The Belial Stone (The Belial Series #1)(86)

She nodded, taking a step towards him.

Yoni grabbed her in a crushing bear hug. “I knew you’d be okay!”

Laney couldn’t stop laughing, while she struggled to breathe. “It’s good to see you, too, Yoni.”

“Jake?”

Jake turned. Tom stepped off the ramp. Laney could tell Jake was jolted by Tom’s ragged and bruised appearance. But then Tom gave a tentative smile and even Laney could see the little boy who had been Jake’s brother and friend.

“Tom.” Terror, relief, and love were wrapped in that single word. Jake reached over and pulled Tom to him. Tom hugged him back, his shoulders shaking.

Laney turned away, tears stinging her eyes. Wiping them away, she saw movement over by the beat-up trailer. She squinted and saw the Senator appear, followed by Priddle, and then Gideon.

Gideon ushered the Senator and Priddle out into an open space beyond the trailer. He held an object about the size of a softball in one hand and a gun in the other.

Her chest felt tight. “Guys? I think we have a problem.”

Jake turned at her words.

She gestured towards the trailer. “It’s Gideon. I think he has the Belial Stone.”

Two hundred yards away, the three men had stopped. Gideon gestured with the gun for Kensington and the professor to move back. The two men looked terrified as they backed up against the wall of the enclosure. Gideon tucked the gun into his belt and raised the Belial Stone to the sky.

“What on earth is he doing?” Yoni asked.





CHAPTER 84



Patrick ran towards entrance of the enclosure. He’d left Seeley with one of Henry’s men. He had been torn, wanting to stay and help the poor man, but his heart wouldn’t let him. He needed to get back and make sure Laney was all right.

He sprinted past a truck. A group of men ran straight towards him. A guard stepped out of the shadows at the wall and took aim.

“Down!” Patrick yelled.

Three of the men dove for the ground, but two of them were too terrified. They kept running straight at him. A bullet careened through one of the men’s shoulders.

Patrick dropped to a knee and pulled the trigger. The guard collapsed to the ground.

Patrick ran for the fallen man. He was still conscious, but in pain. Two of the men stopped with him.

He pointed back in the direction he’d come. “Back there, four hundred yards. There are three men. They’ve set up a small triage. You’ll be safe there.”

He pulled a Beretta out of his waistband and handed it over to one of the men. “Only shoot the guys in the grey uniforms, okay?”

The men grabbed the injured man and between the two of them, managed to run-walk with him.

Patrick caught sight of Henry over to his left. He’d been grabbed by three of the ex-cons.

Patrick ran for him. It looked like Henry needed some help now.

Henry took a punch to the ribs. He didn’t grimace. In fact, he looked more annoyed than hurt. “I don’t have time for this,” Henry growled. “Let me go, now.”

The ringleader laughed, though it came out more nervous than authoritative.

“I warned you,” Henry said. He launched a front kick into the man’s face.

The man’s nose shattered. Henry extended his right arm behind him, capturing the man’s arms. He aimed two jabs at the man’s face before kneeing him in the groin. The man collapsed to the ground, shrieking.

The third man let out a yell and charged at Henry. Henry turned as the man leaped, and grabbing the front of the man’s shirt, threw him head-first into the wall.

The ringleader tried to get up for another round. Patrick placed a foot on the man’s chest, aiming his gun at the man’s head. “You and your friends need to run now.”

The man grimaced as Patrick increased the pressure on his chest. He tilted his head towards Henry. “Start running. “Or you get to face my friend again.”

The man looked from Patrick to Henry and nodded. Patrick removed his foot and urged the man along with his gun. The man stood, looked at his two cohorts who were still on the ground, and then sprinted across the field.

Patrick kept an eye on the man until he dropped into the shadows, trying to compose his face before he turned to Henry. Henry had just squashed these three men like they were nothing. He would never have believed that last throw into the wall if he hadn’t seen it himself. While Henry was the size of a giant, he also seemed to have the power of one as well. Questions plagued him.

And although now was not the time to ask them, but Patrick opened his mouth to ask anyway. when the ground began to shake violently. A cracking sound slashed through the air.

Henry caught Patrick’s eyes. “It’s starting!” he yelled. “We need to get to Gideon!”

Patrick nodded and hurried after Henry, noting that unlike him, Henry seemed to have no trouble moving on the trembling earth.





CHAPTER 85



Laney watched as Gideon raised the stone above his head, chanting in a language she did not recognize. He swayed as he focused all his energy on the stone, chanting the same undecipherable phrase over and over again.

The crystal stone began to glow, first blue and then red, until it began to resemble a ball of fire. Gideon released it, but kept his attention on it the entire time. It slowly levitated higher and higher above his head, spinning increasingly faster as it rose.