The Belial Ring (The Belial Series 3) (29 page)

“
No.” Laney threw Patrick off with a strength that shocked him. She sat in front of Jake’s body, her arms out. “I won’t leave him.”

Patrick looked over to Henry for help
, but Henry looked like he was in shock. His mouth gaped, his eyes fixed on Laney and Jake.

Patrick yelled.
“Henry!”

Henry finally pulled his eyes from Jake to focus on Patrick.

Patrick gripped the tall man
’s arms. “Laney. You need to get her out of here. Get her to the plane and take off.”

“
But the rest of you—” Henry began to argue.

Victoria cut her son off.
“Don’t matter.
She
matters. Get her out of here.”

Henry
’s eyes cleared. He gave an abrupt nod, grabbing Laney by the shoulders. “Laney. We have to go.”

She shoved at him.
“I’m not leaving him.”

“
He’s gone, Laney,” Henry said. “We have to go.”

“
No!” she screamed, shoving Henry away again.

Bullets continued to chip away at their cover.

“
Get her out of here, Henry,” Patrick yelled, leaning against the packed sand, trying to find a shot, but there was nothing. The shooter, or shooters, were too far away. And every time he popped his head out, he had to yank it back.

“
Sorry, Laney,” Henry said as he grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder and sprinting away.

Patrick could feel his jaw drop as he watched the trail of dust race after them.

Victoria grabbed Patrick’s arm. “Hurry. There isn’t much time.”

CHAPTER 59

H
enry ran with Laney over his shoulder, the image of Jake a constant in the back of his mind. While he struggled to figure out where to go, part of his mind rebelled against what had just happened. Denied that he had just lost the man he loved like a brother.

The sand made it difficult to run fast.
And Saqqara didn’t offer much by way of cover. There was the Djoser pyramid and the smaller Userkaf pyramid; besides that, there were just a few scattered sand dunes. Hiding spots were in short supply.

Henry sprinted through the dusty ground, at times
slowed by the sand to almost human speed. Images of Jake clouded his mind, but he shoved them out. He needed to focus on getting himself and Laney to safety.

The gunshots died away
, and Henry knew that whoever had been shooting at them at the entrance had realized that their quarry had left. But why shoot now? They hadn’t shot at Laney in Hershey. What changed?

The ring.
Laney had found the ring. Before, they hadn’t been sure that she was the ring bearer. They had been waiting for proof. And her discovery of the ring provided that proof, confirmed her identity. And marked her for death.

The sound of engines behind him told him
that he’d been spotted. Henry tried to increase his pace, but the sandy terrain was making that difficult. He glanced back. Two cars gave chase on the road parallel to him, and one blur trailed behind the cars but was catching up fast. A Fallen or a nephilim.

Henry swore silently, struggling to come up with a plan.
He knew the City of the Dead was filled with ancient tombs and edifices. If he headed there, he could probably lose the cars, but not the man.

He veered left.
There was no choice. Out in the open, he and Laney were sitting ducks. Henry sprinted toward Djoser’s pyramid. The cars had to stop, the barricades keeping them out. He heard the slam of doors as men joined the footrace. He prayed they were mere mortals.

Laney hit him on the back.
“Put me down.”

“
Laney, we have to—”

She cut him off.
“I know. I have a plan.”

CHAPTER 60

L
aney crouched in the entrance of the Djoser pyramid, hidden by the shadows. She was still shaking, but she forced herself to not picture Jake.

Not now, not now
, she thought over and over again as his image tried to worm its way in.

Henry had all but tossed her at the entryway
as they’d turned the corner of the pyramid, hidden from their pursuers’ view. She’d rolled, and her shoulder still stung from the impact.

Henry leapt up the side.

The blur was ten feet away.

Laney prayed he hadn
’t noticed Henry’s throw.             

The blur came closer
, and then, without slowing, it leapt to the first level of the pyramid.              

Laney slid out, using the side of the entry for cover.
She fired round after round at the blurry pursuer.

The blur turned into a man.
He crashed to the first level and rolled off, onto the ground below.

Laney stalked forward, peppering his torso with bullets, taking aim at the heart.

Henry jumped down next to her, grabbing her hand. “They’re coming.”

Laney looked
past the Fallen and, sure enough, another seven men were sprinting toward them, all running at normal speed.
Thank God for that.

Laney and Henry ran in the opposite direction.
But once out of the pyramid’s enclosure, it was all but impossible to maintain any speed. They were running on sand.

Henry turned around and grabbed Laney,
once again throwing her over his shoulder. But even with his abilities, the sand was a struggle. He jumped over a sand dune, landing hard on the other side. His feet started to slide and Laney was thrown.

Laney
tucked as she flew, rolling down to the bottom of the dune. She sat up, spitting out sand, feeling it in her clothes, hair, mouth.

Henry grabbed her hand.
“We have to—”

A man flew over the sand dune, landing twenty feet away from them.
The same Fallen who’d run them down.

Laney crab
-walked backward before scrambling to her feet. Apparently she hadn’t killed him—only slowed him down. And not much at that.

Yells from the top of the sand dune
grabbed her attention. The seven men who’d been chasing them were now lined up. All of them with weapons pointed at Laney and Henry.

“
Henry, get out of here,” Laney ordered, but her voice shook. The image of Jake that she’d been struggling to keep out of her mind came back with the force of a train, nearly dropping her to her knees. She’d lost Jake, and now she was about to lose Henry, too.

Henry looked down into Laney
’s face. “I’m not leaving you, Laney.”

Fear shot through her, setting her shaking.
She grabbed Henry’s hand. “Don’t do this. Run. You can escape. Run,” she begged.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t a better protector.”

“
No!” Laney tried to step around him, to block him from the shooters. He wouldn’t let her. “Henry, please go.”

Her heart felt like it was going to split in two.
She couldn’t lose him, too. She knew she would never survive losing both of them.

A barrage of bullets thundered from above.
Henry pushed Laney to the ground, covering her with his body, hugging her to himself.

Laney screamed, her whole body starting to shake.
“No! No! No!”

Finally, the sounds died away.
Laney’s heart pounded, her voice disappeared.
No, not Henry, too. Please, not Henry, too.

She stayed still, knowing
that if she didn’t move, didn’t speak, she wouldn’t have to know. It seemed like forever, but she knew it was only a few seconds.

Finally,
Laney whispered: “Henry?”

“
I’m okay.”

Relief
washed over her; if she’d been standing, she would have collapsed. She wanted to burst into tears and throw up at the same time. She struggled to calm her breathing.
He’s alive. He’s alive.

Henry rolled off her and helped her sit up.
Laney looked to the top of the sand dune.

The seven men that had been there had been replaced
by five different men, all dressed in black. And instead of pointing their weapons at Laney and Henry, they had them directed at the seven men they’d just shot.

The Fallen was also down.
Another man in black advanced on him. He had the dark complexion and hair of an Egyptian.

Laney was about to yell out a warning, when the Fallen sprang up from the ground.
The man in black was ready for him. He emptied five shots into the man’s chest, all at the heart.

The Fallen fell back.
The man in black emptied the rest of his bullets into him.

Satisfied the Fallen was well and truly dead, the man in black turned to Laney and Henry.
“Dr. McPhearson? Mr. Chandler? I’m Mustafa Massri. Agent Clark contacted us and said you might be in need of assistance.”

Henry stepped in front of Laney.
“And who do you work for?”

Mustafa bowed.
“The Egyptian division of the SIA. We’ll take you safely to your plane. If you’ll follow me.”

Laney looked at the Fallen and the
seven dead men on the dune. The other men in black hadn’t pointed their weapons at either Henry or her. They seemed completely focused on the men they’d shot. And obviously they knew about the Fallen.

Laney wasn
’t sure she trusted Mustafa or the SIA, but then, once again, they didn’t have much of a choice.

Henry looked down at her.
“Laney?”

She nodded at Mustafa.
“Lead the way.”

CHAPTER 61

H
enry sat in the back seat of the Land Rover. Mustafa sat in the front passenger seat while another man in black, who hadn’t been introduced, drove. Two other Range Rovers, one ahead and one behind, accompanied them as well.

Laney sat next to Henry.
Henry knew adrenaline had kept her going at Saqqara, but now it had begun to fade. And the loss of Jake was hitting her, coupled with the close call of both of them nearly losing their lives.

She stared out the window, not saying anything, her face expressionless.
But she held Henry’s hand in a death grip. Henry knew his hand in hers was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

Mustafa turned around in his seat.
“I’m sorry we were so late. We received word only thirty minutes ago. It’s a miracle we were able to reach you at all.”

“
We appreciate the assist,” Henry said.

Mustafa nodded, his deep eyes conveying his sincerity as they passed over Laney before settling back on Henry.
“And I’m sorry for the loss of your colleague. I hear he was an incredible man.”

A shudder ran through Laney.
Henry gripped her hand harder. He saw the lights of the airfield up ahead. He squeezed her hand, silently telling her to hold on, that they were almost there.

“
Thank you. He was—” Henry swallowed as a wave of grief hit him. When he spoke, his voice shook. “He was family.”

Mustafa nodded.
“I understand.”

Henry looked at the plane up ahead.
They were getting close, but it seemed to be taking forever. Henry knew he was close to losing it. To distract himself, he asked, “How exactly did Clark know we were in trouble?”

Mustafa shrugged.
“That I do not know. You will have to ask him. And if you manage to get some answers from him, well, I hear miracles do happen.”

Henry turned his head, clenching his teeth.
Oh, he’d get answers. He didn’t doubt that for a minute. If Clark knew about the attack, there was something he hadn’t shared with them. Something that could, perhaps, have saved Jake.

The Range Rover pulled up to the Gulf
stream. It was already running. Henry had called Claude as soon as they’d gotten in the SUV. He’d also texted Patrick, who had told him to go on without them. That he and Victoria would see to Jake.

What Patrick had meant was
that they’d see to Jake’s body.

Henry struggled to hold in his grief.
He needed to be strong for Laney now.