The Belial Ring (The Belial Series 3)

by R. D. Brady

  The cat leapt out of the way with a feline grace. Laney and Yoni rolled to avoid getting shot.

  “Move, Laney,” Yoni yelled as he pushed her toward the trees.

  Laney army-crawled as fast as her limbs would allow. Behind her, the cat howled in fury, and a man screamed.

  Laney got to her feet, trembling, and sprinted into the trees. She could hear Yoni right behind her.

  As fast as she dared, Laney raced through the trees. She struggled to hear if they were being pursued. But she couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of her own heart.

  Just ahead, the path split in two. Which way?

  Yoni pushed her to the right.

  Laney urged her legs to move faster down the path that cut through the trees. As she ran, she noticed the ground on either side of the path seemed to rise.

  Forty yards farther down the path, and the ground on either side was above their heads. Her dread increased with each footfall. Oh no. No, no.

  Up ahead, a structure loomed. Motion-sensor lights flashed on.

  Laney tried to slow down, but still she slammed into it. The utility shed. The building was twenty feet tall, its sides sheer. There was no way to scale it.

  She looked at the ground that loomed above them on either side. They might be able to pull themselves up the trees and bush.

  “Laney, let’s go.” Yoni grabbed a tree to their right.

  An ear-piercing screech made them both go still.

  Slowly, Laney looked behind them. The cat stood only thirty feet away. It prowled along the edge of the lights, its hackles raised.

  “You got any bullets left?” Yoni asked, quietly.

  Laney shook her head. She had some in her pack, but she was pretty sure the cat wasn’t going to let her reload. “No. I’m out. You?”

  “No.”

  Laney rubbed the ring on her finger. “Yoni, get behind me.”

  “No chance.”

  “I’m not asking.”

  “Laney, what the hell do you think you’re going to do?”

  Laney realized that no one had explained to Yoni about the ring. He didn’t know what she was supposed to be able to do.

  She glanced down at the metal object. Of course, she hadn’t actually been able to do anything yet. She shoved those doubts aside.

  “I was thinking I might try to talk to it,” Laney said.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Yoni, get behind me.” Something in her tone must have gotten through, because Yoni stepped back.

  “Everyone’s gone crazy,” he grumbled. “Henry thinks he’s a superhero, and you think you’re Dr. Doolittle.”

  Laney ignored his mutterings, focusing instead on the beast moving carefully toward them. The cat knew it had them trapped.

  Yoni stopped beside her. “This is as far as I’m going. I’m not sure what you think that little ring is going to do, but it’s not even shiny enough to blind that thing.”

  “Yeah, well I’m planning on trying something else. Now, get—behind—me.”

  With a growl, Yoni did. “You get yourself killed and I’m going to be really mad at you.”

  The leopard roared. Laney’s heart skipped a beat.

  The hair on Laney’s arms stood straight up. She could barely see the black shape as it slunk toward them.

  It crossed through a ray of moonlight and Laney’s breath hitched. It really was a beast out of someone’s nightmare.

  “Do you see that thing?” Yoni asked, his voice shaking.

  Laney had never heard Yoni sound afraid before. She really wished she didn't hear it now.

  The leopard padded closer. It was now only twenty feet away.

  “If you’re going to do something, now would be the time,” Yoni urged.

  Laney swallowed. “Stop,” she commanded, but even to her own ears the word sounded weak.

  The leopard stalked closer.

  Laney pictured Jake. She pictured Rocky. She pictured Amar getting away with their murders. Anger welled in her. Not going to happen.

  “Stop.”

  Laney’s voice rang with authority, with power. She barely recognized it as hers.

  The leopard paused, her ears twitching. Laney stared into the animal’s eyes, not really sure how this was supposed to work. You don’t want to hurt us. We’re on the same side.

  The leopard moved closer until it was only a foot away. It sniffed at Laney—and then rubbed its head against her chest with a loud purr.

  Tentatively Laney reached down and rubbed the cat’s head. More purring.

  Laney let out a breath. “You’re just a big sweetheart, aren’t you?”

  Yoni gave a nervous laugh. “Okay Doc, now how about we take your new pet and go get the rest of our guys? Oh, and maybe on the way, we can stop for a clean pair of shorts for me.”

  CHAPTER 95

  Laney ran through the trees. Yoni ran on one side of her, the leopard on the other.

  She didn’t know how to explain how she felt. It was as if every day of her life, every trial and tribulation she’d endured, was so that she could have this moment. So she could accept who she was.

  Yoni’s eyes strayed time and again to Cleo. He hadn’t asked how Laney had managed to control the leopard, but he obviously wasn’t convinced that the control was complete. He glanced over at Laney. “When we reach the mansion, we’ll link up with Henry. We’re not doing anything until we have more weapons.”

  Laney grinned. “That’s where you’re wrong. I have the ultimate weapon.”

  Yoni glanced over at the leopard again, but Laney didn’t correct his assumption. As they ran, she’d been testing her abilities with the ring, reaching out farther and farther with her mind, feeling the animals nearby, feeling the weather, and knowing where the Fallen were.

  No one had mentioned that power of the ring. She knew where they were. She could feel all the Fallen, all the nephilim within a mile.

  And it was time to bring the fight to them.

  Up ahead, Laney could make out the house. She stopped at the edge of the trees. Two armed men stood at the front door, but they didn’t hear them approach. The men were humans. Laney glanced over her shoulder, and wasn’t surprised when Henry, Jen, and Clark appeared.

  Cleo gave a growl from deep in her throat—bringing the three super-humans to a stop.

  Laney looked over at Cleo. They’re friends.

  Cleo’s growls cut off immediately.

  Laney looked at the three behind her. “It’s okay. She’s with me.”

  Henry looked between Laney and the giant cat. “Um, I guess this means you figured out how to get the ring to work?”

  She nodded before turning back to watch the house. “It’s time to finish this.” She glanced at Clark. “Did Maddox find you?”

  “He’s gathering up strays.” Clark stepped next to her. “What’s the plan?”

  Laney gestured to the cat with her chin. “Cleo and I are going in first. I need you guys to take out the guys on the porch, with silencers if you’ve got them, and then follow me in. I’d like a thirty-second head start.”

  “No way,” Yoni argued.

  “How many are in there?” Clark asked.

  “Fallen and nephilim? About a dozen. They’re all in one room. I’m guessing it’s some kind of briefing.”

  “How do you know that?” Jen asked.

  It was hard to explain. It was just a knowledge—one that she had complete confidence in. She shrugged. “I don’t know. I can feel them. I know exactly where they are.”

  Yoni looked at Henry. “You can’t possibly be on board with this.”

  Henry looked at Laney for a long moment. “Actually, I am. Thirty seconds. No more.”

  Laney nodded, visions of Jake and Rocky in her mind. She rubbed the ring. She was going to make Amar regret coming after her friends.

  CHAPTER 96

  With Cleo at her side, Laney climbed the steps, barely glancing at the two downed guards. After Yoni and Clark had taken the t
wo men out, Henry had had to hold Yoni back from going in with Laney.

  Laney didn’t let herself feel bad. She’d explain everything to Yoni later.

  Right now, she needed to end this.

  As she opened the door, she let the anger build, feeling the rage course through her. She walked down the hall, almost able to see her rage expand out from her. Even Cleo seemed to sense it, letting out a little whimper, but staying with her nonetheless.

  Up ahead, the doors to the ballroom were closed. Laney narrowed her eyes and focused her energy on them. A gust of wind tore through the windows near the entrance. It crashed into the doors and blew them into the room.

  Laney strode through the destroyed entrance.

  Amar was at the front of the room, a comically shocked look on his face.

  A man charged Laney from the right. She watched him out of the corner of her eye.

  Laney’s voice was calm, steady. “Shoot yourself in the heart.”

  The man placed his gun to his chest and pulled the trigger.

  Another two Fallen ran at her from the other side of the room. Cleo leapt on one as he drew near.

  Laney stared down the other one. “Stab yourself in the heart. A lot.”

  The man did, falling to the floor. A pool of blood grew around him.

  Ahead, Laney saw Amar. For a moment he looked startled, then he covered it with a smirk. Ten of his Fallen surrounded him, and another ten humans as well. “You can only control us one at a time. You’ll never get us all.”

  Laney’s eyes flicked over Amar’s group before returning to him. “I’m not trying to get you all. I’m only going to get you.”

  Laney heard the footsteps behind her. Moments later, Henry and Jen sprinted into the room and took positions at her side; Maddox came up right behind Laney, Clark at his side.

  Slowly the room began to fill with more men from the government and from the Chandler group. The leopard let out a roar, prowling in front of Laney.

  Amar’s smile began to disappear. “You can’t win.”

  “Yes, I can.” Laney’s eyes darted to the glass bordering the room. The windows shattered as gusts of wind tore through them, showering Amar and his minions.

  “Take them,” Laney ordered, leaping forward.

  Gun blasts burst out. Fallen and humans alike leapt from their positions, clashing with Laney and her group. Henry and Jen each took one Fallen, grappling with them hand to hand.

  The SIA agents paired up to take down other Fallen, one aiming for the head to slow them down and the other aiming for the chest to finish them. Jordan and Mike followed the same approach.

  The leopard took a graceful leap, landing on one of the Fallen. She raked a giant claw down his body and opened the man from chin to groin.

  Laney ignored all of it. Her focus was only on Amar. Like a coward, he ran out the door in the back as soon as the fighting began. As Laney pursued, two humans tried to block her path. Without a thought, she shot them each in head. They’d chosen the wrong side.

  Laney knew that the door Amar had escaped through led to a long wide hallway, which in turn led to an outside door. She dodged the fighting around her and sprinted after him, crashing through the doors just a few seconds after he did.

  Up ahead of her, Amar turned into a blur.

  Laney narrowed her eyes. Oh no you don’t.

  Cleo! With me.

  Without looking, Laney knew the leopard had left her snack and was sprinting toward her.

  Laney’s eyes flicked to a tall statue up ahead. With a thought, a wind blew through the door ahead of Amar, grabbing the statue and slamming it into him.

  He collapsed to the floor. Laney ran up to him, her gun leveled at his heart, as she heard giant paws beating a path down the hall. She glanced back and saw Cleo bearing down on her.

  Hold him.

  Cleo leapt. Her giant paws landed on Amar’s chest, pinning him to the ground. With a single swipe, she disemboweled him. He let out an inhuman shriek.

  Cleo roared in response.

  “Call it off!” Amar ordered, although the gurgle of blood in his throat took some of the sting out of his command.

  Laney stared at the man. The decent thing to do would be to take him into custody. Let the government study him, find out his weaknesses, see the extent of his network.

  That would be the decent thing to do.

  Cleo met Laney’s eyes, awaiting her orders. In that moment, Cleo and Laney were of one mind.

  Laney saw Jake’s face, a bullet hole in his forehead. She felt Rocky’s hand going limp in her own, her life slipping away. And Laney caught a fleeting glimpse of another leopard: Cleo’s mate.

  Anger, power, and need coursed through Laney. Her eyes drew to a squint. “Take his head,” she ordered.

  Laney turned away as Cleo’s jaws closed around Amar’s head. As she strode back down the hall, Amar began to shriek in terror.

  The decent thing to do would be to let him live.

  She heard the wet rip as the giant cat ripped Amar’s head from his neck.

  But this is war.

  CHAPTER 97

  Laney walked back down the hall to the ballroom. The sounds of the battle had all but died away. She stepped into the room and realized the fight was over.

  The ballroom was a disaster. All the windows were smashed. Glass and blood littered the wooden floor. Bodies lay across it as well, some in pieces.

  Laney quickly looked around, seeing Laney, Jen, Yoni, and the twins. She spotted Maddox in the back corner as well. She let out a breath. They were all right.

  Jen walked up to her. “You okay?”

  Laney glanced around, trying not to stare at the large pools of blood that dotted the room. “Did we lose anyone?”

  Jen shook her head. “No good guys. Couple of injuries, nothing life threatening.”

  “And the bad guys?”

  “Twelve were killed. Another three escaped. They’re being chased down now.”

  Laney nodded. A gunshot pulled her attention to the right. “What’s going on there?”

  There was one gunman standing over each surviving Fallen. Any time they moved, they were shot. At the back of the room, a group of paramedics bustled in the back door with stretchers and medical cases.

  “Clark’s orders. The Fallen who aren’t dead are to be kept immobilized until they can be drugged,” Jen said, before bending down to help an SIA agent who was wounded.

  Laney walked over to look as a paramedic inserted a needle into a Fallen’s arm. Laney read the label on the IV bag: amobarbital. A strong sedative.

  Clark had come prepared. And he had also borrowed a page from Helen’s book.

  Clark caught sight of Laney and walked over, a clipboard in his hand. The man had gone from warrior to bureaucrat in seconds.

  “What’s the plan with them?” Laney nodded at the Fallen.

  “We have a facility set up in West Virginia. It’s known only to the SIA. The captives will be held there, perpetually drugged, except for when we interrogate them. I’m hopeful they can tell us something.”

  “You’re sure this site is secure?”

  He nodded. “We’ve been preparing for this for a long time. The only people who know about it are completely trustworthy. We’ll interrogate each of them, find out what they know, where the other cells are. We need the intel.”

  Laney knew he was right, but it was still a huge risk. “And you’ll tell me what you find out?”

  Clark nodded, and Laney could see a newfound respect in his eyes. “If this is war, you’re the reason we’re going to win it. So yes, my paycheck may come from the U.S. government, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re in charge.”

  “And you’ll tell me where this place is?”

  “I’ve emailed you and Henry all the information you need to find it and access it. Like I said, you’re the boss.” He started to walk away before turning back. “Amar?”

  Laney met his eyes without flinching. “Taken care of.” />
  Clark nodded. “Good.” He walked over to another sedated Fallen, making a mark on his clipboard.

  Cleo slipped in the back door, licking her lips. She looked around the room before padding over to Laney. Laney rubbed her head. “Good girl. Sit.”

  The cat perched next to her and Laney leaned into her, surveying the scene. Another bloody battle—and once again, she’d survived. But each time the cost increased. This latest battle had cost her Rocky and Jake.

  What would the next one cost? Because, regardless of Samyaza’s death, Laney knew another battle would be coming. She could feel it in her bones. This wasn’t over.

  Henry walked up to her, giving Cleo a wide berth. “Samyaza’s taken care of?”

  “Yes.” Laney looked up at Henry and then away. She should probably feel some guilt at how she’d killed the man. But she didn’t. What did that mean?

  Henry nodded. “You all right?”

  Laney felt cold seep through her, despite the warmth radiating through the leopard’s skin. The specter of the fight yet to come tempered any relief she might have felt at tonight’s success, and the responsibility of the ring weighed her down. “What if Clark’s right? What if we’re at war?”

  Henry took her hand. She looked up into his eyes, eyes like Victoria’s, and read the commitment and confidence there. “If we’re at war? Then we fight. And we win.” He paused. “What’s wrong?”

  “Are we sure Amar was Samyaza?”

  Henry gestured around the room. “Well, obviously he was planning something.”

  “Yeah but . . .”

  “Yeah but what?”

  She sighed. “It was too easy.”

  “Too easy?”

  Laney nodded. “He’s supposed to be Samyaza. The leader of the Fallen. It should have been . . . harder.”

  “We caught him unaware. And it wasn’t that easy. You and Yoni did almost get eaten by a cat.”

  Laney rubbed Cleo head’s. “Nah, not my little sweetheart.”

  “We got him, Laney. It’s over.”

  Laney looked around, a chill creeping over her. “Then why do I feel like it isn’t?”

  CHAPTER 98