The Belial Ring (The Belial Series 3) (39 page)

Laney rushed over.
“Any problems?”

“
No, the place is empty. I think they may be out looking for me.”

Laney took the key from him,
and Maddox turned around and kneeled so Laney could reach his neck. The guy was seriously tall.              

One quick twist, and the lock clicked.
Laney pulled the padlock off.

Maddox undid the collar.
“Thanks.”

“
No problem. Now let’s go.”

Without a word, Maddox headed back for the large barn door.
He flattened himself against it, listening for any noise outside.

Laney did the same,
and as she did, her gaze roamed over the cages again. “What are the cages for?”

Maddox went still, his eyes darting back to the cage
s. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

Laney
’s voice was serious. “Maddox, what was in here?”

“
Her name’s Cleo. And I’m guessing she’s out there, looking for me.” He looked down at Laney. “And I’m guessing she’s looking for you, too.”

CHAPTER 91

T
he chopper flew through the night air, barely making a sound. In the back, Jordan and Mike attached themselves to ropes, ready to rappel down. Henry and Jen didn’t have ropes. They wouldn’t need any.

Henry looked everyone over.
“Everyone good to go?”

They nodded.

Henry
’s eyes stayed on Jen.

She nodded again.
“I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

Henry
spoke into the radio. “Kevin, you good to go?”

“
Affirmative. Ready to jump,” came the reply.

“
Follow us in,” Henry said before ringing off.

T
he pilot skimmed the tree line, speeding to the southwest corner of the property. From the satellite image, he knew there was a good-sized clearing there where Clark could land his choppers.

“
Thirty seconds,” the pilot warned.

Henry nodded, looking
out the open door to the ground below.

The pilot
flew over a tall oak and the clearing appeared below them. He hovered in place. “Go!”

Henry didn
’t pause. He jumped from the helicopter, rolling when his feet touched the ground. He sprang back up, his weapon raised.

Jen was already on her feet.
With her eyes glued to the trees, she covered her brother’s descent. The Witt brothers disengaged themselves from their ropes and ran to set up a perimeter to cover the other chopper.

Henry strained to hear
if there was anyone nearby, but all he could hear were the SIA choppers inbound.

“
Henry!” Jen pulled her weapon to her shoulder and let off a burst into the trees. Henry felt a tingle along his skin. A nephilim was nearby, and it wasn’t Jen.

Returning gunfire came from the trees.

“
Take cover!” Henry yelled as he sprinted for the tree line.

Jen reached it just ahead of him.
“Let’s flank them,” she said.

Henry nodded
, and was moving into place when the gunfire cut off. With a quick glance at Jen, he ran to the sniper’s nest, where he came to an abrupt halt.

Jordan
was already there, a shooter at his feet. Jordan emptied his magazine into the man’s chest. Michael had already taken a knife to the other shooter’s heart.

Henry looked at them
, dumbfounded, “How—?”

Jordan smiled.
“You guys have a weakness. You’re so focused on using your radar to figure out where the threat is, you forget that we humans can just sneak up on you.”

CHAPTER 92

L
aney sprinted through the trees toward the edge of the property, Yoni next to her and Maddox just ahead. She stopped short when she heard the gunfight.

“
Henry. It has to be Henry.” She looked at Maddox. “Go to them.”

Maddox shook his head.
“I’m not leaving you here.”

Laney grabbed his sleeve.
“Listen to me. Our guys need to know we’re here. They need to know how many men there are, what the layout is. They need to know you’re safe. You can tell them all that. And you can run a hell of a lot faster than we can. We may be able to get out of here without getting into much of a fight. So go. Tell them.”

Maddox handed his weapon to Yoni, but his eyes stayed on Laney.
“Once I reach them, I’m coming back for you.”

Laney nodded.
“We’re counting on it. Now go.”

Maddox disappeared into the night.

Yoni nudged Laney.
“We need to move.”

As s
he followed him into the dark, the roar of a giant cat cut through the air.

“
What the hell was that?” Yoni asked.

Trembling at the sound, Laney pictured the giant cages in the barn.
“I’m guessing that’s Cleo.”

As quiet
ly as they could, they made their way through the underbrush. Up ahead, Laney could see where she’d cut through the trees on her way in.

She tapped Yoni on the shoulder.
“We came in through there.”

Yoni nodded, moving forward.

Laney jumped as another screech from the cat pierced the night air.
It was closer this time.

“
What kind of cat do you think that is?” Laney asked.

“
Big,” Yoni said, putting up a hand to stop her. Ahead of them was open space about fifty feet. Yoni looked around, pausing to listen. Laney did the same. There didn’t seem to be anyone around.

Yoni grabbed
Laney’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Together they sprinted into the clearing, their feet pounding
the ground. The cover of the trees was only thirty feet away.

To
Laney’s right, the shadows moved, and fear lanced through her. She flashed her light across the shadow—and saw the cat for the first time.

It was a black leopard on steroids, full of fury
.

A
nd it was leaping right for her.

CHAPTER 93

A
mar stomped up the stairs. He had wanted to be part of the hunt for Maddox. Maddox would be a truly worthy opponent.

Instead h
e stripped off his metal claws, flinging them on a side table as he passed.
Damned responsibilities.

He
climbed the stairway to his project hub. Only his translator was working there tonight; all the other humans had been sent home while the rest of his brethren gathered in the ballroom downstairs. They were making plans for the next stage—and for what to do about Delaney McPhearson.

Amar smiled.
He knew
exactly
what he wanted to do with her.

He pushed open the door to the workroom.
“This better be important, Jeff.”

“
It is, sir. It is.” Jeff thrust a printout into Amar’s hands.

Amar glanced down at the
stack of papers. It was easily ten pages, single-spaced with very little white space.

He eyed Jeff, who still had remnants of dinner
, or maybe lunch, on his tie. Probably both. “How about you summarize so I can get back to my plans?”

“
Uh, yes sir. Um.” Jeff mopped his brow with the bottom of his shirt. “This is the last of the translation.” He paused.

Amar circled his hand in the air.
“And?”

“
And that term you were looking for. It’s there.”

“
The root race?”

“
Yes.”

Amar scanned the pages quickly.
“Does it mention anything about the fifth root race?”

“
Um, yes, page eight, at the bottom.”

Amar quickly pulled out page eight, scanning it.
Finally
. Then his eyes narrowed and he looked up. “Has anyone else seen this?”

Jeff wouldn
’t meet his eyes. “No, sir. You said for your eyes only.”

Amar stepped forward, crowding Jeff into the table.
He could smell the man’s sweat. “You’re lying.”

Jeff swallowed.
“He said I had to. Said he was your boss.”

“
Who said?”

“
Mr. Thompson.”

Gerard.
Of course
. “And has he seen these translations?”

“
Uh, yes, yes sir. I sent them to him right before I called you.”

Amar trailed his fingers along the table.
“You sent him the results
before
contacting me?”

Jeff
’s breaths came out in pants, and Amar was pretty sure the man was only a few seconds from a full-blown panic attack. “Um, I thought, I mean he said—”

Amar put his arm around Jeff
’s shoulder. “No worries, my friend. You’ve done good work here. And now everything’s been translated?”

Jeff nodded.
“Yes. That’s everything.”

“
Excellent.” Amar slipped his arm around Jeff’s neck and pulled tight. He used his other arm to lock the chokehold in place.

Jeff thrashed, grabbing
at Amar’s arm, his eyes wide.

Amar ignored his futile gestures, pulling his arms tighter.
Soon, Jeff stopped moving. Amar held on a little longer to make sure the man was dead and not merely unconscious.

Finally s
atisfied, he let the man drop. Jeff hit the floor and rolled onto his side.

Amar turned and headed for the door.
Gerard knows. I need to move quickly.

In the distance, he heard gunshots and smiled.
Well, at least the Maddox problem was being handled. He wanted to go join the fun.

But there were plans to be made.
Very important ones.

CHAPTER 94

Y
oni emptied his gun at the giant cat. It dodged out of the way. With an angry roar, it leapt again, swiping at Yoni.

Laney shoved Yoni to the ground
, rolling him away. The giant cat landed silently on its feet precisely where Yoni had just been standing. It turned slowly toward them both.

Laney stared
back at it, terrified. The cat was black, but somehow it had spots, like a leopard’s, that were even darker than black. Yet it was bigger than any leopard she’d ever seen. It must have been at least eight feet from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail. And it stood almost five feet at the shoulders.

The giant cat
stared at them and licked its lips.

“
Oh my God,” Yoni whispered. “Don’t move, Laney.”

Laney didn
’t think she could move even if she wanted to. She was literally scared stiff.

There was a
rustling from behind the cat.  Two men appeared, weapons in hand. The cat let out a roar.

“
Shit!” one of the men yelled before they both opened fire.

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.

A
s 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 a
head, 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.