by R. D. Brady
Henry swallowed. He knew he wasn’t being fair, but his mother and Ralph keeping Ralph’s identity from him—it cut deep. He knew his mother’s identity and her secrets were off-limits, but Ralph… he had always been an open book.
Or so I thought.
Henry leaned his head back. How could I not have known this? How could they not tell me?
He leaned his elbows on the desk, his head in his hands. And now what? He was supposed to let his mother die to save humanity from an immortal Fallen? How was that even possible?
And then there was Max. Max, who can see…. Henry went still. Max, who can see the future.
Oh my God.
Henry walked quickly over to his office doors, glanced out into the hallway, then closed them. Back at his desk, he unlocked the drawer on the bottom right. He removed the unmarked envelope and pulled out the handwritten sheet of legal paper, trying to calm the tremor in his hands. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?
He had provided Laney with a copy of the translation from The Army of the Belial. He had given her a translation of every single page—save one.
That page contained only three paragraphs. It was the last two that had kept him from showing anyone else the words. But now he worried that it was the first one he should have understood sooner:
When the triads arise, the seer will appear. In his hands, the outcomes will be known, but not fixed. The side that controls him, controls the final battle.
Max could see the future. He was the seer.
Guilt overcame Henry. If he had shared this translation with someone else… maybe they would have understood. Maybe they could have done something to save Max.
Henry gazed out the windows that lined the back of his office. No one had seen these words but him. In fact, he had never typed it into the file. He hadn’t wanted to take the chance that Laney might find it. Or that Danny might uncover it.
But it wasn’t the comments about the seer that had made him hold the translation back. It was the lines that followed them:
The ring bearer will be tested. The seer, an object of fire, will determine the fate of each side, and the ring bearer will fight alone. And then the war will begin.
If she is found worthy, the Children of the Light of One will have a chance to push back the tide. If she fails, the Belial will overrun the world.
He looked over the words again, feeling the fear. His mother was gone, and Max was the seer—he had to be. Which meant the Fallen now had the advantage.
He had never shown Laney this passage; he had hoped she wouldn’t need to see it. For a moment, he realized he had done just what his mother had done. And he felt the hypocrisy of his anger. But showing Laney this passage would have only put more guilt on her shoulders, more worry. She would literally have the fate of the world in her hands. And he hadn’t been able to lay that at her feet.
A knock sounded at the door. Henry flipped the paper over on his desk. “Come in.”
Laney peeked her head in. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Are you okay?” She walked over and stood next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
He saw the worry on her face and felt comforted by it. He knew she would do anything to help him. But there was nothing to be done. There was no one who could take away the hole in his chest.
He gently placed his hand over hers. “I’m okay.”
She squeezed his hand. “Liar,” she said quietly before wrapping her arms around him. “We’ll get through this. Together.”
Henry held her close, leaning his head into hers. He had met Laney two years ago, but had automatically felt a connection to her—a need to protect her. Now he knew why. But he couldn’t keep this translation from her any longer. There was too much at stake.
He pulled away and looked at her. “There’s something I need to show you.”
CHAPTER 42
Laney stared at the translation in disbelief. She’d read it twice now, but she still couldn’t believe the words in front of her. An object of fire. The day Max was born, Laney had saved Max and Katie from a burning car. He was a child of fire. And he could see the future.
Everything fell into place. That’s why the Fallen wanted Max. He could turn the tide in their favor. She had known he was part of all of this—but not how. And she had prayed that she was wrong. But now, she knew: he was a weapon.
“It never occurred to me that the seer could be Max. He’s just so young,” Henry said. Laney saw the grief on Henry’s face. She knew he would never put Max in harm’s way. It had honestly never occurred to him that Max was the seer.
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. He’s so young. I wouldn’t have thought it either.” But even as the words left her mouth, she knew they were a lie. For over a month she had been trying to find the reason why someone would target Max—and if she had read this, she would have made the connection right away. But she shoved those thoughts aside.
“We need to get him back.”
“We will, Laney. We will.”
Laney stared down at the words again. The ring bearer will fight alone. She looked up into Henry’s eyes. “How come you never showed me this?”
“You had enough going on. I didn’t want you stressing about something that might not come to pass.”
Laney let out a little laugh. “Apparently that’s our family’s motto.”
Henry put his hand on Laney’s shoulder. “But you won’t be alone. Jake and I are with you.”
Laney reached up and covered his hand with hers. She knew that when fate had a plan, know matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t change it.
CHAPTER 43
A knock at Henry’s office door caused Laney and Henry to look over.
Ralph stood uncertainly in the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I can come back—”
“No. It’s okay. Come in,” Henry said, trying to tamp down his anger and hurt. He needed to keep it in check and focus on Max and his mother right now. The rest could wait.
Ralph walked over to the couch near Henry’s desk. The shower seemed to have rejuvenated him. He didn’t look as tired as before.
Laney squeezed Henry’s shoulder before turning and walking around the desk. She stood leaning against it, her arms crossed. “I have some more questions.”
Ralph took a quick glance at Henry. “I figured you would.”
Henry studied Ralph. His face was wrinkled and his hair had grayed in the last thirty years. Ralph had aged normally. He looked like a man in his fifties should—albeit a man in great shape. There was nothing that indicated that he was anything but a normal person. Nothing screamed all-powerful angel.
“Was it your duty to protect both our mother and father?” Laney asked.
Ralph shook his head. “No—just your mother. Your father doesn’t receive protection when he returns.”
Henry pulled himself from his ruminations with a start. “What? But he’s Metatron.”
Ralph turned his eyes to Henry. “Yes. And he has abilities like you. But his role on Earth is not as important as your mother’s.”
Henry stared, dumbfounded and more than a little annoyed. What exactly was his mother’s role?
“See, that’s what I don’t get,” Laney said. “Who is she?”
“I’m sorry,” Ralph said. “Like I said, I can’t tell you that.”
All the anger and resentment Henry was trying to keep a lid on boiled over. “How can you not? You raised me. You were the closest person I had to a father! How can you not tell me?”
Pain and regret flashed across Ralph’s face. Henry steeled himself against it.
“I want to,” Ralph said. “I want to tell you everything. But I am forbidden. I—I wish it were different.”
Henry stood, clenching his fists. He turned his back to the room and looked out the window, trying to find his calm. For his whole life, secrets had been kept from him. Now they whirled through his mind, threatening to choke him. Laney was his sister. His father was
an angel. He was a nephilim. And his mother was…. something. Someone important. Not just to him and Laney, but to the whole world.
When he looked back at Ralph, the anger burned away, leaving only sadness. Ralph had been a true friend all his life. “Why?”
“Henry, if I could, I would. Please believe that. You have been…” Ralph broke off and swallowed. “You have been one of the greatest pleasures of this life or any other. I have never had a son, but I love you like you were mine.”
Henry looked into Ralph’s eyes and knew that Ralph was telling him the truth.
Laney came to stand next to Henry, leaning into him and wrapping an arm around his waist. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Okay,” Laney said, “if you can’t tell us about Victoria, can you tell us why they would take Max now as well?”
Ralph’s head whipped up and his eyes narrowed. “Max? Kati Simmons’s son?”
Henry stared at Ralph. Ralph had never met Max—he was sure of that. And he couldn’t remember ever having mentioned him to Ralph either, although it was possible. But Ralph’s reaction… no, there was something else there. “How do you know Max?” he asked.
Ralph ignored the question. “When was he taken?”
Laney glanced at Henry before speaking. “Yesterday. But it wasn’t so much that he was taken. He ran to join them.”
“Max is psychic?” Ralph asked.
Laney started. “How did you know that?”
“He’s the seer,” Ralph said softly. His eyes were a world away.
“That’s what we think,” Laney said.
Henry looked between two of them. A chill came over him when he saw the expression on Ralph’s face. “What do you know?” Henry asked.
Ralph appeared to be caught up in some inner thoughts. “The seer has the ability to read the future,” he said. “Whichever side controls the seer can control the fate of the fight to come.”
Henry felt a tremor run through Laney. He tightened his arm around her. “What will they do to him?”
Ralph seemed to snap back to the present. “He’s a tool. They’ll use him to get the information they want.”
Henry felt sick. A tool. “What information? What are they looking for?”
“The other means of becoming immortal.”
“What is the other way?” Henry asked, remembering what his mother had alluded to on the recording.
“A tree.”
“A tree? All of this for a tree?” Laney asked.
Ralph met each of their eyes before his gaze came to rest on Henry. “Not just any tree. They’re looking for the tree of life itself.”
CHAPTER 44
Laney stared at Ralph. “The tree of life? As in Genesis?”
Ralph nodded. Laney looked up at Henry, who stared back at her with what she was sure was the same incredulous look that was on her own face. “In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve—”
Jake burst in the door. “We’ve found Victoria and Max.”
All talk of the tree ceased.
“Where?” Henry asked.
“Outside Chicago.” Jake strode over to the giant screen above the conference table. “I have a live feed.”
Laney made her way to his side. “Chicago? Northgram’s in Chicago.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t the Council,” Jake said.
“Who’s running the op?” Henry asked.
“Jordan. He’s got Yoni and Jen with him.”
Laney closed her eyes and said a small thank you. If she couldn’t be there herself, those were the people she’d have chosen.
“They found the house. The Fallen must have been alerted, because they managed to get to their cars and head for the airport just as they arrived. Our people are right on their tail. They should be at the airport now if they were unable stop them in transit.”
On the screen, an airport scene came to life. A firefight was already in progress. Laney squinted as she tried to make out the players.
Her heart skipped a beat. “There’s Max.” She pointed to the top right. Max was being carried kicking and screaming into a plane.
“And Gerard,” Henry muttered with disgust.
Laney recognized the man holding Max. “Where’s Victoria?”
“There,” Jake said. “Behind that van.”
Laney held her breath as two men next to Victoria were shot and dropped. The plane behind her came to life.
“She can get away.” Run, Victoria, run, Laney urged.
Victoria stood and did run—right to the plane. She climbed up the steps and disappeared inside. The door closed after her, and the plane headed for the runway. The shooting stopped. No one wanted to damage the plane as it took off.
Laney stared at the screen in disbelief. First Max, now Victoria. She stared at Henry, whose jaw was hanging open. What is going on?
CHAPTER 45
Victoria strode down the aisle, stumbling a bit as the plane moved. Max screamed at Gerard, who held him.
Victoria’s heart clenched at the sound. She grabbed Gerard’s arm. “Let him go.”
Gerard glared, then shoved Max into her. Stumbling under the boy’s weight, Victoria leaned heavily against one of the seats but managed to stay upright.
Max clung to her, his shoulders shaking. Victoria moved past Gerard and fell into a seat as the plane picked up speed. She hugged Max to her, her heart breaking again at his terror. And her anger rose. He’s too young for this. He shouldn’t be part of this.
She ran her hand over Max’s back, trying to calm him down. “It’ll be all right, Max. It’ll be all right.” Victoria repeated the same words over and over until Max’s shaking calmed.
After fifteen minutes, she saw with relief that he had fallen asleep. She shifted him so he lay curled in her lap, then pulled a blanket from the chair next to her and spread it over him. She placed a kiss on his forehead. “I wish you didn’t need to be a part of this,” she whispered.
She rested her head on the back of the seat and closed her own eyes. She was exhausted. The security feed from the airfield had no doubt already made it to Henry and Laney. And those were their own operatives that she’d run away from. She let out a shuddering breath. Would they have seen that she’d had a moment to escape and that she had chosen not to?
Her chest feeling heavy, she stared out the window at the clouds. Please, God, help them understand why I’ve done the things I’ve done.
“Not sleeping?” Elisabeta said, taking a seat across from her.
Victoria composed her face, wiping all trace of emotion from it. “What do you need?”
Elisabeta smiled, tracing a well-manicured finger over the armrest. “Why, nothing. I just wanted to compliment you on turning your back on your children. Not every mother would be able to do that.”
Millennia of practice was the only thing that kept Victoria from launching herself at Elisabeta’s smug face. Instead she pinned Elisabeta in place with her gaze.
Elisabeta blinked and narrowed her eyes. “Careful. You don’t want to ruin my beneficence.”
Victoria held her tongue and gripped the side of the chair, trying to keep her anger in check. Elisabeta had incredible power as well as incredible abilities and wealth. And yet it still wasn’t enough. She wanted more. Even if that meant traumatizing a small child to get what she wanted.
Oblivious to Victoria’s anger, Elisabeta leaned forward and pulled the blanket a little tighter around Max. “Such a beautiful child.”
Victoria said nothing but gripped Max closer.
“You can let him sleep for now. I have a few things to arrange. But then I expect him to tell us where the tree is. And you would be advised to convince him to tell me. If not, one of my men will do the convincing.”
Elisabeta’s words left Victoria terrified. She had no doubt that Elisabeta would follow through on her threat.
Elisabeta stood. “Remember, it is only by my good graces that this little boy gets to live. My good graces and, of course, his cooperation
. You do what I say, and that little boy gets to live a long life. You disobey me, and as soon as I’m done with him… well, then I’m done with him.” Elisabeta smiled and sauntered back to the bedroom at the back of the plane, closing the door behind her.
Victoria let out a trembling breath and held Max closer to her. “I won’t let them hurt you, Max. I promise.”
CHAPTER 46
Baltimore, Maryland
Laney looked at Ralph but pointed at the screen. “What was that?” she demanded. “Why didn’t Victoria run? Why would she go with them?”
Ralph shook his head. “I don’t know. But there must be a good reason.”
“A good reason? What reason, Ralph? Who is she? Is she working with us or—”
Jake took Laney’s hand. “She was protecting Max.”
Laney stopped in mid-rant. “What?”
“Max,” Jake said, his gaze capturing hers. “Think about it: would you have left Max in their hands to save your own skin?”
Relief washed over Laney. Relief and guilt. She’d been ready to blame Victoria based on one action—one misinterpreted action. She ran her hand through her hair. “Of course. I should have thought of that.”
She looked over at Henry. “I’m sorry, Henry. I shouldn’t have…”
“She makes it a little hard to trust her at times,” Henry said. “But she is a good person, Laney. I hope someday you can believe that.”
Laney nodded, feeling horrible.
Jake pulled her to him. “Well, you can’t think of everything.”
She turned to Ralph. “Where’s this tree that they’re after?”
“Tree? What tree?” Jake asked.
“The tree of life,” Laney answered.
“I don’t know,” Ralph said.
“Don’t know, or won’t say?” Henry asked.