Page 52 of Legend of Scorpio
“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.”