by Mark Harritt
Lazarus left a tip on the table, and went to the cash register to pay. Sam went outside to the van and started it up. Lazarus studied Sam through the window. Sam looked up and caught Lazarus watching him, and smiled wanly, knowing that Lazarus was still worried about him.
“Is that all you need, sugar?” the waitress asked him. He nodded and paid the bill.
----------------------------------------------------
Lazarus gave Sam directions as he drove. The light rain stopped, and they drove through the puddles on the street. They pulled onto a smaller side road off of Yale Avenue. The house they pulled up to was an older one. It had rose bushes on the sides and a porch that ran across the entire front of the house. Three steps ran up to the porch. There was a two person swing at one end. The house was well kept.
Lazarus saw Lilith standing outside on the walkway leading from the house to the street.
“Is that her?” Sam asked.
Lazarus nodded, “Yeah, that’s her.”
She had changed her style, but she was stunning. She was much more punk now. She was still a red head, but it was a pixie haircut, with slicked back hair, much shorter than it had been in New York. She was wearing tight black jeans, with well-worn Doc Martins, and a stylish motorcycle jacket. She had a large bag to match her ensemble hanging off of one shoulder. The clothes were very tight, showing off her body to maximum effect. It was amazing how well the tight jeans showed off her figure. She shifted her weight, and Lazarus had a primal, visceral feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Lazarus glanced over at Sam. He could tell that she was effecting Sam as well. It was hard to tell if he was attracted to her, or if he just wanted to kill her. Lazarus knew though, violence and sexual attraction was a very fine line when Lilith was involved. Lilith saw them. She nodded at them. Evidently she was a tough guy now. A stylish, tough guy, but a tough guy nonetheless.
They pulled up to the sidewalk. Sam put it into park, and Lazarus opened his door. He walked over to Lilith, “What’s up.”
Lilith looked at him, amusement on her face, “Not much. How are you? Ready for this?”
Lazarus shook his head, “No, not at all.”
Lilith smirked, “Oh, don’t be such a spoil sport. It’s not going to kill you to spend time with me.”
Lazarus looked straight ahead, “I’m not too sure about that last part. I’m not the person to worry about, though. You might want to consider towing the line while we’re together.” He hooked a thumb towards the van. Behind him, Sam’s large bulk peeled out of the driver’s seat, and began the climb towards the sky as he stood up. He had taken his coat off, to be comfortable while he drove. He was wearing a very tight, long sleeve shirt that clung to his muscularity. Lilith’s eyes widened as he walked around the front of the van.
“My, my, what a,” she bit her lip, “healthy looking, young man.” She was visibly impressed, “Where did you find him?”
A sardonic smile curled Lazarus’ lips, then disappeared, “In New York.”
Lilith shivered, her excitement causing the tip of her tongue to appear, “I don’t know where you’ve been hanging out in New York, but I think I need to expand my horizons.”
Lazarus shook his head, “I don’t think so. If you go near him or his family, you won’t survive the encounter. He’s been hanging out with me for a while. He knows about you, and your friends.”
Disappointment played across her face, “You’re no fun.”
“It’s not my fault you’re an evil demon whose minions like to sacrifice children to prove their loyalty to you.”
“I’ve never asked anybody to hurt a child.”
Lazarus glared at her, hard, “But you didn’t stop them either.”
She started to play the hurt damsel, but reconsidered.
Sam walked up, and brushed his bangs back, which immediately fell back into place.
Lazarus introduced them, “Sam, this is Lilith. Lilith, this is Sam.”
Lilith held her hand out, and Sam took it in his gigantic mitt. Lilith was impressed again, “Wow, big hands,” A sultry look slipped onto her face, and looked into Sam’s eyes, “You know what they say about men with big hands.”
Sam nodded, “Yeah, it means I have big gloves. Which sucks, because they cost more.”
Lilith’s seductive face went blank. Lazarus laughed. Lilith shot a venomous look at him. Sam smiled at her, and continued to hold her hand, though she tried to pull away. She looked up into his face. Sam leaned forward, putting his face closer to hers, “It won’t work. I know who, and what, you are.”
“Should I be worried?” she asked, her expression indicating that she was far from worried.
Sam shook his head, “No, not yet. Not on this mission.”
She thought about it, “And after?”
Sam didn’t say anything, he just smiled. The mask was back. That mask took away the large, irascible young man. In his place, death incarnate appeared. It had one hell of an effect on Lilith. Her eyes grew wide, and her face and body grew very still. Lazarus knew that there wasn’t a whole lot that could put fear into Lilith. She was a predator, who hunted and killed where she chose. Right now, though, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and the semi was fast approaching.
Sam leaned back, and once again, the death mask was gone and the handsome, young man was back. He let go of Lilith’s hand. She unconsciously moved back out of his reach.
“So, you got luggage?” he asked. She nodded and pointed towards the porch. Sam walked past her to grab the bags. She watched this force of nature move up to the porch and grab two duffle bags. Sam took them to the van, opened up the back, and put them in. He walked past her again to the porch to grab two rolling suitcases.
She watched him as he walked from the van to the porch and back. She wasn’t sure how to handle Sam. Men adored her, lusted after her, and desired her. With Sam though, there was none of that. It was as if she didn’t exist at all, let alone as a desirable, sexual, sensual, woman. He was the first that was able to completely shut her out. She was intrigued. Lazarus cleared his throat. She turned back towards him, the spell broken.
She looked over at Lazarus. She even had an effect on Lazarus. She knew it. She could see it in his face and his body language when he was around her. Her body was a memory that his couldn’t forget. Lazarus could shut her out. His physical and psychological responses had been pushed down as far into his psyche as possible, buried under two thousand years of active animosity towards her. The memories were still there, though. He would never be able to push that aside.
Sam walked past with the two suitcases, and put them into the back of the van. He walked back to Lilith and Lazarus, “Is that all of your luggage?”
Lilith didn’t try the seduction again. Her body language had changed completely, knowing that her attempts to seduce were wasted. Instead, she was all business, “Yeah, that’s everything.”
Lazarus spread his hands, “I thought there was someone else with you?”
She looked around, back at the house, and nodded, “Yes, she’s on her way. She’s in the house, saying goodbye to her parents.”
“Her parents? How old is she?”
Lilith turned to look at him. She had a coquettish smile on her face, “Don’t worry, my protégé is not a child.”
Lazarus scowled. He didn’t know what Lilith had planned. He knew that she would use any weakness against them. He was lucky that Sam was stoic, Spartan in outlook. With Sam on his team, they could handle almost anything. He knew Lilith though. Her style was indirect. She would give options, ones that would lead them down the wrong path if chosen incorrectly. This point seemed to be confirmed when the door opened.
The door opened and Lilith’s protégé walked out. She backed out, as she talked to her parents. Which was fine. Lazarus could honestly say she looked as good walking away as she did walking towards them. She had honey blond hair pulled back into a French braid. She was in her early twenties. Where Lilith was all
punk, she was the all American girl. She was around five feet seven, about one hundred thirty pounds, definitely taller and maybe heavier than Lazarus. She was lean, but with a figure that men would definitely notice. She was dressed in blue jeans, and an old style bomber jacket with World War Two Flying Tiger patches on it. She had on Converse All Star high tops in red and white. She turned, and smiled at them, white teeth against tanned skin. The clouds disappeared as her smile lit up the day. Her parents stepped out on the porch behind her.
“Here now, you’re not going without a hug and a kiss, girl,” her father said.
The young woman turned and gave them both hugs and kisses. Her mother turned to Lilith, “You need to come up here as well. You’re not going away without telling us goodbye.”
Lilith’s mask was firmly in place when she sprang up the steps. She hugged the mother, “Don’t worry, Maggie, I’ll take good care of her.”
The father tried to look stern, and failed, “you’d better take care of her. I’m counting on you.”
As the three women talked on the steps, the father walked down and introduced himself to Lazarus and Sam, hand out to shake, “hello, my name is Clive.”
Lazarus took the hand, “Hi, my name is Eli Bethany, and this is my friend Sam Diabo.” Lazarus heard a slight accent in Clive’s speech, but he couldn’t quite place it.
Clive took Sam’s hand and shook it as well, though he seemed concerned about the large man in front of him, “You take good care of my little girl, okay. Ordinarily I would be dead set against this, but since Lilith vouches for you, I’m willing to let Darcy go. I understand you’re only going to be gone for a few days?”
Lazarus nodded, “Yes, she’ll be back to you in about five days. Not too long. A quick road trip down to Arizona, and then we’ll be back.” Lazarus appraised the man in front of him, “Clive’s an unusual name around here.”
Clive nodded, “Yes, I’m a transplant. I’m originally from Chicago, where my parents settled. I met Maggie there at the University of Chicago, and we came back to her home. But my family’s actually from Bermuda. I spent my summers down there.”
“Don’t tell them too many boring stories, Clive,” Darcy said from the porch. Clive turned to see Darcy and Lilith start down the steps. Darcy skipped down the steps and walked towards them with a youthful, coltish grace. Lazarus could see the beautiful woman that she was going to grow into. Darcy hugged her father as she passed him. Clive returned the hug, and then walked back up the steps to his wife, and put his arm around her waist. Darcy stopped in front of Lazarus, and eagerly held her hand out in an unassuming, almost childish angle, fingers pointed down towards the ground, “Hi, my name’s Darcy.”
Lazarus held his hand out, and took hers, trying to stifle the urge to bend and kiss her hand. He lost. He took her hand and gently turned it to kiss it across the knuckles, “Enchanté.”
Her eyes grew big, and the smile on her face turned shy. From the steps, Clive said, “That will be quite enough of that, thank you.”
Lazarus straightened and smiled at her father, “As you wish.”
Lilith completed the introductions, “Darcy, this is Eli. Eli, this is Darcy. Darcy, the hulking mountain behind Eli is Sam. Sam, this is Darcy.”
Lazarus leaned back, and watched as Sam moved forward to shake Darcy’s hand. Sam took her hand, and stammered, “Ah, nice to meet you.” Darcy’s face grew still as she took in the stark, good looks of Sam Diabo.
Lazarus looked at Sam and Darcy, and saw the expressions on their faces. He looked over at Lilith. Lilith looked like the cat that ate the canary. Lazarus tipped his head towards her, “Touché.”
Lilith turned and grabbed Darcy’s arm, and walked her to the van. They chattered like high school BFFs.
Sam followed, and Lazarus leaned forward and put his hand in the center of Sam’s shoulders as he walked behind him. Sam looked back at him.
“Close your mouth, you’re going to attract flies.”
Sam opened his mouth to reply, thought for a second, looking a little muddled. He looked at Lilith and Darcy climbing into the back seat of the van. A sheepish expression crowded the befuddled look off of his face, “Ah, hell, she manipulated me like I was a three year old child.”
Lazarus nodded, “Yep, that’s what she does. She looks for an opening, and then exploits it.” He slapped the side of Sam’s arm with the back of his hand, “Don’t worry, I fell right into that trap as well. Darcy is quite disarming.”
Sam nodded, suddenly very aware of how easily his armor had been penetrated by the shy smile of a young woman. The look disappeared, “I wonder how far along the path she is.”
Lazarus shook his head, “There’s no way to know right now. I guess we’ll find out, as we spend more time with her.”
Emotion struggled across Sam’s face, “Do you think we can save her?”
Lazarus thought about it, “I don’t know. Lilith called her protégé, so that’s a very tough call.”
They walked over to the van. Sam peeled around the front. They opened the doors, and sat down.
“So, where do we go now?” Lilith asked, to the sound of shutting doors.
Lazarus turned around in his seat as Sam started the van, “Well, we have to drive to Amarillo. We have a meet out there to pick up some more munitions.”
“Munitions?” Darcy asked.
Lazarus glanced at Darcy, and then looked back at Lilith, “How much have you told her?”
Lilith patted Darcy’s hand, “I’ve told her everything about our mission. I didn’t explain your particular method of operations though.”
Darcy looked confused, “method? I thought they used magic, like we do.”
Lazarus shook his head, “No, we don’t use magic. That’s her specialty,” he nodded towards Lilith. Then he pointed at Sam using his chin, “We’re a little more hands on. We have some weapons in the back to use, and we plan on picking up a few more along the way.”
Darcy’s nose wrinkled, “You mean, like guns?”
Lazarus nodded, “Yes, guns.”
Darcy frowned, “Guns are dangerous.”
He looked at her, “And magic isn’t?”
Darcy looked confused, and looked at Lilith. Lilith smiled, “No, magic isn’t dangerous, not the way we do it.” She took Darcy’s hand in hers, and folded both her hands around it. Darcy smiled and looked back at Lazarus. Lazarus studied the two. The dynamics between them would be interesting to figure out. Darcy seemed to be innocent of the world at large, an ingénue. He didn’t know if she was truly an innocent, or if she was playing a part.
He nodded at her, “My associate and I don’t have your skills. We have to rely on something a little less esoteric to conduct our operations.” He smiled at her, “So we use weapons. We use knives, swords, handguns, shotguns, and rifles.”
Lazarus snapped his fingers, turned around, opened the glove box and pulled out a holstered Glock 17 with spare magazines. He turned back to Lilith, “Here’s the pistol you requested. Glock 17 in 9mm with three magazines.”
Lilith leaned forward, and took the pistol and magazines from Lazarus. She leaned back and put them into her purse. Darcy watched the gun pass from Lazarus to Lilith, at first with dismay on her face, and then with disdain. She frowned. Lilith noticed. She patted Darcy’s hands with her right hand, “We’ll talk about it later.” Lilith’s eyelids dropped slightly, indicating the point that he had just won.
“Touché,” he thought to himself, “One point for the good guys.”
Lilith continued, “It’s always good to have a backup plan. You never know what’s going to happen.”
----------------------------------------------------
They stopped in Oklahoma City for lunch. It was a little bit early when they got there, but it wasn’t too much of a problem, and they were seated pretty quickly. Darcy and Lilith sat on one side of the booth, and Sam and Lazarus sat on the other. The waitress came and they all ordered drinks. Ten minutes later, they ordered t
heir entrée’.
Lazarus decided to use the time to find out more about Darcy, “Your parents seem very nice.”
Darcy’s cheeks colored, “Thank you, but they aren’t my parents. They’re my aunt and uncle.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. That explains why she called them Maggie and Clive, instead of mom and dad,” he thought.
Darcy smiled at him, “Don’t worry, most people make that mistake. I lost my parents at a very young age, and Aunt Maggie, my mom’s sister, and her husband, my Uncle Clive, came back to Tulsa to raise me.” She had a faraway look in her eyes when she talked about her parents.
Lazarus’ eyes clouded in sympathy, “I’m sorry. Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
She shrugged, “No, I don’t mind. Nobody really knows. They just, sort of disappeared. I was very young when it happened.”
“Disappeared?”
“Yes. They were there when I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I couldn’t find them. The neighbors found me wandering outside asking for mom and dad.”
“I’m sorry, I seem to be bringing up all sorts of bad memories.”
“It’s okay.”
Lilith leaned forward and patted Darcy’s hand. She looked over at Lazarus, “Don’t worry, Eli, I’ve explained a lot of things to Darcy about you.”
“Really, like what?”
Darcy looked at him, this time straight in the eyes, “I hear that you don’t like witches.”
“Maybe. Most witches that I’ve met have been involved in some terrible things.”
“Lilith told me that you hunt covens, and kill witches.”
“I have,” he replied.
“How can you do that to people that are just trying to practice their religion?”
“Because their religion involves the ritual killing of innocent children.”
Darcy was taken aback by this pronouncement. She glanced at Lilith. She wasn’t expecting Lazarus to be so open about what he had done. She was expecting prevarication, not corroboration. Lazarus could tell that she wasn’t expecting to hear that witches were killing children, either. Lazarus doubted that Lilith had told her the complete truth. More than likely, Lilith had colored the information to paint Lazarus in a very bad light. Evidently, what Lilith had been telling her had led her to make some conclusions about Lazarus that were probably not true. Darcy looked over to Sam, who confirmed by nodding his head in agreement with Lazarus.
