Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) Read online

  "Nothing about Shifters? Good. We don't need the grief." Then she closed with him, and gave him a hug, settling in very close. Snuggling sleepily.

  Which promptly got him to have an erection. He didn't mention it or let himself shift uneasily. It was kind of clear that she was just the kind of person that needed contact, and it was part of why he was there, to her mind. After about three minutes of cozy cuddles, she popped up, stretched with her hands over her head, and twisted a bit.

  "Coffee! Do you want some?"

  "Sure?"

  She was already in the other room, running water, so he couldn't tell what she said next. Not even after turning the television off.

  It came again a few seconds later, without him saying what, like a freak.

  "What's on tap for the day?"

  "Oh. Um, I don't know. Technically I have the day off. I have that list though, for Anne. A lot of the stuff is gibberish to me. Only four things though, I just don't know where to start on it. I don't even know why she asked me to do it, really. That kind of doesn't make any sense, does it?" Now that he took a half moment to consider the idea, it really didn't.

  She'd said that it had to do with Zack and being near him, so maybe he was supposed to ask there.

  Calley mumbled something, and didn't speak for a really long time. When she came back in she had a few apples on a plate, sliced up, and four slices of buttered toast, which was clearly for her.

  Between bites, she made a face.

  "Well, and this is just me, but since you aren't really beholden to any particular group in any sort of official capacity, I think you should just go from embassy to embassy and ask about it. People may not help you, being new, but no one will kill you for it, either. Even if it doesn't work, there are worse things to try and do than make new friends."

  The coffee was set on the low table in front of the sofa, so he sat there and drank his, black, while she made crumbs happen. His food was far tidier. Still, it was her place, and they could clean.

  After a while she took a deep breath and stood.

  "Now, I need to get going, or Catherine will have my ass. One of us has to take the morning shift, and you can't ask a Cat to do that in the main. Not that they're always lazy, but they do sleep a lot. Naps and all that. That means a shower." She started stripping her baggy shirt off before she was all the way back to her own space, showing that her back was lean and muscular, considering how slight she really was.

  That pretty much had to be on purpose, doing that. Unless it was a Shifter thing, not caring about being nude in public. In that case it was important to not read into things too much. One misplaced pass and he could find himself riding the curb pretty quick. That might not be true, but he couldn't swear it wasn't the case either.

  That meant care was a great freaking idea.

  He finished eating, and then cleaned up the dishes and cups, washing them all in the sink. There was a dishwasher, but he'd actually never used one before, so didn't now, just washing the things, then leaving them in the sink. He did clean up the table in the living room and the sofa, where toast bits had managed to migrate.

  Then, not knowing what else he should even consider, he headed off for the mall. Calley had a good plan, after all. Still, Tyler Gartner wasn't exactly a social butterfly, so it was a bit awkward for him to really do it. He took the list though, and his writing pad, as well as a pen. Then, starting at the power lifting gym on the bottom level, he walked in, and tried not to seem like an a-hole.

  The girl at the desk looked at him like he might be about to attack, but when he got a bit closer she sniffed the air, looked slightly puzzled for a half moment, and then smile at him.

  "Good morning! Have you come to exercise here?" She looked at him, a close and detailed inspection. It was clear that she didn't think that was very likely.

  "Um, no? Not yet, though Lars suggested it. I need to get paid first, you know?"

  "Ah! Very good. Do you need our help then?" She paused and then went slightly wide eyed. "Agh. I'm Hilde. I work the desk here and do training." She smiled again, her heavy featured face seeming pleasant, for all that it was a bit manly.

  "I'm Tyler Gartner. I... Really, I don't know how to explain what I'm doing. I have a list of things that a Greater Demon wants to buy, I guess I'm supposed to try and find shops, or people, that might be selling them?" He held the list out, not even knowing if the woman, who was larger than he was in almost every way, even seated, could read English. Then, it wasn't all in that language, as far as he could tell.

  A large finger pointed at the third item down, and she took a bic pen from the desk and wrote next to the thing.

  "This. A Revenant Conluset. I know that one. It's a type of horn. Like from an animal? You can't get them near here, but they have them in the Forest Dawn marketplace, if I heard correctly. How to get there, or who there will have one, I cannot say."

  He let his own face light up. It was more than he had known.

  "Thanks! That's really helpful. Do any of the others look familiar?"

  There was a slightly sad head shake then. One that felt weary.

  "I do not. That does not mean that no one else here will know. I shall ask for you, Tyler Gartner. I can find you at the place of books?"

  "Yep! Most days, probably. Thanks again. We should, um, hang out, sometime. I don't know how to do that kind of thing, but it seems right."

  There was a strange look and a smile that seemed like it could be on his face, instead of the strange woman in front of him.

  "Ya. We could do that. Soon?"

  "Sounds good." Then, feeling watched, he left and went to the next place. That was a pet store, that seemed to be focused on fish. They didn't know anything, but offered him a mall employee discount on Beta fish, if he ever wanted some. It was a thing to keep in mind. He'd had pets before, a few times, and liked fish, as long as they weren't just for decoration. The people there were standing out openly, in their empty space, which seemed odd to him. They were all pretty much the creature from the black lagoon, having gills, green skin and webbed hands and feet.

  In short, they were fascinating. Plus, really nice. They all seemed sad that they couldn't be of more help. They kept a really neat shop, too. Most pet stores had hardly anything in them, but this place was filled with animals of different types. Mainly fish, and sea life, but a few other things. Puppies. They had a large box of them in the center of the room.

  He petted one of them, an adorable all black puppy that had a pink tongue and really reminded him a bit of Calley, in that it kept trying to jump into his arms.

  That took about five minutes, since he didn't want to leave her, but he also had to get back to work.

  The next space was the food court, which was kind of useless to him, being that he couldn't really eat there. Even if he could afford it, the vast majority of the food there was junk. Burgers, fries, fake Chinese food that was probably loaded with salt and sugar, and Italian food that seemed slightly better, but probably wasn't. There wasn't a single fruit stand in the place, or even a salad bar, so he nearly skipped it. That would have, it turned out, have been a mistake.

  The very first place he went, the "Burger Joint" was being worked by a good looking copper haired guy, who as soon as he explained the list, glanced at it, and smiled.

  "This one? The Least Calendar? I have one, and never use it. Do you want it?"

  "Um, I'm just supposed to find a person that has it for sale. Can I send the buyer around for it?"

  The man nodded, then asked if he wanted anything to eat.

  "Heh. No money. I only eat certain foods." It took a bit to explain, but the man, Kent, actually took notes, and while he didn't offer him anything in particular, it seemed like a thing.

  That reminded him to take his own notes. It turned out that Kent was an Elth, and that most of the others at the foot court were too. The rest of them were nice, but didn't have anything to add really. Some were a lot shorter than Kent, but the man at "Fried Th
ings" Leaf, was about the same height Tyler was. He was also the Ambassador.

  He went to each location, which took most of the day. Not everyone was interested in what he was saying in particular, but most of them at least listened. The man that ran the curios shop on the upper floor took the list and filled in a lot of information, without even saying a single word. Really, it was enough to get the whole thing done.

  Tyler thanked him profusely, and got a bow in return. No words from the man in the very dapper looking suit. He seemed to be about forty, and was probably Middle Eastern, as well as incredibly helpful. It was the last place he went, naturally. Next time, if it ever came up again, he planned to start there, and work around the other direction.

  Well, he was new, so learning that kind of thing was just part of the job. His chances of getting one probably wouldn't be all that great. Then, he hadn't had to do a lot either, really. True, it had taken a few hours, but that was worth about eighty dollars of his time. Less if they took taxes out first.

  The bookstore was suffering from him not being there, it was clear. He could tell, because as soon as he came in, Kait nearly tackled him.

  "You're here! Thank god. I've been trapped on the till for hours. Both of the reading rooms need to be cleaned, too. There have been some problems. I can do it, but not work the register and the front at the same time, only, I could use some time. I need to eat."

  That it seemed, seemed to be food, and not some comely man or woman, because she ran back to the cafe. Just as an older lady came up to the front with a small stack of books. Rolling his eyes, he headed around the counter, and smiled at her. She was normal seeming, and not unpleasant or pushy at all. They made some polite small talk about the weather, which was sunny and nice.

  The woman, who was in green pants and had a bright purple top on, looked around a bit before going on.

  "Are you going to see the fireworks on the Fourth?"

  That was a thing there, in Vancouver. Every year there was a huge party in central park, one that was so large it escaped the boundaries of the place, spreading out over several miles. Capped with tens of thousands watching a vast fireworks display. It was kind of a big thing in the area.

  So he nodded.

  "Yep. How about you?"

  "Oh, I go every year. Wouldn't miss it. Well, take care. Have a great day!"

  "You too!"

  The place wasn't really busy, so he managed to get the rooms cleaned up, and the front half of the store straightened up, wearing his t-shirt and jeans, with no name tag. That didn't seem to stop anyone from walking up to him and asking questions. The first one was just a guy that wanted to get laid.

  "Is this the place with the succubus'?" His pencil thin mustache twitched a little on his thin face. The guy reeked of being a creep. It was bad enough that he nearly said no, and tried to get him to leave.

  Unfortunately Kait ran up, bouncing a bit.

  "Hi! Why not come back here, and we can talk about it?"

  That made them both vanish, and while Kait actually tried to help out when she was there, the other Alede just used the place to get laid. Not that he couldn't see how they might want to do that, but he had to wonder if they were getting paid for it. If so, it probably wasn't really fair.

  Then, no one had ever told him life would be. That knock out gorgeous women had an easier time in life than average looking men wasn't a vast shock to him. Plus, for all he knew they worked for the energy and nothing else.

  There at least. Most of them also worked at Pretty Plus, so maybe it really was something like that. They had real jobs, and this was just a hang out for them. If so, then leaving poor Kaitlyn in charge of the whole thing was sort of mean.

  By the time Zack walked out of the owl room to the side, to get some food it seemed, since he went straight back to the cafe, it was about four in the afternoon. When he came back, he had two large trays filled with things to eat. Sandwiches, that seemed to have been toasted and smelled wonderful. He affected a puzzled expression when he came back, stopping in front of the counter.

  "I... Thought you had the day off?"

  That got a nod, and a wave at the side rooms. One of which needed to be cleaned soon.

  "I came in to ask a question and was waylaid by a certain Alede, who promptly ran off. You can pay me back though, by calling Anne, and letting her know that I found out what she wanted me to find?" He pulled the yellow list, and waved it at his boss a little bit, trying to seem playful, rather than pushing.

  It got raised eyebrows, but a head movement that seemed to tell him to tuck the paper onto the brown tray on the right.

  "All right. Next time ask first. It's just a call though, so this one time. That's... Not too bad. I figured it would take you a few months, really. How did you do it?"

  "Went around here and asked everyone. It wasn't that hard. Calley suggested it."

  That had Zack looking at him funny, but he didn't say anything about it, just walking off. Halfway across the store, he called back however.

  "Can you hold out here for a few minutes? Ben will be in soon."

  "Sure." After all, he literally had nothing better to do. That was, he realized, incredibly sad. After all, most guys his age did stuff. Played video games and talked about girls, mainly. The thing there was that he didn't really have people to do that kind of thing with. Yet.

  That was a thing that other people had, and while he was shy, as a rule, that kind of thing could be fought, if he tried hard enough. It was scary, but not five vampires trying to kill you on the street frightening. He could gain some perspective from things like that. It was the kind of thing he did. Or could do, if he tried hard enough. Why, even that day he'd reached out to meet something like fifteen new people. That was huge in his life. In the past few days that was closer to twenty-five. Thirty if he counted the dead Vampires.

  Which he decided not to. Being that they weren't going to come to his birthday party. The thought was a bit cold, and brought back to mind a scent of earth, loam and a vision of a Vampire woman losing her head. That wasn't the kind of thing Tyler really wanted to be dwelling on, but it hit him hard, and didn't let go for about half a minute.

  Then, not having anything else to do, he worked the bookstore. That was all about straightening things for the time being, since all the product was on the shelves. Sort of. There were things that had been added to the side of some of the shelves, and a few erotic novels that people had picked up that were in the wrong section. Disturbingly there was an illustrated Kama-Sutra in with the little kids' picture books. Not that he'd ever noticed a child in the store, but what kind of asshole would do that?

  That section of the store had a little wooden table with tiny child sized chairs in it. Also a basket of crayons was set out, all of them looking new and untouched. There was a stack of free coloring books on the table too. At least, he figured they were free. If he were five and saw that set up, that's what he would have presumed.

  The whole place was pretty quiet really, now that he thought about it. They had rushes, and a steady stream of bodies, but in the main it wasn't more than he could handle. Especially if he worked to move like Palma, the cafe chef, did all the time. Flowing without any gaps from one movement to the next. It took focus, but gave him something to do while he cleaned, tidied and got things ready for Ben to get there.

  In fact, he had nearly an hour, between four and five, when no one came in at all. That meant that Kait came back, looking a bit bashful, and Alexis walked over to the cafe.

  "Um, I hear that you aren't working today? I didn't think I noticed that on the schedule. Sorry." She actually seemed to be feeling bad about it now. That could be a trick, meant to manipulate him, but given who, and what, she was, if that had been the case there probably would have been a lot more hinting at sex being thrown at him.

  "We have a schedule?" That was news to him. More to the point, it might be handy for him to go and look at the thing, if he didn't want to show up late or too early, all t
he time.

  That got a sudden, and rather sunny, grin. Then the hot nerd woman who wasn't really fooling anyone with her thick rimmed glasses that were all for show, reached under the front desk. There was an all black binder there, with a nice leather cover. It only had three sheets in it, when it was opened. One that had basic instructions as to what Zack wanted done in the place, the other two were what people were expected to work for the next two weeks.

  Grabbing one of the yellow legal pads, he made a copy of it, getting the whole thing down, because knowing who else would be there when might actually make a difference at some point. Not that he could think of when it would, but so far in life doing a bit extra hadn't really hurt him most of the time. His mother had told him that, more than once.

  Don't be shy about pulling out the stops, since no one punished you for being too good.

  No, they went after you for being weak, or for seeming too much like a victim. That was part of the reason he ran and had taught himself how to fight, and would keep working on it. He couldn't really go toe to toe with some of the people around him biologically speaking and he knew it. Even the woman next to him could probably take him out by just being so sexy he couldn't do anything except what she wanted him to. It wasn't a fun thought, but just standing there, working on making sure he had his work hours down, he had a hard-on.

  Worse, she would have gotten to her knees, possibly right there behind the desk, and done him, if he did anything to indicate that he'd let that happen. It meant she had vast control over him, he knew. All women kind of had that kind of power over men, and pretty ones were a lot more able that way.

  Alede were simply designed to pull the stopper out of that kind of thing, and fuck it in the ear. Besides, he was pretty certain that Kaitlyn was actually working pretty hard to not do that to him. She stood there, turned away a bit, not looking at him too much, or doing anything all that sexy. Rather, everything she did was, and her cute butt screamed at him to appreciate it, but that wasn't her fault. It wasn't some extra psychic ability that she was using however, or pheromones.