The Demon Deception (36 page)

Sam’s jaw would have hit the ground if it
wasn’t attached to his head.

“Myrddin, this is my young friend, Sam
Diabo.”

Myrddin stepped forward and pointed at the
cups on the fire, “Is there any way I might be able to sample some
of that brew? It smells very good.”

Sam nodded, “yeah, sure, you can have my
cup.” He proceeded to show Myrddin how to hold the handle of the
canteen cup so that he could drink.

“This is very good,” Myrddin said, after
taking a sip.

Lazarus nodded, “Yeah, it’s the modern
world’s biggest addiction. Billions of people worldwide need a cup
or two to start their day.”

Sam passed the other two cups to Lazarus and
Lilith, and began making another one for himself.

“So, Myrddin, what brings you here?” Lilith
asked. She flashed her smile at him. She leaned forward, the fabric
of her t-shirt straining.

Myrddin noticed and appreciated her efforts,
“Well, demon witch, I’m here because of that.” He hooked a thumb
back at the monstrous carcass behind him.

The pieces fell together for Sam, “Oh, you
were the one using the lightening against the horde.

Myrddin nodded, “yes, I was. I could use the
magic against the horde, but it would have done no good against
their master.”

“Why not?” Lazarus asked.

Myrddin pointed in a circular fashion at his
own chest, describing a pattern, “You saw all of those whorled
lines around the body of the great beast?”

They all nodded.

“Well, that was protective magic to ward off
destructive spells directed at the great beast.” Myrddin took
another drink of the coffee, “You were very lucky to have such
destructive arrows. I don’t think Ragosh even thought that he could
be attacked in such a way.”

“Well, we’re just happy that we killed,”
Lazarus paused, thinking, “what was it you called it, Ragosh?”

Myrddin chuckled, “Well, I didn’t say that,
exactly.”

Lazarus was perplexed, as were Lilith and
Sam.

“What do you mean? Its carcass is sitting
right over there. I know we killed it. We saw it die.” Lazarus
asked.

Myrddin shook his head, “No, you didn’t kill
Ragosh. Ragosh is still very much alive. All you did was kill the
body that Ragosh was wearing; in fact, had been wearing for a very,
long time. That big carcass isn’t Ragosh. Ragosh was the jewel that
was sitting in the middle of the monster’s chest.”

“You mean the jewel that flew through the air
and Darcy grabbed right before the portal closed?”

“Oh, is that the woman’s name? Yes, the jewel
that Darcy grabbed.”

Lazarus slapped his forehead, “Oh, good God,
I am such a twit.”

Myrddin nodded, “Yes,” he took a sip of
coffee, and smacked his lips, “You are. Plus, not only did you not
keep Ragosh from entering your dimension, but you completely
spoiled my plans on getting back home.”

Curses flowed from all three.

Myrddin finished the dregs of his coffee,
“Exactly.”

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

They finished the coffee. It was a long day,
and it was time to rack out. Lilith yawned, stretched for the
benefit of the men, and stood up.

She stared at Lazarus, “Time for some
sleep.”

Lazarus watched her as she turned and walked
around to the back of the van. His pulse was pounding. She stopped,
and bent down to do something with her shoe. Lazarus was staring at
a perfect heart shape. Her jeans were pulled down just far enough
so that he could see the back triangle of the thong that she was
wearing.

“Penny for your thoughts, Eli?” Sam
asked.

Lazarus kept staring, “I’m wondering if sex
with a demonic succubus is a venial sin, if you’re already married
to her, and you aren’t in the same dimension as the one who has to
forgive your sins.” He stood up, and walked towards where Lilith
had disappeared.

“Ah, Eli, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Sam asked.

Lazarus shrugged and kept walking.

She was waiting for him at the back of the
van. He walked to her, slowly. She leaned against the van, waiting,
hands behind her. He put his hands on her waist, and looked deeply
into her eyes. He leaned forward, and whispered in her ear, “Thank
you, I got your message.”

She smiled, then leaned forward to nibble on
his ear lobe, “What message was that?” She leaned back. Her face
betrayed nothing, but there was amusement in her eyes.

He leaned forward again, and kissed her at
the juncture of her jaw and neck, “Your warning.”

Her head arched back so that he could access
more of her neck. He kept kissing the soft skin. She moaned as he
continued. Her tongue snaked into his ear, then she whispered
again, “I gave you a warning?” He leaned back to see her sardonic
smile.

She wasn’t going to give it up, still playing
her part.

“About Darcy, about the sacrifice. If you
hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known.”

The kisses continued as they enjoyed the
physical contact, the sensual sensations.

“I guess I just underestimated you,” she
teased.

Their hands roamed each other’s body as their
hearts beat faster.

“I think I appreciate the constraints that
bind you.”

“Well, a girl can’t be too careful,” she
pulled his shirt out of his pants so that she could run her hands
over his skin. “I never know who’s watching, or who they work for.
His spies are Legion. I had to promise him you, to persuade him to
let me work with you.” Her fingers dipped inside of his belt. She
nipped at his ear again, playfully, but with purpose. She came
clean with him, “There’s something else in play. I have to be
careful. You’re lucky I still need your help.”

“You’re organization, or mine?”

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe neither.”

He pulled back, watching her face, “If
neither of our organizations, then who?”

She shook her head, “Better not to say right
now. I have suspicions, but nothing concrete. There are,” she
hesitated, “other possibilities. Ancient possibilities.”

“What possibilities?”

She shook her head again, but she shared one
more thing with him, “I didn’t do that to Darcy. Someone else had
touched her mind. She was already like that when I found her.
Somebody else made the connection between Darcy and Ragosh.”

Her reticence intrigued him, as did the
identity of others. The new information about Darcy was intriguing
as well. Her expression was serious. He didn’t push her for more
information. He would have to draw the information from her slowly,
and wait until she was ready to spill.

“Thanks anyway.”

“My pleasure,” she answered.

“Not yet, but it’s going to be.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, the
seriousness gone, a smile on her face.

“I mean, we have to make this look very
realistic. You never know who’s watching,” he replied. “His spies
could be everywhere.”

“Are you sure about this, Eli?” she
asked.

He shook his head, “No. What about you?”

She lightly kissed his lips, signifying more
than simple passion, something deeper. She brought both hands up to
rub the back of his neck.

“I can’t change, Eli. I am who I am. You know
who I work for.”

He nodded, “I know.”

“What about them?”

“Them who?”

“You know, your bosses.”

“They’ll understand. I’m doing this to
protect my source. It’s business.”

She giggled. He kissed her smile. It was a
deep, lingering kiss. He didn’t rush. He wanted to enjoy it. She
tasted sweet. Even with all of the hellfire and death, she still
smelled like strawberries.

At first, she didn’t respond. Then she
returned his kiss. She spread her lips, and her tongue darted
forward. The kiss was deep, warm. He shifted his hands, and his
arms went around her waist. He pulled her to him with a strength
that surprised her.

Her hands pulled against his neck, insistent
as they grew more eager. A moan sounded, and neither one knew who
it was from.

Lazarus pulled away from the kiss,
panting.

Lilith looked at him, “What?”

He motioned for her to be patient. He leaned
into the van. He rummaged around, and pulled out two sleeping
bags.

She smiled, “Naughty boy.”

He grabbed her hand, and led her into the
dark, away from the van. He spread the sleeping bags on the ground,
then turned back to her.

They melted into each other. Buttons popped
and flew as they eagerly stripped each other out of their clothes.
They held each other up, giggling as they propped each other up to
untie and take boots off. The rest of the clothes came off next.
There was nothing between them now. He walked to her, and held her
close. They kissed, and explored. His body responded to her.
Lazarus picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him. Slowly,
he lowered her to the sleeping bags.

Much later, when they had finished, he looked
at her, “Truce.”

Her laughter burst out, echoing off of the
rock face, “Sure, truce. For now.”

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

On the other side of the van, Myrddin had
taken Lilith’s seat in the door, “Now that, is one incredibly
complicated relationship.”

Sam nodded, “You have no idea. It’s like Ike
and Tina Turner, only Lilith is Ike, and Eli is Tina.”

“Who’s Ike and Tina Turner?” Myrddin
asked.

They heard the moans start. It was going to
be a long night. Sam sighed, and thought about Darcy. Talk about
your complicated relationships. The moans grew louder. Sam looked
out into the darkness.

“If the van’s a rockin, don’t bother
knockin’,” he said.

“What’s a van?” Myrddin asked.

Sam sighed again.

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

Major
Hartman didn’t know what to do. She had no more targets to engage,
the floor of the pit was covered in bestial, foul corpses, and Eli
had disappeared through an interdimensional hole. The only target
left was the young woman that Eli and Sam had arrived with. Hartman
and her team watched Darcy through their telescopes.

“What do you want to do?” Shai Chayat, the
Israeli soldier asked her.

Hartman shook her head, “I don’t think
there’s anything else we can do right now. I don’t know what
happened to Eli.”

Master Sergeant Patterson, Marines, Force
Recon asked, “What about the girl down there?”

“She seems harmless. She’s not doing
anything. Eli didn’t say anything about her. He just told me that
if they had on a vest like his, we don’t engage.”

She turned to the team, “I think we can leave
now. We did what we came here to do. The invasion has been stopped.
Until Eli shows up and gives us more marching orders, I say we go
and get dinner.”

The group concurred. They picked up their
rifles, and headed back to their vehicles.

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

Darcy was unhappy. She had one hell of a
headache. It was hard to think, hard to concentrate. She didn’t
know where Sam was. She didn’t know where the van had gone to. She
never imagined that Eli and Sam would leave her. She leaned against
one of the motorcycles. There were dead alien bodies
everywhere.

She stared down at the huge gem in her hands.
It was as big as her head. In its depths, strange colors swam in
scintillating patterns. Something was in there. She didn’t know
what it was, but she knew it was the key to finding her parents.
Images were flashing through her mind, but the thoughts didn’t make
sense to her. She had a vision of the gem, attached to her chest.
It wouldn’t fit though. It was too big.

She looked at the gem, then turned it over.
She had an idea. She was very good with minerals. She started to
concentrate. The gem shuddered in her hands. There was a moan on
the wind. The sound of glass tinkling sounded across the pit floor.
She looked at the gem again. The huge gem looked smaller. But it
wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t do what she wanted. She was getting some
kind of resistance.

She frowned. She knew what she wanted, and
projected that reality into the jewel. The resistance eased. It was
as if the jewel suddenly understood. She felt power, like she had
never felt before. She knew she was getting help from somewhere or
someone. What she had been previously, was a shadow to what she was
now. This gem would do her bidding. She concentrated, drawing on
the strength of the magic.

The gem shuddered. She closed her eyes, and
felt the structure of the gem with her mind. She shifted the
crystalline structure, made it more compact. She could feel it
shift in her hands. She sat there, leaning against the motorcycle,
eyes closed, for a good, long time. When she finally opened her
eyes again, the light was beginning to dim. She looked down at her
hand. She could see a light coating of dust on her hands that
glittered as it whirled away on the wind. The gem was much smaller
now. She could hold it in one hand, with her fingers folded around
it.

She stared at the gem, then she made her
decision. She brought her hand up, and held the gem over her heart,
next to her skin. A flare of light blossomed as she pressed the gem
to her skin. The gem eagerly melded with her.

The gem pulsed in time with Darcy’s heart.
She smiled. She walked over to the demon sword, and pulled it from
Mephistopheles withered corpse. She leaned it against one shoulder,
and began walking up the road to the top of the mine.

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

He waited. He was sitting in the driver’s
seat of a black, 1965 Lincoln Continental convertible, with suicide
doors. He was a big man, broad shoulders. He had what was left of a
cigar dangling from his lips. He had broad, brutal features, framed
by blond hair. He had dark stubble on his face. His arms were
thick, muscular, and hairy. He wore a Hawaiian shirt, chinos, and
docksider shoes. Chest hair curled out of the v of his shirt. Thick
fingers held a lighter up to the battered cigar, and he puffed as
he tried to get it to light again.