Page 7 of Taurus's Quest
His reply drew a snort from the lady. “Magic isn’t real.”
“Then explain how you got here.” He went to cross his arms, only to realize too late that it meant losing his grip on the towel. It fell to the floor, and he stood there, flashing his—impressive!—goods.
She totally noticed. A pink stain spread across her cheeks, and she turned her head while he retrieved the cloth. “Where are your clothes?”
“In my room. As I said before, you interrupted my shower.”
“So I’m in your home?”
“Kind of.” He exhaled. “Here’s the nutshell version. You’re in what’s called Tower, Tower of Babel to be exact, and before you start going off about how it doesn’t exist, it does. It’s just hidden from most human eyes. You got here via one of the teleporting arches. Not sure which one. There’s only a handful in the world.”
“I’m from Athens,” her faint interjection.
“I don’t suppose the shop you got locked in was called Zodiac Emporium.”
Her head bobbed.
“That idiot, Libra,” he grumbled. “He knows better than to simply leave without checking the place.”
“He seemed to be in a hurry.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s supposed to be ensuring no one stumbles across the arch by accident.”
“It wasn’t quite an accident. I found the code for the door and entered, hoping it would provide an exit.”
“And ended up here.” He rubbed his chin with his free hand. “What’s your name?”
“Circe. Circe Aetos. I’m an astronomer with the National Observatory of Athens, and my absence will be noted.” She lifted her chin.
“You study the stars?” He couldn’t help but bark with laughter. Oh, the irony.
“What’s so funny?”
One side of his mouth lifted as he replied, “Because this place, me, what’s happened to you, are all linked to the stars. The constellations, to be exact.”
Once more her brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“Obviously, and I will explain best I can, but first, I’m going to put on some pants.”
“You’re leaving?” She wrapped her arms around her upper body and chewed her lower lip.
“Just long enough to hit my room for some clothes, that is, assuming Tower allows it.”
“Why wouldn’t this tower let you get dressed?”
“It’s complicated. Why don’t you sit your butt down in a comfy chair, relax, and I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
“What I want is to go home.”
“We’ll get to that after we have a proper chat.”
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?”
“Someone told me only this morning that I would be meeting a green lady who needed my help with something that’s been lost.”
“The only thing lost is me,” she muttered.
“There was also mention of monsters?” He couldn’t help a hopeful lilt.
