Page 42 of Capture of Capricorn

His lips pinched. “Given how scattered each monster sighting is, I want to say unlikely, but I don’t like it.”

“Why, baby, are you afraid to leave me by my lonesome?”

He dragged her close. “More like I was hoping to drag you back to bed to finish what we started.”

“Guess you’ll be extra glad to see me when you return. Speaking of which, how long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“At best, a few hours. If the gargoyle proves elusive, a day or two, which would suck.” He grimaced.

“I doubt your boss is going to want to be gone that long. Sage looks ready to pop.”

“Which is why I’m surprised we’re even going, but then again, as warriors, we swore an oath. It is our duty to protect, and I’m pretty sure Aries wanting to hover over his pregnant wife wouldn’t count as a reason to shirk.”

“From the sounds of it, it will be just me, Pisces’s partner, Mike, and Sage in the tower.”

“Actually, Mike won’t likely stay. He runs an animal rescue so can’t be away for long. Luckily, they live close to one of the portals so he doesn’t need Pisces to starbeam back home.”

“So just us gals, then. Don’t worry. We’ll hold down the fort.”

His lips pursed. “If anything hinky happens?—”

“I will handle it because I’m not some delicate flower who can’t handle herself,” she chided but then softened the rebuke with a light kiss. “Don’t worry about me. You’re the one going off to be a hero, while I plan to soak in a hot bath, do a bit of reading, and…” She leaned close to whisper against his earlobe, “Touch myself while thinking of you.”

He groaned. “Now that’s just mean.”

Her laughter made him shiver. “More like torture because the whole time I’m doing it, I’ll be wishing it was your hands stroking my body.”

Capricorn had never wanted more to say fuck his vow. Surely staying behind to pleasure Zora was more important than… Sigh. No, it wasn’t. “I’ll be back soon as I can,” he promised.

“I’ll be waiting. Naked.”

With those words—and that tantalizing image—ringing in his head, Capricorn readied himself to go. He couldn’t have said who looked grimmer. Him or Aries, who kept staring at Tower when they exited to use the special sandbox for more precise beaming to non-portal locations.

He patted Aries on the back. “I’m sure Sage will be fine. She wouldn’t let you go otherwise.”

“Sage hasn’t been able to see a damned thing since you returned with Zora,” Aries grumbled. “I don’t like it.”

“Then let’s get this done quick as we can. You got the coordinates?”

“Yeah.”

Aries left first, drawing the required symbols in the sand before turning into what many would assume was a shooting star. Capricorn followed not long after.

As hoped, they hunted down the gargoyle rather quickly and were only gone a few hours.

A few hours too long.

When they tried to return home, using their tattoos for a quick transference, they zipped off into the cold, and when their atoms reassembled, they found themselves right back where they started.

Aries frowned. “That’s odd.”

More than odd, unheard of.

“Let’s try again.” Once more, they both activated their tattoos, the link to their constellation that gave them quick access to Tower. Once more, it failed. Their starbeaming ability appeared to be working but, for some reason, couldn’t seem todeposit them into the portal room. Capricorn gave up after the third failed attempt.

It took six tries before a grim Aries declared, “Something’s wrong.”

“No shit. Try calling Sage,” Capricorn suggested, knowing Aries had brought a satellite phone.

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