Page 64 of Sins of Leo

“Oh fuck,” he cursed as he held tight to Ruth and the relic. “Can you swim?”

“Yeah, but that won’t help once we run out of room.” Indeed, water already filled the chamber up to her waist and kept rising. In seconds, they were floating, the water continuing to gush in, bringing them closer and closer to the ceiling. He could only hope the builder of this ruin didn’t want the people who solved the puzzle to die.

“When we reach the top, take a deep breath and hold it,” he advised as the water kept pushing them upwards.

“How will that help? We’re going to drown.”

“Don’t be so sure. Get ready.”

“If we survive, you’re going to owe me more than a massage,” she replied, her voice shaking.

“I will give you the universe, Buttercup.” Because one thing became clear when they kissed and released the relic: They were bound by more than circumstance and attraction. The stars made it so he could meet his mate, the one person who could ground an astral warrior.

The roof fast approached. “Deep breath now.” The last thing he said before gulping air and holding it. The agitated water made it impossible to see as it submerged them. Only one thing mattered.Don’t let go of Ruth. He’d lose the orb before he released her.

As he’d hoped, the pressure proved too much for the ruin carved inside the meteor. It exploded the ceiling, the watery force pushing debris, along with Leo and Ruth, upward through a narrow shaft. They were expelled in a torrent that held them aloft for a moment before they splashed down, the gushing wave carrying them over the top of the rock face. At least it cushioned them from injury, the water carrying them like flotsam—toward the trees. The current made swimming impossible and forget trying to change their direction. With the fat trunk fast approaching, at the last second, Leo managed to turn his body, and he took the brunt of the impact.

They spun away as the tsunami from the ruin kept pushing them, filling the valley and rising, but as the depression turned into a lake, the violent current abated, making it easy to stay afloat and avoid hazards.

By the time the torrent subsided, the water had reached the height of the treetops. Leo hooked the arm holding the relic around a branch to anchor them. Ruth released him to grab hold as well and huffed, “That was way wilder than a ride at an amusement park.”

“Want to do it again?”

“No!”

He chuckled. “In good news, we made it out alive, and look what we’ve got.” He held the orb aloft.

“All that trouble for a metal ball?” she grumbled.

“I’m assuming it’s what’s inside that’s important.”

“So we can leave now?” she asked.

“Yeah. Although, I think we’ll need to get out of the water first. My tattoo isn’t activating. Probably too much meteor dust floating around.”

“Last one to solid ground has to be on the bottom,” she chirped as she moved away from him in a smooth breaststroke.

Bottom, eh? That put her riding on top. Oh, hell yeah.

He took his sweet time following, keeping her in sight while also making sure she remained in the lead.

When she reached shore and pulled herself from the water, she crowed, “I won.”

Debatable.

As he made his way around a floating branch that blocked his view, a male voice shouted, “On your knees. Hands on your head.”

Fucking hell.

As Leo reached the edge of the new lake, he saw Ruth kneeling with her fingers linked on her soaking-wet hair. She trembled. Blame the gun being held to her head. But that wasn’t the only reason Leo turned stiff and angry.

For the person standing a few feet behind the mercenary holding the weapon was none other than Kylie.

The wife he’d thought dead.

CHAPTER 19

Ruth’s elationat their narrow escape from the ruin deflated when men, dressed in camo and holding guns, emerged from behind trees led by none other than a smirking Maria. The woman from the village waved, and Ruth had never wanted to slap someone so much.

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