The Demon Deception (15 page)

Lazarus spread his hands, “Depends, I guess,
on what you want to chat about, Les.”

Mephistopheles exhaled dramatically at the
nickname, “Yes, I guess it would depend on that. But, I think that
you’ll be satisfied with the proposition that I have for you.”

Lazarus didn’t have a clue what
Mephistopheles was talking about. He assumed it had something to do
with his current mission. Things were getting crowded. It’s not
every day that Lazarus had direct contact with demons and angels.
He didn’t know what the angles were, but he knew that the demonic
crowd wasn’t above trying to sabotage each other, or him. As for
Mephistopheles trying to help him out, he knew that anything that
the demon suggested would be self-serving.

“And what would that be, Les?”

Lazarus watched Mephistopheles flinch every
time he said the name Les. Mephistopheles was an ego guy.
Mephistopheles knew that Lazarus was trying to prod him, provoke
him. Lazarus was enjoying his consternation. Sometimes, useful
things fall out when you shake the tree. He watched Mephistopheles
closely, trying to glean clues as the demon dealt with the
disrespect.

Mephistopheles was struggling to contain his
anger. The eyes gave it away. Lazarus could see the hellfire grow
behind the surface as he prodded. The anger was causing
Mephistopheles to lose his control. Mephistopheles seemed to grow,
to encompass more area, more energy, though he didn’t change
physically. This was dicey for Lazarus. If he tipped Mephistopheles
too far over the edge, a lot of people might get hurt. He knew he
could only push him so far.

An enraged demon would cause a lot of damage.
Unfortunately, Lazarus only had his Springfield XD with him.
Dealing damage to Mephistopheles would be very hard. Demons, unlike
the possessed, were much harder to kill. Lazarus had fifteen
bullets in his pistol with three magazines in reserve, giving him
sixty rounds of his special, frangible .45 caliber bullets. They
would do a lot of damage to Mephistopheles, but they wouldn’t kill
him. Lazarus would need his dual swords if he wanted to destroy the
demon’s corporeal form. Unfortunately, the swords were in his
room.

“So, are you going to tell me?” Lazarus
asked.

With a shudder, Mephistopheles brought
himself back under control. The eyes changed, and he was a good
imitation of a human again. Even the smile came back, “Well, if you
want to know, I came here to give you a warning.”

Lazarus feigned shock, “Wow, you came here to
give me a warning? I’m touched that you have such an interest in my
wellbeing.”

Mephistopheles’ face clouded again, “Please,
your childish sarcasm isn’t helping this situation. I don’t want to
be here, any more than you want me here. I have other things I
could be doing right now, but circumstances dictate that I come to
you about this.”

Lazarus nodded, “Okay, truce. What do you
want to talk to me about?”

“I understand that you’ve been directed to
work with a certain, ah, associate of mine.”

Lazarus thought about it carefully, then
answered, “You understand, I can’t really go into any details with
you about any of this. Anything that I’m doing right now was
sanctioned by your boss, and my boss. You know this, right?”

Mephistopheles nodded, “Yes, I understand
that completely. I know that she’s been directed to work with you.
But, there are some,” he paused, “well, worries about her.”

Lazarus sat motionless, “Worries from your
boss, or worries from you?”

Mephistopheles licked his lips, “Well, they
don’t come from the boss, but I have some concerns.”

Lazarus looked at him, “So, what you’re
telling me, is that you’re worried about her being on this mission?
Why?”

Mephistopheles thought for a moment,
“Something isn’t right. Not about anything, not about any of
this.”

Lazarus nodded, “Yes, I agree. Nothing is
right about any of this. Angels and demons are two worlds apart,
and should never work with each other. I agree with you
completely.”

Mephistopheles started to say something.
Lazarus forestalled him with an upraised hand, “But, my bosses have
talked to me directly about this, and there’s no mistake. This is
what they want. They want Lilith and me to work together to fix
this problem.”

Mephistopheles glanced away, bit his lip, and
then looked back, “I think it’s a mistake. I don’t know what’s
going on, but I know something isn’t right. I don’t think she’s
working for anybody but herself.”

Lazarus studied him, “Yeah, what else is new?
She always puts number one in the forefront. But, let me ask you
this. If not us, then who will take care of the problem.” Lazarus
took a drink of coffee, “I know that your boss and my boss seemed
to have decided that this is the course of action to take.
Corporate,” he pointed up, “well, they don’t particularly care what
we want, as long as we do what they ask of us.”

Lazarus leaned forward, “I think that the
consequences for any of us, to go against our bosses’ wishes, would
be catastrophic.”

Mephistopheles nodded slowly, “I understand
this, but I think there’s something else at play here, and I don’t
know what it is.”

They both sat quietly for a moment,
reflecting on the situation. Lazarus didn’t really know what the
hell was going on. There was no real information being given to
him. Mephistopheles wasn’t forthcoming. Mephistopheles’ unease and
being uncomfortable with the situation wasn’t much to go on. That
wasn’t enough for him to change his mind about the assignment. He
thought about the other, possible party or parties, but he wasn’t
going to give that information away to Mephistopheles.

“Mephistopheles, do you have anything you can
tell me besides the fact that you have an uneasy feeling about this
mission? That’s a little vague. I don’t think I can take that back
to the Angels, and get them to change their minds.”

Mephistopheles traced a design on the table
top with his finger, “You have to understand. I’m the guide. I’m
the one who knows how things work. I understand the power, how it
works, who it shifts to, and who’s who in the pecking order of
Hell. I know who’s in favor, and who isn’t.”

Lazarus was getting tired of the
conversation, “And? What does that have to do with this?”

“This thing with Lilith, it shouldn’t
be.”

Lazarus asked again, “Please, come to the
point. What shouldn’t be?”

“Lilith used to be his favorite, many, many
years ago, before you were resurrected. Then ‘BOOM!’ You were
snatched back, away from his ministrations. He was so pissed. In
his own house as well. Plus, you started working against us. The
boss didn’t like that, at all. Many of us took the hits, but Lilith
was hit the most. You could feel her desperation. She wasn’t making
her goals. The boss took an interest in her, and not in a good way.
He blamed her for you. That failure, your loss from Hell, and the
subsequent operations that you did against us, that became her
failure.”

Lazarus started to get interested in the
conversation again. Insight into the inner workings of the evil
one’s minions could be useful in the future, “Continue.”

“Somehow, something changed. Dynamics
changed, and they shouldn’t have. She’s in favor again, and I don’t
know why. I want to know the answer.”

Lazarus thought about it, then he hit on one
thing, “If she’s no longer the favorite, who took her spot? Who was
the favorite after she began to slip?”

Mephistopheles didn’t say a word. An
innocuous smile graced his lips. He looked up at Lazarus. Lazarus
understood, “Ah, you were the favorite when I began tearing up her
operation.”

Lazarus made a logical leap, “The tips, the
leads I’ve been getting. You’re the one who’s been giving them to
me. You’re the reason that I’ve been so effective against her
operations.”

Lazarus watched Mephistopheles for
confirmation. The fact that he wasn’t saying anything, staring at
his manicure with that innocent smile on his lips, was a screaming
declaration.

Mephistopheles smiled, “It doesn’t bother you
to know that you’ve been used as my cat’s paw, my instrument to
attack Lilith?”

Lazarus shook his head, “No, not really. One
dead demon’s as good as another in my book. If I can use you to
capitalize on killing her possessed, that’s good for me. Besides,
once I tell her what’s been happening, she’ll probably start
feeding me information about
your
operations. All of that’s
good for me. Hopefully, you’ll all start feeding me information
about each other’s operations. Hell, a few more demons will
probably be more than willing to give me information about you once
they know you’ve been feeding me information about Hell’s
operations.”

Mephistopheles eyes narrowed at this
prospect, “That’s a possibility. They’ll probably applaud my
efforts more than criticize them, however.”

Lazarus agreed, “It’s true, your team plays
by a completely different set of rules than mine does. And you’re
correct. They’ll probably admire your tactics, and your successes.
But then they’ll start to wonder, ‘has he put the knife in my back,
yet?’ And they’re going to start looking around. Anything that
might be construed as an attack on them, no matter how
insignificant, will get them thinking about how to get back at you.
So, all things considered, I think this might be a win-win for
me.”

Having made his point, he waited for
Mephistopheles to put up a counter argument. Mephistopheles sat
motionless, saying nothing. Lazarus could tell that he was
considering the angles, “So, what were you going to tell me about
Lilith? You’re telling me that she’s back in her boss’ good graces?
How? If she’s not corrupting human souls the way the boss wants it,
then how is she back in his good graces?”

Mephistopheles nodded, “Yes, that’s the
question isn’t it? How is it that she’s back in his good
graces?”

Lazarus leaned forward, and pointed at
Mephistopheles, “So I guess this means that you aren’t exactly the
top guy anymore? I guess your power base is eroding, and you’re
probably pissed about that fact? Am I close to the truth here?”

Mephistopheles hesitantly confirmed this,
“Too close to the truth, if you should know.” He paused, running
his hand over the tablecloth, then continued, “So, what you should
be asking yourself, is: what has she promised to deliver to the
boss to get back into his good graces?”

Lazarus thought about this. He knew that
Lilith wasn’t going to play by the rules. The fact that she might
have done something or promised something to please her boss didn’t
surprise him. Lazarus knew it might have something to do with him.
Her boss was still pissed that Lazarus had been plucked from his
ministrations just when things were getting started. Satan probably
had special joys planned for him, a damned soul sprung from hell.
So, no new information there.

Lazarus still wondered about the third party
interests, though, that was working around this situation. He
wondered if it was Mephistopheles. If Les wanted to put the kibosh
on the mission, that might explain a few things. Still, there was
the fact that Lilith had gotten a leg up, more power, more face
time with her boss. Lazarus just didn’t know. He would have to let
it play out and see what happened.

“So, Les, what you’re telling me right now,
is that you’re pissed that daddy isn’t paying as much attention to
you as he is to Lilith. I suppose that could be a problem from your
perspective, but you have to look at mine. I have clear marching
orders from my boss. He’s pretty persuasive. He wants me to go
ahead and work with Lilith. So, I don’t think that I’m going to be
able to help you with this problem of yours.”

A frown crossed Mephistopheles’ face. Lazarus
could see the hellfire dancing in the eyes. Mephistopheles was
definitely not happy now, “That, is very,” he paused,
“unfortunate.” He continued, “You need to understand, Lazarus. This
may not just be my problem. YOU need to stop this. There’s
something else going on here.”

Lazarus nodded, “Yes, there usually is. But
until I figure out what it is, the mission continues as
planned.”

“You’re making a mistake, a big mistake.”

“Could be Les. But I’ve made mistakes before.
I just have to see how this all plays out.”

Mephistopheles studied Lazarus’ face. He
stood up, and pushed the chair in. He adjusted his jacket, and
brushed the sleeves for nonexistent dirt. Lazarus could bet that he
was probably picked on when he was a little demon, by all the big
bully demons in the school yard.

“You’re going to regret that decision,
Lazarus.”

Lazarus nodded, “Could be. I guess we’ll see
soon enough, won’t we.”

Mephistopheles smile was cold when he
replied, “Yes, I guess we will.”

He started to turn away, but Lazarus wasn’t
finished with him yet, “Mephistopheles.”

Mephistopheles turned back to him,
“What?”

“Do you know anything about shooters at the
Poconos?”

Mephistopheles considered the question, “No,
why? What’s in the Poconos?”

Lazarus smiled, “Just curious.”

Mephistopheles watched him for a sign that
Lazarus was going to say something else. When nothing else was
forthcoming, he turned and walked away. As he passed the four
agents, they stood up, dropped money on the tables for their bills,
and followed him out the door.

Lazarus called the waitress over and asked
her for the check. She gave him a lovely smile, and because of
that, he left her a twenty five percent tip on the credit card
receipt. Since everybody evidently knew where he was, he didn’t
feel the need to use cash. He stood up, and decided to go to the
bar. It was one of those nights. He walked in, found a good
location where he could look around and see if anybody had bad
intentions, and sat down. He ordered a Glenfiddich, neat, and sat
back to drink the single malt.