by Mark Harritt
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.
Lazarus pulled Faith from the kydex sheath, “I had to make the kydex sheath for them. I was tired of replacing the leather sheathes every three to five years.”
Sam didn’t hear what Lazarus was saying. He was staring at the blade of the sword. Lazarus took the blade, reversed it, and held the handle over his arm, towards Sam. Sam looked up, his eyes wide.
“Go ahead, take it.”
Sam slowly put his hand on the hilt of the sword. He lifted it carefully away from Lazarus. Sam had no doubts that the edge of the sword was razor sharp. The last thing he wanted to do was put Lazarus on the disabled list right before the mission kicked off. Plus, Lazarus might get upset if Sam took an arm off.
Lazarus grinned at the way Sam was holding the sword, “Don’t worry, you won’t break it. Believe me, there were a situations in which I thought I broke that one. I’m glad to say, they seem to be indestructible.”
Sam was still in awe. The weapon should have weighed several pounds, but it was as light as a feather. It was perfectly balanced for his hand, which was amazing, since it had been built for Lazarus.
Sam looked over at Lazarus, “Please don’t tell me that you left these here in the room.”
Lazarus grinned, “Okay, I won’t tell you, but it’ll be a sin of omission, then.”
Sam was floored, “These are irreplaceable. They’re priceless. How can you just leave them in your room?”
Lazarus shrugged, “Nobody ever bothers them. I’m not sure anybody can see them unless I want them to. I was wounded in battle during the middle ages, and I was unconscious. I woke in the hospital, swords missing. They had fallen on the battlefield. I asked everybody about them; nobody had seen them. I was frantic, to say the least.”
“As soon as I was able, I went back to the battlefield. There were scavengers looting the bodies. I watched as women and children stripped corpses of anything of value. I watched as they walked past the twin swords time and time again. One of them had fallen point into the ground, and it was standing straight up over the other. Had the scavengers been able to see them, they would have taken them, as surely as night follows day.”
Sam shook his head in amazement, “Had they only known. These blades are worth tens of thousands of dollars.”
Lazarus nodded, “At that time, we’re talking a few pounds of gold, at least. But since then, I’ve never worried about anybody stealing them.”
Lazarus pulled Mercy out and handed it to Sam. Sam held them both in his hands, then did a few Eskrima Kata movements. Lazarus watched, and he halted Sam’s movement at a few points. He repositioned Sam’s arms and wrists to take advantage of the swords’ edge or point.
Sam stopped, and stared at the swords in wonderment, “These are amazing.” He looked up at Lazarus, “I’m going to feel very bad when I have to return to using my Kershaw camp knives again.”
Lazarus smiled, “Well, the nice thing about the camp knives is, they’re cheap and easily replaced.”
“I am so into weapon envy right now.”
Lazarus held out his hands, indicating that Sam should hand them back to him. Sam held the swords by the pommel so that the blades hung straight down towards the floor. Lazarus grabbed the swords by the handles, and he laid Faith down on the bed so that he could slide Mercy back into the sheath. Then he picked up Faith and slid it back into the sheath as well.
“What time do you want to get started tomorrow?” Sam asked.
“I’m thinking we eat about eight, then we can head over and grab our munitions before we leave town.”
Sam spoke, “Ah, we don’t have to go anywhere to grab the munitions.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t we supposed to pick them up in Amarillo?”
Sam nodded, “Yeah, we are, and we already have.”
Lazarus was puzzled, “What do you mean, we already have?”
“Well, it wasn’t that much, just ten pounds of C4, a hundred feet of det cord, and twenty blasting caps.”
“Yeah, I know. Where’d you pick them up at?
“Didn’t have to pick them up anywhere. I called my contact, gave him the hotel and room number, and a courier brought them to me.”
“That’s original. What about operational security?”
“Well, my contact didn’t have to go through his organization. So, he sent out some bogus information on the drop, then hired two different couriers to bring me the boxes. Since they were private couriers, and the boxes didn’t cross state lines, he didn’t have to declare what was in the box.”
“Let me guess, the blasting caps were sent separately from the explosives.”
“Yep, that way there wouldn’t be any big booms if the blasting caps accidently went off, just some energetic pops.”
Lazarus was amazed by the turn of events. It wasn’t how he would have handled everything, but as long as it worked, he was okay with it. Hopefully the bogus information would send out a false trail to throw Mephistopheles and his ATF agents off the scent. It might do the same for any others that were trying to track them as well. They still didn’t know who sent the two snipers out to the Poconos. Lazarus had the feeling there was still another party out there that they had to be wary of.
“Well, that solves that problem. Let me wire the next set of cash so that we know where we need to be. When we get the last of the munitions, we can head to Bisbee.”
“Bisbee?” Sam asked, “Where’s that?”
“Have you ever heard of Tombstone, or Fort Huachuca?”
“Tombstone, yeah, Huachuca, no. You mean like the movies, Wyatt Earp and the OK corral?”
Lazarus nodded, “Exactly like that. Fort Huachuca is in the area as well.”
“What, we’re going to the OK corral to have a shootout with inter-dimensional demons?”
Lazarus laughed, “How appropriate would that be? No, not that dramatic. Though, it would be pretty cool.” Lazarus pu
t emphasis on the ‘pretty cool.’ “No, we’re headed a little bit south of there, to a place called Bisbee. It’s the capital of Cochise County, Arizona and has what used to be the largest open pit mine in the world. The Copper Queen is now a very large pit in the earth, and a tourist attraction. That’s where we’re headed.”
“To a large open pit in the earth?”
“Yep.”
“I almost wish it was in Tombstone. I’m not sure I like the idea of being down in a pit with a hoard of angry demons.”
Lazarus shrugged, “once you’ve been in one pit with demons, it’s all pretty much the same.”
Sam laughed, “Well, that’s one experience I never hope to experience.”
Lazarus replied, “Just keep your head clear when you’re around Darcy. Something’s in play here, and I’m not sure what it is.”
“Yeah, not too sure myself. So, you want me to go down to Darcy’s room and give her the low down on pistol etiquette? Just in case?”
Lazarus nodded, “Yeah, you can do that. Watch yourself though. Don’t get too involved. Besides, she may not let you leave the room.”
“What, you don’t trust me? I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. I’ve seen the way you look at Darcy. What’s more, I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
Sam looked up at Lazarus, startled, “What, she’s been checking me out?”
“And there you go, thanks for making my point for me. You’re a little too concerned about what Darcy thinks about you. Next thing you know, you’ll be passing her notes in homeroom, asking if she likes you, check yes or no.”
Sam looked embarrassed at being called out for his reaction. Still, he waved off Lazarus’ statement, “Nah, that’s a girl thing. Boys pull the girls pigtails, trying to get attention.”
Lazarus smiled, “Thanks for correcting my misconceptions.”
“No problem. You didn’t get a chance to experience the basics, like homeroom at the William H. Taft elementary school, in Brooklyn, New York.”
Lazarus nodded, “Yeah, I guess my education is sadly lacking in fundamental things like hierarchical interactions between children in the modern world.”
