The Forbidden Trilogy(265)

Hunter picked up the sword he'd dropped during the blast. "Lucy, get back."

His face hardened in rage, and Lucy realized that the fallen weren't just agents; they were his friends, people he'd trained with and done assignments with. He too had lost much during this assignment.

In synch for once, Hunter and Luke looked at each other, nodded, and attacked.

Both of Beleth's hands turned into blades and he countered, spinning and ripping through the air.

Luke threw up a force-field, deflecting the blades, then spun out of the way as Hunter lunged from behind.

Beleth blocked, and his spider legs erupted from his back and wrapped around Luke and Hunter, encasing them.

Oh, my God, no!

Yet something was off, not going the way Beleth had planned. His eyes bulged as his legs began to spread apart, wider and wider until they snapped all the way back, forced open by Luke's force-field. Luke's arms strained from the use of his power, but he pressed on, side-by-side with Hunter.

Lucy rushed over to one of the dead agents and pulled a rifle from his hands, trying to ignore the bloody, lifeless bodies everywhere.

Hunter and Luke fought, Luke blocking, Hunter attacking, just like they had back at the Rent-A-Kid facility, except this time they worked together, as one.

Lucy aimed at Beleth, but couldn't get a clear shot, not even close to one. She couldn't help them like this, but there was something she could do.

She ran as fast as she could to the small tent that housed the sphere, and retrieved it from the box. It immediately filled her with warmth, wrapping her body in ecstatic comfort and taking away all her pain. She'd forgotten how good it felt, but she had no time to waste on reflection. The sphere pulsed in her hand, like a purring kitten happy to be home again. She sensed that it wanted to connect with her, to bond with her.

She lowered it and ran back. Please don't be too late.

She reached the prison area just as Beleth walked toward her, holding Simmons in his spider legs. No. Did he kill Hunter and Luke?

Beleth rushed at her, no longer appearing slowed by his battle against Steele's control. Lucy twisted away, but he grabbed her ankle with one of his spider legs and threw her against the ground. His eyes flashed to the sphere in her hand, and he hesitated.

"Lucy, I...." He stopped again, unable to say the words.

Was he trying to apologize again, this time for killing her?

Instead, he wrapped his tail around Simmons. "Our agreement."

He still wanted her to kill Simmons. Was it for revenge, because she'd left him in that warehouse to suffer under the whim of a madman?

"She's not a threat anymore. What does killing her accomplish? I know she hurt you. I know this isn't your fault, but there has to be a way to break Steele's hold on you." Could he tell her? Help her to save him?

"She can't live." Maybe he couldn't respond to the rest—wasn't allowed to. "I will not allow her to be in a position of power at IPI, or at Steele's side."

"Why? Because of jealousy? She's no longer in power at IPI. She's been arrested. She can't hurt anybody now."

Beleth chuckled without humor. "Simmons has been with IPI a long time. She has deep connections there. Do you really think anyone here has the authority to overrule her?"

"Of course they do. She was about to kill a whole building of innocent children and she'd gone crazy. She was going to kill me and Luke. We have witnesses, agents who will testify."

"Most of whom are dead. The others... they will not matter. Steele is rising in power. He has taken down billions of dollars in military aircrafts and cost the lives of many. Do you think IPI will think what you did was noble? You think any government agency wouldn't choose the lives of the world over a building full of kids? You need to wake up to reality. Even the U.S. Government, the supposed leader in human rights, would sacrifice the innocent for the bigger picture."

No. That can't be right. I don't believe that.

Beleth shook his head. "For all your skills, you are still so naive."

In a very cruel and twisted way, his logic made sense. Simmons would use her clout, and the events that occurred after she was taken in, to prove that she'd been right all along, and that we'd screwed up. She'd win, and then she'd use her power to end paranormals—out of jealousy, out of fear—when she had no more use of them.

Lucy remembered Simmons's words from the vision. "As for the ones left... you can burn in hell for all I care."

She understood now why Beleth had wanted Simmons dead all along. How much of this could she have avoided by killing Simmons earlier? But what kind of person would she have become if she had?

"She'd never join Steele. I can use her and then...."And then what? Kill her?

Beleth walked towards Lucy. "Like I said, it's too late."