Lauren looked back and forth at the two men. “Who the bloody hell are you two?”

King drove the bus onto a main road and pulled over. “It’s better if you don’t know who we are,” King said. “And it’s better if you never remember seeing us … for your sake.”

Lauren gave a quick nod. “Just be glad I’m insured or I would have killed you both myself.”

As a car drove up and stopped, King and Alexander both exited the bus. King drew his weapon. “Out of the car!”

The man inside went wide-eyed. He turned the car off and exited, the keys held in a raised shaking hand. King took the man’s keys and said, “I’ll make sure you get the car back.”

The man bobbed his head to acknowledge that King had addressed him and stepped away.

King slid into the driver’s seat as Alexander climbed into the passenger’s side.

Inside the car, King asked, “Where to?”

Alexander held up a chunk of the Stonehenge bluestone that had impaled the bus. “Back to Israel.”

“You think Davidson can figure out how to resurrect a golem?”

“If he can, we might learn how to kill it.”

The plan made sense to King. When it came to the unknown, research and understanding usually won over brute force. Though he doubted Davidson would be happy to see them again. He steered the car around the bus and gave Lauren a subtle nod of thanks as he passed.

The stunned driver of the car approached Lauren and looked over her ruined bus. “Who the hell were they?”

Lauren shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Chapter Fifty-Nine

FIFTY-EIGHT

Siberia, Russia

ROOK’S EYES BLINKED open to the sound of a creaking door. Disoriented from the cold, lack of sleep, and loss of blood, Rook almost called out to the visitor, but came to his senses in time. He drew his .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun and inched toward the door. He would defend this refuge if need be, but prayed the visitor wasn’t aggressive. He barely had the energy to pull the trigger, let alone find a new place to hide.

He had run north for days. And the farther north Rook ran, the colder it got. The patrols searching for him had dropped away along with the temperature, but the chill threatened to drain what was left of his strength. After fleeing through woods, across rivers, and over mountains, he had finally evaded the Russian military. Not that the Russians needed to put a bullet into him to kill him. His failing health would do him in on its own. His body shook from cold and fever. His mind spun with each step. If not for the cabin he had found, deep in the pine forest, he would have died from exposure the previous night.