Page 17 of Sins of Leo

Ruth woke lyingon a hard floor. She blinked as she stared at a beautiful, if unfamiliar ceiling. Light, tan-colored stone blocks arched overhead.

What happened?

She recalled being shot at.

People trying to killher.

And Leo, unfazed by it all, yanking her from the footwell of her Bronco. Then, the strangest sensation as she felt weightless and extremely cold. Even now she remained somewhat discombobulated, especially since she didn’t recognize where she was. How had she gone from being involved in a massive shootout to here, wherever here was?

The warm air, when inhaled, hinted of flowers. She sat up and tried to orient herself, only to fail. The room appeared like something out of an epic fantasy. Tall stone arches intricately carved, thirteen in total, formed a semi-circle around part of the room. The section of floor she sat on held embedded circles, each with a different design, except for one that appeared unfinished.

A scuffing noise had her whipping her head around to see Leo standing in a doorway.

Her gaze narrowed on him, and she uttered a rare expletive. “Where the fuck am I?”

His lips quirked. “Welcome to the Tower of Babel.”

The answer made no sense, which was when Ruth realized she must be dreaming because how else to explain it all? A patient killing thugs who were trying to break into her office, getting kidnapped by said patient and taken to a garage that opened as if by magic, her SUV starting on its own, a gang of mercenaries shooting at them, and then suddenly finding herself in a foreign place.

This is just a dream.A really, really weird and vivid one, which meant she wasn’t in danger, she simply had to wake up.

Ruth closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing while calmly counting backwards. When she made it to zero, she would snap out of it.

Zero.

She opened her eyes. Nothing had changed. It mustn’t have worked.

She started over. Ten, nine, eight…

Zero.

Still sitting on the floor of a room that would have made her father probably weep for joy.

“You okay?” Leo asked as he crouched in front of her. “You planning to puke?”

“No. Where am I?”

“Told you, Tower of Babel.”

“The Tower of Babel, depending on who to believe, was either a myth or destroyed.”

“It’s real. You’re sitting in it.”

“But how did I get here?” Her gaze narrowed. “Did you drug and kidnap me?” It seemed unlikely because one second she’d been shot at and the next here. Still, what other explanationcould there be? He must have given her a powerful sedative that kept her knocked out.

“No drugs and I wouldn’t call saving you from death kidnapping.”

“Says the man responsible for me getting here, wherever here is. And don’t you dare keep trying to feed me a line claiming the Tower of Babel. It doesn’t exist.” Her voice rose shrilly.

“I wouldn’t say that again, or you might hurt Tower’s feelings.”

She glared. “This isn’t amusing.”

“Wasn’t joking. I know you’re confused—understandable—and I can explain, but I warn you, it’s going to sound crazy.”

“Crazier than everything that’s happened thus far?” she grumbled.

“Much,” his dry response. “So first off, as to how we got here. We starbeamed.”

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