Page 61 of Sins of Leo

Leo showed no qualms about crouching beside it and poking it with his machete. “Been here a long time. Given the revolver is a Colt Walker, that most likely makes it more than a hundred years old.”

“How did he die?” A question asked and answered by a grinding noise that had whirling in time to see the room beingsealed by a slab of stone. Despite the futility, she pounded on it. It didn’t open.

“Don’t panic,” Leo commanded as tremors invaded her body.

“Easy for you to say. I don’t usually deal in life-and-death situations.”

“We won’t die. We simply have to figure out the puzzle.”

She snorted. “Because that’s so easy. Just ask the dead guy in the corner.” In her fear, she lashed out, but Leo remained calm.

“The answer is in this room.”

“You’re assuming we’ll figure it out,” she muttered darkly as she paced the walls, looking for something out of the ordinary. No holes, no nubs sticking out, or depressions, just asterisks dotted all over. “Those carvings remind me of how a child draws stars,” she observed.

“Because they are. Duh,” Leo exclaimed. “Hold on. Let me see if I can find… Aha.” He pointed. “There’s my constellation.”

“Yay for you.”

“Yes, yay. Watch.” He strode to the wall and began to press some of the star symbols. Each one lit and remained lit. “There’s one. Now where’s Aries.” Leo went around illuminating the twelve constellations. When he’d touched the final star?—

A scraping sound brought a smile of relief, and Ruth clapped her hands. “You opened the door.”

“See? We’ve got this, Buttercup. Shall we?” He led the way into a tunnel, littered with bodies—some of them seeming fresher than the last, which explained the lingering stench of death. As to how they died? An axe blade dangled from the ceiling, short arrows littered the floor beside another body, and then there was the gaping chasm.

“Looks like some people triggered the traps already,” Leo declared as if it weren’t obvious. “We can’t be sure there aren’t more, though, so follow my footsteps. And I mean that quite seriously. Do not stray by even an inch.”

With that kind of warning, Ruth intently watched where he placed each foot, noticing he avoided spots where lines etched in the floor converged into knots. When they reached the rift—which appeared bottomless—he glanced at her. “I’ll go over first.”

With those long legs, he leaped easily.

He pivoted and held out his hands. “Now you jump.”

“Like fuck,” she swore.

“It’s not that far. You can do it.”

“Says the very tall man. Short and chubby over here,” she reminded.

“I’ll catch you.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“If you fall, I’ll jump after you.”

He stated it so seriously she believed him. “Guess I don’t have a choice.” Because there was no way back. Like the previous rooms, this area had also sealed itself shut.

“I am not cut out for this,” Ruth grumbled as she carefully took a step back before flinging herself forward and over.

Even as she soared, she knew she’d not make it.

But Leo kept his word. With his long reach, he grabbed hold of each hand and hauled her close, murmuring, “Told you I wouldn’t let you fall.”

Her heart pounded. “That was terrifying.”

“But you did it.”

She had, but that didn’t bring back the decade fear had shaved off her life. They avoided the partially decomposed body of a man wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt peppered by darts.

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