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The Belial Stone(48)

By:R.D. Brady


She flinched at his tone, but held her ground. “It helps more than you getting angry and storming off.”

“Look, I’m not angry. I’m just…” He ran his hands through his hair. “Hell, I don’t know what I am. This just all seems too crazy. I know what I saw in Afghanistan. I know what happened yesterday. I know what the M.E. says. But fallen angels?”

“I know it seems unreal, but we have to look at the facts. These men are unreal. Their fighting skills, their healing abilities. None of them are normal.”

Jake looked past Laney. He let out a breath. She was right. They weren’t normal. Which meant there wasn’t going to be a nice, easy explanation. “I know. It's just… When I heard Tom had gone missing, I thought it would take me a couple of days to track him down. I figured he’d run off. I’d talk him down, help him get settled. But this? I don't want him in the middle of this.”

She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I know. But we don’t always get what we want.”

He looked at her upturned face and saw the sadness there. “I don’t want you in the middle of this, either.”

She smiled, the sadness still there. “Like I said, we don’t always get what we want.”

He cleared his throat. “So tell me, Dr. McPhearson, what do we do now?”

“We find the site. That’s where Tom will be.”

“Besides believing it’s in the U.S., we have no idea where to look.”

“Actually, I do have an idea about that. While you guys have been tracking down all your sources for any information, I’ve been thinking about the weak link in this chain. It’s Priddle. He’s the one who brought Drew on, and then Drew sent me the paper. Priddle left his university, quickly. I’m betting there are some clues there.”

Jake nodded. She was right. He should have thought of that. “Not bad for a professor.”

She grinned. “Well, I have my moments.”

“I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

“And I’ll go with you.”

He shook his head. “No chance. It’s too dangerous.”

Laney’s expression was fierce. “Drew was killed because of all of this. Mike and Rocky were hurt and four other officers were killed. I won’t sit here twiddling my thumbs while you take all the risks. The sooner we find out where the site is, the sooner all this ends. Besides, I’m guessing you’re not well-versed in academic-speak. I am.

Jake wanted to argue with her. He didn’t want her going. She’d be safer here. He knew, though, that she was right. She’d already lost Drew to this madness. If it were him, he’d go crazy without something to do. And she was more familiar with talking to academics than he was. His form of interrogation generally involved fists and sharp instruments. Neither would be too helpful in this case.

She smiled and his breath caught. But nothing was going to happen to her, he vowed. He wouldn’t let it.





CHAPTER 34



Saint Paul, MN



The flight to Minnesota that morning had been happily uneventful. Laney spent most it reviewing the information she’d gathered on angels. It was fascinating stuff. According to theologians, mankind had been sharing the earth with angels since the beginning of time. Although, generally speaking, the angels had just made short visits rather than taking up residence.

When talking about the power of angels, however, the research mainly addressed nephilim, the offspring of angels. They were reported to be giants with incredible strength, speed, and cruelty. And if that’s what half-angel beings were capable of, she didn’t want to imagine what full-blooded angels were capable of.

In the abstract, it might be fascinating, but in terms of potential opponents, it was terrifying.

Now as Jake pulled into one of the parking garages at the University of Saint Paul, Laney felt a mixture of familiarity and sadness. A wave of grief had blindsided her on the way over. Their route had taken them past Drew’s neighborhood. She hadn’t mentioned it to Jake. It hurt too much to talk about.

The ache in her chest grew at the sight of the familiar campus. Brick academic buildings, many with ivy covering their walls and columns announcing their entryways, lined the intersecting pathways that broke up the University of Saint Paul’s 100-acre campus. Set on the outskirts of Saint Paul, the campus was boarded by Mississippi River on the eastern end of the campus.

She kept expecting to see Drew bound across the green grass and wrap her in a bear hug, like the last time she’d visited. It didn’t seem real that he was gone. Pushing those feelings aside, she led Jake across campus to the building that housed the archaeology program.