The Belial Library (The Belial Series) (29 page)

Las Vegas, NV

Pain roared through Henry's chest, jerking him into consciousness.  His eyes flew open and his arms wrenched upward, only to meet resistance.  He panted, his heart feeling like it was going to explode out of his chest. 

As the pain passed, he realized he was strapped to a metal cross.  His shirt was gone, his wrists and ankles secured by chains.  The room had sheer metal walls, no windows.  There was no way to tell where he was or even what time of day it was.

"Good.  You're awake."

His eyes focused on Hugo Barton who stood ten feet away.  Henry stared at the syringe in his hands.  "What did you inject in me?"

Hugo dropped the syringe onto the table next to an assortment of knives, scalpels, and other sharp instruments.  "Adrenaline.  You were taking too long to come around."

"You could have killed me."

Hugo's eyes narrowed.  "Now see, that just isn't true, is it?"

Henry stared at him, not certain what the man was suggesting.  He stayed silent.

Hugo picked up a scalpel and walked over to him.              "My employer has some questions for you."  Without warning, he slashed Henry across the chest.

Henry gasped at the pain, gritting his teeth.  When it passed, he snarled.  "Shouldn't you at least ask me a question first?"

"I think we both know you wouldn't just start answering.  So I thought we'd skip the pleasantries and get right to the pain."

Henry yanked on his restraints, but they were too strong. 

"Tsk, tsk.  Those’ll keep you there.  But just in case, I have a backup plan."

Hugo walked over to the table next to the door with all of his tools.  There was a small remote on it. 

Henry hadn’t noticed before.  His attention too focused on all the sharp, shiny instruments. 

Hugo picked up the remote and pushed a button.

The metal behind Henry began to grow warm and then hot.  Henry arched his back, trying to keep it from pressing against the metal, but there wasn't enough give in the restraints.  His skin began to sizzle as the metal burned through it.  He bit his lip, not wanting to give the man the satisfaction of a response, but soon a scream erupted from his lips.

Hugo smiled, pressing another button and the metal began to cool. 

Henry’s skin had now melted to the beams.  He blew air from his mouth, trying to manage the pain.

Hugo walked up to him, a serrated knife in his hand.  With the tip, he traced the spot where he’d slashed Henry before.  Only a faint red mark was there now. 

Hugo looked up into Henry's eyes.  "Let's not waste time on denials when the proof’s right here.  My boss tells me that you’re not really human, that you have special abilities.   And right now, he needs one of those skills.  He's asked me to persuade you to cooperate."

Henry stared at the man.  All he saw in him was cruelty.  And this man had the gall to accuse him of not being human.  There was no morality in this man, only evil.  “You and your boss can go to hell."

Hugo smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."

CHAPTER 67

Baltimore, MD

Laney paced Henry’s office, struggling to come up with some string she could follow to help find Henry.  For all she knew whoever had grabbed Henry was gathering up as many superhumans as they could find.  She stilled. 
Oh no
. 

Trembling, she pulled out her cellphone and dialed.  “Please answer,” she mumbled as the phone rang out over and over again.

“Hello?”

Laney released her breath and sagged against the wall.  “Jen.  Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.  Why?  What’s happened?”

Laney quickly told her what had happened to Henry and why they thought he was targeted.  “If they’re grabbing people with powers, you need to be careful.  Really careful.”

“I will.  Trust me.  Besides, I’m not exactly a showboat when it comes to those abilities.”

“Have you told your brothers?”

“No.  I haven’t figured out a way to work ‘Hey, I’ve had superpowers since I was a kid’ into the conversation.”

Laney gave a small laugh.  “I could see why that would be a little bit difficult.  But you need to let them know.  You could be in danger and they need to be ready for that threat.”

Laney could hear the sigh through the phone, and the fear.  Jen’s voice was small when she spoke.  “What if they can’t handle it?”

“Jen, your brothers flew half way around the world to save you.  They’re both former Navy SEALs.  I’m pretty sure they can handle it.  It might rattle them for a second, but they love you.  You know that.”

“I know.”

“Good.”  Laney paused.  Although she did want to warn Jen, she thought the chances of her being targeted were pretty low.  There was another reason she needed to speak with her.  “Can I ask you a question?”

Jen paused before answering, probably recognizing the seriousness in Laney’s tone.  “Okay.”

“When you met Henry, you seemed rattled.  I thought it might be due to his size, because I’ve seen people react like that to him.  But now I’m thinking your reaction was based on something else.”

Laney waited as the silence on the phone grew.  Finally, Jen spoke.  “I don’t know how to explain it.  I mean, yes, I was surprised by his size.  But it was more than that. I felt an automatic connection to him.”

“You mean an attraction?”

“No, not exactly.  It was stronger than that.  It was a connection and a knowledge.”

Laney leaned back against the wall.  She knew the answer to the question but she asked it anyway.  “Because you knew he was like you?”

“Yes,” Jen said simply.  “I knew he had the same abilities I did.  I don’t know how, but I knew.”

Laney nodded.  “And you’ve never felt that connection with anyone else?”

“No.  Just Henry.”

Laney’s mind whirled with the possibilities. It didn’t help her find Henry, but it was damned intriguing.

Jen cut into her thoughts.  “What are you going to do about Henry?”

Laney thought of all Henry had done for Danny, her, her uncle, Jake, Jen, the Shuar.  And the list went on.  “We’re getting him back, Jen. I’ll call you when I hear something.”  She disconnected the call, staring out the window.

“Laney, I need to speak with you.”

Laney turned around.  A man with a wild halo of grey hair and thick glasses stood in the doorway.  His hands moved quickly, his eyes darting around the room.  His nervousness was palpable. 

Laney crossed the room towards him. “Dom?  Are you all right?”

Dom was Dr. Dominique Velasquez, a world-renowned physicist and agoraphobe.  Laney had never seen him out of the bomb shelter he used for his residence and lab.  Whatever had ushered him out must be important.

Dom bounced in place.  “I know who’s behind the Ecuador attack.”

CHAPTER 68

Laney sat Dom down at the conference table but his nervous energy had him leaping from the chair almost immediately to pace the room.  “I’ve never been in Henry’s office before.  He’s invited me, of course.  But I’m more comfortable in my lab.  Henry’s always come there.”

Laney nodded, feeling the fear coming off Dom.  Henry was his friend and Dom was terrified.  “We’ll get him back, Dom.  Jake has everybody working on his abduction.”

Dom stopped pacing for a moment, but then continued on.  His words came out even faster.  “When I realized the connection, I knew I needed to speak with you right away.  But I didn’t want to leave the lab.  But it was important.  It was for Henry.”

Dom kept talking, his words coming out like a flood.  Laney struggled to figure out a way to calm him down enough to find out what he had to tell her. 

The door opened and Jake walked in carrying a tray. 
Oh thank God
.

Laney smiled, spying the chocolate chip cookies on the tray.  She’d texted Jake to let him know Dom was here.  And obviously, Jake was hoping Dom’s favorite treat might calm him a little.

Jake placed the tray on the table, ignoring Dom’s incessant talking.  He spoke over the agitated genius.  “Hey Dom.  Laney said you might have some information on the group behind the Ecuador attack.”  Jake placed a pile of cookies on a plate next to a giant glass of milk.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, Dom sat down and picked up a cookie.  “Yes.  I’m pretty sure I know.”  He took a bite of the cookie, gulped down some milk and stared off into space.

Laney breathed a sigh of relief.  At least, he’d stopped talking.  She waited and Dom stayed silent, contentedly chewing on his cookie.  Of course, a little talking would be helpful.  “Dom?” 

He looked up as if surprised to see her there.  “Oh, right.  It’s the Council.”  He grabbed a handful of the cookies and stood as if he was about to leave.

Jake put up a hand.  “The Council?  Who are they?”

Dom sat back down.  “Only one of the longest running secret societies ever.  Their goals are to track down Atlantean artifacts and use them for their own monetary benefit.  Of course, the Council is their modern name.”

“Modern name?” Jake asked.

Dom nodded.  “Sure.  Their other name was way too obvious.”  Dom ate another cookie.

“The Imiatores Belials,” Laney said, remembering the name from her research.

Dom nodded.  “Yup.”

“Who?” Jake asked.

Laney tore her eyes from Dom to look at Jake.  “It’s one of the secret societies I looked up.  They were obsessed with finding artifacts from Atlantis.  They began in the eleventh century and allegedly disbanded in the nineteenth.”

Dom shook his head.  “Not disbanded.  Went underground.”

Jake leaned forward.  “Dom, is there any reason to think the Council might be behind Henry’s kidnapping?”

Dom stared at his plate, which was now empty.  Laney quickly filled it with more cookies.  Dom munched on one while talking.  “Only if they thought he was a Fallen.”

Laney sat back, thinking about the man taping Henry’s abduction.  Henry moved just like a Fallen. 

“Of course,” Dom continued, “Henry’s not a Fallen.”

Laney and Jake exchanged a glance.  Laney spoke slowly.  “Of course he’s not.”

Dom nodded.  “But his dad was.”

CHAPTER 69

Laney and Jake stared at Dom in disbelief.  Did Dom know about Henry’s abilities?

Dom must have felt their stares.  He stopped eating and looked up.  “What?”

“What did you mean about Henry’s father being a Fallen?”  Jake asked.

Dom looked between the two of them, confused.  “You two didn’t know?  He’s listed in that file I gave you last year.” 

Last year, in the search for those behind the kidnapping of Jake’s brother, Dom had given them a list of people he’d identified as fallen angels.  It had led them to Azazyel.  But after identifying him, Laney hadn’t looked at it again.  And she wasn’t sure Jake had ever even seen it.

Laney and Jake both shook their heads.

Dom sighed.  “Well, it’s obvious.  Have you heard about how Henry’s dad died?”

“It was a home invasion,” Laney said.

“True,” agreed Dom.  “But the coroner’s report indicated that James Chandler had been shot multiple times over the course of a couple of weeks. The wounds were all at a different stage of healing – some almost completely, some just starting, some halfway there, etc.  And there was never a report of the earlier attacks.”

Laney looked at Jake, who shook his head.  He’d never heard any of this either.

Dom continued.  “Anyway, he was obviously shot at that one incident, but his wounds healed almost as soon as he was injured.  Except for of course, the last few, which were point blank in his heart.”

Laney tried to take in what Dom was saying, but her head was swimming.  “So you’re saying Henry’s a nephilim?”

Dom nodded.  “Yup.  That was the point of the test.  To see what Henry could do.”

“You’ve seen the footage?”

“Of course.”  Dom took a long drink. Apparently discovering his friend and boss was the offspring of a fallen angel wasn’t exactly rocking Dom’s world.

“But why would the Council want Henry or any other Fallen?” Jake asked.

“Do you remember when we talked about the Fallen?  I explained how each of them had different abilities that they brought with them.  Well, for some of them, it involves reading Enochian.”  He looked at them expectantly.

“I don’t get it,” Jake replied. 

The truth crashed through Laney.  “The books from Ecuador.  Some were written in Enochian.  They need someone to translate them.”

“So they just grabbed Henry, hoping he could read them?” Jake asked.

Dom nodded.  “Of course, Henry wasn’t the first.  You know I like to keep track of the Fallen?  Well over the last few years, some have been disappearing.  I thought someone might be gathering them up.  I just didn’t know why.  I’m guessing it’s the Council, trying to see if they can read the books.”