Death and the Lady

This was how Lily came to be in the City of Love, walking down a street and looking for a man she would rather make a swift end of rather and engage in conversation. She held Inoue lightly, ready to daw the blade at a moment’s notice. Oh, the irony.

At least she didn’t have to worry about the classes she was going to miss. One of the things she found out at the Domain was the existence of the Shadow Copies.

These were basically dolls, empty shells in which Death placed a tiny part of the Reaper’s soul. Just enough to power the Copy to do everyday things like go to class and talk to people. It tended to be a little robotic, but it sufficed for a short while.

The Copies were rarely used since Reapers usually operated outside time, meaning that they didn’t really miss work or class, but there were always exceptions to the rule. The Shadow Copies were usually only implemented during severe wars when Reapers from other jurisdictions had to be called in.

Lily walked along the street, musing over the irony of her situation. She was in Paris, the City of Love and she was looking for a man, but not for the traditional reasons. And she was alone, against both Helandel and Death’s express wishes. She was staying with Claire, but Claire had to attend classes and Lily could never sit still like a good little girl.

Lily paused when her phone chimed and she glanced down at the email. She had a job in Jamaica, right on the other side of the world. With a sigh she pocketed her phone and pulled out her Master Key. She strode into the alley nearest to her and walked up to the door that was halfway down its length.

Lily held the key level to her face, closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling it change under her fingers. A noise behind her made her turn around, but she’d already sensed who was behind her.

Haji grabbed her shoulders and pressed her roughly back against the door, pinning her down. Lily’s hands reflexively reached for Inoue’s handle, but froze when Haji pressed his lips against hers. Her hands went numb and her mind became a total blank. She was only aware of his scent in her nose, the taste of him on her lips and the strength of his big hands as they pressed on her shoulders. He moved closer and pinned her to the wall with his sheer size.

Even with his massive strength, his lips were surprisingly soft and tender, as though he was almost afraid of hurting her.

Lily felt his hands move down her arms in a soft caress, felt him easily flick Inoue and her Master Key out of her numb fingers. All Lily could think about was Haji’s mouth pressed on hers in a warm and tender kiss. By the time she realised what he was doing, it was already too late. He’d already disarmed her.

Lily started struggling against him, but his sheer bulk and weight made it impossible to push him away. Lily tried to break the kiss, but his arms wound around her and pressed her to his chest.

Haji reached up and cupped her face in his big hands, stopping her struggles in surprise. He pulled away just enough to look into her furious eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed against her lips and moved his hands.

Lily wasn’t sure what he did, even afterwards, but darkness enveloped her almost instantly. Haji grabbed her as she fell and easily lifted her into his arms, once again surprised at her size.

Lily was so tiny against him, but she was good at making herself seem bigger. Acting big. Almost like a tomcat fluffing out its tail. He smiled at the thought.

Haji carried Lily to the car that was waiting in the street. He got a few sidelong glances from the passers-by and a voice spoke to him as he was buckling her into the passenger’s seat.

The man asked a question in French and Haji glanced up. He was middle-aged and wearing a policeman’s uniform. He repeated his question and even to Haji’s broken ability with the language he knew that it was an inquiry into what he was doing. He also knew better than to answer the man in English. The French were really touchy when it came to English and he really couldn’t afford trouble right now. He wasn’t sure how long Lily would be out.

He straightened up and looked at the man. “Es tut mir leid, aber ich bin nicht sehr gut in Französisch,” he said in German.

The man gave him a sceptical look. “Etes-vous Allemand?”

Haji knew this one at least. ’Allemand’ meant German. He nodded. “Ja,” he said and the man looked thoughtful.

“Pouvez-vous parler anglais?” he said and Haji frowned. He didn’t know this one. “What are you doing with that young lady?” the man asked in heavily accented English.

“She’s my girlfriend and has fainted. I’m taking her to the nearest hospital right now,” he said and the man gave him another sceptical look.

“You don’t seem awfully hurried,” he commented.

“I’m a paramedic. You could say that I’m used to this.”

“What is her name?”

“Lilith Valleyscape. She’s an art student from Cambridge here to tour the art galleries and I’m here for the Paris lights.”

The man still looked wary, but then he waved a hand at Haji. “Alright, go on. I hope she’s okay.”

Haji smiled. “So do I,” he said sincerely and hurried around the car to get in.

He found it strange that the man hadn’t reacted to the sword he’s shoved through his belt. It may have been the same reason as to why he didn’t notice the gun he had strapped to the other hip. It seemed that Reaper weapons occupied the same blind spot as Cleric weapons.

Haji drove easily through the busy streets towards the house he stayed in. He’d been here for close to a month, wondering what to do next. He was living with his younger brother, who was studying at Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

Haji stopped outside the house and hurriedly carried Lily into the upstairs bedroom. There he laid her on the bed and went back downstairs, pulling out a piece of white chalk. On the banister, where his brother wouldn’t notice it, he scrawled the symbol for Binding and blessed it. It burned bright orange for a moment before fading into the grain of the white painted wood.

He stood back and ran a hand through his hair. Okay, now what?

He’d just reacted when he’d seen Lily in the street, passing by like just any other person. Now he’d actually kidnapped her. She was going to be so pissed when she woke up.

Lily opened her eyes and sat up, hand going to her head. It felt thick and slow, as though she’d taken a nap and wasn’t quite up to speed again. She tried to remember why she was here, but everything was a blur.

“You’re finally awake,” a voice from the other side of the room said. “I was starting to get worried.”

Lily looked blearily at the man seated on the chair and her head kicked into overdrive. She reflexively reached for Inoue, but hesitated when she realised that her sword wasn’t by her side.

“I had to take it from you,” Haji said as he got heavily to his feet, “I needed you to listen without trying to kill me.”

Lily flew off the bed and lunged towards him, but Haji was ready for this. He grabbed her arms and easily held her at bay. Lily fought him with a surprising amount of strength, but he was still stronger than her.

“Don’t fight me,” Haji said and Lily glared hotly at him.

“Why not? Let me go!”

“Not until you listen.”

Lily started struggling again. “I said, let me go.”

“Stay still, will you?”

“I will not stay still!”

Haji pulled her arms up harshly and thrust his face close to hers. “Stop acting tough,” he snarled.

Lily was shocked into immobility and stared at him with her eyes pulled wide. He felt her arms go slack and then, to his horror, she started crying. He let go of her arms and she fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands. It was the strangest transformation he’d ever seen and he could only stare down at her in horror, unsure of what to do.

Finally his brain kicked his body into gear and he hunched down in front of her and pulled her into his arms. He let her cry and held her tightly; doing the only thing he knew to do when he saw a woman crying. Her shoulders were shaking and her sobs weren’t gentle, but the real hard sobs of someone finally given release.

“It’s okay, you’re alright,” he murmured.

“I’m not!” Lily snarled through her tears. “I’m terrified!”

Haji froze for a second. “You don’t have to be, I won’t hurt you.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said through her tears. “You just stood and watched as my father tortured me.”

Haji wanted to shrink away from the reminder. “Then let me make up for the biggest mistake of my life.”

He rocked her and made soothing noises and he felt her wrap her arms around him. She clung to him as she cried herself out and then they just sat like that for a while. She held tightly to him, as though he was her anchor.

“Feeling better?” he asked and she nodded. “That’s good.”

They sat for a while longer in silence. Lily had her face pressed to his shoulder and listened to his pulse. Finally Haji spoke again.

“Can we move to the bed?” he asked and she jerked. “The thing is, my leg just fell asleep.”

That was it. Lily burst out laughing and fell over. Haji looked worriedly at her as she lay on her side and laughed a laugh that verged on hysterical. This amount of emotional release couldn’t be good for someone. He looked at her laughing face and his heart just melted. It was the first time he’d seen her without her mask on. She looked younger than he’d expected. He knew that she was twenty-three, but now she looked like a teenager.

He got to his feet and went over to the dresser, grabbed a box of tissues off it and handed it to her. Lily thanked him and blew her nose. It was not a ladylike blow, but it was completely Lily.

He held out a hand and pulled her to her feet. “Want something to eat?” he asked and Lily nodded.

Haji led the way out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. Lily looked around the house. The windows were large and airy; the furniture was old but not very worn.

“Where is this?” she asked and Haji glanced around.

“We’re still in Paris. It’s my brother’s house. His name is Jonathan, Nate for short.”

“You’ve got weird nicknames,” Lily commented and Haji chuckled.

“Tell me about it.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“I didn’t know that your father was a Cleric.”

He felt Lily freeze behind him and turned to see her staring at him with suspicion and a hint of fury.

“I’ve left the Order,” he said and heard her grunt. “Don’t believe me?”

“No, I don’t. You could just be keeping me here until my father comes by to kill me. I bet your brother is a Cleric too and that you’re conspiring on using me to get information on the other Reapers. Well, it’s not happening.”

Haji stared at her and then started laughing, this did not improve Lily’s mood. Her hand went for one of the kitchen knives and hesitated. She didn’t have to act like this anymore. She didn’t have to act anymore.

“Why are you laughing?” she asked as she stepped back.

“What kind of a fantasy world goes on inside your head. You make this sound like a Bond movie or something.”

“Well, isn’t that what you’re doing?” she asked and Haji ran both hands through his hair.

“I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not a Cleric anymore.”

“You still have your gun,” Lily pointed out and Haji’s hand went to it.

“Habit,” he admitted and took it off. “I’ve carried it since I was sixteen.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Tell me about it.”

Lily looked sceptically at him. “Assuming that I believe you,” she said as she scooted herself onto the counter, “why did you leave the Clerics?”

Haji switched on the kettle and pulled out two mugs, and then he slowly turned and leaned back against the counter. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at her. Lily was acutely aware of the bulge of his arms as he did and the way the white t-shirt spanned across his wide chest and shoulders. She could still feel the corded muscle if she thought about it. She looked away and kicked her one leg, trying not to be so acutely aware of him.

“Assuming that you’ll believe me, I left because someone made me see things differently.”

“Differently?” Lily asked, keeping her eyes adverted.

She heard him move, heard him walk closer to her and felt him stand in front of her. Slowly she raised her eyes and looked into his handsome face. His blue eyes were clear and his face set in an expression that Lily couldn’t place.

“Differently,” he said as he reached up to caress her cheek.

“Who made you change your mind?” Lily asked after an uncomfortable cough.

Then Haji kissed her for the second time. This time she kissed back. It felt good to kiss him. He yanked her closer and kissed her hard with a desire that both scared her and fuelled her own. He stood between her legs, hands at her back, pulling her shirt up so that he could touch the skin on her back. Her hands were in his hair, pulling him closer to her.

As suddenly as it started, Haji broke the kiss, gave her a look that clearly said ‘guess’ and then turned back to the coffee mugs. Lily tried to catch her breath and mentally cursed him for his composure. He was barely breathing hard.

“Do you take sugar and milk?” he asked as he waved the coffee towards her.

“Huh?” Lily said, pulling her mind back to the here and now, “oh, um, yes. Two sugars.”

Lily looked down at his hand as he handed her the cup and saw that it was shaking a little. She gave him a knowing look.

So you’re not as in control as you’d like to think, she thought.

“Hey, bro,” someone said as he walked into the kitchen, making Lily jump.

He was younger than Haji with lighter hair and the same blue eyes. He was built smaller and leaner than Haji, but there was a definite familial pull. He looked at Lily and took a theatrical skittering step back.

“Whoa, who’s the hot chick?” he asked and Lily glanced at Haji.

She saw Haji roll his eyes and lean back against the counter with his cup in his hand. He gave the younger man an exasperated look.

“How many times to I have to tell you to think before you talk? This is Lily.”

Nate looked Lily up and down. “The girl you told me about?” He leaned closer. “You didn’t tell me that she was this hot!”

“I said that she’s beautiful,” Haji said and Nate waved his hands as though he was despairing over poorly given information.

“Beautiful is such a generic term.”

Haji rolled his eyes again and smiled at Lily. “This is my kid brother, Nate. He’s not like me; he’s studying at the University.”

Lily caught the inflection and watched as Nate walked towards Haji and threw his arm around the bigger man’s shoulders. It was funny to Lily that the younger man actually had to stand on his toes to do this.

“You bet that I’m not like him. Being this stuck up and serious must have detrimental effects on your long-term health.”

Haji shook him off and punched him hard on the shoulder. “Go and do your homework.”

Nate hopped a few theatrical steps to the side and winked at Lily before turning back to his brother.

“Aye, sir,” he said with a salute and hurried out of the kitchen.

Lily laughed. “It must be nice to have a kid brother.”

Haji groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Lily realised that he did this a lot, especially when he was exasperated.

“Just be glad that you’re an only child.”

Lily laughed and he set his cup aside. He walked over to her and took her cup out of her hands and set it down beside her.

“Now, where were we?” he asked as he put his hands flat on either side of her and leaned forward.

Lily looked thoughtful. “I’m not too sure, whenever you get too close my head goes poof,” she said and waved her hands in demonstration.

Haji smiled and leaned a little nearer. “Like this?” he asked softly and Lily tried hard to stay serious.

“A little closer,” she said and Haji leaned in.

“Hey bro,” Nate said loudly as he breezed back into the kitchen.

Lily and Haji both jerked and bumped heads. Haji gave Nate a poisonous look and the younger man feigned innocence.

“Oh, you were busy?” he asked and Haji sighed.

“What do you want, Nate?” he growled.

“If you’re busy I can just leave.”

“We were just, um...” Lily spluttered as she pushed Haji away.

“I totally get it! You’ve got a hot guy and a hot girl in a small room together...”

“Get to the point, Nate.”

“I’m just saying. Laws of attraction, I totally get it.”

“Nate.”

Nate grinned. “I just wanted to tell you that I beat that girl in the test today.”

Haji gave him a sceptical look. “You interrupted us for that?” he growled and saw Lily blush bright red.

Nate nodded like a kid. “Yup,” he said and cocked his head thoughtfully to one side. “You know, come to think of it, you probably what to finish... whatever this is,” he added as he waved a finger at the two of them and saw Haji’s expression, “and now you probably want to kill me.”

“Go away, Nate.”

Nate gave a cocky wave. “Gone!” he said and hurried out of the kitchen. “Seriously, bro, if you want to get some, do it in your room!”

“Nate!” Haji roared as Lily covered her face with her hands.

They could hear him running up the stairs and laughing loudly. Lily shook her head and ran her hands over her face.

“Did that just happen?” she asked and Haji gave an exasperated laugh.

“You’ll have to excuse Nate. He’s a bit socially awkward. Looking at him, you wouldn’t guess that he’s top of his class at the university.”

Lily smiled. “You sound proud.”

“Yeah well, I raised the kid.”

Lily slid off the counter and looked up at Haji. “You raised him?”

Haji turned away from her. “Yeah.”

“What happened to your parents?” she asked and he leaned heavily on the counter.

“My mom died when Nate was born and my dad died a week after I joined the Order. He was ten at the time and I’d just turned sixteen.” He shook his head. “That’s why I didn’t let him even know about the Order. I wanted him to have a normal life.”

“He really doesn’t know about anything? The Clerics or the Reapers?”

Haji shook his head. “He’s just a happy-go-lucky kid in love for the first time and annoying the hell out of me.”

“In love?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, this girl in his class that keeps competing with him. I don’t know, really. I haven’t really been in a position to listen much.”

Lily walked forward and put her arms around him from behind and pressed her cheek against his back. He put a hand over hers and looked at her over his shoulder, stunned by the tenderness in her touch.

“He’s a good kid,” she said softly and he turned in her arms.

“Really?” he asked and she could hear the worry in his voice.

She smiled. “A little crazy, though.”