Capricorn

Eva knew she was dreaming. The man who sat in front of her was much too attractive to be handcuffed to a table and forced to wear stripes. His hair was a beautiful gold, completely natural too, and hung almost past his shoulders. He had bangs that parted in the middle to curve just under his eyes. If the hair didn’t impress her, then his eyes definitely did; they glowed an emerald green. His dark skin gave him the surfer image and made them even more stunning. Even in a prison cell, this man screamed sex appeal.

She couldn’t help but glance down at the table that cast her reflection back into her face. Compared to him she was a slug roasting in the sun. Eva’s slick red hair was hanging down and around her face in long bountiful waves. Eyes a pale blue that always reminded her of her ex-fiancés husky, Tipper. Eva was slim and nicely built from her years of Jiu-jitsu and self-training, she had light smooth skin that could be traced back to her ancestors in Ireland.

She wasn’t ugly by any means; he was just… damn.

        When he smiled, Eva had to work very hard to keep her professional blank expression. She never showed interest in a customer. Yes, they were criminals too, but when she was discussing their trial, she considered them clientele.

        Eva cleared her throat, “Your file says treason, but it doesn’t elaborate. That’s very unusual.” Her voice was empty and detached, just how she liked it.

        The man nodded, his bangs swaying with the movement. She couldn’t help but stare, it was so gold!

        “I’m aware of the file, Miss Stone.” His voice was silky and deep. Most men, when meeting her, put in a little more effort when they talked, made themselves sound gruff. The testosterone burning in their system couldn’t keep them from making a power play. They hated the idea of a woman fighting their battle. Add paying said woman and it was downright criminal. Her inner voice laughed at the little pun. However, her client talked with ease. The syllables rolled off his tongue so naturally, she wondered how well he could impersonate accents. 

        She cleared her throat again, was he making her nervous with his shining charisma? She was a lawyer, one of the best-- no way. “If you are aware, please do not waste my time any longer and explain what exactly you did, so I will be able to defend you.”

        The longer they sat there, the more she believed she was dreaming. Oh, everything looked real, but a real case wouldn’t have been so vague. The client would not have been so hot. Eva dealt with a lot of criminals and none of them came so close to passing for Aphrodite’s offspring. He brought his hands above the table clasping them together, the cuffs scraped against the metal; it was a combination of change in a pocket and nails on a chalkboard. Painful yet satisfying 

        She fought to keep eye contact and not cringe at the noise. His face grew serious, “Miss Stone, I need your help.” His knuckles had gone white; the first sign of tension she had seen in the last 30 minutes. Or had it been an hour? Hell, she could have been her days for all she knew.

        Eva nodded, “Yes, Capricorn… Is that your real name? Like the zodiac?” Was this a sign from her subconscious to follow a horoscope?

        Capricorn nodded his lady killer smile back in place. “Yes, it is. You may call me Capri for short if you like.” She stared at him dumbfounded, he really wasn’t joking. There was no question this was a dream; no way someone would name their son Capricorn.

        She stacked the papers together in an orderly fashion on the top of the desk with a loud bang and stood up. “If you’ll excuse me I’m going to wake up now. It was nice doing business with you Mr. Capricorn, but I have some pressing matters, in reality, to take care of.” She went to walk away and out the door that would surely wake her up.

        Capri grabbed her hand, his body now lying across the table, “Wait please I really do need your help.” She looked back and stared at his hand until he let go and slid back in his seat. “Just... sign the paper on the top of that stack in your arms and you will have helped me more than you know.”

        She stared at him skeptically, something about the whole ordeal made her feel queasy. Her bullshit meter was going off in the back of her head. 

“Am I going to wake up?” She asked.

        He shrugged, “You talk as if you are asleep, You’re my lawyer shouldn’t you be the sane one?”

        Doubt filled her, but she held her belief. If she did what the dream wanted and played along she’d wake up eventually. Eva sat back down at the table glaring at her own mind's creation.

        “For me to help, I need to know what you did.”

        “No, you just need to sign the papers. I will tell you everything after that.” He smiled gesturing towards the stack in her hands. His smile was going from a pleasant attraction to a pain in her a*s. 

        On the top of the stack was the retainer contract, neither of them had signed it yet and most of the blanks that are usually discussed were already filled in. Her eyes widened, “That’s triple my usual hourly rate.” She couldn’t hide the surprise anymore and her feeling of unease just kept rising.

        Capri shrugged making the cuffs around his wrist jingle, “I really need your help, Miss. Stone and you’re the only one who can help me.” His voice sounded sincere enough and his eyes never broke contact from hers, but if this was a dream she guessed he could pay the promised price considering he wasn’t real and all.

        She raised one of her eyebrows and sat back in her chair with her arms and knees crossed, “And why would I be the only one. Considering there are several Criminal Attorneys out there who work for 3 times less than what I do.” Eva tilted her head to the right and frowned. Not very professional but she was beginning to think that this meeting did not require a poker face. The irritating itch between her shoulders told her so.

        She never got an answer. All he did was stare at her. She gave him kudos for never once glancing down at her chest, she wasn’t stacked necessarily but she did have decent cleavage.  However, his gaze was steady and confident. It wasn’t easy to be confident in handcuffs.

        She sighed, her arms falling away. “I don’t have all night Mr. Capricorn. I’m leaving now.”  Eva stood up and headed for the door once again. The shiver that ran up her spine and made her whole body shake would not calm down. Eva learned a long time ago to trust her instincts and they were telling her to wake the hell up or run.

        She grabbed the handle but when she tried to turn the knob it resisted, that annoying rattle that signaled a locked entrance sounded every time she turned it-- left or right since some knobs like the guessing game. The shivers turned to shakes, both her hands were on the doorknob trying to yank it open by force. “Why. Wont. It. Open.” She grunted.

        She didn’t hear him walk closer; she didn’t even know he’d moved until a hand appeared next to her head. Ah, that’s why she didn’t hear, the cuffs were missing-- because why not? Capricorn was so close she could feel the heat of his body and when he spoke his breath slid over her ear.  

        “I can’t let you leave, Eva.” He whispered. This was the first time he’d used her name since they’d met. Since they’d met? Great! Now she was acting like this was real. The thing was, it felt real. She was starting to doubt her own ideas of being in a dream.

        With Capricorn practically pressed against her and the door locked she could feel her throat closing up, her heart rate increasing making her breathing frantic. She had never been good at the whole ‘trapped’ thing. Ever since that time her brother shut her in their dryer, the old ones that weren’t childproof, she couldn’t stand to be locked up.

        And no her becoming a lawyer had no correlation to getting people out of jails.

        Eva swallowed back the anxiety-- or at least tried to.  When she was able to speak she was surprised her voice was steady, “What do you want with me.”

        A pen appeared in front of her face clasped between his forefinger and thumb. “You just have to sign the paper and you’ll get out of this room.”  She could smell his minty breath as it brushed against the side of her face like fingers caressing her cheek.

        The large tanned hand against the door slid down to hers clasping around her wrist; his skin was smooth as if he used a lot of lotion. Nothing like a criminal. With a less than gentle pull from him one of her hands left the door knob, with his other hand he placed the pen in Evas and wrapped her finger around the slick metal.

        He stepped an arm's length away from his hand now on her elbow to guide her to the table. Eva didn’t resist, really she couldn’t. The grip he had on her elbow wasn’t bruising but she knew if she tried to escape it would end that way.

        They were back to where they started, he even had the cuffs back which she figured was him making a point rather than for her comfort. With the pen in her hand, she stared at the contract he oh-so-wanted her signature on. Was she famous somewhere and being held for ransom? Doubtful.

        “All I have to do is sign this? And you're willing to pay me four hundred dollars an hour? That’s twice my usual rate. And this is the retainer of sixty-seven thousand two hundred dollars? That’s a whole week, but you want me for a month? Are you sure you can afford this?” She realized that she was rambling and asking a stupid question. Of course, a man who isn’t really can pay for prices that are unrealistic.

        He said nothing, just gave that silent nod that was really pissing her off. Eva was beginning to realize Capricorn was a man of few words.

        She held the pen right over the dotted black line, but her hand wouldn’t listen to her and sign the paper. The feeling between her shoulders came back. Eva could read, this was just another contract, the same one she had signed many times before. Somehow this one was different and part or her inner voices did not want her signing that line, but the other half wanted out of the room and acknowledged this was the only way.

        While tiny people fought in her head, she signed the paper. She wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad idea, she just knew it would get her out of the conference room and away from the criminal. Or that was the plan.

        She looked up to request her to leave but Capricorn was gone and when she looked around the room she saw that the walls were melting. Eva tried to run for the door but the floors had turned to something equivalent to quicksand. She fell to her hands and knees and had to fight to keep her face out of the gelatinized floor.

        The muck was up to her elbows touching the lapels of her suit jacket. This was one of those disadvantages of being short-- it didn’t take long for something to engulf her body.

        Eva tried to pull her arms free, but that was hard without any leverage and she was not a weak woman. She felt like she was stuck in one of those Chinese finger traps, where no matter how hard you pulled the wrappings only got tighter.

        “Capricorn!” She yelled. “You’re a liar, a filthy, disgusting beast of a liar.” She jerked her limbs, her whole body now, the floor was up to her chest. Her throat was closing up as claustrophobia claimed her.

        Just when she thought her head was going under, the floor began to move. Her body followed unwillingly and she could see the whirlpool sinking in the middle of the floor.

        The speed increased sending her higher to the half melted walls, her arms plucked free but she was still waist deep in floor putty. She reached out, digging her finger into the wall as if it were clay until the current pulled her fingers out along with chunks of wall.

        Eva was sinking closer to the hole no matter how hard she tried to climb through the thick floor, but the struggles were in vain. Her feet reached the rim of the hole. She struggled scrambling back kicking at the melted tiles. Eva screamed one last time before she fell into the black abysses, heading where? She had no idea. 

        She was falling but she didn’t feel like it, more so floating down. Her hair had come undone and the red strands were surrounding her face. Blue comets were shooting upwards against a black background. The streaks went by faster then she could really see giving the illusion of a kaleidoscope as they collided together then expanded again.

        She had a moment to be mesmerized before she felt hard solid ground against her back. The kaleidoscope comets became rays of light surrounding her and blocking her vision from the black shapes behind them. With her head laid to the side, she could only see two but she didn’t dare turn her head to see how much more.

        As the blue flames began to die down, the black shape closest to her became a familiar face. Eva sat up so fast she’d make a jack-in-the-box proud. Her knees were under her and then she was on her feet in a defensive stance she learned in jiu-jitsu class.

        “You piece of s**t. You lied. where the hell am I?” Capricorn stepped closer to her and farther from the still dim flickering light. His hands were just above his head fingers splayed wide showing he had no weapons.  She gave him a once over checking for any bumps, and when she got back to his face she finally noticed that even though the face was the same, a lot of s**t wasn’t.

        He was still gorgeous with golden hair and shining green eyes, but he was at least a foot taller. A nice pair of golden brown goat horns arched elegantly over his head. He also sported a suit, pinstriped gray with a matching tie. All he needed was a fedora and sunglasses to fit in with the mafia. Maybe a cane. 

        His voice was the same smooth baritone, “I never lied, you’re out of the room. The rough exit was your own doing.” He continued closer until he was just a foot away.

        Eva’s fists were up her shoulders hunched, “Where am I.” 

        Capricorns hands were still high, “The Zodiac Court. Our home.” He said it as if it was obvious. Like there were signs hanging through that hole saying “Zodiac Court ten miles down”?

        “Oh yea that’s right, you know I think I remember passing by once or twice on my way to The Pixy Garden.” When in doubt, sarcasm works best.

        Instead of laughing or smirking at her obvious joke he frowned, “Those are nowhere nearby, we exist in a completely different realm.”

        Eva opened her mouth to explain the joke but left it alone and took in her surroundings instead. She didn’t think he meant to hurt her or he’d have done so. Eva looked around, the blue flames that circled her and Capricorn were down to everyone’s ankles and she noticed each individual outside the circle was standing in a smaller one of their own.

        Eva counted twelve of them including Capricorn. When she looked closer at their feet she saw that each was standing on some kind of symbol that she recognized as belonging to the zodiac. 

This was getting kind of ridiculous, right?  Eva was going to guess that they were some sort of gang who liked to cosplay while they kidnapped innocent women. Which made sense if she hadn’t experienced what she did; whirlpool floor and all.

        The other members stayed quiet in their homey circles, staring at the two of them with empty eyes. Eva turned her attention to Capricorn who got another two steps closer. She didn’t back up, just stood her ground staring up at him. 

        One thing Eva had learned from her years at court is how to exhibit power and confidence while looking up. Sometimes she’d get a s****y judge and would have to play the stare down the game until he let her have her point. Judges were given the highest seat in the courtroom for a reason. Also, her height reached about five foot one inch, and yes the inch mattered, which meant she got pushed around a lot by kids who were always bigger than she was. Giving her plenty years to practice establishing dominance. 

        The first rule was not to give your ground, especially with guys-- their egos matched their territories.  The second, keep eye contact. If they couldn’t get you to give ground, they’d try to stare you into it. The third was to give witty retorts whenever possible. Throw them off their game, make ‘em trip. 

But sometimes, even with the steps, the big guys were just better. It's hard to bench press three times your own weight and that’s biology.

        Capricorn stared down at her, not glaring or anything just solemn. Like he had all the time in the world. Well, she didn’t.

        Eva let her arms fall to her sides. She didn’t back up but she did drop the fighting stance. “What do you want?” She wasn’t giving in, just taking a different approach. The tactic is also important in a courtroom, along with the presentation. 

        He laid a hand gently on her shoulder, “Your power Eva. I am truly sorry I had to trick you,” There was no sincerity in his voice and his face was completely void of emotion, “but, you would not have come willing had you known the truth. However, you did sign the contract so, therefore, you, by your law and ours, are to stay here for one month.”

        Eva’s shoulders quivered, the voice inside her head that said not to sign the damn paper was screaming ‘told you so’ over and over. “That was a simple retainer! There was nothing stating I would come here.”

        He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. Without notice, a yellow piece of paper appeared in front of her and stayed there floating in the air with nothing holding it up. The paper had her signature. She snatched it from the air reading through it closely to find it indeed said she was to remain in the house and offer her services to the best of her abilities for one entire month.

        “This is thermal paper. It was under the retainer.” Eva gave her best ‘your dead’ glare. It didn’t work. “Fine, I’m a woman of my word, even if it was used against me.” She waved the paper in his face for emphasis. “But, you will keep your end, and pay me for my efforts. I want the deposit wired to my bank account and the final pay will be too.”

        The hand left her shoulder and Capricorn crossed his arms behind his back General style. “Respectable.”

        “So glad you approve. Now, what do you want?” She wasn’t glad. How many times had she asked that question? 

        Capricorn turned away from her and walked to the outer edge of the circle, “First let me introduce my colleagues.”

        He gestured to the man directly behind him, but it was the other guy that spoke, “I am Aries, the first of the zodiac.” He said the last bit as if it was important.

Eva hard a hard time keeping eye contact, his gaze was heavy with his brow deeply furrowed. She decided to look elsewhere and she found his posture to be stiff, his hands balled into fists almost white with the effort. He had a set of horns like Capricorn, but they had more of a curve that swirled and rested on the side of his head. His hair wasn’t buzzed, but not long enough to hang in his face either. 

Ah, he was upset about something, definitely, people didn’t glare daggers for no reason. Well, she hoped not. Rude.

“You got a problem with me?” She was direct, just how her mother raised her. Like the court taught her. 

He didn’t stop frowning but he did take a step back as if no one had ever stood up to his s****y attitude before. He went to open his mouth but Capricorn cleared his throat and walked on to the next man.

He was built like a brick house and had the height to sport it, his shoulders were so damn wide a giant could use them as a hammer, “Good day, I’m Taurus.” She fought to keep a neutral expression. His voice was kind hearted and light not matching his persona at all. He even gave a polite bow a hand on his chest for respect. He was dressed in slacks and a polo, the bright blue of the shirt reflecting his oceanic eyes. He had a nice smile one that urged Eva to hug him like a teddy bear. She didn’t though. 

Unexpectedly, the next to be introduced looked no older than sixteen. His eyes screamed with the innocence of youth, so did his smile. “Evening, Lady. I’m Gemini. But I am much much older than what you’re thinking.” He laughed and covered his mouth with both hands like a toddler. His hair hung low mirroring the length of Capricorn but was the color of the moon at night. He was dressed in a sweater with sleeves too long and boy shorts that did not reflect his age, he did not wear shoes. 

Her nod was slow and full of confusion. 

Capricorn kept moving. “Good morning dear, I’m truly sorry that our welcome could not be more… practical.” This one was a woman, which made Eva feel slightly better. Everything about this woman screamed Mom. From her perfectly curled black hair, natural makeup and manicured nails. She wore something much like Eva’s own business suit, but instead of pants, she wore a skirt that showed off nicely defined calves. “These boys can be rough at times but they mean well. My name is Cancer.” Her smile was so warm she was surprised the woman didn’t offer her some tea or pie.

Eva wasn’t really saying anything, she stayed in the middle of her large circumference and nodded at each one.

Capricorn had to introduce the next one, she thought was male but couldn’t tell, “This is Leo.” Leo nodded silently, or she thought he did. He had on a trench coat that fit him tight enough she knew he couldn’t be female, but the collar was completely furred giving the desired effect of a mane which he hid his face behind.

Next, “Virgo, if you may.” She was a female, with glasses high bun and cardigan Eva pictured her as a writer or maybe Librarian.

Continuing around the circle was another female, dressed like she just came from a playboy magazine. When she opened her mouth Capricorn spoke over her, “She is Libra.” He gave the woman a stern glare but she didn’t even blink, well she did, but it was a wink, directed at Eva.

Like the rest, she just nodded her head and turned with Capricorn to see the next person. He was male and introduced himself as Scorpio. He had skater boy down to a T with bright red spiked hair, leather vest and ripped jeans. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and you could see a scorpion crawling up his side. Interesting.

“Nice tat.” She couldn’t help it. She loved tattoos, sometimes she’d secretly admire the convict's tattoos-- if they were good.

Scorpio winked, “It goes down past the belt.”

She grinned, “Mine too.”

“Really what is it?”

“Guess and I'll show you sometime.” She gave her own playful wink and he laughed. See, she could fit in.

Capricorn’s face was disapproving but he left whatever he wanted to say unsaid and continued to the next man.

“Sagittarius is my name, and my room is always open if you need a partner.” His grin screamed confidence, somehow Eva got the impression he wasn't told any often. And that he and Libra were great pals.

She didn’t acknowledge him in the least just rotated to the next in line. She could hear his grunt of surprise and his grumbles of stricken pride. She didn’t believe in inflating a narcissist ego any more than it already was.

Capricorn now stood next to a male closer to her size, even shorter than the other females, he also appeared to be much older than the rest like a man in his early fifties. The majority seemed to be later twenties or early thirties. But from what Gemini said, Eva thought she might need to add some zeroes to those ages. He had thick glasses and was holding books that seemed much too heavy for him, “Good day Madam, and welcome. I am called Aquarius.” If she had to give him a career it would be a philosopher or another librarian.

The last was actually a set of male twins, they stayed very close together hands clasped in each other. They seemed young and fragile their eyes screamed innocent, “We’re Pisces,” The one more to the front said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss.” They bowed in unison. They even wore matching yellow striped shirts under jeaned overalls with high red socks and tennis shoes. They made the clash of colors work in their boyish favor. 

So many people, but she didn’t think the names would be too hard to remember. If said person didn’t look like their sign, then they definitely acted like it.

Eva didn’t pay attention to too much astrology but she was always big on superstition and did read her horoscope a lot when she was in high school, in fact, it was one reason she became a lawyer. But, in all honesty, she loved her job and wouldn’t change it.

Capricorn was headed towards her, hands loose at his side. His stride was graceful showcasing his years of confidence. The image of him as the mafia leader came back.  “I have already introduced myself, ladies and Gentlemen this is Eva Stone. Our first partner.”

I raised my eyebrows at the odd title. “There’s more than one lawyer? I’m a private lawyer and that slightly offends me.” A reason she started her own practice was because of the people who thought they needed more than one. It was like telling her she couldn’t do her job well enough alone.

The smile he continued to give her was becoming annoying, even though it was one she practiced in the mirror every morning. Maybe that’s why it ticked her off? “You will be the only lawyer and we will definitely need your practice to keep meetings civil. However, that is not all we need from you and the others that will join us in time.”

“And what is it you need exactly?”

The smile stayed, “Your power of course. You are not aware of it but a great deal of magical power resides in you. We have a..” he paused as if trying to find the right words, “connection that enables us to share our powers.”  

Eva pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, “Are you, perhaps, referring to magic, like turning a frog into a prince kind of magic?”

He inclined his head, “Yes, though there are princes that have been frogged. However, if that is the metaphor you would like to use in order to better understand then yes that magic.”

She couldn’t help but laugh-- the man really didn’t know sarcasm. He was so serious; he’d make a better lawyer than she did. She finally had to cover her mouth and pinch her nose to stop the laughter.

“Are you quite done yet?” The disapproving tone almost had her rolling again but somehow she gained her composure.

“Yeah, yeah my bad. Just... your face.” S**t. When she got nervous it kind of weakened her filter. And Capricorn took offense.

He took a threatening step towards her but she didn’t back up and she could feel the tension radiating from him. Did Capricorn have a temper? Oh, she could use that. When men get mad, they f**k up. But, women were the same way. That’s something else she learned in the courts, never be the one to lose your cool. 

“That was entirely uncalled for,” Capricorn growled.

“My apologies, please explain the situation. Hate for you to get your boxers twisted.” She had cut off the laughs and settled for a grin she couldn’t erase.

He cleared his throat and glance away, ignoring the last comment he began “It is somewhat of a long story, maybe we should head to the living area.”

She shrugged and tried to shove her hands in her pocket, but they were fake. She tried to make the movement look natural with her hands falling close at her side, but she had a feeling everyone saw the f**k up. Eva hated that her nerves were so damn high. 

“Lead the way, Goat man.” He glared again, a few people snickered"he still did as asked.

Everyone stepped from their circle’s that were now just neon painted signs. She did notice that they all avoided stepping inside the bigger circle and walked around.

She got to the edge of theirs and Capricorn put a hand out in front of her, “Don’t step on the line and do not step in one of the other circles.” She glanced at him raising her one of her eyebrows in question, “Since it is not yours, it will repel you. It is painful.”

“Talking from experience?”

“Yes.”

Her impression in the conference room had been right, he was a man of few words. Probably found it a waste of energy to talk anymore then needed. But he didn’t have such arrogance back in the holding cell. Well, he was also practically begging her to sign the contract.

Eva took his advice and avoided the lines; better safe than sorry was one of her many mottos.

As they walked, to what looked like an elevator, she took her time to admire the room. The walls were all concrete like the floor but painted with words or symbols she didn’t understand. They were all kinds of colors but the majority were purple. If she stared too long it kind of gave her a headache. The work seemed to be done by a master, all the lines were smooth with no kinks or bumps even in the curves. 

The elevator looked like one straight out of Willy Wonka, all white and glass. There were so many buttons. Not as many as Willy had but still a lot.

“Let me guess, it goes in all directions.”

“Indeed.” He pressed a button that she couldn’t read the name of. What language did they speak?

She couldn’t even feel the elevator move it was so smooth. She had no idea they arrived at their destination until the doors opened, and a huge living room appeared.

All of the furniture was white, the floor was black tiles and there was a white fur carpet sitting in front of a stone fireplace with a marble table on top. 

When she sat on the couch it was like sitting on a cloud. “Comfy.” She mumbled. Capricorn sat across from her his hands clasped in his laps.

“We weren’t always just the Zodiac. At first, we were all born into the Unseelie Court. A very dark place full of ugly monsters.” His knuckles were turning white and his jaw clenched and unclenched as he talked. “They did not like that we were born as we were, with… grace? We were not born ugly and did not need to use glamor to be appealing to mortals or to others of our race.”

She sat there silently taking in his rage. Eva was practical, kind of the see it believe it. And his anger wasn’t fake. She had twenty-six years of experience when it came to reading body language and expression. Eva knew murder when she saw it. 

“Twelve of us were born under the constellations the day they were formed, giving us our name. We are what the court would call mongrels.  One parent was part of the Seelie court and another the Unseelie. However, as I said before, we lived with the worst of the sides. They believed in rituals that we found vulgar and unneeded.”

She waited for him to elaborate but his lips were pursed and he stayed quite for some time. “What kind of rituals?” 

His head fell, “Like eating humans to keep immortality, or bathing in a virgin’s blood to gain power.”

Her stomach twisted with the thought; it must have shown on her face because he laughed, “Yeah, I know. We all agreed this was not right and decided we needed to run. But when we tried the first time we were all caught, and branded for the act. The tattoo you saw on Scorpio, that wasn’t done with ink, but poison. They would pour it on us in the pattern of our sign and let it eat away the skin, then they poured salt and lemon juice on it for permanent scarring. The skin is black because of the poison they used. 

Eva fought to keep a blank face, she didn’t take Capricorn for one to appreciate pity.

“The next one was better planned and we were able to get away, but in order to do that, we had to create our own space in time. Which is where we currently are. And that used up much of our power. We are weak and the Unseelie know that. They did not take our leave very well. As a matter of fact, the Queen took it as a direct insult.” He looked up at her then his eyes had gone a deep, deep green that she felt she could drown in if she stared too long.

“This is where you come in. Our Philosopher Aquarius found a way. Each of us has a human counterpart with a strong affinity for magic. Said person was born under our stars at its prime. You were mine.”

She sat a little straighter in her seat, but as it was a cloud that was hard, her knees touched her chest. “I’m not magical, sorry you got the wrong gal.”

He shook his head staring her down, “No, the very fact I was able to access your dream and get you to this side proves you are my other half.” He said it like he didn’t just refer to her as a soul mate. “However, there is much to do before we can share power. We will need you in the courts as we will try to handle this lawfully at first, but before that, we need to be able to share ourselves.” Capricorn stood up and walked towards her, he crouched in front of her laying his hands on her knees. “I need you Eva, and all we need for this to work is trust and respect for each other.”

She shot to her feet making him fall back, “I’m a lawyer for humans, not monsters. I don’t know your laws! And I’m definitely not your soul mate just because I was born under some damn pattern at its prime.”

Capricorn stood up just as fast as she did blocking her escape. “We can not do this without you, we each need our other half to defeat them. You can study the law. Without you, we will lose, Eva.”

She laughed poking his chest, “Then you’re all fucked.”

Reviews

[Emma S Retzer]

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

[Kathrine Rethorn]

Lol thanks babe