Page 51 of Capture of Capricorn

“Hell yeah, I am. Let’s go Zodiac some asses.”

CHAPTER 16

The many explosionsinside Tower left Zora partially deaf. Crius had indeed brought some bombs, and he used them.

Over and over.

The main hall’s walls resembled Swiss cheese with the many holes blasted in them. While Crius might know of the portal room’s existence, he had no clue where to find it—and Zora refused to tell him.

It should be noted Crius tried to get her to spill. Her bruised face, cut lip, and other bodily aches and pains could attest to it. However, helping Crius would be tantamount to abetting his goal to become some supervillain. Fuck that.

Her refusal to aid didn’t just incur a beating. When they began blowing holes in walls, no one offered her a mask, or any type of protection for that matter. As a result, her eyes stung from the dust and her lungs burned from coughing and inhaling too much of it. As for her ringing ears, while she could hear, everything came across muffled.

“Sir, I think we found it,” someone hollered.

A bleary-eyed Zora peered through the dust-filled air but failed to see if they’d actually succeeded. She also didn’t hear whoever approached and roughly grabbed her by the arm.

“Let’s go. Boss wants you.” The baddie hauled Zora to her feet, and she stumbled to follow as he led her through a jagged hole into the portal room. A portable light had been set up to illuminate, and a fan blew the dust out of the chamber, making it less hazy than the entrance.

Atop the incomplete thirteenth dais stood Crius, his lips tugged into a shit-eating grin as he cradled the damnable sphere. Upon seeing her, he swept a hand and taunted. “I told you’d I find it with or without your help. Hope the black eye was worth it.”

“Fuck you,” she croaked.

“You’re not my type. Kylie, though… A shame she died.” Crius shook his head. “But then again, now that I’m a widower, I can take a new spouse. Perhaps the seer the Zodiacs are so fond of.”

“You have no shame.”

“Great men never do, but we do like witnesses, the more, the better. Behold and prepare to be awed as I release the thirteenth Zodiac.” Crius flung the orb at the nearest portal. It went through. Literally. Flew in one side, emerged out the other, and clanged as it hit the floor.

The failure creased Crius brow. “That should have worked.”

Zora didn’t know enough about the portals to comment, and even if she did, she’d have kept her parched tongue still.

“Most likely it needs someone living to take it through. Back in a second.” Crius walked around the portal and grabbed hold of the sphere. He returned to the front of the doorway and, this time, stepped through, gripping it. Nothing happened. He moved to the next portal and did the same thing. Then a third, where he once more didn’t disappear, but he did get angry.

“Why isn’t it teleporting me?”

“Maybe it doesn’t like you,” her raspy reply.

Crius glared at her for a moment before smiling. “Actually, the reason is much simpler. I’ll wager my portable black hole that nullified the tower also disabled the doorways. An easy fix.” He glanced at one of his goons. “Close the lid on the box.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man hadn’t been gone two seconds when suddenly the room illuminated as some of Tower’s functions returned.

Rather than be happy, Crius frowned. “That was too quick.” The moment he spoke, gunfire erupted outside the room, resulting in a few screams and yelps of pain.

The noise widened Crius’ eyes. “Those sneaky bastards found a way back.”

His sudden worry acted as a balm to Zora’s despondency, and she chirped, “Guess you can kiss your plans for world domination goodbye.”

“I don’t think so.” Crius whirled and lobbed the orb through a portal. The doorway flashed with light, and the sphere disappeared.

Uh-oh.

Crius grinned and clapped his hands. “Ha. The warriors are too late.” With cocky confidence, he strode from the archway to the thirteenth dais, which began to glow, and as Zora watched, the missing piece suddenly filled it, making it whole. The sigil upon it illuminated and pulsed, while the air took on an electric feel that reminded her of that moment before lightning struck.

Or should she say a supervillain was born, for Crius stood atop the dais, raised his hands to the ceiling, and shouted, “Give me your power.”

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