Page 24 of Sins of Leo

“Yes, we are.”

“No, we’re not. We’re partners. So your choices are Ruth or Buttercup.”

“Ruth then, because Buttercup is you mocking me.”

His lips curved. “Would I do that?”

“Yes.”

They reached the landing, and Ruth paused. “What’s this floor for?” A good question, given the wide openness of it.

“Reception hall, or I guess you could call it a ballroom, not that we’ve ever hosted any parties.”

“Then why have one?”

“Only Tower knows.”

As they resumed their climb, she snapped her fingers. “Wait a second, is this the tower you meant when you said you asked your wife to leave home?”

“Yup. Had Kylie come here with Olivia, the wendigo would never have gotten them.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t kidnap her like you did me.” She still sounded salty about it rather than thankful he’d saved her life.

“I almost did, but given the troubles we were having, I didn’t want to make things worse. I should have though, because at least then she’d have been alive to divorce me and we could have split custody of Olivia.”

“I’m confused. Why live in New York if you already had a home here?”

“Because of Kylie. She spent one night at my place and claimed it was too creepy. Insisted if we were going to be a couple that she needed to live among people.”

“Understandable, especially if planning to have children.”

The strain on Ruth became noticeable as they began the third level of steps. She huffed slightly as she said, “You live here full-time, now?”

“Yeah.”

“I assume you used the portal to come to our session?”

“Nah. We don’t have a proper exit in New York. I had to starbeam using a more complicated method.”

“Dare I ask what that means?”

“Lots of math.” He shot her a grin. “At least I’m better at it than Scorpio. His last mission he miscalculated and showed upballs out.” At her frown, his smile widened. “As in he arrived buck-ass naked, in Antarctica to boot.”

“Is he okay? I hear it only takes seconds for frostbite in those temperatures.”

“Cold doesn’t affect us after we become Zodiacs. Heat either. Although, that don’t mean we can walk through fire or play with liquid nitrogen. Our bodies can only handle so much.”

“But you can be hurt?”

“Oh, yeah. Happens all the time.” He indicated his arm still smeared in paste over his bullet wound. “But we heal better and faster, especially when we use stardust.”

“Stardust?” she questioned.

“Not actual stars. Powdered meteorite actually, but the name’s been around forever.”

“This is a lot to take in,” she admitted as she paused halfway to the next level.

“It is. Especially since the Zodiacs have done an excellent job keeping our existence secret.”

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