The Demon Deception (22 page)

Lilith nodded, “It’s all about getting
attention. We constantly compete. If we don’t get attention for our
successes, we get attention for our failures. I can guarantee that
you don’t want the boss’s attention for failures. Not a good idea
at all. And, Mephistopheles seems to be getting a lot of attention
for his failures, lately.”

Lazarus decided to let the other shoe drop,
“You know, it seems I’ve been having a lot of success lately with
tracking your operations.”

Lilith took a sip of her tea. The waitress
came back with their deserts and Lazarus’ cup of coffee.

“Yes, you do seem to have insights into my
operations. I’ve wondered about that.”

Lazarus nodded, “It seems that Mephistopheles
may have had something to do with some of my intelligence
successes.”

Lilith had taken a bite of brownie and ice
cream on her spoon, and was about to put it into her mouth. She
stopped and stared at Lazarus. He could see the anger flash into
her eyes. He could understand her ire. It was one thing to have
your sworn enemy fight against you and win battles. It was quite
another thing to be betrayed from within your own organization. She
recovered from her momentary lapse, and put the brownie and ice
cream in her mouth.

“Oh, wow, this is really good.”

Lazarus took a bite of his apple pie and ice
cream, then followed it with a drink of coffee. The coffee was very
hot, but it complemented the apple pie a la mode perfectly.

Lilith played with her desert, trying
different combinations of brownie, ice cream, and maple topping,
“You know, I may have to review my organization and see what’s
going on, now that you’ve told me about Mephistopheles.”

“Afraid you might have a loyalty problem?” he
asked.

She didn’t say anything. She kept eating her
brownie. “If what you’re telling me is true, and I find out it is,
I think the boss may have some things to talk to Mephistopheles
about.”

Lazarus smiled. He might lose some
information in the short run, but having two major demons fighting
each other would be a coup for him. “I think you might just be
jealous of Mephistopheles. Does he get to spend more time with the
boss?”

She waved the spoon, negating his statement,
“No, I don’t have any problems with the boss. The others know their
place. I guess I just have to remind Mephistopheles where his
is.”

“You sound like a bunch of children trying to
compete for the attention of daddy.”

Lilith stared into space after he said that.
Then she shivered, and spoke loud enough for others in the room to
hear, “Mmmm, daddy. I like the idea.” She looked into his eyes, “If
you want to spank me, I could call you daddy.”

Lazarus’ body responded to her invitation. It
was instinctual, visceral. Lilith was incredibly desirable. Men
would, and had, given up their souls for one night with her.
Lazarus struggled with his physical reaction and took another sip
of coffee. He wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.

The entire restaurant was suddenly quiet,
however, with all of the men, and some of the women, contemplating
the visual that Lilith had just supplied. Lazarus took another bite
of his apple pie. Slowly, the sounds in the restaurant returned as
the sexual tension ebbed. Everyone seemed to have woken from a
spell. In a way, Lazarus guessed they had.

They finished their deserts. They stood, and
Lazarus put bills on the table for the tip. They walked over to the
hostess, and Lazarus paid the bill. Lazarus opened the door for
Lilith. The rain was gone, but there was now a fine mist. If they
hurried, they would be able to get back to the hotel before the
rain started again.

They walked. Lilith was in a much better mood
on the way back to the hotel. She linked an arm through his, and he
didn’t pull away from her. He deluded himself, imagining that he
was just going along to get along. The touch of her body against
his gave him an intense thrill.

She knew it would. “I could get used to this
again,” she said.

There was a screech of brakes as one car
tried to keep from rear ending another. Somebody had been
distracted by Lilith, and had taken his eyes off the road. She had
that effect on the humans around her. Lazarus kept fighting an
internal struggle against this force of nature. She put her head on
his shoulder. It was a long walk back to the hotel. Lazarus took a
very cold shower when he got there.

----------------------------------------------------

Around nine o’clock, well after he finished
his shower, Lazarus heard a knock on the door. He pulled on pants
and a shirt, and grabbed his Springfield HD, and held it behind him
as he answered the door. Sam was standing outside, in the hallway.
Lazarus motioned him in, and placed the pistol next to the TV as he
walked past it. He motioned Sam to the chair, and Lazarus sat on
the bed.

“So, how was your date?”

Sam sat down, and leaned back into the chair,
“I’m thinkin’ I could ask you the same thing.”

Lazarus smiled at the thought, “I think that
ship has sailed. In fact, I fervently hope that ship has
sailed.”

“You guys go to the steak house?” Sam
asked.

Lazarus nodded, “Yeah, I was in the mood for
a steak. What about you two?”

“Arby’s. I had the corned beef, and she had
the roast beef and cheddar.”

“What do you think about her?”

“Well, Darcy likes the Horsey sauce, which is
pretty bold for a woman. Not too many women like the Horsey sauce.
I always thought that was more of a guy kind of thing.”

Lazarus waited for Sam to continue. Sam got
the message, “Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Consider it lightened.”

“Spoil Sport.”

“Lilith says the same thing about me.”

“Okay, I’ll get down to brass tacks. I like
Darcy. She’s smart, though incredibly naïve about the way the world
works. Lot of humanist stuff floating around upstairs. Probably got
a lot of it in college. Don’t try to talk about the demon stuff to
her. She just doesn’t believe there’s a heaven or hell. She doesn’t
believe in God. And, if there was a God, then she definitely
wouldn’t be a man. A man isn’t nurturing enough to create the world
that we have. She’s too politically correct to believe any
classical teachings about good and evil. But she seems nice. I
think she’s a sweet girl. And, very, very smart. Wicked smart.
Straight A’s in nursing and radiology. I just don’t know how Lilith
has her hooks into her.”

“Don’t get too carried away. She may not be
what she seems. She may be toying with you to divert your attention
away from what’s important here.”

“What, you think Lilith brought her along so
that I’d think with the little head instead of the big head?”

“It’s happened before. It’s happened with men
and women. It happened with me two thousand years ago. A beautiful
woman can distract a man.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Did she tell you anything about magic, or
her relationship with Lilith?”

“No, not so much. She told me she met Lilith
at college. She ran into Lilith in one of her classes, thought she
was funny and edgy, and they began hanging out together. Then
Lilith showed her some magic, and they got started.”

Lazarus thought for a moment, “What do you
mean, showed her some magic?”

Sam continued, “Well, Darcy showed me a few
things, right there at the table.”

Lazarus digested this information, then poked
a little fun at Sam, “What do you mean, showed you a few things?
Really, right there on the table?”

Sam smiled at the joke, “Naw, not like that.
I couldn’t get that lucky.”

Lazarus held up one hand, “Hey, watch
yourself. Thou shalt not covet.”

Sam’s smile twisted, and sarcastically, he
said, “Like you can claim that you’re innocent on that subject.
Besides, she ain’t married.”

Lazarus thought back to the long, cold shower
he had taken, and conceded Sam’s point, “Yeah, well. I’m only
human.”

“So, no, not that, not right on the table
either. I’m not in jail, so that didn’t happen. Naw, I’m talking
about the magic thing. She showed me a few things about her
magic.”

“Really? Did it seem genuine?”

“Yeah, she did what she called elemental
magic. She created a walking figure with the salt. Used air to
create a little tornado with the pepper. The she created a water
spout in her water glass. And, she snapped her fingers, and sparks
flew.”

Lazarus smiled again, “I bet they did. She’s
a pretty girl.”

Sam shook his head, “What did Lilith do to
you? You can’t keep your mind out of the gutter.”

Lazarus put his hands on his knees, “I think
I need to take some time off when this is over, and go out on a few
dates with some classy women.”

“I got an aunt that would love to spend some
time out on the town.”

Lazarus smiled at the thought, “Maybe. We’ll
talk about it when we get back from this mission.”

“She’s a classy lady. Pretty too. I’m not
just sayin’ that ‘cause she’s my aunt.”

Lazarus held up a hand to stop Sam, “Alright,
alright. Back to the now. I’d like to see some of Darcy’s
‘Elemental’ magic. I can’t believe she’s as nice as you say she is
if she’s using demonic magic. Nice and demonic just don’t go
together as a normal juxtaposition.”

“What about you and Lilith? Did you kiss and
make up?” Sam asked.

“Ah, no. She did try to exploit the sex thing
with me, though.”

“How did that work out for you?”

“With me taking a cold shower and banging my
head on the wall saying, ‘Demon, Evil,’ over and over again.”

“Had to remind yourself, eh?”

“No, I’m fully conscious of who and what she
is. It’s been a long while since I’ve been with a woman, though.
Plus, she knows what buttons to push, and how to push them.”

“Yeah, and she’s built like a Victoria’s
Secret model as well.”

“I believe the term you’re looking for is
succubus, not model.”

Sam laughed, “Victoria’s Secret Succubus. I’m
not sure they have that line of lingerie, Eli.”

Lazarus smiled, “I have no doubt that it
would be very popular during Halloween.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it would just be for
Halloween. It would be pretty popular all the time, especially if
it came with Lilith.”

Lazarus thought about it and shuddered, “I
can just imagine what would happen to the world if there were more
than one of her to cause chaos.”

Sam grew serious, “Wow, yeah.” He looked at
Lazarus, “She’s right, you are a wet blanket.”

Lazarus shrugged, “It’s who I am. Kind of
hard for me to see the good in most situations.”

“I can see that. You’ve been fighting against
the bad guys for two thousand years. I can’t even begin to imagine
what you’ve seen and experienced.”

Lazarus grew grim, “It wouldn’t be so bad if
the innocents weren’t dragged into the middle.”

Sam’s eyes grew distant as he thought about
Mikey. Lazarus noticed the change in Sam’s demeanor, “I guess we
better both keep our minds on our business, yes?”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, I guess we’d better. So,
you hittin’ the rack soon?”

“No, not yet. I’m going to do pistol and
shotgun maintenance, and oil down Faith and Mercy. Then I’m going
to hit the rack.”

The surprise showed on Sam’s face, “Whoa, you
brought the Sisters with you? You’re prepared for anything.”

Lazarus nodded. The Sisters were the twin
swords that had been given to him by the Archangel Michael. Lazarus
didn’t know where they came from, or who made them, but he had a
strong feeling that Saint Michael himself may had played a part in
creating them.

Sam asked, “So, can I see them?”

Lazarus knew that Sam would be curious about
the swords. Lazarus had only mentioned them once before, when they
were in California. He brought them out for use if he thought he
was going to run into an actual demon, rarely to deal with the
possessed. He only had them in New York because his Intel indicated
the possibility that Lilith was present during the sacrifice. Since
this mission already had one demon in the wings, he felt it
appropriate to bring them. Now that there were two of them in the
mix, he was happy to have the swords.

“Sure, if you want to.” Lazarus walked over
to the bed, and pulled up a zippered, canvass bag that looked like
it had traveled all over the world. It was threadbare, made of
heavy canvass. He put it on the bed, and the unmistakable sound of
metal on metal was heard. He unzipped the canvas bag, and folded
the top flap back. Lying on one side of the canvas bag were the
twin swords, with blades about eighteen inches long. The handles
were worn leather, though the quilons and the pommels were
brilliantly polished. The quilons were different than the regular
guards you found on swords. The half-moon guards angled forward,
then bent sharply to parallel the blade of the weapon. Lazarus
pulled the swords from the sheaths and laid them on the bed.

Sam looked at the blades, and immediately
knew they were designed to be sword breakers. The swords were two
of the most beautiful works of art that he had ever seen. The blade
began as a rectangle of solid metal that ran for three inches. The
rectangle was as wide as the blade, and a quarter of an inch deep.
The quilon ran parallel to this part. This part of the blade was
the sword breaker. At the terminus of the quilon, the rectangular
shaft changed to a regular blade, sharpened on both edges. It
looked like a Roman gladius, though it was a bit narrower, and the
point was rounder. There was a deep blood groove in the middle of
the blade.

It was the inlay that took the breath away,
though. Scenes from the bible were inlaid in precious metals. Gold
in three different colors, platinum, and other precious metals were
interwoven to create beautiful illustrations. From where he was,
Sam could see the scene with the angels driving Adam and Eve from
the Garden of Eden. The two swords rested in kydex molded sheathes.
There was some kind of modern gunslinger belt that the sheaths hung
from.