The Belial Origins (30 page)

Laney’s eyes went wide when the second realization hit her. She turned back to Victoria. “
You
were the snake. You got the plant back from Gilgamesh.”

Victoria winced. “It’s one of my least favorite descriptions of myself, but one which, sadly, has stuck. But yes, Gilgamesh wasn’t a dangerous man, but he was a man caught in the throes of guilt. He was not ready for immortality, and neither was the world. So yes, I retrieved the fruit of the tree from him, with a little more difficulty than the poem suggests, but also without bloodshed.”

Laney looked at Victoria in amazement. She had done so much, and no one even knew who she was. In fact, she was demonized by society. It was so unfair. “Do you think we’ll be able to achieve this retrieval without blood shed this time?”

Victoria paused for a moment. “I sincerely doubt it.”

CHAPTER 95

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

M
att Clark stared out the window of the helicopter at the river below. The current was powerful, devastating, and it had been hours since Jorgen had gone in. It would be a huge stroke of luck if they found any evidence of him.

“Sir, we haven’t found anything three miles out. Do you want us to keep looking?”

Ever since they’d gotten everyone safely in the air, he’d had two choppers, as well as agents on foot, looking for a sign of Jorgen. But what little hope he’d had at the beginning of this search was dwindling into nothingness as the hours dragged on.

Matt spoke into the microphone attached to his headset. “Yes. Let me know if you find anything.”

“Orders?” the pilot asked.

“Make another sweep. Farther downriver this time.”

“Yes, sir.”

The chopper headed north. Matt stared out the window.
Come on, where are you?
He had wanted to start the search earlier, but the priority had been getting Henry and Jake safely out of the country. He owed Laney that much. But that time may have cost them their chance at finding Cain.

Mustafa spoke from the back of the chopper. “We’ll need to refuel soon.”

Matt nodded but stayed silent. Even if Cain were dead, Matt knew there was a good chance the body would never be recovered. But it was also possible that Cain had simply washed up on shore, healed, and walked away.

Damn it.
Matt curled his fists. They needed to know, one way or the other.

They rode in silence. The pilot hugged the riverbank as much as he could. Fifteen minutes later, Matt was acknowledging the futility of this search. The river would only give up its prize when—and if—it wanted to.

Then Matt saw something black standing out against the brown bank below. He squinted.
What is that?

He looked back at Mustafa and pointed. “Do you see that?”

“Yeah. We should check it out,” Mustafa said.

Matt smiled, his hopes rising. Maybe this hadn’t been so futile after all.

CHAPTER 96

Hunan Province, China

L
aney sat in the back of the car as Ralph expertly handled the windy road leading along the edge of cliffs up to Heaven’s Gate. They had arrived in Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport a few hours ago and then driven to Tianmen Mountain.

Now they were on the final leg of their journey. And she’d had no sense of the Fallen.

Laney stared out the window.
Heaven’s Gate.
She’d never been there, but it had been on her bucket list. The official name of the location was “the Heaven’s Gate Mountain,” but when people used the term “Heaven’s Gate” they were usually referring to a particular aspect of the mountain: the giant hole that punched completely through it.

It was a natural phenomenon, and incredible—or at least Laney had always thought so from the pictures she’d seen. It had originally been a cave, but the back end of the cave had collapsed in 263 C.E., leaving only the entrance still intact. The name was then switched from Songliang Mountain to Tianmen—the “sky-hole mountain.” Millions of visitors came to this part of China to experience the natural wonder every year.

Ralph took another turn, and Laney swallowed nervously as she looked out at the cliff’s edge—way too close to the car door for comfort. The road was almost seven miles of hairpin turns—ninety-nine of them to be precise. Called Tongtian Avenue, it symbolized the nine heavens.

Laney imagined that the ride was frightening enough during the day. Right now it was pitch black out, and it was mind-numbingly terrifying.

Laney clutched the side of the car as she felt one of the wheels come off the road.
Apparently I was worrying about the wrong thing. I’m going to die in car crash instead of in a showdown with the Fallen.

Twenty tense minutes later, they were still only halfway down the road. Ralph turned a corner and Laney was pretty sure another one of the wheels went airborne. She sucked in a breath.

Victoria glanced back at Laney from the front seat. “Okay?”

“Oh, sure. Just a leisurely drive.”

Victoria gave a small laugh.

Laney smiled at her. “See? And you were worried we never got to do any mother-daughter activities. Here we are taking in the tourist traps.”

Victoria smiled. “Well, let’s enjoy it then.”

As they headed up the mountain, the sides of road grew higher, making it more difficult to see over the side—which was fine with Laney, because the view was a little too heart-attack-inducing for her taste.

The wind picked up, and the car was pushed a little across the road.

Laney focused on taking calming breaths, but her pounding heart made it clear that meditation was not her thing. Instead, she managed to keep replaying a vision of the brakes giving out and them careening off the side of the road and plummeting to their deaths.

Finally, Ralph made it around the last turn and pulled into an empty parking lot.

Laney let out a breath and took a moment to steady her breathing. She grabbed her backpack and opened the door. Ralph was already helping Victoria out. Laney stood and stretched. Her legs felt like jelly.

Victoria looked over at her. “Are you ready?”

Laney gave a laugh, feeling her nerves stretch her smile tight. “Honestly? Probably not.”

Victoria kissed her cheek. “You’re ready. Trust me.”

Laney looked at Victoria and realized that she did trust her. She trusted her implicitly. “Okay. Let’s go.”

They stepped onto the path together; Ralph followed behind. The moon shone brightly through the center of the arch. It truly did look supernatural—like a gateway to some incredible place. It looked impossible.

But then Laney’s gaze fell on the stairs leading up to it, and she sighed.
And that’s not the only thing that looks impossible.

She was about to say something to Victoria, but then she felt a tug from somewhere up ahead, up the stairs.
What was that?

“We’ll have to take the stairs,” Ralph said. “The chair will put us in the wrong spot.”

Laney knew there was a chair that took tourists up to the summit, if they couldn’t handle the steps.

She struggled to keep in the groan. “All nine hundred ninety-nine steps?”

“We won’t be going all the way to the top.” Ralph offered Victoria his arm. “Victoria?”

Victoria wrapped her arm around his. “Let’s go.”

Ralph gestured for Laney to take the lead. She did, and with each step the pull got stronger.

They walked in silence with only the crickets to keep them company. A chill fell over Laney, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t from the evening air. They were heading for the Garden of Eden and the tree of life. How was that possible? The enormity of this undertaking wasn’t lost on her.

Laney forced herself to take note of her surroundings. Every year millions of tourists visited this mountain, but she knew not many got to see it like this. She could see why it had been named Heaven’s Gate.

She glanced up at the huge hole.
Tonight, it should probably be called Hell’s Gate.
If the Fallen reached the tree before them, the impact on the world would be devastating. But so far, there was no sign of the Fallen. There was no sign of anyone.
Maybe we will do this without a fight. Wow—that would be a nice change of pace.

About two thirds of the way up the stairs, Laney felt a tug from her left. She stopped. “It’s this way.”

She led them off the stairs and into the woods that bordered the sides. Trees and shadow kept her from being able to see much, but it didn’t take long for them to reach the mountain face. Laney still felt the pull urging her forward, but there was nowhere to go.

She looked around. “Um, are we climbing?”

Ralph released Victoria and stepped toward the rock. “Nope. We’ll use the door.”

Even with the shadows, it was obvious there was no door. There wasn’t even a cave.

But Ralph placed his hands against the rock face and smiled. “It’s here.” He nodded to Laney. “Go ahead. Like this.”

“Um, okay.” Laney placed her hands on the rock face as well. Immediately she felt a heat rise through her and into the rock. The rock seemed to shimmer for a moment, and then it disappeared, leaving a roughly doorway-sized hole.

Laney’s jaw dropped. “Wow.”

“Nice job,” Victoria said.

Laney peered inside. It was pitch black. She slung off her pack and knelt down to unzip it. Pulling out three flashlights, she handed one each to Ralph and Victoria.

Ralph stepped through the doorway, turning on his flashlight as he did so. Victoria followed him. Laney took a deep breath and stepped forward last. She slammed into an invisible wall.

She stepped back, rubbing her nose. “Ouch.”

Ralph turned back, an eyebrow raised. “Are you carrying weapons?”

Feeling sheepish, Laney pulled her knife and sheath from her belt.

Ralph shook his head. “Didn’t I say no weapons?”

“Yes. But I tend not to like going against Fallen without a little something.”

“You’ll have to leave it out there. You won’t be allowed in with it.”

Laney held out the hand with the ring of Solomon on it. “What about this?”

“That’s allowed,” Ralph said.

Swallowing a curse, Laney dropped her knife beside of the opening. She hated the idea of walking into this unarmed. But apparently, she had no choice: no one would be able to get inside with weapons—even the Fallen. That last thought didn’t bring her much comfort though—she knew what the Fallen could do even without weapons.

Eyeing the opening, Laney reached out her hand. It passed through without any problems. Holding her breath, she stepped forward and crossed over.

She let out her breath. “Okay. That’s better.”

Ralph shook his head at her.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Laney looked around. “How was this place created?”

Victoria shrugged. “It just was.”

Laney looked back at the door. “Shouldn’t we close that?”

“No,” Ralph said. “Once opened, it cannot be closed. The seal has been broken. The Guardian will now make a decision whether to re-seal it or move the tree.”

“So that means if the Fallen are right behind us, they’ll be able to get in,” Laney said.

Ralph nodded.

“Okay,” Laney said. “So let’s get a move on.”

Ralph pointed down with his flashlight to their right. An opening could be seen in the rock. “The entry to the cave is through there. But we cannot enter unless you are prepared to be tested.”

Laney stopped short. “Tested? How?”

“To see the heart of the ring bearer,” Victoria said. “If you are going to be the ring bearer you must pass the test.”

Laney looked between the two of them. “What do you mean
if
I’m going to be the ring bearer? Aren’t I already the ring bearer?”

Victoria eyes were full of both compassion and sadness. “You have been the ring bearer for a long time. But you were not always the ring bearer. There were others.”

“And what happened to them?”

“They were not worthy,” Ralph said.

“So the ring was taken from them,” Victoria said.

Ralph nodded. “As well as their life.”

CHAPTER 97

L
aney gaped, her gaze shifting from Ralph to Victoria and back again. “So if I fail this test, I die?”

Victoria nodded.

“You couldn’t have mentioned this sooner?”

“We thought it would be best this way,” Victoria said.

“Right, because God forbid I have time to focus on my potential death.”

“You can always say no, Laney. We can stop here, find out a way to close up the entrance, go home, and hope the Fallen don’t reach the tree,” Victoria said.

Laney shook her head. Of course she couldn’t do that.

“The ring bearer is called upon time and time again to sacrifice,” Ralph said. “Even if you do not lose your life today, you may be asked to risk it again. And again. By stepping into that doorway, you accept that life of sacrifice.”

Way to sell it, Ralph.
Laney looked at her mother and thought of all she had already sacrificed. Images of all those important in her life flashed through her mind on a continuous reel. And the last images were of her Uncle Patrick, Henry, and Jake. She pictured the three of them at dinner over at Henry’s last week. Her chest felt tight. The three men that she loved would be safe only if she succeeded.

But she knew what her choice would be. She had known ever since she had read those words in
The
Army of the Belial
. Even if the people she loved weren’t in danger, how could she put the rest of the world at risk? Mothers, fathers, children, friends, family—the world was full of love, even with all the anger and strife that seemed to dominate the headlines.

And if the Fallen succeeded, that love would be twisted, abused, tested, and destroyed. Laney couldn’t let that happen.

Drake’s words drifted through her mind.
What will you sacrifice to keep it safe?

At the time, she had thought she had the answer. But now she really did. She would sacrifice
herself
. Without hesitation. Because her life was unimportant when stacked against all of those whom the Fallen would destroy.

Laney looked up, shocked to realize that tears had rolled down her cheeks. But she didn’t wipe them away. Tears weren’t weakness. They demonstrated how much you cared. And caring was strength.

“You have an answer?” Ralph asked.

Laney nodded. “I’ll take the test.”