Free The Belial Origins by R. D. Brady Page A

nodded. They’d debated this point time and time again, but had always circled back to the same conclusion. Laney took a deep breath. “It means she’s lived at least eight lives. That we know of.”

CHAPTER 20
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    H enry and Jake both looked shocked. And Laney couldn’t blame them. She had probably looked the same way the first time she’d seen the double of Victoria in the books. But unlike Henry and Jake, she’d now had a little time to get used to the idea.
    “So what are you saying? She’s immortal?” Jake asked.
    Patrick shook his head. “No. Like I said, in the journals she’s different ages. But it does appear as if she’s lived quite a few lives.”
    “From what we can tell,” Laney said, “she lives a full life and then comes back in the next one looking exactly the same. Usually in a different country.”
    “How is that possible?” Henry asked.
    Jake raised his eyebrows. “Really? You have a sister who’s a half angel, who can control the Fallen, animals, and the weather. You’re a half angel as well. Your father was one of the all-time most powerful angels. You, Laney, and I are part of some triad that appears when the Fallen are making a play for global domination, and yet the idea that your mother has lived a few times is stretching believability?”
    A smile flashed briefly across Henry’s face. “Okay, when you put it that way. My mother is some type of immortal being who has lived thousands of lifetimes. No problem.”
    Laney smiled too, but the smile disappeared just as quickly as it had from Henry’s. They had wondered about Victoria for a long time, and the truth was, they were still just guessing. But this explanation made a certain amount of sense. Victoria knew too much about the Fallen. And when she spoke of the past, she always sounded like she had been an eyewitness.
    But nowhere in the books did anyone say what she was—angel, human, alien. The journal writers appeared as stumped as they were.
    “There’s something else,” Patrick said.
    “What?” Jake asked.
    “There was one other person who kept appearing in the books multiple times over the centuries,” Laney said softly.
    “You mean like Mom? Different ages, different time periods?” Henry asked.
    Patrick shook his head. “No. This man—he’s always the same age.”
    “Who is he?” Jake asked.
    “We know him as Jorgen Fuld,” Laney said.
    Jake’s and Henry’s eyes grew wide.
    “Wait, did you say the same age?” Jake asked.
    “Yes.” Laney glanced back at her uncle, who nodded at her. She turned to Henry and Jake. “Did you two notice when Jorgen had his glasses knocked off at the airfield?”
    “I saw it happen. Why?” Henry asked.
    “Did you notice his eyes?” Laney asked.
    Jake shook his head. “Wasn’t really a priority at the moment.”
    “I know. It’s just—” Laney hesitated. “I saw them. And they were pitch black.”
    Henry frowned. “So he had dark eyes. I don’t get the significance.”
    Laney pictured Fuld’s eyes again. She was confident in what she had seen. “No. Not dark. There was absolutely no white in them. None at all.”
    “It must have been a trick of the light,” Jake said.
    “That’s what I thought at first.”
    Laney picked up the journal she had brought in with her and turned to the page she had marked. She turned it around so Henry and Jake could see. The man in the picture was undeniably Fuld. Everything was the same, right down to the haircut. The only difference was the style of clothes.
    And in the drawing, his eyes were pure black.
    Henry looked at Laney. “Are all the pictures like this?”
    Patrick nodded slowly. “Usually his eyes are covered. But when they’re not, this is how they’re depicted. Without fail.”
    “Is there any medical condition that can account for that? Some genetic mutation?” Henry asked.
    Laney shook her head. “Not that I could find. The only way to get completely black eyes, including