The Belial Stone (The Belial Series #1)(80)

Jake shook his head, clearing it of doubts. He needed to focus on the plan, and in a few hours, he’d have both of them safely out.





CHAPTER 72



Laney pulled the threadbare blanket more tightly around her, trying to stave off some of the cold. She knew it was a wasted effort. Her teeth continued to chatter and she shivered violently. The flimsy material could not combat the steadily dropping temperature.

She and the men who’d been working the day shift had been brought back to the sleep enclosure only a few minutes ago. They’d been given a cup full of what could only be described as gruel. It seemed to be made of lukewarm water and beef gristle.

Laney was starving, but she only managed to choke down half of it before giving up. The man across from her had stared hard at her cup. She’d handed it to him without a word. He swallowed it down quickly with a nod of thanks. After their two-minute dinner, a guard barked at them to go to bed.

Tom had led Laney to a bedroll and taken the one next to her. First, though, he’d helped his friend Seeley find a spot. The man seemed to be only physically present, as if his mind had escaped elsewhere. In this place, that was probably a blessing.

As Laney curled up on the bedroll, she was sure she would fall asleep as soon as she hit the ground. Her bones practically wept from exhaustion. But she hadn’t counted on how hard the ground would be, or how cold. The bedroll was barely thicker than a bed sheet. It didn’t seem to keep any of the cold from seeping into her.

She had been trying to sleep for thirty minutes now. She was so cold and shivering so hard, it had proven impossible. She'd tried to hold back the tears, but she didn't have the strength to fight that either. She felt weak for crying, and selfish. These men had been here for who knew how long and here she was, crying like a baby, on her first night.

Hearing a rustle behind her, she glanced over her shoulder. Tom had moved his bedroll right beside hers, so that his back was to her back. The man whom she’d given her dinner also moved closer to her, his back now right in front of her. The men sandwiched Laney between them. After a few minutes, the cold tremors subsided. She wasn’t actually warm, but she didn’t fear freezing to death, either.

Laney mumbled her thanks. Neither man heard her. They were already asleep. And a few minutes, so was she.





CHAPTER 73



Arthur Priddle paced along the edge of dig site twenty-one. He’d been hovering around it for most of the afternoon and evening. Fists clenched, he struggled to keep from yelling at the workers to hurry up. He’d yelled himself hoarse already. He’d gone so far as to push one to the ground and kick him in the back when he scratched the megalith with his shovel.

All he’d accomplished was stressing out the workers. They’d become clumsy and slowed down to compensate. He was aware enough to realize he needed to pull back. He towered above them now, practically biting his tongue off to keep from speaking. It was a Herculean effort on his part.

The megaliths at this site included more depictions of the Belial Stone than any other site so far. He was convinced they would find one here.

If they ever finish excavating it! He glared down at the workers, as if he could will them to work faster.

He paused in his pacing to wipe his brow with the grimy handkerchief he'd shoved into his back pocket. The Senator kept pushing him for more results, and didn’t understand that conducting an archaeological dig was not like ordering at a restaurant. Sometimes you just had to take what you got.

Today, Senator Kensington had even mentioned replacing him with someone who could get results. Replace him! After all the work he’d put into this site. Well, that simply wasn’t going to happen. If he had to personally beat each of these workers within an inch of their worthless lives to get results, he’d do it.

He heard the scrape of a shovel against a hard surface again. Whirling around to scream at the offender, he noticed a flurry of movement near one of the megaliths. Grabbing his bag of tools, he clambered down the ramp and made his way to the towering pillar.

As he approached, he saw that unlike most of the pillars, this one had something jutting out of it. But the object was smaller than any relief they had seen so far. Shoving the man who had been brushing the object aside, Priddle carefully pulled his own brush from his pocket and began removing dirt.

He carefully probed the object. So far, the only objects that projected out from the pillars were animal reliefs, but this was no relief. It was made of a different material, both hard and smooth.

With reverence, he brushed at the thin layer of dirt that remained. Slowly, a diamond-shaped object with a crystalline structure, about the size of a softball, was revealed.

“Camera,” he demanded, holding out his hand. It was placed in his shaking hand. He’d found it. Finally.

He quickly took shots of the stone from every angle. He removed a small chisel and hammer from his tool bag. Ever so gently, he pried the stone loose.

Holding it up, he could just make out the crisscrossing patterns within the six-sided figure. Surprise flooded him. It was warm to the touch. Rummaging in his bag, he pulled out a piece of burlap. With infinite care, he wrapped the stone, still able to feel its warmth through the fabric.

He nestled it to his side and headed back up the ramp. He would call the Senator immediately. No one was going to replace him now.