by R. D. Brady
“Necessary? Probably not. Fun? Absolutely.”
“We are not doing this for your amusement, Amar. You were warned not to bait her.”
Amar’s eyes narrowed. “You do not need to remind me about the goal, Gerard. I am well aware.” He shook off his resentment. “Besides, enjoying one’s work makes for a happy life. Don’t forget who told you about the next stage. Without me, you two would know nothing about—”
Gerard raised his hand. “Quiet. There are people everywhere.”
Amar smiled. “So there are. But sometimes you guys seem to forget my role in all of this.”
“We don’t yet know what your role is in all of this.”
“But I’m guessing it’s pretty important—or you wouldn’t be here, would you?”
Gerard sighed. “Fine.” He gestured toward Amar’s tablet. “But you’ve just incited her.”
Amar gave a bitter laugh. “Hardly. She just lost two people close to her and she just got the ring. Even if she has time to practice with it, she’s got to be off her game. And now she’s even more rattled by the threats to the rest of those she holds dear.”
“Was it wise, though, to bluff that way?”
Amar smiled slowly. “Who said I was bluffing?”
CHAPTER 84
Henry placed his phone down and closed his eyes. He’d arranged everything he could think of that they might need for the coming battle.
He had all his operatives on the move to him or to Tennessee, depending on where they were coming in from. Most would be ready to go within the hour, although Clark wanted them to hold off until he could get all his own people into play.
Henry stared at the clock. Six p.m. Time had flown.
The door opened and Jen walked in.
Tall, strong, she was an incredible woman. Henry felt energy flow into him at the sight of her. He knew that part of that was their nephilim connection. But there was something else there. Something, he hoped, he’d one day be able to act upon.
“How’s Danny?” Henry asked.
“Eating. He pulled up the schematics for Shady Creek and then I sent him downstairs for some food. Kevin’s with him,” Jen said.
Henry nodded. Good. Ever since Jake’s death, he hadn’t wanted Danny to be alone. Jake had been like a big brother, and Danny was taking his death hard. “I spoke with Dom and Maggie. After Danny’s finished, he and Moxy will head over to their place and stay until everything’s over. Kati and Max are already there.”
Jen sat on the edge of Henry’s desk. “He’ll be okay, Henry.”
“I don’t know, Jen. He’s been exposed to more violence in his short life than any kid should have to deal with.”
Jen covered Henry’s hand with hers. “As long as he has you, he’ll be fine. So just make sure you come back.”
A spark went through him at her touch. For a moment, time seemed to stop.
A knock at his door broke the spell. Jen jumped off the desk and Henry yanked his hand back.
Jen’s twin brothers, Jordan and Mike Witt, walked in. Both were six feet tall with sun-highlighted blond hair. They were almost perfectly identical, right down to their matching expressions of grief.
One look at their faces and reality came crashing back. Both Jen and Henry hurried over to them.
Jen reached Mike first. She pulled him into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Mike.”
Mike hugged her back, a shudder running through him.
Henry walked up to Jordan, extended his hand and then pulled him into a hug.
After a few seconds, Jordan pulled back. “How are you doing?”
Henry sighed. “Honestly? It doesn’t seem real yet. I keep waiting for Jake to walk in the door or call me. I don’t know when it will sink in.”
Mike nodded. “How about Laney? How’s she holding up?”
“She’s hurting, but she’s trying to hide it, doing what needs to be done,” Henry said. “You know how she is.”
“Where is she?” Jordan asked.
“I don’t know.” Henry pulled out his phone, concerned. Actually, he hadn’t seen her since the meeting with Clark. He dialed Laney’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. “Jen, do you know where she is?”
Jen shook her head. “I haven’t seen her since the conference call with Clark.”
“Maybe she just needs a little alone time,” Jordan offered.
“Maybe,” Henry said, but he didn’t think so.
Tendrils of doom crawled over him. When he’d first met Laney, she’d risked her life to save both those she cared about and complete strangers.
And he knew the death toll was getting to her. And then Amanda had elicited that promise from her.
Henry’s head popped up. No. She couldn’t have.
He strode across his room, reached for the phone on his desk, and punched the button for security.
“Henry?” Jen followed him over.
He shook his head as security answered. “Sean, have you seen Laney recently?”
“No, sir.”
“Has anybody left the estate?”
“Only Yoni. He took off about two hours ago.”
CHAPTER 85
Johnson City, Tennessee
Yoni had been as good as his word. He’d gotten the chopper and flown him and Laney down to Tennessee. When they’d driven out of the Chandler Group’s property, Laney kept waiting for a radio call to show that the alarm had sounded. But all had been quiet.
Yoni had arranged to rent a chopper a few miles from the estate. Laney held her breath until they were in the air, expecting someone to stop them. No one did.
But the whole flight, he'd tried to talk Laney out of her plan. She was resolute, though. This was ending tonight—one way or another.
Once they neared the Tennessee border, Laney directed Yoni to a field in the middle of nowhere just a few miles inside the state line.
Yoni landed the chopper and then shut it down.
He turned to Laney. “Are you sure about this?”
“No one else is getting hurt, Yoni. This is my fight.”
“Yeah, yours and mine,” he grumbled. "You keep forgetting that part.”
Laney saw the car she’d arranged sitting only fifty feet away. “Right. Yours and mine.”
As Yoni got out of the chopper, Laney pulled the syringe out of her pocket. She pulled off its cap, pressing the plunger slightly to release any air. She tried to still the shaking in her hands.
Laney quietly got out. It’s to keep him safe, she reminded herself as she rounded the back of the chopper.
Heart hammering, she walked up behind Yoni, who was pulling a pack out of the back of the chopper. Before she could have second thoughts, Laney plunged the syringe into Yoni’s neck.
Yoni yanked it out before she could empty all of its contents. But it was enough. His eyelids started to droop. “Laney, why?”
Laney wrapped her arms around him, stumbling under his weight. She lowered him to the ground. “I’m sorry, Yoni. But I won’t let anyone else get hurt. And that includes you.”
She checked his pulse. Strong. She patted down his jacket and found his cell phone. She pulled it out, removed the battery, and threw it as far as she could.
Climbing back into the chopper, she looked at the radio. Okay, how do I disable this thing?
Shaking her head, she finally pulled some pliers from her pack and snipped off a couple of wires.
Laney pocketed the keys, grabbed her pack, and hopped out.
With only a quick glance at Yoni, who still lay peacefully on the ground, Laney ran for the car. The keys were hidden in the wheel well, as she had arranged. She drove off before she could change her mind.
A stab of guilt pierced her as she caught sight of Yoni’s crumpled body in the rearview mirror. She looked away, clenching the steering wheel, hardening her resolve. No one else is getting killed. Her eyes narrowed. Except Samyaza.
Forty minutes later, Laney drove down a quiet country road. It hadn’t taken her as long
as she’d feared to reach the estate.
She pulled over to the shoulder and turned the engine off. She pulled her iPad from the passenger seat and brought up the aerial view of the farm Clark had sent them.
There were only three structures on the property: a farmhouse, a barn, and a utility shed. The utility shed was set farther back on the property, but the barn and farmhouse looked like they were both about a mile from her current location.
Although “farmhouse” was probably the wrong word for the home. Laney had pulled up some photos from when the house had been on the market a few years before. The house was a good ten thousand square feet, and it was decorated to the nines. This was not a Ma and Pa Kettle farm. The place even had a ballroom, for God’s sake.
The extravagance of the place reminded her of Gideon. She shook her head. These Fallen sure like the good things in life.
Laney zoomed in to get a better view of the land. The whole property was pretty densely covered with trees, but about a quarter of a mile from the house, all coverage stopped. They’d cleared the whole area except for a few artfully placed bushes in front of the house.
She zoomed in to the side of the house. It looked like the trees were a little closer there. That would be her way in.
Laney wasn’t sure where Maddox would be held. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure he was here. All she knew was that she had to try and find him. She needed one mark in the win column.
Laney shoved the iPad under the seat, grabbed her pack, and pulled out her Beretta. She checked the magazine. Full.
And this time she’d loaded it with hollow points. She needed as much stopping power as she could get.
She filled her pockets with extra ammo and a small remote, then zipped them shut. A pair of night vision goggles, on a strap around her neck, and she was ready to go.
She stepped out of the car and rubbed her arms. The body armor felt strange. Jake had bought her the suit a month ago.
At the time, she’d thought he was nuts, but now it gave her comfort. He was always looking after her, even now.
Rubbing her ring, Laney set off on foot.
She jogged at the edge of the road for a half-mile. No cars went by.
At the half-mile mark, she moved into the trees. Although the moon was bright, the trees blocked out almost all of its light. She put on the night vision goggles and immediately the night turned green.
Up ahead, she could see the fence for the property. It was a rancher’s fence, just two horizontal posts between vertical ones every six feet or so. She could slip through easily.
But she waited, inspecting the posts and the trees around them. There. Up in one of the tall oaks, she could just make out the green light of a security camera.
Laney scrounged in her pack and pulled out a remote. Aiming it at the camera, she pushed a small button. The light dimmed and disappeared.
Laney smiled. Danny’s little invention. A small, directed electro-magnetic pulse. If Danny was right, and he normally was, she had just taken out their security cameras but left the rest of their electricity up and running. Hopefully, she had bought herself enough time to get in, find Maddox, and get out.
Laney took a step forward, feeling more than a little confident. So far, everything was going according to plan.
A hand slipped over her mouth. “Don’t make a sound.”
CHAPTER 86
Amar watched his two best fighters move in on Maddox. He’d decided to have a cage match, in Titus’s old cage. He thought it would be entertaining.
Cleo hissed as a man flew into one of the metal rods of the cage. Amar rolled his eyes. Oh, for God’s sake.
Maddox laughed, swiping his long hair from his eyes. “This the best you got, Amar? Tsk, tsk.”
The other combatant ran at Maddox, landing a lucky punch on his ribs before circling out.
Maddox looked at the man with a grin, blood seeping between his teeth, one eye swollen shut but healing. “That all you got? My grandma hits harder.”
“Oh, I got more.” The man across from him raised his fist.
“Enough.” Amar pushed himself from his chair. “Pick up Smith.”
The man in the cage walked over to Smith, who was lying in an unconscious heap in the corner.
Amar shook his head. He’d sent two of his men into the cage to take care of Maddox. It should have taken only a few minutes to finish off the nephilim.
And it was supposed to have been a nice stress reliever after Gerard’s visit. The man had left a few minutes earlier, and Amar had kept Maddox hidden until then. He didn’t need Gerard’s probing questions.
But instead of watching his men wipe the floor with Maddox, he’d watched Maddox wipe the floor with both of them. Amar glared at his men. They were supposed to be two of his best fighters. How the hell was this possible?
Amar studied Maddox. The man was tall, standing around six foot six, with dark brown hair brushing his shoulders and almost-matching brown eyes.
But there was a savagery that surrounded him. He didn’t just look intimidating. The air around him felt intimidating.
He was the opposite of Gerard, Amar realized. Whereas the layer of steel in Gerard was covered with a fine polish, Maddox was all primitive predator. He didn’t even try to hide who he was. What he was.
If Amar could turn him, Maddox would be an incredible asset to his operation. The man was one hell of a fighter. He’d even killed his own sister to escape the—
Amar stopped in mid-thought. He strode up to the cage. “Amanda. That was your sister’s name, wasn’t it? Tell me, Maddox. How did you kill her again?”
Maddox spit out a mouthful of blood and said nothing.
“Broke her neck, if I recall,” Amar said. “But now I’m beginning to wonder. Maybe I need to start a search for your little sis.”
The change was slight, just a tightening of the jaw. But Amar caught it. He smiled wide. “So, she is alive and well. I’ll be sure to take care of that as soon as I finish some other business.”
Amar turned to the three other men who’d come in with him. “Fit him with a collar.”
“Sir?”
“A collar.” Amar’s voice whipped out, pointing at the collar hanging over Titus’s now-empty cage. The collars kept the beasts from roaming past the boundaries of the property during the hunts.
Amar smiled. “I think it’s time for another little hunt.”
CHAPTER 87
As soon as the man’s hand slipped over Laney’s mouth, Laney grabbed his arm, trapping it. Then she dropped to her knee and rolled her shoulder and hip forward, almost as if she were going to do a forward roll. The man flew right over her, landing on his back.
Laney drove forward with her knee, ready to make sure the man never had the option of reproducing, when he let out a strangled cry. “Aw crap, Laney.”
Laney stopped. “Yoni? What the hell are you doing here?”
Yoni rolled onto his knees. “Apparently I’m getting my ass kicked.”
“Sorry. Sorry.” She helped him up. Shit. Apparently Yoni had needed the whole syringe to stay down. “How did you get here?”
“I put a tracker in your pack. And then I stole a car from some kid when you abandoned me. I’m not feeling real good about that part, by the way.”
Laney groaned. She’d taken the battery out of her phone and disconnected the GPS on the car. She hadn’t thought to look for another tracker.
He nodded. “Yeah. I know you.”
“Did you tell anyone else where I was?”
“Not yet. While I took a nap, someone stole my phone and disabled the radio in the helicopter. I would have stopped and made a call but I was pretty sure you were trying to get yourself killed. So I headed here instead.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Great. Now it’s time for you to go.” She pushed at his shoulder. She might as well have been pushing an oak tree. He didn’t even sway.
“No. I told you before, I’m going with you. I know what you’re up to.
If you’re going after that guy Maddox, then so am I.”
“No. I’m going alone.”
“Yeah, well: alone plus one.”
“No, Yoni. No way.”
Yoni didn’t budge. “Jake was my best friend. And he loved you. If he was alive, he’d be right here, where I am. And seeing as he can’t be here, it’s my job to be here.”
Laney’s heart broke. “No, Yoni. If anything were to happen to you . . . You have a son. Think about him.”
“I am. I’m thinking about the world he’s going to grow up in if these guys succeed. I’m thinking about the man he’s going to become. It’s my job to set an example. You don’t let your friends face danger alone. So, I’m coming, Laney, or I tell everyone where you are. Your choice.”
Laney stared at him. She knew he wasn’t bluffing. “Okay. But don’t you dare get yourself killed.”
Yoni saluted. “You got it, boss. So what’s the plan?”
Laney glanced over at him. “The farmhouse and barn are up ahead. Maddox is probably in one of them.”
Yoni grabbed her arm. “Probably? As in maybe?”
“Yoni, you can leave at any time.”
He put up his hands. “No, hey, this is great. We’ll just walk up, face an unknown number of super-powered humans who each take a magazine to the heart to kill, and hopefully find the guy we’re looking for. It’s great. I hate plans that get bogged down in too many details.”
CHAPTER 88
Laney walked quietly through the trees. Yoni was to her right, about six feet away. He moved soundlessly.
Laney had seen Yoni in soldier mode before. And although she had planned on making this little trip solo, she had to admit that she was glad he was here.
Yoni put up his hand.
Laney stopped and lowered herself to the ground. Together they crawled toward a large dense yew bush.
Laney looked over at Yoni, but he had a finger to his lips. He pointed ahead and to their right.