The Adventures of Lazarus Gray (31 page)

After a moment’s
consideration, Lazarus nodded and resumed walking through the
debris. Samantha followed right behind him, primly watching her
step on the treacherous terrain.

The various officers in
charge of the investigation were watching Gray with a mixture of
hopefulness and disdain. Though most of the police force was in the
back pockets of gangsters like The Monster or Big Tony, some of
them were legitimate enough to appreciate the assistance that Gray
provided. But they still felt some jealousy when the man stepped
onto the scene and found something that they’d missed.

Gray brushed aside some
charred pieces of wood with the toe of his shoe. He spotted
something amidst the ash and knelt to take a closer examination of
the object, lifting it up between two fingers. He blew on it to
clear off some of the dirt and held it up for Samantha to see.
"What do you think this is?"

Samantha bent at the waist,
placing her hands on her knees. She was aware of – but tried to
ignore – the stares of the cops nearby. She knew she was attractive
but there were so few men who were her intellectual equal that she
found it hard to enjoy all the attention. The object that Gray was
holding appeared to be shaped out of stone and resembled a crescent
moon, though there were three deep scratches across its center, as
if a cat had marked it with its claws. "I’ve never seen anything
like it. What kind of rock is that?"

"Not one from this world,"
Gray answered. He stood up and dropped it into the pocket of his
coat. "I’ve seen stones like that before. It’s from the
moon."

Samantha’s gaze drifted
upward, toward the hazy morning sky. "But… how?"

"Sometimes they’re brought
to earth on the backs of meteors. But I’d wager that this one came
the old fashioned way: I think someone went to the moon and picked
it up."

"That’s impossible,"
Samantha responded.

"Not really. Think about
all the bizarre things we’ve seen in the course of our adventures.
Is it really so shocking that men might be traveling back and forth
to the moon?"

"Yes," Samantha said with a
smile. "It’s still pretty damned shocking."

"Such language from a young
lady. It’s disgraceful."

Samantha straightened and
looked over at Inspector Cord of the Sovereign PD. He was a
whippet-thin man who had one eye that seemed to be perpetually
narrowed.

"Sorry if I offended you,
Inspector."

"I’ll recover but thank
you." Cord gestured toward Lazarus. "Did I see you pick something
up and put it in your pocket? I sincerely hope not, since you don’t
have leave to remove evidence from a crime scene."

"Is that what this is?"
Samantha asked sweetly. "A crime scene? I thought it was just a
freak accident."

Cord grimaced. "Well, yes,
of course it is… Still, seems a bit ghoulish to have you lot coming
in here and removing souvenirs’."

While Samantha and
Inspector Cord were exchanging words, Lazarus had moved away. He
knew that Samantha would keep the man occupied long enough to allow
him to finish his business. The reference to ‘The God of Hate’ in
that letter, coupled with the presence of a moonstone, was sparking
his memory again. He wanted to check with Eun to see what the young
man had come up with, but he was beyond positive that all of this
was related to something quite evil. Lazarus was sure that during
his previous existence, he’d never crossed paths with The God of
Hate but he’d heard of him and the stories had been quite
terrifying.

It was at that moment when
Lazarus spotted one last clue: it was a sheet of paper, the sort
used by schoolchildren the world over. Someone had drawn a crude
image of a monster on it and Gray felt a chill go down his spine as
he lifted the paper from the ground. Evidently, a child had been
awake at the time of the stranger’s visit and had drawn this image
of him while looking out his window. Gray saw a human figure
staring back at him but the face was filled with razor sharp teeth
and elongated ears. The monster’s hands looked like each finger was
topped by claws.

"I see you," he whispered
aloud, as if the figure on the page could hear him. "I see
you."

***

Eun Jiwon turned the
yellowed pages of the manuscript, his mouth feeling increasingly
dry. It hadn’t taken long to find references to The God of Hate in
the library but the things that he’d uncovered had boggled the
mind. The God of Hate, also known as The Claw and by half a dozen
other terrifying identities, was practically a demonic force unto
himself.

According to the dozens of
sources he’d found, The Claw was an inhuman figure that had lurked
along the outskirts of humanity for centuries. There were
unconfirmed stories that he’d once been a human who had either
bargained away his soul for power or a scientist whose pursuit of
dark answers had led him astray. But most of the tales simply said
he was a monster who had emerged full-force into an unsuspecting
world.

Eun paused at a charcoal
depiction of The Claw and he wondered how accurate it truly was.
Surely, he mused, this was an exaggeration of the figure’s actual
appearance. With the oversized teeth and claws, along with the
elongated ears, it looked like a distant cousin to Max Schreck’s
Nosferatu.

The young man was so lost
in thought that he failed to hear the soft footsteps behind him. It
wasn’t until a cold, dry hand closed around his mouth and another
grabbed his arms that he realized he was no longer alone. Being a
man of action, Eun struck back quickly, driving an elbow back into
the midsection of the person who had grabbed him but he cried out
in shock. It felt like he’d struck a brick wall and from the pain
in his elbow, Eun wondered if he’d broken it.

"Shh," a slightly
high-pitched voice whispered into Eun’s ear. The man’s voice was as
cold as the grave and Eun involuntarily shivered. "I won’t harm
you, Eun Jiwon. Not now. My war lies not with you but with the man
you serve. If I release my grip upon you, will you listen to what I
have to say?"

Eun nodded, forcing himself
to relax. When he felt the hands leave him, he spun about quickly,
his eyes widening. Standing there before him was the living proof
that the charcoal artist had been right: The Claw was just as
hideous as the book had promised.

The Claw smiled coolly and
his sharp teeth glistened wetly. "Your master is off in search of
me? He got the letter I sent?"

Eun tried to keep the
horror from his voice but he failed to do so, which shamed him.
"Yes. He’s going to stop you before you kill again."

"He will try," The Claw
agreed. "But as you can see, the impressive defenses he has put
around his home failed to stop my entrance. I have no doubt that in
personal combat, I would be able to best him." The God of Hate
stepped closer and the foul odor that came from him caused Eun to
back away, until his rear bumped against the table covered by
books. "I wish to be done with this business between us. Tell him
that. Tell him that I will hold his lover in my grasp until he
comes for her. He should come alone and unarmed. Then we will see
which of us is the deadlier. You will tell him this?"

Eun nodded, wondering at
the creature’s words. Gray’s lover? Who was he referring to? He’d
bet his last dollar that Lazarus and Samantha weren’t carrying on a
secret affair and the girl from Gray’s past – Miya Shimada – had
fled Sovereign. Nevertheless, Eun knew what he needed to do. "I
will make it clear to him that you mean business."

The Claw laughed. "Good.
Then I will let you live, so that you might pass on this message. I
have shown him my cruelty and now I show him how easily I could
take away what means most to him."

Eun watched as The Claw
spun about and exited the room. After waiting a few seconds, Eun
bolted after him, hoping to see how the villain had pierced the
base’s defenses. But all he saw in the hallway was a still and
quiet emptiness.

Chapter III

Loves Lost
Forever

Samantha had developed the
bad habit of chewing her nails. She wasn’t sure when it had begun
but she’d first noticed it during Morgan’s last stint in the
hospital. She was engaging in the habit now as she sat in the
passenger seat of a black sedan, parked across the street from The
Sovereign Museum of Natural History. If Eun, who was seated beside
her, noticed her actions, he didn’t comment upon them. In fact,
they’d been sitting in total silence since Lazarus had left them,
wandering alone into the museum.

The Sovereign Museum of
Natural History was a sprawling structure standing in the heart of
downtown. Comprised of twelve interconnected buildings, the Museum
housed well over a million specimens, only a relative few of which
were on active display. With a scientific staff of over a hundred,
the Museum funded nearly four-dozen scientific expeditions each
year, sending explorers out all over the globe. The Museum was
divided up into numerous displays but the most popular was the
ever-present Start of Sovereign Hall, where the origins of the city
were examined. To access this, visitors had to stride through the
huge entranceway, where they could stare up at a full-size model of
a Blue Whale which hung from the ceiling. It was an awesome view
and one that Samantha had enjoyed on many visits. But at the moment
she couldn’t bring herself to think about anything but Lazarus and
his secrets.

"I can’t believe he’s never
mentioned this," she said at last, tearing a thin piece of nail off
with her teeth.

"Why would he? It was
before he’d met most of us. It’s not like we share all the details
of our personal lives with each other."

Samantha glanced over at
Eun, a look of disbelief on her face. "What are you talking about?
Every time one of us goes out on a date, everybody knows it. I
guarantee you that Morgan knows all the men I’ve ever so much as
held hands with."

"Yes, but that’s because
Morgan is romantically interested in you. I don’t parade my
romantic entanglements for all to see."

Samantha paused, realizing
that Eun was right about that. Early on, he’d made a few
perfunctory passes at her but even then she’d thought his heart
hadn’t been in it. And since then… she’d never seen him with any
girl at all. Apparently, he was more private than she’d realized.
"Okay," she finally admitted. "But if Lazarus had been sleeping
with the daughter of the Museum’s curator, I think we’d have heard
some mention of it."

Eun sighed, knowing that
Samantha carried a torch for Lazarus Gray nearly the size of the
one borne aloft by the Statue of Liberty. But she also had feelings
for Morgan, which led to all kinds of stress within Assistance
Unlimited. Gray seemed unaware of Samantha’s desires, which only
made things tenser.

Only Eun stayed out of the
group’s romantic entanglements, preferring to keep his
homosexuality quiet. "Lazarus says that he had a brief fling with
her a few months after coming to Sovereign. It didn’t last,
partially because his amnesia put a wall between them. That’s all
we need to know."

Samantha pursed her pretty
lips. "You said that The Claw called her his lover.
Present-tense."

"I don’t think they’re
still together." Eun’s tone became a bit harsher now, as his temper
gave way. "And what difference does it make anyway? He has the
right to live his own life. All of us do!"

Samantha blinked in
surprise, realizing she’d hit some sort of nerve. "Sorry, Eun. I
didn’t mean anything, really. I was just jealous, that’s
all."

Eun looked out the window
and took a deep breath. "No. I’m the one who needs to apologize.
It’s just… I’ve been keeping a relationship from the rest of you,
too."

Samantha relaxed, feeling
more at ease now. She reached out and patted Eun on the shoulder.
"That’s wonderful, Eun. When can I meet her?"

"Him."

"What?"

Eun turned his head
slightly, so that he could see her face. "Him. Not her."

Samantha’s mouth parted in
surprise. "Oh." A second later, she recovered her usual sense of
decorum. "Well, then. Him. When I do get to meet him?"

A faint smile played across
Eun’s lips. "You don’t mind, do you?"

"Did you think that I
would?"

"Not really. It’s just hard
to share sometimes. You understand?"

Samantha paused and then
nodded slowly. She knew what Eun was really saying: that there were
things everyone kept hidden. Maybe this was one of those sorts of
things for Lazarus.

***

Though Samantha had thought
of Kelly Emerson as merely "the curator’s daughter," she was in
fact much more. A graduate of Sovereign University, Kelly held
doctorates in archaeology and anthropology. Standing nearly six
feet tall and possessed of flowing red hair, she looked like a
modern Amazon, with enough curves to unsettle even the most ardent
of playboys. Her glittering green eyes and full lips had warmed
Gray’s heart when he’d first met her and their love affair was
still recent enough that both of them found it slightly
uncomfortable to be in the same room.