The Belial Ring (The Belial Series 3) (31 page)

“
Except for reaching out to Laney and coming out of hiding for Henry.”

She shrugged.
“They are my kryptonite. I’d do anything to keep them safe, keep them happy.”

“
Can you tell me what happened back at the Serapeum?”

She shook her head.
“No. I’m afraid that’s one of the things it’s not safe to tell you about.”

“
But how is it possible—”

Victoria took his hand.
“Please, Patrick. I don’t say these things to be unkind.”

He placed his hand over hers.
“Very well. For now.”

She nodded.
“For now.”

A knock at the door caused Patrick to turn.
Ralph stood in the doorway. “The plane will be ready in an hour. We should leave in thirty minutes.”

“
Are we all going?” Patrick asked, not able to ask the question he really wanted to ask.

“
Yes.” Ralph’s voice softened. “I’ll bring Jake.”

CHAPTER 64

Baltimore, Maryland

L
aney leaned her head back, lulled by the movement of the car. Kati sat on one side of her, Rocky on the other. Jen was driving up front. Laney would occasionally catch Jen’s worried gaze through the rearview mirror.

Kati held her hand, occasionally giving it a squeeze.
But none of them tried to make her talk.
Thank God
. She wasn't ready for that yet.

Laney watched the trees pass by, blurry from the speed.
It was like a dream image. Which was actually perfect. Because right now, she felt like she was in a dream: a really horrible dream. Nothing seemed real or solid. Her body was on automatic pilot, she felt so disconnected from it.

Jake
. She took a shuddering breath. Her chest felt like it was in a vise.

She closed her eyes, felt the fresh wave of grief
, the tears slipping down her cheeks.
It can’t be true. Jake can’t be dead. This is all some horrible mistake.

Kati squeezed her hand.
“What can we do for you?”

Laney opened her eyes.
“Nothing. Just be here. That’s enough.”

Rocky nodded, resting her head on Laney
’s shoulder. Laney leaned into her, feeling the sorrow well up in her. It was threatening to swallow her whole.

Tears dripped onto her shirt.
She didn’t care. Kati leaned over, wrapping her arms around her. Laney held onto her like she was a life preserver.
How do people survive this?

Jen glanced over her shoulder at them before whipping her head back to the road.
She slammed on the brakes.  “Shit.”

Laney reached out to grab Kati before she could hit the floor.

“
What the—” Rocky yelled, but the rest of the curse died in her throat.

Ahead, a car blocked the way.
All Laney’s feelings of being disconnected with her body disappeared and she was immediately slammed back into reality. Her head whipped around as Jen slammed the car into reverse.

Another car sped into view, pulling across the road, cutting off their escape.

Laney’s gut clenched. They were trapped.

CHAPTER 65

L
aney looked ahead of her and behind, her grief-stricken mind taking precious seconds to recognize the danger.

It didn
’t take Jen nearly as long. “Call Henry,” she ordered Rocky.

Turning to Laney and Kati
, Jen said, “The car’s bulletproof. We’re staying in it until the cavalry arrives.”

Rocky closed her phone
and pulled out her sidearm, checking the magazine. “Henry’s on the way. And let’s prepare just in case the ‘wait and see’ plan doesn’t work.”

Kati gripped Laney
’s hand, her face pale. With her other hand, she gripped her necklace, the one that spelled out
Max
.

The movement pierced Laney
’s heart. She pictured Max, his big eyes just like his dad’s, his smile just like his mom’s.

Laney turned Kati to face her.
“It’s going to be okay, Kati. I promise. Now I need you to do exactly what we say, okay?”

Kati nodded.
Laney knew terror had taken her voice.

Laney turned to Jen.
“This goes south, your job is to get Kati out of here.”

“
Laney, what are you—” Jen began.

Laney cut her off, refusing to let Jen look away from her.
“She’s all Max has left. You get her out of here. You promise me.”

Laney knew Jen wanted to argue
, but she gave Laney a terse nod instead.

Laney pulled the seat back in front of her down to reveal a handgun and magazine.
She slammed the magazine into place.

“
Two guys ahead, two behind,” Rocky said.

Laney glanced out the windows.
Both sets of men had exited their cars. One pulled out a machine gun. He blanketed the car with a round of fire.

Laney dove to the floor, pulling Kati with her.
Rocky lay crouched next to them. The car’s bulletproofing held.

Laney got up slowly, glanc
ing over at Jen, who was still in the front seat. “Jen, you sensing anything?”

Jen nodded.
“At least one is a nephilim. I don’t know about the other two behind us. Too far away.”

Laney looked at Rocky
, who was scanning between the front and back of the car. “Aim for the heart.”

Rocky
’s head stopped moving; she stared out the front windshield. “How’s this thing proofed against grenades?”

“
It’s not,” Laney answered, following Rocky’s gaze. One of the men pulled a grenade launcher onto his shoulder.

“
Oh my God.” Laney reached around Kati, flinging open the door, her heart pounding.

Jen was already outside
, pulling Kati from the car. “We need to move.”

Laney
’s heart rate tripled as she saw the grenade launch, heading straight for them.

CHAPTER 66

“G
et out!” Rocky yelled.

Laney leapt out the door, pulling the trigger as she flew.
Ahead, Jen disappeared into the woods with Kati. Laney said a quick prayer of thanks for that break.

Laney could hear Rocky returning fire. The men dove for cover
on one side of the road; Laney ran for cover on the other side.

The car exploded as Laney dove into the ditch along the road.
Metal shrapnel flew in all directions.

Laney
raised her head to find a jagged piece of metal just two inches from her face. She imagined what would have happened if it had landed just a few inches over.

Shoving
that image aside, she started to crawl along the ditch, hoping she could come up behind two of the men, give herself at least a fighting chance.

Laney peeked out in time to see two men converging on her. One had a cut in his forehead that wasn
’t healing. Good. She leaned up, aiming for his chest.

Pulling the trigger, she cursed
: he’d caught sight of her and jerked to the right. She quickly compensated and let off a volley of shots. One caught him in the neck. Not where she was aiming, but it would do. He dropped to the ground, a spray of blood following him down.

The other man sprinted at her, but he had no noticeable injuries.
Nephilim
.

Laney had no other choice. She
yanked the chain off her neck and shoved the ring on her finger.

“
Stop!” she screamed.

The man paused.
From his face, she could tell he was as surprised as she was.

But whatever she was doing to him, he was fighting
it. Slowly, he began to move his limbs—and smile.

A two-foot piece of metal
erupted from his chest. His smile turned to a silent scream of agony. Jen’s head appeared over his shoulder as she twisted the metal, throwing the man to the side.

Laney whirled around, catching sight of a blur sprinting
toward them. She leveled her gun, pulling the trigger over and over again.

“
He’s mine,” Jen growled, taking off at a run. She slammed into the blur, pounding him into the ground, her hand wrapped around the man’s throat.

Laney didn’t have time to watch; m
ovement to her right caused her to turn. The fourth gunman. She’d lost him in all the commotion. He had already lined her up. There was nowhere for Laney to go. She raised her hands.

“
It’s too late for that,” he said, and pulled the trigger.

CHAPTER 67

“L
aney!” Rocky yelled as she dove in front of Laney.

The bullet caught Rocky in the back.
She fell onto Laney, pushing her backward against the ground.

Laney
’s eyes went wide. Her breath seemed to disappear.

Her head snapped upward again at the crack of
another gunshot. Henry appeared behind the gunman, who slumped to the ground.

Frantic, Laney rolled Rocky off
of her. “Rocky?”

The bullet had punched through
Rocky’s chest, leaving a gaping hole. Blood dribbled from Rocky’s mouth.

“
No, no, no, no,” Laney moaned, putting her hands on the chest wound, trying her best to stanch the flow of blood.

But the blood
just swirled through her fingers, dripping to the ground below. “It’ll be okay, Rocky. We’ll get you fixed up.”

“
Liar,” Rocky choked out, trying to smile. “’S’okay, Laney.”

Tears swam in Laney
’s eyes. She grabbed Rocky’s hand. “No, it’s not okay. Why did you do that? You shouldn’t have done that.”

“
Had to.”

“
Damn it, I don’t care what Victoria told you to do. You didn’t—”

“
Not for her—”

Rocky
’s struggled breathing stopped. Her hand went limp in Laney’s grip.

Laney pulled Rocky up, hugging her to her chest, rocking back and forth.
“Rocky, no, no.”

Jen knelt down next to her, wrapping her arms around the two of them.
Laney’s tears fell on Rocky’s dark hair.
Not again. Rocky can’t be gone, too.

Jen released Laney as Henry knelt down next to them.
“Laney,” he said quietly.

Laney looked at him
. She felt her world slipping away again.

Henry gently placed his hand on
Rocky's shoulder. “Give her to me, Laney. I’ll take care of her.”

Laney shook her head, even as she let Henry take Rocky from her arms.

Tears trailed down
Laney’s cheeks, and sobs shook her frame. “This can’t keep happening, Henry. It can’t.”

Henry gently lay Rocky down on the ground.

Laney stared at her friend. Memories assaulted her.
You can’t be dead. You can’t be.

She reached over and touched Rocky
’s cheek. Already, it felt different. There was no spark of life. She closed Rocky’s eyes.

Tremors worked their way down from her hand until her whole body was shaking
.

Jen wrapped her arms around Laney from behind, helping her
to stand, then pulling her away.

Laney didn
’t fight her. She didn’t have the strength to.

CHAPTER 68

L
aney sat in the back of Kevin Chang’s car with Jen as Henry sped toward the estate. She replayed the gunfight in her mind.

She should have moved faster.
Gotten out of the line of fire. Noticed the fourth shooter. If she’d done any of that, Rocky would still be alive.