by R. D. Brady
Clark paused. “SIA has a mole inside Samyaza’s group.”
CHAPTER 74
Laney stared at Clark, her anger returning full force. “You have a mole? Didn’t you kind of bury the lead in this little conversation?”
Henry’s response was equally heated. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us sooner? We could have found Samyaza and ended this already.”
Clark shook his head. “The mole has a very specific mission. And we weren’t ready to take the fight to Samyaza. Not until Laney had the ring and knew how to use it. But our mole warned us about the attack, although he couldn’t safely reach us until the last minute. I scrambled the SIA as soon as I heard.”
Laney watched Clark’s face through the whole re-telling. Her anger began to ebb. She realized she believed him.
But she wasn’t sure if that was because Clark was telling the truth or because he was a good actor. She had a feeling it was the former and sighed. “I’m sorry for taking a swing at you.”
Clark smiled, inclining his head. “Not the first time somebody has, and probably won’t be the last.”
“So, tell us more about this mole,” Henry said, his arms across his chest. Apparently he wasn’t as convinced of Clark’s sincerity.
Clark stood. “Actually, I brought someone with me to do that. She’s waiting outside.”
Laney flashed on the woman they’d seen outside Henry’s office.
Clark disappeared through Henry’s doors and was back in a few seconds. Beside him was a small woman, shorter even than Laney’s five foot four. With pale brown hair and light brown eyes, she gave off an air of fragility.
The woman glanced around the room nervously.
Laney realized she’d probably overheard the yelling earlier. Poor woman, she probably thought she was walking into a viper’s den.
Laney stood, as did Jen and Henry.
Clark led the woman over to them. “Amanda Datson, this is Dr. Jennifer Witt, Dr. Laney McPhearson, and Henry Chandler.”
As Amanda shook hands with each of them, Laney realized that her earlier impression of fragility had been off the mark; Laney could sense the strength in her.
And Amanda didn’t even blink at Henry’s height. Interesting.
Clark ushered Amanda to a chair next to him and they all re-took their seats. “Amanda here is an analyst with the SIA. She’s been with us for about three years.” He turned to her. “Amanda, I have agreed to share with these people the identity of the mole.”
Amanda’s eyes grew big. She shook her head. “No. You promised.”
Clark gently took her hand. “Amanda, they can be trusted. I wouldn’t do anything to put him at risk. Please. Tell them your story.”
Amanda looked at him for a long moment before turning her attention to Laney, Jen, and Henry. “All right. Although, I’m not sure how to begin.”
“How about starting with how you know the mole?” Jen asked.
Amanda gave a small smile. “Well, that’s easy. I’ve known him all my life. He’s my brother.”
CHAPTER 75
Amanda told her story without embellishment, without hesitation, but Laney could feel the woman’s pain. It wasn’t an easy story to tell.
Amanda sat on the chair next to Clark, her voice calm but her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “Maddox and I grew up like most kids, with a normal mom and dad—or so we thought. Then one day, Dad never came home.”
She took a breath and Laney could feel the sadness, even years later. Her love for her father was obvious.
“I was eight. Maddox was ten.” She looked away for a moment before continuing. “Maddox became my protector after that. I mean, he was always a good brother, taking care of me. But after Dad disappeared, we had to move to a not-so-great neighborhood. More than once we got hassled. But Maddox, he held everyone at bay. By the time he was twelve, he had a reputation, and most people left us alone.
“Every once in a while, though, some older kid would get it in his head that he could take Maddox. Maddox was big for his age.” She gave Henry a small smile. “Not quite as big as you, but he’s taller than most. I think he’s about six-six or so now. Anyway, the big kids would come and the big kids would fall.”
“So he became a hard case,” Jen said.
Amanda shook her head. “Only to the outside world. To me, he was the brother who I watched cartoons with, made forts with. And who taught me how to fight. But I was never as good as him. Maddox has skills that I didn’t have. He’s gifted. He’s like our dad.”
Laney looked at Amanda but didn't see any fear or jealousy in her. She loved her brother, that was clear.
“Was your dad a Fallen?” Jen asked.
Amanda nodded. “I didn’t realize it while he was with us. But my dad . . . he was fast, really fast. One time, we took a family vacation to Mount Rushmore. Maddox and Mom were asleep, but my dad saw I was awake. He asked if I wanted to go on an adventure.”
Amanda smiled. “He took me to the park and we climbed the rock face. Or rather, Dad jumped up it with me on his back. We sat on top and watched the dawn. I was five. It’s my best memory of him.”
Her smile disappeared. “But when we reached the ground, he warned me not to say anything about our climb. At the time, I thought it was because we’d get in trouble with the police. But now I realize he was making sure I didn’t mention his abilities.”
Laney looked at Clark. “Was he actually a Fallen or a nephilim?”
“He was a Fallen,” Clark said. “In fact, at the SIA we identified him as Baraqel.”
“The teacher of astronomy,” Amanda said with the ghost of a smile. “My dad loved the stars.”
“So they can be good?” Surprise was written across Jen's face.
Laney knew Jen was asking out of more than idle curiosity. One of her parents was a Fallen, although Jen had no idea which one. But the idea that her parent could be good must be comforting. Especially considering the alternative.
And Laney hadn’t had a chance to tell her about their previous conversation with Clark—about how he’d said that some Fallen spent their whole lives as good, decent people. In fact, she was having some trouble believing it herself. She knew they had discussed the possibility of Fallen being good, but it was still hard to believe.
Amanda shrugged. “Mine was. Maddox is, too. Anyway, when we were teenagers we were recruited by Samyaza’s group. We didn't know at the time what their end goal was. We just thought it was somewhere safe.”
Amanda went silent. And although her facial expression remained unchanged, her knuckles went white from gripping her hands together.
Laney knew this group was not warm and fuzzy but Amanda sitting here suggested they had let her go, which didn't make any sense.
“So, they just let you go when they realized you didn't have powers?” Laney asked.
Amanda shook her head. “No. To get out, my brother had to kill me.”
CHAPTER 76
Amanda glanced around the room, no doubt realizing the shock her words had caused. Taking a breath, she continued. “Maddox was sixteen when they first contacted us. I guess Maddox’s reputation got to the wrong ears.” She went quiet.
“They asked you to join them?” Henry prodded gently.
She shook her head. “No. First they killed our mom.”
Laney gasped, her eyes flying to Clark. Just like they did with Clark.
Amanda pushed a stray hair out of her eyes and Laney caught the tremble in her hand. Her heart went out to her.
“Of course, at the time, we didn’t know it was them,” Amanda said. “But that’s their M.O. They take people they think are nephilim or Fallen, and they isolate them. Make them want to belong to something. Maddox and I were in foster care for a year. It wasn’t a good year. We went through three foster families. The last placement, they separated us. I think that was the last straw for Maddox. So when Amar’s people came to him, he listened.”
Amanda sighed. “He thought he was doing the right thing
for both of us. They promised us a place to belong, with people who had the same powers. People who could teach him how to use his abilities.”
“And what about you?” Jen asked.
“That was the icing on the cake for Maddox. They wanted me, too. After all, I was Maddox’s full sister. There was a chance I had abilities, too.”
“Where did they take you?” Laney asked.
“Actual location? I didn’t know. It wasn’t until later that I learned we were somewhere in Oregon. It was a compound. There were a bunch of us, maybe twenty.”
Jen inched forward in her chair. “Did they all have powers?”
Amanda shook her head. “No. Only five did. The rest were like me. Normal. They gave us two weeks to demonstrate what we could do. Those that passed, lived. Those that didn’t . . .” Amanda shrugged, letting her words hang in the air.
“So . . . how are you still here?” Laney asked.
“Maddox recognized the situation as soon as we arrived. He warned me that he was going to act like he didn’t care about me. He knew he had to make it look like he was part of the program. So he became the star pupil, ruthless. He even”—she caught her breath—“he even hit me once, broke my arm. But it worked. They believed him.”
Laney knew there was horror on her face.
Amanda glanced at her. “I know how it sounds. But he needed them to believe he was committed. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to save me.”
“How did that come about?” Henry asked.
“Graduation Day. And one last test. The candidates with abilities had to kill the rest of us.”
Amanda paused. “After my dad left, Maddox met this old vet on the streets. He’d been in Vietnam. He taught him this way of stopping blood from flowing through the carotid artery. It knocks a person out for hours. I could never figure out how he did it. It always seemed like something Spock would do. Anyway, he knocked me out. When I woke up, there were bodies piled on top of me. And it was dark. First thing in the morning, they were going to burn us. But Maddox got me out, hid me away. When I made my way to the police station, SIA showed up a couple hours later, before the police could haul me off to the loony bin.”
“And Maddox?” Laney asked.
Amanda’s jaw tightened. “He’s still with them. It’s been nine years.”
Jen turned to Clark, her voice filled with indignation. “Couldn’t you guys offer him protection? Get him out?”
“We could and we did,” Clark said. “He refused. He gives us intel, but that’s not why he stays. He’s saved dozens of kids.”
“But he’s had to take a lot of lives to do that,” Henry said.
Clark nodded. “Yes.”
Laney wondered what that did to a person’s soul. Did it rip it to shreds? Or did the saving of lives help balance out the scales?
“Maddox is how you knew we were in trouble in Egypt,” Henry said.
Clark nodded. “Yes. And it was a huge risk for him to take.” He turned to look at Laney. “But he knows how important you are.”
Jen and Henry looked over at her as well. Laney felt the weight of their stares. Everyone kept telling her how important she was. Funny, though, she didn’t feel important. She felt lost.
Clark stood up. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get to you sooner. And I’m sorry about Rogan and Detective Martinez.”
Amanda stood as well. “I’m sorry for your loss as well.”
Laney nodded, but at the mention of Jake and Rocky, tears clogged her throat. A blanket of grief fell over her. She struggled to keep the tremble out of her limbs.
Henry stood in front of her, blocking her from their view and gestured to the door. “Let me walk you two out.”
But Amanda moved around Henry to stand in front of Laney. Laney stood up, feeling a little wobbly.
Amanda looked in her eyes. “I am very sorry for your loss. But I need to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“My brother was my protector for years. And for the last nine years, he’s protected those he could. But now, there’s going to be a fight. I know it. You know it.”
Laney nodded.
Amanda pressed a piece of paper into Laney’s hand. “And now my brother needs a protector. If Amar finds out he’s the mole, Maddox will be in real trouble. Agent Clark has told me what you can do. So I’m asking you to be Maddox’s protector. Will you do that?”
Laney felt the weight of Amanda’s request. Laney was drowning in grief right now, and she wasn’t sure she could even put one foot in front of the other without tripping herself. The additional burden of defending someone else felt like it would break her.
Yet the idea of saving someone when she kept losing those she cared about . . . it was like a light in the darkness. It was something to cling to and strive for.
She glanced down at the paper Amanda had given her. It was a photo of Amanda from years ago. Standing behind her was a very tall boy, his arms wrapped around Amanda, giant grins on both their faces. Maddox.
Laney grasped Amanda’s hand. “Yes. If he needs it, I’ll be his protector.”
CHAPTER 77
Laney and Jen sat out on the veranda. Henry was walking Clark and Amanda to their car. Laney had needed to escape outside. The walls felt like they were closing in. The air had felt thin.
Laney lay on the lounge. She let out a breath, picturing Amanda’s face. Why had she agreed? She could barely take care of herself; how was she going to protect someone who was in Amar’s control?
She glanced over at Jen. “That was an incredibly sad story.”
“It seems like everyone with a nephilim background has one,” Jen said.
Laney reached over and squeezed Jen’s hand, but didn’t know what to say. Jen’s own back story was pretty rough, too.
Abandoned by her mom when she was young, she’d bounced around foster care for a few years before ending up homeless at the age of nine. After a year on the streets, social services had caught up with her, and she’d ended up with the Witts, who’d adopted her only two years later.
“You sure that was wise? Agreeing to protect Maddox?” Jen asked.
“What else could I do? Are you telling me you could have looked in her face and said no?”
Jen sighed. “No. I don’t suppose I could have. So. We now have a supercharged army hell-bent on world domination. Isn’t that the plot line to every little boy’s favorite comic?”
“So it would seem. Jake’s favorite is—” The wave of grief blindsided her.
For a moment, she’d forgotten he was gone. And then she automatically felt guilty for forgetting. Leaning back, she took some shaky breaths.
Jen sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her with a squeeze. “It’s okay to cry, Laney.”
Laney let herself be comforted for only a few moments before pushing back. “No, it’s not. And that seems to be all I’m doing lately. Right now, we need to get the guys that did this to Jake and Rocky. Then I can mourn.”
“Okay. So how can I help?”
Laney held up her hand with the ring on it. “Well, I guess I should try to use this thing.” She glanced over at Jen. “I don’t suppose you feel like doing my bidding right now?”
Jen smiled. “Not particularly.”
“Didn’t think so.”
A family of deer munched quietly in the grass about fifty yards away. Laney picked out one deer and focused just on her. Come over here.
After a minute, the deer looked up, blinked, and scampered away. Laney sighed, sitting back. “Oh yeah, I’m the chosen one all right.”
Jen stood up. “Why don’t I leave you alone to concentrate?”
Laney nodded distractedly, staring at the ring. How could this little piece of metal possibly tap into some innate power? She shook her head, focusing now on a squirrel that had scampered up the magnolia tree.
For an hour, she switched between focusing on animals and the weather, with nothing to show for it. Finally she yanked the ring off her
finger, ready to toss it as far as she could throw.
“So, I guess practice isn’t going well?”
Laney’s heart gave a little leap and she glanced over her shoulder. But it was only Henry. Jake always used sneak up on her like that.
Disappointment and fresh grief rolled through her. “Are you here to tell me I should practice more?”
Henry walked over to her. “No. I’m here for whatever you need.”
A stab of sorrow welled up, nearly choking her. She looked away from Henry, staring at the grass, trying to get her emotions under control. “They can’t be dead, Henry. They can’t be.”
Henry’s voice was quiet. “But they are. And the men that killed them have gotten away with it. No one can stop them but you.”
Frustration poured out of her. “Stop them? Henry, I don’t know how to use this thing. I have no special powers. I’m not like you, or Jen, or Amanda’s brother. I’m not one of you, no matter what Victoria says. I’m not special or super. I’m just normal.”
Henry was quiet for a moment. “I think that might be the problem. You don’t believe you have the ability. You’re not really trying, because you don’t think it’s of any use.”
Laney wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was speaking at least part of the truth. She was trying—but at the same time, she really didn’t believe it would work. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Henry turned her to face him. “Laney, if my mother, our mother, is right, you are the ring bearer. How else could you have found the ring?”
Laney shrugged.
“And if Clark is right, Jake and Rocky are just the beginning. Amar and his army are going to rip through this world. And you are the only thing standing in their way.”
“But Jake . . .”
“Jake believed in you. I believe in you.”
“What if I fail?”
“What if you succeed?”
Laney expelled a breath. She placed the ring back on her finger. “Okay. Let me try again.”
