seduce him into telling secrets?

They’d chosen well, as she was certainly his type.

However, he got the impression she truly hated the situation.

But that wasn’t why he planned to take her with him when he left.

For one, the fact she’d found the orb did make her a person of interest, and secondly, if she truly were a victim of circumstance, most likely she’d be killed by Cetus once they had no use for her.

For some reason, he didn’t want that to happen.

Escaping, though, wouldn’t be easy. He couldn’t starbeam until he exited the concrete installation and had access to the open sky, which required him extricating himself from the cell.

Alas, he didn’t have a magical power that could unlock doors.

Nor a weapon to fight the soldiers that surely waited outside.

Minor details like that wouldn’t deter him. The time had come to act.

The relic was here, and knowing Adam planned to use it meant no more pretending to be weak.

Capricorn had been playing those keeping him captive.

Faking the fact their sleeping agents wore off more quickly than they expected.

Letting them strap him down, even as he knew he could snap the restraints.

The door, inset in concrete, did prove problematic, and when Zora challenged him to escape, he smiled, because he had a plan.

“Prepare to be free, Beauty.”

She arched a brow. “Got some C4 packed in your prison wallet?”

It took him a moment to understand her reference, and then he laughed.

“Not quite, but I like the way you think. Stand back while I handle the watching eyes and listening ears.” The moment she stepped away from Capricorn, he leaped into the air and punched up with a close fist. It took three solid shots before the camera broke.

That should cause some panic in their monitoring room.

“Damn. That was some impressive jumping,” Zora exclaimed. “You ever play basketball?”

“Not really. Wasn’t really popular when I was growing up.” In his day, a stick and a hoop were all the rage.

“Not sure what that accomplished, though. I doubt you can pummel your way through the door.”

“You’re right. I can’t, but having taken out their spying device guarantees they’ll send someone to check on us.”

“Your plan is to piss them off so they’ll come and smack you around?”

“Who says they’ll be doing the smacking?”

“Because you’ll be jiggling like a bug on a hot plate. Or did you think your new bracelets were just for show?”

He glanced at the snug bands around his wrists. “I’ll be fine. I’m tougher than I look.”

“Tough won’t stop a bullet.”

“They won’t shoot me.” Spoken with confidence. He doubted Adam would want his prize to die.

“Hope they don’t, because I ain’t wasting my daily cup of water rinsing off blood splatter,” she grumbled.

Her dark humor almost had him laughing again, but he held in his mirth, hearing the thump of boots in the hall.

“They’re coming. You might want to give me some space, Beauty.

” A nickname that rolled from his lips easily because, when she’d lain on the floor, her expression soft in repose, those lips begging for a kiss, he’d, for some reason, been reminded of the fairytale princess.

Although he doubted Sleeping Beauty cussed as much, not something that bothered him.

Capricorn loved the word “fuck.” Adjective, verb, noun, act. It was multipurpose.

Zora moved to the farthest corner and crouched, muttering, “Don’t be crying later when you’re pissing blood.”

Such sweet concern but for naught. He wouldn’t be the one bleeding.

Capricorn stood by the door, waiting. When it opened, he dove through before anyone on the other side could react.

A guy in uniform grunted as Capricorn slammed into his midsection and took them to the floor.

He quickly grabbed the guard by the head and slammed it against the ground as the other men shouted and aimed Tasers at him.

The electrical current tingled, and his tattoo pulsed. “Thanks for the tickle, boys,” Capricorn said as he rose and gave them a grin.

Thrown off-kilter by his reaction, they fumbled to unholster the weapons strapped to their hips. One shouted into a walkie. “The Tasers didn’t take him down.”

“Who’s next?” Capricorn asked, even as he lunged for the next target, wrestling away the gun. Might have had a chance to use it, too, if his wrists didn’t suddenly go numb. The muscles in his hands stopped working, and he dropped the weapon.

What the fuck? He had no injury to account for the sudden paralysis, but the bracelets at his wrist did vibrate. Well, damn.

The soldiers regrouped a few paces away and kept their weapons pointed. Interesting how they didn’t shoot. It indicated they had orders to keep him alive.

“Anyone here bowl?” Capricorn quipped before rushing them, intent on being the ball that knocked down like pins.

His shoulder took the brunt of the hit, plowing into a midsection that took down the man.

Amidst the yelling and zapping and his headbutting, since his hands still refused to work, a new sound arose.

A siren wailed, accompanied by a red strobing light in the hall.

The provided distraction allowed Capricorn to roll and tangle himself in some legs, dropping some more guards. As one of those still standing shouted, “Fuck this, I’m shooting the bastard,” his hands tingled as feeling returned.

Hell yeah. Capricorn kicked his feet and knocked aside the barrel of the gun, causing it to shoot the wall, the slug spraying cement chunks.

He sprang to an upright position and delivered an uppercut that knocked the guy out before he could fire again.

A sound from behind had him whirling in time to see Zora swinging her hands, the pair of them linked together like a club, at the last guard standing, about to shoot.

Thud . The fellow’s eyes rolled up, and he dropped hard just as the walkie at his waist crackled, with Adam shouting, “Whatever you do, don’t open the door. Wait for the gas to take effect.”

At the words, Zora spun and hauled the door shut before the wispy fog could reach them.

Capricorn crouched and snagged the walkie, clicking the button to say, “Too late. I’m out, sucker. See you soon.” Let the man simmer and stew while he waited for his comeuppance. He’d wait a while because Adam wasn’t Capricorn’s primary goal.

Zora glanced at the bodies groaning on the floor, and the few that didn’t move. “Not bad.”

“Not bad?” He huffed. “I took out six armed soldiers.”

“Five. That one’s mine.” She pointed to the body at her feet.

“You might get a chance to catch up to my count since I’m sure more are coming.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, actually. Sounds like there’s been a security breach.” She glanced at the strobing light.

“Which works to our advantage. The guards will be distracted.”

“Assuming it’s not a false alarm. If it isn’t, then I guess Crius will have to decide what’s more important, the sanctity of his installation or recapturing us.

” She grinned suddenly. “Nice job getting us out of the cell. Got any other bright ideas now to get off this level?” Her head tilted toward the locked door at the end of the hall.

He snagged the keycard clipped to a guard’s waist and held it up. “We should put this to use before someone thinks of revoking access.”

“Those only work on the more commonly used doors,” she remarked as she followed him, stepping over the littered bodies and kicking at the hand that reached for her ankle.

“Let me guess, they’re using palm or facial scanners, too, for the more secure spots.”

“Yup.”

“Good thing I have a lockpick then.” He patted the gun he’d tucked in his waistband. “Stick behind me, Beauty.”

As they hit the end of the hall, and before he could unlock the door, it opened. He couldn’t have said who was more surprised, the guard about to step in or his buddy who caught him when Capricorn punched him hard enough to make him pass out.

“Move out of the way, or else,” Capricorn barked to the guards clustered.

They chose the latter, fumbling for their holstered weapons. Before they’d cleared a single gun, he’d gotten off five shots with his stolen firearm.

And what did Zora say?

“You should have kept one alive so we could use their face for the scanner.”

He hauled the nearest body up and shook it. “Hence, why I didn’t shoot them in the head.”

“Pretty sure the scanners will notice a lack of body temperature.”

“Well fuck.” He dumped the corpse. “I’m sure we’ll find a kicking one we can use on our way.”

He didn’t have to look far. The elevator opened just as they reached it. Bang . Bang . Bang . He shot three guards, leaving one to stare wide-eyed and trembling.

Capricorn pointed and growled. “You’re coming with us, unless you want to end up like your coworkers, understood?”

The man nodded his head, trembling in fear.

“Shall we, Beauty?” Capricorn kept his eyes on the guard as he beckoned his cellmate.

Zora sidled into the elevator. “There will probably be a welcoming committee on the main level.”

“They’ll be waiting a while, since that’s not where we’re going. Where did you last see the relic?”

“In my lab.”

“Which is where?”

“Two down from this one, but you can’t be seriously thinking of going after it. I thought we were escaping?”

“We are, but we can’t leave without it.” He just hoped Adam hadn’t moved it from the lab because he’d hate to have to go through this entire installation seeking it.

“For fuck’s sake.” She jabbed a button on the elevator’s panel and sent them down.

“Thanks.”

“Fuck you. I can’t believe I’m helping you,” she muttered.

“Don’t worry, Beauty. I promise the plan is still to blow this joint.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“I’m a man of my word.”

She rolled her eyes. “Can’t keep it if you’re shot.”

The elevator slowed. “Then I shall do my best to remain bullet-free. Ready?”

“No.”

“How about a kiss for luck?”

He received a dirty scowl instead.

With a firm grip on his silent prisoner, he prepared for battle.