by Mark Harritt
Eli hung up, and stood there with his head down for a moment, contemplating whatever kind of mischief that Lilith might have in store. He breathed in and out a few times, making sure that he was breathing from his diaphragm, to draw strength before heading down to Lilith’s room. He turned, walked to the door, opened it and walked down the hall. He knocked on the door, and waited for her to open it. The observation hole darkened, then he heard the door knob click. The door opened.
Lilith wasn’t naked, precisely. She had on a silk robe that dropped to mid-thigh. The robe was diaphanous, and he could see her body as it was framed by the light of the room behind her. She held the robe closed with one hand. She motioned for him to come in, and turned. The front of the robe parted as she turned and dropped her hand. He could see that she was wearing a thong beneath the robe, and nothing else. As he walked in, she turned, and only the light fabric of the robe hid her nipples and the fullness of her breasts. Other than the robe and thong, she was naked from the top of her head down to the toes of her feet. The robe and thong accentuated, instead of hid, her sexuality.
It was tough for him not to stare at her. Her stomach displayed a tautness that invited his kisses. He wanted to run his hands over her body, and pull her close to him. He swallowed hard. Then he looked up into her eyes, and saw satisfaction as she watched him look at her. Anger replaced the lust in his heart.
He was being manipulated, and he didn’t like it. Two thousand years, and he was still that naïve boy. She had turned him to greed and lust, kept him from the family that loved him, and made him think his family only cared about the money he gave them. The words that he spoke next came out hard and cold, “What do you want, Lilith?”
The pleasure in her eyes died as she realized that she had overplayed her hand. It had been a long time since anyone was able to turn away from her manipulation. Subtlety was not a trait that she had cultivated in quite a while. Men, and women, did her bidding with very little effort on her part. They were only human after all. Men like Lazarus, and to a lesser degree, Sam, were very rare in her experience. Truth be told, it actually made her desire Lazarus. He was something she couldn’t have. Nobody told her no.
It was rare that a human escaped her. It was even rarer that a human escaped the grasp of her boss, even if it was with help. Plus, they had history together, a lot of it. He remembered the old ways, and the old days, just like she did. She couldn’t deny the past that she and Lazarus shared together.
She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped, turned, and walked over to the bed to grab the belt for the robe. She turned away from him, closed the robe, and tied the belt around it, all pretense at seduction gone. She turned back to face him, “I wanted to ask you about tomorrow.”
“What about it?” Lazarus asked.
“Do you think that Mephistopheles will be there when we go to pick up the munitions?”
Lazarus shrugged, “Maybe, I don’t know. I don’t think he can track us from our end. The IDs and credit cards I’ve been using are all very clean. I paid very good money for them and used a very reliable source.”
“Israeli intelligence, I expect,” she countered.
“Well,” he spread his hands, “I’m not going to tell you who I do business with. Let’s just say that I’ve done business with them before, and I’ve always found them to be very reliable.”
“What if he’s been able to track them?”
“If he was able to track them, I think we would be in jail, or dead.” He stopped, and thought for a moment, “No, I’m more worried about Sam’s contact. I don’t know who it is, but they have major connections.”
“What kind of connections?”
Lazarus shook his head, “I’m not going to conjecture with you, Lilith. Anything I give you could be used against us at a later time.”
“So, when we go in tomorrow, what do you want to do?”
“Well, I’ll go in and scout. While I do that, you need to help Sam safeguard Darcy. I don’t want her exposed. She’s an innocent.”
Lilith waved the last comment off with a gesture of her hand, “She’s not as innocent as you believe. She came to me for magic training. I didn’t offer it to her.”
“Yeah, but how did she know that she could get training from you. I’m sure she didn’t just mention it out of the blue one day. I’m sure that you dropped hints to get her to come to you.”
“Think what you will. I just think you’ve underestimated her.”
“Whatever, Lilith. Right now, on my list, she’s an innocent. I don’t have anything to prove that she’s not. I haven’t seen any signs that she’s cruel or indifferent to the people around her. So, she’s an innocent. And she falls under my protection.”
Lilith acquiesced, and spread her hands, “As you wish. I’ll safeguard her.”
The movement of Lilith’s hands had unexpected consequences. The fabric of the robe tightened, and Lazarus could make out the shape of her breasts. This in turn made him aware of her figure. Once again, his libido betrayed him as his brain wandered among thoughts that were best left alone.
“Why did you bring her, Lilith?”
Lilith walked over to the table in her room, bent over slightly to pick up her coke. As she bent over, the fabric of the robe tightened and lifted up, revealing the curves of her derriere. She turned back and loosened the cap on the bottle. The soft drink hissed as bubbles broke to the surface.
“Honestly, Eli, I’m not sure. While the thought of having a merlin possessed and loose among the public is a thrilling idea, she’s not even close to being groomed for those choices yet.”
Her eyes were twinkling as she said this, making Lazarus think that she was being less than truthful. He played along, “Slipping, Lilith? I thought you’d be able to work faster than that.”
She shrugged, “Maybe. Usually humanists are very easy to turn. Since they don’t believe in ultimate good or evil, it is amazingly simple to get them to make bad choices. Darcy isn’t like that though. She hasn’t been making the choices that I want her to make. I give her the suggestions, plant the ideas, but it’s like she has a guardian angel looking out for her.”
Lazarus laughed, “And I bet that drives you crazy. It’s not often that humans can resist your temptations.”
Lilith leaned back against the table. She had the coke in one hand, and placed her other hand against the table. The fabric tightened across her breasts again. Lazarus could make out the size and shape of her nipples. He wasn’t going to sleep very well tonight. He might have to take another cold shower before he went to bed.
“It does. But to answer your question, I don’t know, but something spoke to me about Darcy. I think she needs to be there with us. I don’t know why.”
Lazarus’ eyes grew dark, “I think you’re lying to me, Lilith. If you’re going to use her as a sacrifice, you better think again. Sam and I won’t let you harm a hair on that girl’s head.”
Lilith sighed, which made parts of her wiggle deliciously, “Honest, Eli, I’m not going to betray you in Bisbee. The boss would be very upset with me if I tried to do that. Besides, why would I? I like my job, I like the position that I have. I like the perks I have now. I get a lot of leeway to do the things I do.”
Lazarus thought about it, and on the face, her arguments made sense. He hadn’t lived as long as he had by taking the word of a demon at face value, though. There was something else at play. He didn’t trust her. There was something that she knew that he didn’t. Time was running out, and he still hadn’t identified the stalking horse that was working against him. He didn’t want to be in the Copper Queen mine and still have the unknown third party unidentified. He may have to though.
“Mine not to reason why, mine but to do or die,” he thought. It was not an enviable position to be in.
He was tired though, so he acquiesced, “It is what it is, I guess. We’ll just have to see what happens.”
She shook her head, “you don’t trust me at all do you?”
A wry smile appeared, “Would you if you were in my position?”
She returned the same smile back at him, “No, I guess I wouldn’t.”
“Okay, if that’s all you wanted, I’m turning in for the night.”
She nodded, and he turned to the door.
“You know, Eli, you could stay the night if you wanted to.”
He didn’t turn around, “I know. But you know that’s just not possible.”
“We’re married already. It’s not like you’d be committing a mortal sin.”
“That’s all in the past, Lilith. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since those days.”
“Was it really that bad, Eli?”
He turned his head slightly, “You know it wasn’t. It would have been the perfect life, except, you know, your betrayal, my betrayal of my family, my death by your jealous lover, and my subsequent trip into hell. Other than that, it was perfection.”
She walked towards him, “I’m lonely, Eli. I don’t want to spend the night alone.”
He turned back and looked at her, the beautiful, sculpted face, the perfect body, “Sorry, Lilith, I can’t help you. If you’re lonely, you might want to rethink your profession. Hard not to be lonely when you’re surrounded by demons.”
He paused, then continued, “You know, you can work for the good guys. The offer is there for everybody.”
She paused, thoughtful. Then a look of disdain crossed her face. She turned her back on him, and took a drink from her coke, “I’ll think about it.”
He knew her pride would never let her embrace such a drastic course of action, “Lilith, one more question.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know anything about two shooters sent to kill us in the Poconos?”
She turned so that the light was behind her again, showing off her body through the robe, “Would you believe me if I told you no.”
He paused, then said, “Yes.”
“You’re hesitation indicates otherwise,” she took another drink of coke as she contradicted his assertion, “But no, I didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“Thank you,” he turned back to the door, opened it, and stepped out into the corridor. The door swung back, and he heard the lock click as it closed. He walked down the hall, pulled out his key card, and opened his door. He walked in, and shut the door behind him. He pulled his pistol out and placed it on the nightstand. He walked to the phone, picked it up, and called Sam’s room.
“I’m back.”
“Good, then we don’t have to drag the river for your body in the morning.”
“I’m touched that you’re concerned about my welfare.”
“I’m more concerned with not wasting time in the morning.”
“Deeply, deeply touched that you value our friendship so highly.”
“So, was I right?”
“About her not wearing any clothes?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Not exactly, but what she did have on didn’t leave much to the imagination.”
“I’m surprised. I would’a thought that she’d want to tempt you back to the dark side.”
“Oh, believe me, she tried. She tried to dredge up ancient history.”
“I guess it didn’t work.” Sam paused, then said, “I wonder why she was naked when I stopped by.”
“Well, since you’re much younger than I, she probably thought that you would just jump right in to the situation. You young guys are so much easier to influence. Too much testosterone floating around.”
“Good thing I’m not the average guy.”
“Good thing, indeed. Though I’ve seen the way you and Darcy look at each other.”
“Eh, maybe.”
“What, the magic’s disappearing?”
“Well, she’s a great girl. She’s fun, quirky almost.”
“Yeah, and her being pretty has nothing to do with the chemistry at all, does it.”
“Well, there is that.”
“So, what’s up?” Lazarus asked.
“Well, she’s a super smart girl, but I’m not sure if she’s right for me.”
“Why not?”
“Different values, I guess.”
“Let me guess, the ‘isms aren’t quite your cup of tea. You Marine altar boys are always so conservative.”
“’Isms. What the hell is an ‘ism?”
“You know, liberalism, feminism, humanism.”
“Something like that, though I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“I bet you haven’t, choir boy. Kind of hard to see the forest for the trees when you’re looking at Darcy. Probably hard to think of anything when she’s around.”
Sam changed the subject, “So, what time tomorrow?”
Lazarus thought about it, “It’s not that far of a drive. We can get there in about four, four and half hours. We can get breakfast, then get on the road. After we pick up the last of the munitions, we can get a hotel in Tucson. Easier to get one there than to get one in Tombstone or Bisbee.”
“Okay, how about breakfast at eight o’clock then?” Sam asked.
“Sure, that’ll do.”
“I’ll call Lilith and Darcy, and let them know.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go and tell them in person.”
“Whoa, no, not tonight. I’m sure that Lilith would be naked again, and Darcy would want to talk until midnight.”
“You know Darcy has a big crush on you.”
“I’m thinkin’ that as well, but I need to avoid that for a few days, until we’re finished. We can see after that. She and I have to talk though, if we go down that road.”
They finished talking, and Sam hung up to call Lilith and Darcy. Lazarus turned on the TV, then thought about the movie. He looked at the clock, and revised his opinion. Just enough time to take a cold shower and go to bed.
----------------------------------------------------
Lazarus met everybody downstairs. They piled in the van, and headed to a truck stop that had a Denny’s. Breakfast went smoothly. Everybody was quiet. Lazarus knew that would change once they had their coffee. Lazarus looked at Sam. Sam was shoveling eggs and hash browns down his throat. Darcy was quiet, and pensive. She kept pushing her breakfast around with her fork, with little going into her mouth. She kept glancing over at Sam when she thought nobody was watching. She definitely had a thing for him. Lilith, however, ate like nothing was going on around her. She was quiet because nobody else was talking.
This was fine with Lazarus. He wasn’t in much of a mood to talk right now. Lilith was beginning to invade his dreams in a way he hadn’t experienced since he and Myra were married. He had a very long night, last night. He dreamed about Myra, during the time after they were married. He dreamed about making love to Myra, her legs around his waist. Then the scene changed, and the woman he was with was Lilith. When he woke up, he was covered in sweat, and the sheets and blanket were on the floor.
Lazarus tried to block the visions of Lilith last night with a very cold shower, but it just wasn’t working anymore. He didn’t know what he would do to get the thoughts of her body out of his head, but he figured that some time on a deserted island might clear it. Or maybe he could do the monk thing for about a hundred years. Lilith looked at him, and gave him a dazzling smile. He thought about the deserted island some more. Maybe thirty years with no one around to distract him.
They ate, he paid. Afterwards, he walked over to the coffee island, grabbed a large cup and filled it with the extra caffeine blend. He walked over to the counter, and there was an attractive young lady standing behind the counter. She wasn’t a beauty in the sense that Darcy, or God forbid, Lilith was. She was attractive because of her youth, and her lack of self-awareness of the effect she had on the people around her.
He put the coffee on the counter. She spoke, “You know, if you get a breakfast sandwich with that, you’ll get a dollar discount.”
He smiled at her, “Well, that sounds like a great deal
, but I just had breakfast at Denny’s.”
She rolled her eyes, and exaggerated a sigh, “Whatever.” She said it with a smile, indicating that she was joking. His smile grew bigger, “You have a lovely day, young lady.”
She smiled back, “Thanks, you too.”
He picked up his coffee, and began whistling as he walked out of the truck stop to the van. He was whistling as he climbed in, and sat down in the back next to Lilith. Lilith looked at him, “You’re in a very good mood.”
He nodded, “Yes, I am.”
“What happened? You were a gloomy Gus at breakfast.”
“Well, you have that effect on me.”
She wrapped her arms around his, and leaned her head onto his shoulder, “Silly boy. You couldn’t live without me.” When Lazarus didn’t answer her, she continued, “What happened to put you in a good mood?”
“I’ve just been reminded, that no matter what happens, life goes on, and it’s bigger than me, or you.”
Lilith laughed, “Speak for yourself. The world revolves around me.”
Lazarus nodded, “I have no doubt that you truly believe that.”
Lilith smiled again, “I have empirical evidence that indicates that it’s a fundamental truth of the universe.”
“And what evidence do you have?”
“Well, the few times I’ve been killed, the world disappears. When I come back, or, am allowed back, it reappears.”
Lazarus nodded, “Ah, the peek-a-boo theory of reality. If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist. Next time I hunt you, and you’re cornered, feel free to try that approach. If you don’t see me, I don’t exist. At least, until I’ve destroyed your corporeal form.”
Lilith laughed again, her giggle tinkling as it filled the van.
Darcy turned to look back at them, glancing at Sam as she did so, “I thought you two were enemies? You know, the Good versus Evil thing.”
Lazarus took a sip of coffee, noncommittal. Lilith grinned at him, as if they were sharing a secret, then she glanced at Darcy, “We are.”
“How can you two be so chummy if you hate each other so?”