Page 22 of Legend of Scorpio

He exited the portal room and carried the limp doctor to his room on the ninth floor. They did have rarely used guest quarters on the second. However, in his mind, she belonged in only one place.

His bed.

Not a thought he’d ever had before. As a matter of fact, she was the first woman he’d ever brought home. Although, technically, this probably didn’t count because of extenuating circumstances.

His quarters were spacious. Larger than many apartments, the ceilings ten feet high, the living area with his couch and recliner spacious enough for his virtual game system to be played without smacking into furniture. His bedroom accommodated a king-sized bed on a platform with a few wardrobes and a recliner for relaxing in front of the fire. Not that he did that often. He usually gamed when bored. If he got lonely, he went to a bar.

Rebecca didn’t wake as he lay her on his comforter, ensuring he pillowed her head. She appeared pale. Not unusual, especially for a first voyage, just like fainting tended to be common. Starbeaming took a toll on humans.

She’d most likely sleep a few hours while her body recovered. Then, when she woke, he’d have some ‘splaining to do. Would she be angry? Scared? Curious? A blend of all those emotions?

While he waited for her to rouse, time to report to the boss.

A boss waiting outside his suite with arms crossed.

“What. The. Fuck.” Aries snapped.

“So, I ran into a bit of an issue,” Scorpio stated with a shrug.

“You brought a stranger to the tower.”

“With good reason. She was about to be either abducted or shot.”

“And?”

“I was also going to be abducted or shot.”

Aries lips pinched. “What happened since our last conversation?”

“Quite a bit. The doc found some kind of ruin inside the glacier she was studying.”

“A ruin? In Antarctica?” Aries repeated.

“Yeah, carved out of a meteorite and buried in ice. The entrance had the ancient Zodiac sigils carved, and when I touched the walls inside, they glowed.”

The claim raised Aries’ brows. “What else did you find?”

“Traps.” Scorpio explained how they managed to gain entrance, the various pitfalls, the final chamber and?—

“You found the artifact!”

“I did.”

“Where is it?” Aries asked before pursing his lips to correctly surmise, “You lost it.”

“Not exactly. It was stolen, by the same company that hired Rebecca. They were waiting for us when we escaped the ruin.”

“Wait, her company was the one that threatened to shoot you?”

“Or kidnap us. We emerged to find a dozen dudes armed with rifles. They had a massive helicopter waiting to take us to their evil lair.”

“How the fuck did you not hear a goddamned helicopter?”

“I assume it landed while we were dealing with the cave-in.”

Aries’ expression pinched tighter. “How did they know about the artifact?”

“Because they have a seer of their own,” Sage announced, startling Scorpio.