Free The Adventures of Lazarus Gray by Barry Reese Page B

The man’s name was Harry
Nance. The manager of Sovereign Office Supply knew him because
Nance’s girlfriend worked at the diner next door."
    "And now we’re gonna see if
we can get him to talk?"
    "I’m afraid it won’t be
that easy." Gray reached into one of his pants pockets and pulled
out the morning paper, which was rolled up. "I grabbed this on the
way out of the office. Notice anything on the front
page?"
    Morgan slowed to a stop,
grateful to have the opportunity to catch his breath. He saw only a
few items of interest: The Monster, one of the leaders in the
Sovereign underworld scene, was still Public Enemy Number One
according to the police chief and an unidentified man was found
hacked to death in the early hours of the morning. "I don’t get
it," he admitted at last.
    "I’m fairly certain that
the dead man is Harry Nance." Morgan looked at his employer
expectantly and Gray continued, "The murder took place down the
block from a mail box. The postal stamp on the envelope shows that
it was picked up at mail box # 5, which coincides with that street.
I reason that he was murdered immediately after placing the
envelope in the mail chute."
    The two men resumed their
trek upstairs, not taking much interest in the dingy surroundings.
Harry had lived in one of the more squalid areas of town and the
building stank of mildew and rat droppings. It was a far cry from
the relative opulence of the Assistance Unlimited headquarters and
reminded Morgan that it wasn’t so long ago that he was much like
Harry Nance: a man down on his luck with no obvious prospects. A
chance encounter with Lazarus Gray had caused him to reevaluate his
position in life and he’d soon traded a life of crime for one of
decency and hard work.
    Gray stopped outside Harry
Nance’s apartment, a strange look on his face. He held up a hand,
indicating that he wanted silence from Morgan. He pointed to the
dusty floor, where nearly a dozen footprints could be seen. One
set, the most recent from the looks of them, belonged to a woman in
heels.
    Lazarus knelt in front of
the keyhole and placed his eye up close. At first all he could see
was a room in ruins, with papers and cushions overturned. But then
he saw a red pool on the floor, along with the legs belonging to
Doris. He stood up quickly and took a step back. He then threw his
shoulder against the door, which popped open with a crash. Morgan
had drawn his pistol as soon as he’d sensed Gray’s intentions and
he followed his employer into the apartment, scanning for any signs
of threat. He was the first to lay eyes upon Sazar. The demon was
stepping toward him from his left, her arms outstretched. Her nude
body immediately caught his gaze and held it but his eyes
inevitably traveled up and his breath seized in his
chest.
    "Chief? We’ve got trouble,"
Morgan wheezed.
    Gray, who had been moving
to check on Doris, whirled about. His eyes widened at the sight
before him and he immediately sprang into action. Sazar was hissing
like a cat, one that was hungry for blood. Gray slammed into her,
the impact crashing them both into the wall, shattering the
plaster. Sazar craned her neck, trying to bury her fangs in his
throat but he was able to hold her at bay with his mighty
strength.
    Morgan raised his gun but
was too afraid of hitting Gray to pull the trigger. He moved
closer, ready to take any opening that presented itself.
    Sazar strained against
Gray, her arms wrapping tightly around his torso. She squeezed with
inhuman strength and even Gray, whose tolerance for pain bordered
on the uncanny, was forced to grunt. "Let me taste you," she
whispered. "It will only hurt for the first moment or two. And then
you will shiver in pleasure. You will beg me to
continue."
    "I doubt that," Gray
retorted, gritting his teeth as his ribs began to grind together.
He brought his head back and then slammed his forehead into her
face. Blood spurted from her nose and she howled in pain, clutching
all the tighter. Gray was