Page 61 of Taurus's Quest
They thought they’d already won.
Chapter 18
Circe couldn’t speak. One shock after another had her stunned, but not Taurus, despite the fact he’d been struck by lightning. And was his first thought to his smoldering body?
Nope. He turned to her with concern in his gaze. “You okay?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking that of you?” While he appeared fine, his hair sticking up in a spiked crown seemed to indicate otherwise.
His lips curved. “What can I say, honey. I’m electric.”
She almost laughed but happened to notice steam rising from Demetrius’ body. “Um, Taurus. I think he’s going to blow like Andreas did.”
A quick whirl by Taurus resulted in him bellowing, “Fuck! Everyone back to Tower; the bodies are about to explode.”
Before she could even take a step, Taurus swept her into his arms and they teleported into that dark and cold place before landing in the portal room.
They didn’t arrive alone. Aries appeared, as did Leo, Zora, Capricorn, and Libra, who immediately headed for the Athens portal and stepped through. Aries watched him leave with a frown.
It did seem odd. Didn’t teams usually debrief after missions? A mission whose purpose was to save her.
She glanced up at Taurus. “I can’t believe you came for me.”
“As if I wouldn’t,” he snorted, lifting her bound hands and using a knife to separate the strands of rope.
“But it cost you the Antikythera schematics.”
“Like I told Demetrius, we made a copy.”
“He also said it wouldn’t do us any good, which I don’t understand. We have the rock and the means to rebuild the device properly. What are we missing?”
“Yeah, that didn’t make sense to me either. Could it be he gave us the wrong rock?” Taurus held it up, and Circe pointed out the dimples.
“I don’t think so. It’s the same one he showed me. Demetrius called it a scout transport. Said his masters released hundreds of them in search of a planet they could invade.”
The claim had Aries uttering a low whistle as he neared them. “Meaning there could be more.”
“I didn’t get that impression actually. He said something about this being their second attempt to bring their masters. Apparently, someone he called the enemy foiled them the first time with the Antikythera device.”
“Did he say anything more about this enemy?” Aries prodded.
“No, just that they’d stopped the last invasion attempt with the device.”
“And then the machine got destroyed and the rock went missing for centuries. Once it emerged from the ocean and infected a human, these scouts, as you called them, figured it would be safe for their so-called masters to invade since we no longer had the original plans,” Taurus surmised.
At his summary, she nodded. “Only we did end up finding the creator’s original schematic. Hence why he came after us.”
“But why bother? Demetrius said it was too late.” A reminder that had Taurus frowning.
“I think the better question is why he specifically wanted you at that meeting,” Aries interjected.
“He came to the maze looking for Taurus, too.” Even before asking about the plans, he’d been more concerned about Taurus. Circe pursed her lips as the reason why hit. “I think I know why Demetrius wanted Taurus there, and you won’t like it.”
“Lay it on me.”
Circe eyed her toes before sighing. “According to Demetrius, Taurus is carrying something they call a scout—likely the parasite you assumed had infected Andreas.”
“What? Like fuck. I don’t have a parasite,” he huffed in clear indignation.
