The Belial Ring (The Belial Series 3) (25 page)

Laney nodded.
“And from the description, they are the same. There are more religious overtones in the Scroll, followers of the rules of God, et cetera. But the concept is the same: the good versus the bad.”

“
Okay, so why is this scroll in your mind?”

Laney clutched Jake
’s hand to her chest, her head leaning into his shoulder. “Helen was part of a world war that lasted ten years. And in Homer’s telling, that war involved gods, who were probably the Fallen or nephilim. Joan of Arc led an army in France, part of the Hundred Years’ War. What if another time of war is coming? What if I’m expected to lead an army of the Children of Light?”

“
Then you’ll lead it. And you’ll defeat anyone who gets in your way. I’ve seen you take down every obstacle in your path when it comes to doing the right thing. Add in a little superpower, and you’ll be unstoppable.”

Laney nodded, looking away.
There was no doubt in Jake’s voice, but all she had was doubt. She closed her eyes, snuggling a little closer to Jake. But her thoughts were aimed a little further away.

God, if you
’re listening, and there’s any chance you could, could you please pick someone else to do this?

CHAPTER 48

Cairo, Egypt

AD 645

A
maris stood in the prow of the boat, looking for her first glimpse. The waves were rocking it from side to side, but she had gotten used to the motion. After three weeks at sea, the movement of the Nile was nothing. But she’d still be happy to have her feet on solid ground.

“
Anything yet?” Gaius said as he came to stand next to her.

She smiled up at him, again amazed at how she had once feared this man.
When Hypatia had handed her over, she had thought she was being sent to her death.

But Gaius had proved over and over again to be a good friend.
In fact, he had become like the father she’d never had. Just as Hypatia . . .

Amaris shied away from that thought.
It was too painful. Even now, three years later.

They had set sail that very night across the sea.
Word of Hypatia’s death had reached them almost as soon as they set ashore. She had cried for a week straight, barely eating.

Gaius had finally shaken her from her misery.
“This is not what she wanted for you. She wanted you safe. She wanted you to live. Do not repay her kindness by tossing your life away.”

His words had
penetrated her cocoon of despair. Hypatia had taught her to focus on the good and to know that this was only one life. We lived many. She would see her teacher again.

And more importantly, her
teacher had entrusted her with a mission. She would not fail at it.

She took Gaius
’s hand with a smile. “Just waiting for a glimpse.”

Gaius
gestured toward the shoreline. “There it is.”

Amaris looked over, seeing the tip of the Great Pyramid cresting over the water.
In no time, the Great Pyramid was joined by the lesser two.

She let out a sigh.
“We’re almost there, Hypatia. It’s almost safe.”

CHAPTER 49

Cairo, Egypt

T
hey arrived in Cairo just before dark, although after her dream about Amaris, Laney felt like she’d already been here. Out the car window, she watched the streets of Cairo fly by.

They were going to go to the Serapeum at dawn, when they were less likely to run into anyone.
Which meant they needed to hole up someplace for the night.

Henry was driving, Patrick in the passenger seat
, with Jake and Laney in the back of the Range Rover. Ralph and Victoria were in the Mercedes in front of them.

Laney glanced out the window.
It had been years since she’d last been in Egypt. Something about the place always felt ancient. As if the whole country held the keys to an unknown knowledge.

People packed the sidewalks in the residential parts of the city. Some wore western clothes.   Some were in traditional dress. Most women were modestly dressed, a few wearing full burkas—although colorful ones. Men wore long shirts over linen pants.

It was hard to make out any of the buildings out in the dwindling light, but Laney noticed when they started to be more spread out. And larger. They were entering Maadi, one of the more affluent areas of Cairo.

For a few minutes, Henry wound his way through the narrow streets
, then they finally left the residential area behind and moved out into the desert. Up ahead, Laney could just make out some lights. It looked like a little town up on a hill.

As they drew closer, Laney realized it wasn
’t a town but a house—a very large one. It was three stories tall, with two large extended wings and a tall iron fence surrounding it. Balconies with curved archways lined each floor.

“
It looks like something out of
Arabian Nights
,” Patrick said. “Who lives here?”

“
A friend of my mother’s,” Henry said.

“
Friend?” Jake asked.

Henry shrugged.
“That’s what she said.”

The Mercedes in front of them stopped.
They waited for only a few seconds before the gates swung open. Then Ralph hit the gas and they followed him up the long windy drive, arriving at a large, round cobblestoned driveway in front of the mansion’s massive front doors.

Laney stepped out of the car, wondering yet again who Victoria was.
And how on earth she had made friends with whoever lived here.

Jake came to stand next to her.
“You okay?”

She took his arm with a smile.
“Yup. Just trying to keep my head from spinning off my shoulders.”

Jake placed his hand at the small of her back as they walked
toward the front door. “Well, please do. I rather like it perched up there.”

They stepped through the front door and into a giant foyer.
The ceiling was three stories above them. A giant chandelier adorned with crystals of varying colors dominated the space.

“
Wow,” Laney murmured.

Victoria
was up ahead, and looked back over her shoulder. “This way.”

They all trooped behind her.
Victoria stopped at the foot of the double staircase. “There are six bedrooms on the second floor. Everyone can pick one. Let’s meet back down here”—she pointed to an immense sunken living room to their right—“in about fifteen minutes. There are still some things we need to discuss.”

Laney hefted her backpack onto her shoulder, struggling not to sigh.

Twenty minutes later, she sat on the sleek, pale yellow couch in the large living room.
She shifted, trying to get comfy. The couch looked soft and cushiony, but it turned out it wasn’t very comfortable. Whoever lived here didn’t seem to spend much time on it. It was stiff as a board.

Victoria had found them one heck of a safe house.
The last safe house Laney had been in had had bowed walls and a couch that was a mouse hotel. This place had solid gold faucets and toilets that spoke to you. Above the couch was a painting by Salvador Dali—and Laney had no doubt it was an original.

Laney glanced around the room.
“Living room” seemed too normal a name for it. The room was bigger than Henry’s office. A full-sized grand piano—not a baby grand—sat in one corner, and it looked right at home. In fact, it was dwarfed by the space. Laney shook her head. How did people live like this?

The sound of male voices pulled her attention to the arched entryway.
Jake and Patrick walked in together. Laney smiled at the camaraderie between the two.

Jake took a seat next to her.
“Man, this is not a comfortable couch.”

Laney laughed.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”

Henry walked in, Victoria and Ralph behind him.
He took a seat to Jake’s right.

Victoria smiled.
“Good. Everyone’s here.”

“
Okay, so what exactly is the plan?” Jake asked. “The site is going to be guarded.”

Ralph nodded.
“Yes. But at night, there’s only one guard who covers the entire necropolis. We have a better chance of running into thieves, or some tourists out for an illegal stroll, than guards. But don’t worry about the guard—I’ll take care of him.”

Patrick leaned forward.
“‘Take care of’? What does that mean?”

Ralph put up his hands.
“Nothing lethal. Hopefully, I’ll just keep an eye on him. If he gets close, I’ll just make him take a little nap.”

Patrick
’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. Laney knew Patrick didn’t like the idea of anyone getting hurt. She sighed. She supposed with her new role he was really going to have to get over that.

“
And then the rest of us will head to the entrance of the Serapeum,” Victoria said. “Patrick and I will wait outside while you three retrieve the ring.”

“
Right,” Laney said, drawing out the word. “About that part. How exactly do we find the ring?”

“
You’re the ring bearer,” Victoria said. “You already know where it is. You just have to think about it.”

Laney stared back at her.
“That’s it? I just need to think about it? I pretty much did that for the flight over here with no luck. Anything more specific?”

“
The last ring bearer to touch the ring hid it in the necropolis. You need to focus on her, and then its location will be revealed to you.”

Laney felt five pairs of eyes watching her.
She swallowed. “Right. Just get in touch with my inner ring bearer and find a mythical artifact that’s been hidden for nearly two thousand years.”

Victoria nodded.

Laney felt her stomach bottom out. “Sure. No problem.”

Saqqara, Egypt

D
awn was an hour away. The sun’s light was just beginning to peek above the horizon. Laney stood on top of the hill, twenty-five kilometers from Giza, unable to believe she was here. Down below, Saqqara—the City of the Dead—lay still asleep.

The Serapeum
of Saqqara was not the only Serapeum built in Egypt. Laney knew there was another one in Cairo. But the Serapeum here was much older, dating to at least 1,800 BC. As Laney had learned, the word “Serapeum” refers to any building dedicated to Serapis, a god invented in an effort to join the Greek and Egyptian gods together.              

And this
Serapeum, like some other important spots, had an avenue of one hundred sphinxes that heralded its entrance—although most of them were still buried. Laney imagined them covered in dirt, waiting to be awakened.

“
You good?” Jake touched her shoulder.

She looked over at him.
“Yeah. I’m just thinking about how this place was discovered.”

Jake smiled.
“Go ahead, professor. Tell me.”

She laughed.
“All right. It was the sphinxes that led to its discovery—by Auguste Mariette, back in 1850. He’d traveled to Egypt on behalf of the Louvre to find some Syrian and Coptic manuscripts. During his trip, he decided to search north of Saqqara.”

“
Why north?”

“
He’d read Strabo’s description of the Serapeum and had been intrigued. It took him very little time to find a small sphinx buried in the sand. Many of the descriptions of the Saqqara spoke of an avenue of sphinxes, reputed to be over a thousand meters long. A year of excavations later, he found the entrance.”

Jake gestured to the landscape.
“And the rest of it?”

Laney glanced around.
“Saqqara is a city of cemeteries. It contains dozens of tombs and burial sites. It’s a city of the dead.”

“
That an official title?”

“
Actually, it kind of is. And Saqqara isn’t even the only ‘City of the Dead’ in Egypt. There’s another one in Cairo.”

A shudder ran through her
:
the City of the Dead
. What a horrible name. It sounded as if the dead rose at night, going about their business, only to be chased back to their graves at the first sign of light.

“
It’s going to be okay, Lanes,” Jake said.

She nodded, but didn
’t say anything.