The Adventures of Lazarus Gray (16 page)

Achmed raised his dagger
high and brought it down with incredible suddenness, piercing
Lorraine’s heart and silencing her screams of terror. Blood sprayed
into the air, splattering wetly on the Egyptian’s face. He looked
mad as he began tearing and rending at the poor girl’s chest, not
stopping until he’d carved out her heart. He raised the still
beating organ into the air over Femi’s cloth-covered body. He
squeezed, reducing the heart to a bloody pulp, bits of which fell
all over Femi’s body.

Morgan felt his stomach
lurch and anger blazed inside his chest. He’d seen murder before
but rarely had it been done so callously and in such a cowardly
fashion.

As the blood soaked through
the rags and into Femi’s dried skin, a startling transformation
began to occur. Her breasts became fuller, her hair took on a
lustrous quality and her skin returned to the pallor and shape of
life. She sat up, tearing the bandages from her eyes and as she
looked about her, the expression on her face was one of mixed
emotions. She seemed elated and yet horrified, as if she was all
too aware of how unholy her existence now was. She looked straight
at Morgan and opened her full lips. "God is dead!" she hissed and
the words carried with them such malice that Morgan winced. This
was a woman who despised the religion that had surrounded her in
life and which had trapped her for eternity in this horrid
state.

"Princess! You have
returned to us!" Achmed squealed. She turned quickly, regarding him
with suspicion. When she answered him, it was in an ancient dialect
that Morgan couldn’t understand. He watched as Achmed and Femi
conversed for several seconds and his blood froze as Femi slid from
the altar, taking several steps toward him. Achmed switched back to
English so Morgan could know what was about to happen. "Femi lives
and breathes but she still retains the dark hungers that have been
set upon her. She requires nourishment, Mr. Watts. And you, sir,
are going to be her celebratory meal!"

Morgan recoiled in horror
as Femi opened her mouth to reveal a mouth full of sharp teeth. The
resurrected Egyptian princess lunged for him, wrapping her arms
around his torso. Her tongue slithered like a snake across his
throat and Morgan realized that he was about to die.

***

Miya Shimada was a
Japanese-American and her beauty was the perfect mixture of the two
races that made up her ethnic background: the slim features of the
Japanese melded with the hips and breasts of a Western woman. Her
jet-black hair fell in straight lines around her perfectly sculpted
face and she wore a form-fitting black skirt and blouse, along with
a small hat and veil. She looked like someone headed to a funeral
but the cruel smile on her ruby red lips also made her look like
the proverbial black widow, seeking fresh prey.

She stood in front of the
shuttered windows of Benson Drugs, a pharmacy that had closed down
in the days immediately following the great Stock Market Crash of
’29. Now, the entire block was empty, save for the old hotel
building across the street. It was now used as the headquarters of
Assistance Unlimited, housing Lazarus Gray and his
aides.

Miya stepped back into the
shadows as Lazarus emerged from the building, followed closely by
Samantha and Eun. The three of them moved with grim determination
and Miya wondered what mission they were on. She found so much
about Lazarus Gray fascinating and she yearned to know why he was
doing these things.

Once, in another life, she
and the man who now called himself Gray had been lovers. But that
had been before he’d woken up here in Sovereign City, his past
nothing more than tattered images and sounds.

Samantha slid quickly into
the backseat of Gray’s waiting car, while Eun took the passenger
seat in the front. Gray was about to duck behind the wheel when
Miya stepped into view. "Lazarus Gray?" she asked, raising her
voice loud enough that he couldn’t miss hearing her.

Lazarus paused and his mask
of stoicism slipped. For a brief second, he looked like a confused
and somewhat lost man. And then his resolve returned and he was
once more the composed figure that had become so feared throughout
the underworld. He turned his head to regard her, his heart
hammering in his chest. Something about her voice was painfully
familiar and he suddenly longed to feel her touch on his bare
chest. "Yes?’ he asked, valiantly maintaining his
composure.

"It is you, isn’t it?" Miya
moved toward him, lifting the veil from her face. As soon as he saw
her face, Lazarus gasped. Images flooded into his mind’s eye, of
her nude in his bed, of the two of them arguing horribly. He heard
the word ‘monster’ very clearly but he couldn’t be sure which of
them had said it. "Do you remember me?" she asked, watching his
reaction very closely.

Gray glanced back into his
car, where both Eun and Samantha were waiting. He shut the door and
gave a brief nod. "I think so, yes. But things aren’t as clear as
they should be. Can you tell me your name?"

Miya ran to him, wrapping
her arms about his neck and hugging him so tightly that Lazarus
thought he might choke. "I’ve missed you so much! I don’t care
what’s happened to you, we’re together again!"

Gray peeled her off of him
and held her at arm’s length, seeing the tears in her eyes. "Your
name. Please."

"Miya." She reached out and
touched his face. "You have no idea how long I’ve searched for you.
Why aren’t you using your real name?"

A muscle twitched in Gray’s
left cheek, a sign of his anticipation. "Miya," he said slowly,
"can you tell me what my name is?"

"Of course I can! I can
tell you everything."

"Chief?" Samantha was
leaning her head out of the car window, her gaze flicking back and
forth from Lazarus and this stranger woman. "Morgan needs
us."

"Don’t go," Miya pleaded.
"Stay with me and I’ll answer all your questions."

Though it only took the
briefest of seconds, Samantha saw how much effort Lazarus had to
exert to step away from Miya. "I can’t. I have responsibilities.
Where can I reach you?"

Miya let her veil fall back
over her eyes. "I’ll be in touch, my love. Hurry back."

Lazarus turned without
saying farewell. He ignored the pointed stares of his aides,
driving off as quickly as possible.

As Gray’s vehicle rounded
the corner, Miya’s emotional display came to an abrupt end. She
adopted a cruel smile and quickly walked toward an alleyway that
led to an adjoining street. Her partner in this affair, Walther
Lunt, was waiting for her in a parked car. He had told her that
Gray wouldn’t fall for this, that he wouldn’t come with her into so
obvious a trap. Miya had disagreed, thinking that whatever
lingering feelings Lazarus might possess for her – coupled with his
desire to know the truth about himself – would propel him into her
arms.

Next time, she mused, she
would know better. Lazarus Gray was deeply entrenched in Sovereign
City, with men and women he considered to be family. That would
make her task a bit more difficult but not impossible.

Lazarus Gray would be hers
again, one way or another.

***

"Chief? Who was that
woman?" Eun broached the subject that Samantha couldn’t bring
herself to. The three of them had sat in silence for nearly five
minutes, as Gray had skillfully navigated the crowded Sovereign
streets. A slight drizzle was falling, making the pavement slick
and deadly, especially at the speeds that Gray was approaching. But
neither Eun nor Samantha was worried: they knew their employer was
as skilled a driver as anyone in the world.

"A woman from my past.
That’s virtually all I can tell you. I recognized her immediately
but the images that passed through my head weren’t clear at
all."

From the backseat,
Samantha’s voice sounded distant. "Was she your lover?"

"I believe so. But I’m not
certain we were together when the end came."

Both Samantha and Eun knew
what he meant. Something had left him unconscious on the shores of
Sovereign, battered to the point of amnesia. He’d had only one
thing in his possession that offered any clue as to who he was: a
medallion upon which the image of a man with a lion’s head was
engraved with the words Lazarus Gray beside it. He’d adopted the
name as his own in the hopes that it would lure into the open
anyone who might know him. This was a dangerous gambit, since the
first person he met after arriving in Sovereign City tried to kill
him. So far, Lazarus had crossed paths with two people who knew him
from before: a German named Walther Lunt, who had somehow managed
to cheat death, and now this Miya woman.

Sensing that his employer
was slipping into a brooding state, Eun switched topics. "Where are
we going, Chief?"

"To the area of the pier
where the storage areas are housed."

"You think that’s where
Morgan is?" Samantha asked, leaning forward so that her head
appeared in-between Eun and Lazarus.

"I know it is. After the
affair with The Devil’s Bible, I asked all of you to drink a
mixture of my creation."

"I remember," Samantha
said, recalling the icy pink concoction that tasted a bit like
chalk mixed with toothpaste. Lazarus hadn’t explained his reasons
for asking them to ingest the solution but that wasn’t uncommon.
Lazarus usually played his cards close to the vest and his aides
trusted him implicitly, though there were certainly times when his
secretive nature ate away at them.

"There were certain
radioactive isotopes in there that have attached themselves to the
lining of your intestines. I’m able to track it with a specialized
device of my own design."

"So you know where we are
at all times?" Eun asked.

"For precautionary
measures, yes."

Lazarus swung his vehicle
to the right, steering them toward the docks. In addition to the
honest men and women who made their living in Sovereign City’s
harbor area, the place was also home to many unsavory types. These
criminals ducked out of sight as Gray passed, recognizing one of
the city’s few crusaders for justice.

The car came to a stop in
front of a set of storage units set into the side of a small hill.
It was mostly beneath the main harbor area and was swathed in
darkness. Rats, both human and animal, scurried away into the
shadows. The three members of Assistance Unlimited were out of the
vehicle in a flash. Lazarus held a Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector
II in his right hand. The revolver was chambered with .45 caliber
rounds and was his weapon of choice. Samantha held a smaller
handgun, one that she normally carried strapped to her garter. Eun
carried no weapon, preferring to use his hands and feet. Around his
neck, he wore the seven-pointed star pendant.

Gray held his gun in front
of him, slowly approaching one of the storage units. The heavy door
was open, revealing a little of the stone floor within. There was
flickering light that could be seen and Gray knew that it was from
a mounted torch. He had been in similar places before, in his old
lifetime. Places where men in robes conducted dark rituals, usually
involving the defiling of virginal female flesh.

The three of them moved
cautiously inside. Samantha gasped, being the first to spot
Lorraine’s bloodied body, still strapped to one of the two altars
erected in the center of the room.

Gray’s attention was fixed
on the still form of Morgan Watts, who remained chained to the
wall. "Samantha, please check on Mrs. Mitchell. Eun, remain in the
door and make sure no one is watching us."

Gray lowered his weapon,
moving quickly to stand beside Morgan. He felt for a pulse and
found one, faint but steady. He lifted Morgan’s head and noticed
that his friend’s throat was a bloody mess. It looked like a dog
had attacked him, ripping away the skin until red meat was exposed.
Gray peered through the blood and saw that while it was quite
horrific, it shouldn’t prove fatal and a full recovery was
possible.

"How is he?" Samantha
asked, standing just behind Gray.

"He’ll live. Mrs.
Mitchell?"

"She’s dead. Her heart’s
been cut out."

Lazarus turned slightly,
seeing how pale Samantha’s face was. "Do you need to step
outside?"

Samantha visibly composed
herself. "Of course not. I’m just worried about Morgan, that’s
all."

Gray nodded, returning his
attentions to Morgan. "Eun!" he said, raising his voice.

"Yes, Chief?"

"Start the car. We need to
get Morgan to a hospital." Gray examined the cuffs that held
Morgan’s hands and he reached into the pockets of his coat to
retrieve a set of lock picks. After only a moment of work, the
cuffs snapped opened and Morgan sagged into his employer’s
arms.

To Gray’s astonishment,
Morgan began mumbling something. Given how much blood he had lost,
Morgan was displaying incredible strength of will. Gray pressed his
ear close to Morgan’s mouth. "Tell me again," he
whispered.

Morgan’s words were so soft
that Gray had to strain to hear them. "The Sovereign Museum. That’s
where she’s leading them."