Page 19 of Sins of Leo

“I don’t do it for gain.”

“So you’re Batman,” her sarcastic retort.

“Hardly. Batman doesn’t kill. Which is shortsighted, if you ask me. Then again, his movies would have been a lot shorter if he didn’t constantly let the bad guys live to attack again.”

Ruth rose to her feet and pursed her lips. “I am not interested in your Batman critique. I want to understand where I am.”

“Currently, we’re standing in the portal room. Those doorways are shortcuts to spots around the world.” He indicated the arches.

“Why call it a portal room? I thought you said we starbeamed.” An inane thing to ask, and yet she wanted to understand.

“It’s been called that for as long as I’ve been a warrior. Most likely because arches can be used by anyone to portal. Starbeaming, however, is a warrior-only thing. We can use that power to go anywhere in the world, and when we need to come home, we simply activate our tattoos. These things on the floor act as anchors so we don’t get lost in transit. One for each Zodiac Warrior. This is mine.” He tapped the one closest to her.

Ruth began to think she might not be dreaming because no way could she have imagined something this elaborate.

“There’s thirteen spots. Does that mean you’re not the only warrior?”

“Yeah, twelve in total, although…” He glanced behind him at the medallion that appeared to be missing two-thirds of its contents. “Sage has been muttering about a thirteenth.”

“This is all very confusing,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, but you’re a mostly smart lady. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Her gaze narrowed. “I am smart, which is why I know this can’t be happening.”

“Is Buttercup upset the world has more layers than she realized?” he taunted.

“Don’t mock me.”

“You’re the one who refuses to believe.”

“One thing doesn’t make sense. Given you’re supposed to be some kind of hero fighting evil, why come to me for a therapy session? And don’t you dare tell me because I’m a monster you planned to kill.”

“You’re not a monster. As for why? Sage told me to.”

“Who is Sage?” she retorted.

“Our seer. It started with Aries telling me I needed help getting my head back on straight. Sage was the one who insisted I go see you.”

“When you say seer, are we talking about a Nostradamus-type who predicts the future?”

“Yup.”

“Why did she send you to me?”

“I assumed initially because you were good at your job, but given what’s happened, I now think she was prepping me to save you from those mercs.”

“Was anything you told me true?”

“Pretty much everything.”

“You’re not a police officer,” she pointed out.

“No, I’m not. Not the kind on a city payroll, at any rate. Sage suggested I say that as it would allow me to speak about what happened to my family without revealing anything about the Zodiacs.”

“Your wife and child really died?”

“Yeah. The wendigo got them a few hours before I tracked it down and killed it.” His lips turned down. “If you ignore the cop part, everything else I told you was true.”

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