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| Lillith: Omen 2.5 Damien found Neff and Buher in the study, pouring over his itinerary for the trip. Neither of them approved of the trip, even with the official story that Damien was taking a brief vacation between graduation and taking over Thorn. �I know what I�m doing, gentlemen.� He chuckled at their startled reaction. �I fail to see the problem with a young man visiting his birthplace.� �San Benedetto. That�s the problem.� Neff somehow managed to scowl respectfully. �We�ve had reports that Spilleto is dead, but �� �But he managed to communicate with your � with Ambassador Thorn. There may be others who know.� Buher said. Damien admitted to the possibility, as he had before, and then returned to his room. He was going. ******************************************* The Cimitero di Sant� Angelo was pretty much as Damien expected. Secluded, abandoned, and somehow ominous even on a sunny afternoon. The statue of the Etruscan devil-god glared at Damien and he amused himself by glaring back momentarily. He went directly to the grave. The name on the stone was Maria � surely that had been deliberate. The irony was perfect. For the first few days of his �vacation�, he�d played the role expected by the press to satisfy Buher�s concerns. In the process, he�d managed to satisfy his own lust with Italy�s debutants. Several times. Neff had warned him not to underestimate Buher�s concerns. It was easy enough to say only a fool would believe the truth, but certainly both Damien�s earthly fathers had believed. Neither of them had been fools. Foolish, to have fought the inevitable, but not fools. A flash and the distinctive whine of a self-winding camera distracted him. The press had followed him here and he scrambled for an explanation. But it was a single young woman, picking her way between the crumbled headstones. �I hope you don�t mind. I just couldn�t believe another human being was in this place.� �It is rather forbidding.� She introduced herself as Lillith, turning to the grave before them. �Some of your family?� Damien wondered for a moment how she�d react to the truth, then lied easily. She nodded in recognition when he introduced himself. �I thought you looked familiar. Why is the Thorn heir hanging out in a creepy old cemetery?� He just shrugged. �I have a picnic lunch in my car. Care to join me?� He accepted, thinking that maybe he�d get more than lunch. She was very attractive and he was, for most intents and purposes, only human. ************************************** Damien woke at dawn, alone in Lillith�s rented villa. He found her working in a small study. She glanced up as he joined her. �Writing a textbook?� �It�s my doctoral thesis. A psychological study of the Bugenhagens. They �� �I know who they were.� There was a dangerous undercurrent to Damien�s voice. �Our meeting was no accident.� �Yes, it was.� She leaned back in her chair, eyeing him hungrily. �But you can�t blame a girl for seizing the opportunity, can you?� Damien pulled a photograph from the file he�d been leafing through, questioning her with his beautiful blue eyes. It was a Ken doll, apparently impaled on seven of those plastic sword-shaped toothpicks. �Oh, that�s how you kill the Antichrist.� Lillith didn�t notice his reaction as she leaned across to explain. �The first one, in the center, kills him physically. Then the others have form a cross. And it has to be done on holy ground.� �With toothpicks?� They both laughed. Lillith handed him a second folder. �With these.� ************************************ Damien was at his desk at Thorn. Neff sat in one of the leather chairs and Buher leaned against the bar. �The world is full of people either completely ignorant of coming events. Lillith is one of them.� �The last thing I�d accuse that woman of is ignorance, Damien.� Buher helped himself to a scotch and soda. �We were sent to protect you, even from yourself if needed.� �There are times when I think you were sent to annoy me.� Damien observed dryly. �She has information we can use. Would you recognize the Daggers of Megiddo if I drove one into your forehead? I have a vague memory of my father wielding one against me, yet I knew nothing of them until Lillith �� �They were destroyed with your uncle.� Neff finally spoke. �There was no �� Suddenly Damien had Neff by the throat, pinning him in the chair. Buher watched idly from the bar. �I am no longer an adolescent, Sergeant Neff, and I will decide what I need.� He released Neff and returned to his desk. �Now. What�s happening at Thorn?� ************************************* Lillith was out, but Neff picked the lock easily. After the confrontation in Damien�s office, he had taken the Thorn jet to Rome. This Lillith seemed to be an ally, but if Satan could appear as an angel, logic dictated the opposite could be true. He had been there over an hour, burning her research, when Lillith kicked the door shut behind her. He had been taken by surprise! When was the last time that had happened? Neff reacted instantly, pulling a pistol from nowhere and firing. Lillith flew back, sliding limply down the door while blood spread at her feet. Using the doorknob for leverage, she pulled herself to her feet. Still bleeding, she charged him. They crashed through the window and plummeted toward the riverbank below. Neff�s skull shattered when it struck the rocks. Lillith crawled agonizingly up the steep hillside, nearly making it halfway before death claimed her. |
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