The Belial Ring (The Belial Series 3)

by R. D. Brady

  A wave of panic rolled through her. Laney shook her head. Nope. Too much pressure. She focused on reining in her breathing. I’m just going to find a ring. That’s it. Nothing important.

  She sat on the ground, her back against an ancient wall. She closed her eyes, trying to remember all the dreams of the young girl. “Okay, Amaris, show me where you put it.”

  CHAPTER 53

  Giza, Egypt

  AD 650

  Amaris held onto Gaius’s big forearm. The crowds made her nervous. She could still picture the mobs at Alexandria. The poor people trampled under their anger.

  Gaius leaned down, patting her arm. “It’s all right, Amaris. This isn’t an angry crowd. Look around. They’re celebrating. They’re happy.”

  People circled about them, some chatting, some rushing by, others talking excitedly. But Gaius was right: no one looked angry.

  Fires were being lit as darkness had begun to fall. The fires brought up memories of Alexandria.

  Amaris struggled to figure out why the crowds scared her. Finally she said, “It just—it looks different.”

  But that wasn’t really it. Since Gaius and Amaris had escaped Alexandria, living in Rome until the situation in Egypt had calmed, the Muslims had cemented their rule.

  Gaius shook his head. “It’s no different—not for the people. One ruler or another, the only thing that truly changes for everyday people is the names.”

  She knew he was right. Rulers rarely concerned themselves with the plight of those under their control. Even before the Muslims took over, the life of everyday Egyptians was worth very little. It was no different now.

  Amaris and Gaius continued through the crowd, skirting around a group of people that had gathered to watch two young men dance at the base of the Djoser pyramid. They stopped to watch for only a moment before continuing on their way.

  Soon Amaris and Gaius left the crowds around the Djoser pyramid behind, heading southeast toward the Serapeum. Amaris imagined the ancient people who had built these towering monuments of Egypt.

  But then her mind focused on one. Helen, the creator of the prison.

  Gaius interrupted her thoughts. “Look, there it is.”

  Up ahead, two rows of sphinxes, twenty hundred in all, faced each other, creating a path that led to the Serapeum. Gaius and Amaris stopped at the beginning of the path. The sphinxes, although much smaller than the Great Sphinx, still towered above them. Already, though, the desert was beginning to reclaim them.

  Years ago, Amaris would have felt frightened. But today, she felt empowered. This was where she was supposed to be. She could feel Hypatia urging her on. “Let’s go. Will we be able to get in?”

  “Yes. I had the entryway uncovered.”

  The Serapeum had been all but abandoned centuries earlier, when the animal cults died out. But still, some believers made their way through. Amaris noticed their footprints in the sand. Or perhaps those were the footprints of the merely curious.

  Up ahead a faint light spilled through the ancient entryway. Amaris grabbed Gaius’s arm. “Someone’s here.”

  Gaius patted her arm. “It’s all right. He’s a friend.”

  Together they walked through the avenue of sphinxes. Amaris’s dagger felt cool against her side. Her hand reached up and grabbed the leather satchel on the string around her neck. In contrast to the coolness of the dagger, the ring inside the pouch felt warm.

  Up ahead, a small man appeared holding a torch. He had very little hair, but what he did have reached his shoulders. Most of his teeth were gone, but he grinned broadly, giving him the look of someone slightly deranged.

  Gaius let go of Amaris’s arm to greet him. “Dredgos. It is good to see you.” Gaius wrapped the man in a hug, clapping him on the back.

  When Gaius released him, Dredgos gestured toward Amaris, saying something in a language she didn’t recognize.

  “What did he say?” Amaris asked.

  Gaius grinned back at her. “He said he knew you were the one. He could feel it as you approached.”

  Dredgos stepped back with a bow.

  Amaris stepped onto the sloping rock floor. Dredgos said something else to Gaius, and Gaius translated. “He says you should take his torch. He has lit the farther regions, but didn’t want too much light at the opening in case it drew attention.”

  Taking the torch, Amaris nodded her thanks to the strange little man. She made her way into the cool earth, a refreshing change from the beating heat above.

  At the end of the hall, she turned left and went still. The granite sarcophagi lined the rough-hewn hallway. Torchlight lit the way, the flames causing shadows to dance on the walls. She glanced to where the shadows stretched along the floor toward her. They looked like monsters, reaching for her as she passed.

  Amaris gaped as she made her way down the hall. She had expected the graves to be big, but these were enormous. They towered above her. Which, she realized, was appropriate. They were the only structures that could contain the real monsters.

  “Amaris? Are you all right?” Gaius called from behind her.

  Amaris glanced over her shoulder at Gaius, who stood next to Dredgos back at the beginning of the path.

  “I’m all right.” She felt warmed by his concern. Until Gaius, she’d never felt a father’s love.

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  She shook her head. “No. This is my duty.”

  He nodded. “We’ll wait back at the entrance for you.” He disappeared back up the tunnel with Dredgos, leaving her alone.

  Amaris looked around. Hypatia’s note had said that she would be able to find the hiding spot, but as she looked around she wasn’t so sure. The place was massive, and yet, there didn’t seem to be any hiding spots, at least not any that wouldn’t be readily discovered. Everything was out in the open. And she knew without even trying that she’d never be able to move one of the sarcophagi’s lids.

  Recalling Hypatia’s letter to her, Amaris closed her eyes, calming her breathing, waiting for the knowledge to come to her.

  Hypatia’s voice drifted through her mind. “Focus, Amaris. Think of the ring. You’ll know what to do.”

  It didn’t take long. An image appeared in her mind.

  Amaris smiled. “Got it.”

  CHAPTER 54

  Laney’s eyes popped open and she sat still. I can’t believe that worked.

  Springing to her feet, she made her way halfway down the second set of sarcophagi. She stopped at the sarcophagus second from the back on the right-hand side, and walked around to the back of it. She traced the small cut marks at its base. They would be easily overlooked if you weren’t looking for them. Two small interlaced triangles.

  Laney then walked around the sarcophagus until she was at the midway point of the left side. Stepping up to the edge of the ancient cell, she ran her hands over its granite. Still smooth. Incredible.

  Laney slid her hand over to the seam where the lid met the base. Not a single seam was visible.

  Doubt crawled through her. Was she wrong?

  Laney placed one hand just below the seam and another at the bottom of the sarcophagus. She had to really stretch. Her arms were barely long enough to cover the expanse. Whoever had thought of this hiding spot hadn’t taken into consideration the smaller stature of those who might have to use it.

  Grunting, she pushed. Nothing. Panic began to rise in her. This is it. It has to be.

  Closing her eyes, she pictured what she’d seen in her memory. Not the full hand. Three fingers. Just like the triangle.

  Repositioning her hands, she placed only three fingers on the same spots. She pushed all three fingers at the same time.

  The granite moved.

  Just an inch, but it moved. She heard a small sound from the back of the sarcophagus.

  Heart pounding, Laney walked around. A little door, only four inches square, lay open. On trembling legs, she squatted down, swallowing hard.

  Here goes nothing. Laney reached
her hand in.

  The space wasn’t deep, only a few inches. Her fingers wrapped around a metal object. Trembling, she pulled it out.

  Laney sank down to the earth and opened her hand. The ring was small, made of a dark, heavy metal. On its face were two interlaced triangles. Blowing off the dust, she noticed the four small jewels in each corner of the square ring’s face. Each jewel represented one of the elements, which the ring bearer could allegedly control.

  Laney stared at her find with both excitement and dread. The Ring of Solomon. Not touched by human hands in almost fifteen hundred years.

  And she had found it.

  As she closed her hand, the metal felt warm against her palm. She took a steadying breath. There was no doubt left.

  Her whisper sounded like a yell in the still space. “I’m the ring bearer.”

  CHAPTER 55

  Jake stood with Henry in the entryway of the exhibit. A multitude of footprints dotted the ground. Placards along the wall explained about the site’s importance, and pictures documented the site’s reconstruction.

  Jake paced past the placards again. He had already read them. Twice. There was nothing here to hold his attention. Nothing, at least, that was more important than the woman in the next room. Time and again, he found his gaze straying back down the hall.

  Henry leaned against the far wall, his legs crossed at the ankles, watching him. “She’ll be all right, Jake. If there’s any danger, it will have to get through us first. Or Patrick and Victoria.”

  “I know. I just—hell, I don’t know. I just want to make sure she’s all right.”

  Henry gave a deep chuckle.

  “What?”

  “You. You are well and truly whipped. And it’s nice to see.”

  Jake wanted to argue, but the truth was, he probably was. And he didn’t care. He was happy. She made him happy. “Maybe I am.”

  “So do I have to see what kind of shape my tux is in?”

  Jake raised an eyebrow. Marrying Laney. It wasn’t the first time he’d thought of it.

  A feeling of warmth spread through him at the idea. Years ago, he never would have thought of himself as the marrying kind. And the idea of marriage still wasn’t something he thought of as being for him. Except if he was marrying Laney. Then he knew there was nothing he wanted more.

  Jake smiled. “Maybe.”

  Henry straightened away from the wall. “Laney.”

  Jake whirled around. “Did you find it? Are you all right?”

  Laney walked toward them, her shadow growing larger behind her. She stopped in front of the two of them, and held out her hand.

  A small, square metal ring lay there, with a jewel at each corner and two interlaced triangles adorning the face.

  Henry smiled. “Knew you could do it.”

  Laney looked over at Jake. He could see she was proud to have found the ring, but also afraid because it confirmed who she was.

  He shrugged, keeping his voice nonchalant. “That’s what all the fuss is about? It’s pretty ugly.”

  Laney laughed, and Jake saw some of the tension leave her shoulders. “I thought the same thing.”

  “All right, chosen one.” Jake offered her his arm. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

  She smiled. “Absolutely.”

  Jake grasped her hand, but inside he was shaken. Through all this craziness, he had hoped Victoria was wrong. He had hoped Laney wasn’t the destined one, the ring bearer.

  He wanted her safe, but how would he be able to keep her safe now?

  CHAPTER 56

  Johnson City, Tennessee

  Amar paced, waiting for the phone to ring. Enough. He grabbed his phone off the desk, punching in the numbers. His call was answered after the first ring.

  Wind sounded in the background. “Sir.”

  “Where are you? Have you reached the target?”

  “No, sir. We found the safe house, but they’d already left. We’re trailing behind them now.”

  “Where have they gone?”

  “According to our reports, they’re heading to Saqqara.”

  Amar paused, picturing the ancient City of the Dead. He didn’t doubt the intel. There were always hands stretched out who would happily sell their mother for a few coins. But Saqqara? Why there?

  He pictured Djsoer’s pyramid. It couldn’t be there, but the only other Saqqara site of any real relevance was—

  He stood up straight. “The Serapeum. They’re heading for the Serapeum.”

  There was a pause on the phone. “The Serapeum? Sir, I’m not sure I’m familiar—”

  “Oh for God’s sake, what do they teach you children in school these days? The Serapeum—the resting place for the Apis bulls. It’s an underground necropolis. The ring must be there.”

  “Why is that, sir?”

  Amar rolled his eyes. He needed to insist his people start reading. “Helen. She built it. She was a former ring bearer.”

  “Who is—”

  “Enough,” Amar barked, and the line went silent.

  He stared out the window. If they were in fact going to the Serapeum, there could be no doubt. Delaney McPhearson was the ring bearer. And that meant she was too dangerous. They could not let her learn how to use the ring.

  “How far from Saqqara are you?”

  “Only a few miles away, sir.”

  Amar growled. “They could already be at the tomb by now. If she gets that ring . . .”

  “I know, sir. What would you have us do?”

  “Drive faster.”

  CHAPTER 57

  Laney placed the ring on the chain around her neck as she followed Henry to the exit. Since all of this started, a part of her had continued to believe that none of it was real. It was just a story—a story about someone else. And yet, the ring around her neck was very real. She couldn’t deny that.

  Still, that didn’t mean that it worked, her rational side countered. It could all just be a legend. Maybe Solomon had a couple of lucky breaks in trying to control the weather. Maybe he was a charlatan and only called for wind and rain when a storm was starting up.

  And the control of the animals? Her mind whispered. Maybe he just—

  She shook her head. She had nothing to explain that ability, if Solomon actually had it. Maybe he just had a really loyal dog and the stories grew from there.

  Jake touched her on the shoulder. “You all right?”

  Laney gave him a small smile. “Slightly overwhelmed.”

  “Anything change when you found it?”

  She sighed. “Not a thing. And I was expecting something. Maybe not a choir of angels, but a tingle or a feeling that told me it belonged to me. But it’s just an old ugly ring.”

  “Well, did you try it on?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  She gave a little laugh. “Why not? Jake, do you realize all the surreal things we’ve found out about in the last year? For all I know, when I put this ring on I’ll sprout wings, turn green, and start speaking in tongues.”

  Jake laughed. “Maybe. Or you could just shoot lightning bolts from your fingertips. That might actually come in handy.”

  Laney wrapped her hand around his arm. “I know my imagination is going into overdrive. But I think I’d like to try tapping into whatever power this thing has in a controlled environment.”

  “And you don’t think hiding in a three-thousand-year-old necropolis, while on the run from Fallen angels, is a controlled environment? You have some pretty high standards, girl.”

  “Well, a girl’s got to have standards.”

  He wrapped an arm around her with a little squeeze. “Standards and your own personal bodyguards. You have me and Henry to keep you safe and stay with you.”

  “At least there’s that.”

  Jake stepped away as they reached the entrance. “Ready?”

  “You go first,” she said.

  He looked at her for a moment. “Take your time.”
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  She nodded, turning to look back down the necropolis. She knew she was stalling, but part of her knew that once she left the Serapeum, her life would be changed forever. She would be accepting her role as the ring bearer—and all that it entailed.

  Laney rubbed the face of the ring. “Okay, former me’s, any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.”

  No answer came to her—not that she had really expected one. But a feeling of calm settled over her. She smiled, breathing deep. “Thank you,” she whispered, then turned and stepped out onto the sandy path.

  Up ahead, she could see Henry and Jake had reached Patrick and Victoria. They all waited for her. Above them, dawn had broken and the sky was a pale pink. Laney began the walk, feeling more confident as she neared them. When she came close, Jake reached back to take her hand.

  The walls of packed sand on either side of them kept the City of the Dead from her view. But Laney felt the city coming to life in the morning light, rather than being chased back to sleep. She could feel the history, the ghosts of those long dead.

  And yet she wasn’t afraid. Instead of the feeling of creepiness that she had felt before they went into the Serapeum, she now felt a sense of communion with those that had been here before. The feel of those from long ago almost gave her a sense of peace.

  Patrick smiled over at her. “Success?”

  Laney gave a nod. “Yes.”

  Everyone seemed to realize that that was all she wanted to say right now. They didn’t question her further.

  Except for Jake. “What’s the smile for?”

  She linked arms with him. “I don’t know. I just feel connected to this place now.”

  Victoria gave her a nod and a small smile. Laney smiled back.

  Right now, she knew who she was; what she was meant to do. Maybe it was the ring. Maybe it was her former selves. Maybe it was fate. But whatever it was, she was in this fight now. She grasped Jake’s hand.