Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) Page 18

  The pickup didn't actually take him being there, but Zack got him to stand in the owl room, waiting for the man. World leader or not, he'd apparently been waiting for Zack to show up on the other side, which meant he was there, stepping out of empty space, seconds later. Luckily, there was a silver metal ring inlaid into the floor, so Ty was looking in the right direction.

  The man that came in was nice looking. As in square faced and mild. His hair was dark, and professionally styled, and he held a posture that spoke of concern, but not fear. Even with a Greater Demon right next to him. Almost instantly a large, but soft, hand came out.

  "Mr. Gartner?" He, it seemed, understood who he was talking to at least.

  So a man in charge of an entire people could get that he was himself, but a slightly glorified secretary couldn't understand that fact. That didn't leave Rochelle looking very good.

  "Mr. Samson. I think the plan is for Nellie to be waiting for us over in the Shifter embassy. We have an offer from the Vampires to have some personnel come with us, if you feel the need to threaten her into good behavior? The Mistress of Souls also offered to enslave her, if she won't toe the line." He winked. "We should avoid that one right now, and save the privilege for later, when we really need it."

  The man went pale, but he nodded slowly.

  "I agree. Who was offered, from the Vampire side of things?"

  Tyler looked at the door, wondering if saying her name would summon her.

  "Eve Benson. She offered herself for the job. I think she might be a little bit pissed off though, over the whole thing."

  Jahn looked at him, as if he'd announced that Satan would be making an appearance himself.

  "The Snowflake? I don't know if this situation would require that level of potential harm."

  That got Zack to shrug.

  "It isn't about the harm, it's about showing Miss Holver that no one is going to put up with her acting like an entitled bitch any longer. She's gotten a person killed already, and nearly had that happen again last night. If Ty hadn't gotten to her first, Vivian might well have killed Valerie, the Alede Ambassador. That would not have gone over very well, as you might imagine. Her daughter is a friend of mine. Eve Benson is her daughter's girlfriend, and The Mistress of Souls seems more than a little protective of her as well. This needs to stop now."

  Mr. Samson nodded, squared his shoulders and looked at Tyler.

  "Should we go? It won't help to wait."

  The store a few slots down, was filled with trendy looking clothing, made for men and women. It was all nicer than what he had, and seemed to be about the speed of someone his age. Overpriced, of course, for someone on his budget, which was nothing, for the time being.

  At the back of the store, there was an open door, with Ang and Rupert standing outside of it, like they were guarding the place. That had to be the right place, unless they kept the really cool shirts in there.

  Zack hadn't gone with them, since this wasn't his issue. At least that was what Tyler thought was going on. It was kind of cute, but when he glanced back Eve was standing at the front of the place, looking too hot to be his backup for the day. Not that he wouldn't take the help, if things came up.

  "Keeber, Ang. This is Jahn Samson. He's come here today to help us try and convince Nellie Holver to straighten up. Can you stand to be in the room?" This was spoken directly to Keeber, the large and hairy man seemed a bit depressed and somber. Calley had mentioned that was his nickname, and what he preferred to be called, even if it didn't fly most of the time for embassy work.

  His voice was slow, but he nodded.

  "Yeah. I'm a bit mad at her. Viv isn't a bad woman. She's just... We're Bears, you know? We can get mad, and it's hard to stop. Nellie used that to steer her towards what should have been her death. Cathy could have died too, or that nice Alede lady. I won't make problems." He seemed genuine enough about the whole thing. He also had a gun on his side, under his shirt.

  Jahn looked over at him, and locked eyes.

  "Family?"

  "Sister. My little sis."

  The leader nodded. "Fine. If you'd stay out here then? We'll try to resolve this without bloodshed. As you mentioned however, she's a Bear. As are you. If it gets too intense, back away. Mr. Gartner and I can handle this."

  That they could do that wasn't a thing that seemed right to Ty, but Ang nodded.

  "True. Do you wish me to go into the room?"

  Dragons apparently didn't get that upset about things most of the time, and it wasn't his family involved, so he was invited along. Mr. Samson took the lead though, opened the door with his own hand, which showed what was inside the space.

  Two women were standing away from a single chair in the middle of the open room, which had boxes along the sides, and shelves with clothing sitting on it. Back stock, most likely. In the metal frame chair, not tied in place, was a largish lady, who had her hair cropped closely, and a lumberjack style shirt on. Seeing them walk in, she simply sneered, as if she weren't in trouble.

  "You can't do shit to me. I didn't break any laws. I don't really care if you're the President. No one will convict me. No one. I'm pretty much untouchable on this."

  It was funny, but Ang nodded a bit, Jahn and Catherine winced, and Calley looked away.

  Tyler however thought he saw a small loophole in her logic.

  "Well, that might be true, for a Human, or a Shifter. By our laws you didn't do anything. Except nearly getting the Alede Ambassador killed is against their laws. I don't know the penalty for that kind of thing, but you might well want us to be your judge and jury, instead of them." Not that he had a real clue about that.

  The woman looked at him like he was just an asshole, abusing her with his words.

  "What are they going to do, make me go down on them? Please. You all know I'm right. I didn't do anything wrong. I have a right to say whatever I want. I didn't make any threats. I didn't tell her to hurt anyone. I never even mentioned an Alede. You can't do shit."

  She was so smug that it was clear Jahn was about to lose it and start yelling.

  Tyler grinned, "I have a few things we could try. I can have The Mistress of Souls take you as a slave for instance. She offered. Or we could just kill you and bury the body. I did five just the other day, so I know a good spot for it."

  It was a bit of an idle threat. They both were, but the woman didn't seem to understand that anyone could just do that. Make her go away, if they didn't want to bother with her. For a moment he wondered if she thought that being a Shifter meant she was immune to having to deal with her own shit. Calley however looked at him and sighed.

  "It's that she's a woman, I think. She honestly doesn't think anyone will hurt her, no matter what she's done. This isn't that common for us, but it happens. It's mainly a Human thing. She might have gone native though."

  There was a soft breeze, and then a cool hand on his shoulder. Eve stood there, appearing as if by magic, which got the woman sitting in the chair to gasp.

  The Vampire spoke calmly.

  "Or, I can handle this. I won't even have to kill her. Just compel her to cut out the bull crap."

  He looked at her, and then the defiant and entitled seeming killer in the chair.

  "Let's do it? It's all we can do without just giving in to murder."

  It was the second time in a day that it seemed like women were acting like they were greater than everyone else. That wasn't normal, was it?

  It felt wrong. Thankfully it was just a few of them. Most women were better than that.

  Like his mom.

  That reminded him to call her, later.

  Chapter thirteen

  It took work, for him, getting out of the Shifter embassy. Finally he hugged Eve, who'd done the real work for them, and then rather unilaterally proclaimed that Nellie there needed to be put on an island, like Viv was.

  "It isn't about punishment, but letting other people know that we won't let them use machinations to start problems. Vivian has to go onto
one for two weeks. I think that we should increase that for Nellie."

  Jahn nodded. "I agree. There was no remorse to her, was there? How long are you thinking?"

  Ten years came to mind, but being alone for that long would drive anyone insane. Even if Shifters were stronger that way than normal Humans.

  "Six months. Food and water, and some self-help books to read to keep herself occupied if she wants?"

  That got Catherine to seem pleased, if nothing else.

  "That's good. She tried to have me killed. It's good to see that someone cares about that. Thank you, Mr. Gartner."

  He nodded at her. She was slightly sharp faced, but seemed to mean it well enough. Having heard she was a bigot, that was good to see. Then, the ability to bury that kind of thing at need was probably why she was the Ambassador.

  "Can you see to that? I don't want to make work for people, but I don't really have the power to make it happen, if you disagree."

  He was covering his own butt, but the Shifter leader murmured that doing that would happen. Nellie just sat there, still being influenced by Eve, who had pretty much told her to stop being a horrible person. She just looked sad, as if she got it all now. That, or understood she was going to be punished. That meant he was able to get Jahn to go back to the bookstore with him, and while they had to wait for Zack, that didn't take very long.

  He waited though, for his boss to get back, and was tempted to get straight to work. He wasn't due in until four still, and it was before two. That meant, if his mother was around, that he could call her before she went off to work for the night.

  Tyler wanted to use the store's phone for it, in the back room. It wasn't long distance, but The Mistress of Souls had said something about that kind of thing, and he didn't want to risk it. There was a low desk like thing set up, near the showers. It wasn't that big of a problem, though Roberta walked in, and smiled at him. Stripping her clothing off just as his mom picked the phone up. Tyler stuck out his tongue and looked away from the very hot, incredibly tempting, succubus.

  "Hello?" It was her personal cell number, so she wouldn't know who was calling, just that it was from the bookstore.

  "Hey mom! Just checking in with you. I don't need to go to work for a few hours. Well, I'm here already, for the day. I should go help out in the Cafe or something. Make myself useful and pay for the free food I get here. I had some things to look into so ended up here before I needed to. I did a radio show earlier?"

  "What? Why? Is something wrong?" She sounded very concerned. Not just a little bit either, so he took time to explain what was going on, Coalition wise.

  They didn't talk long, but she was sweet, like always, and gave him good advice about work, which mainly amounted to the idea that, when you were the new guy, it wouldn't hurt to do a bit extra. Also, that passing out brochures that an attractive girl ran up for him seemed like a great plan.

  "Is she single? She sounds nice, setting those things up for you. I can't like that name, really... Greater Demon. It sounds a bit over the top, doesn't it?" There was a kindness to what she was saying, but he didn't know about Keeley's status that way.

  "Oh! My cool new roommates are throwing me a birthday party next Saturday. You can come?" It was at about seven in the evening, but a weekend. That would mean she probably had to work, he thought.

  "I think so. Let me see if I can trade shifts with Mindy. You remember her, don't you? She used to babysit you, when you were little."

  He laughed.

  "By little you mean until I was nearly old enough to date her? She's hardly aged, either. I used to have such a crush on her. When I was about ten, or so." The woman was tiny, and had that adorable kind of look that Calley did. Without the glasses.

  "I know. Why do you think I stopped asking her to look after you? I was half afraid you were going to ask her to marry you and run off when I wasn't looking. Well, you've made it that way, haven't you? Almost a man now. Days away. Already starting important work and everything. I'm very proud of you, you know that, right?"

  "Oh. Now I'm blushing. Thanks."

  "I love you, sweetie. Always remember that."

  Then, a bit awkwardly, he got off the phone. Feeling a bit strange, he went and started to clean the cafe area, then hit the sex rooms. It was funny, but an older woman had managed to hit the timing right, and was sitting in one of them, actually reading a book. Like a person might do in a bookstore.

  She saw him with the cleaning gear, and started to stand.

  He waved her down, and spoke politely.

  "Not needed, if you don't mind me doing some light work in here? I can wait too, if that's better for you?"

  "Ah! Well, in that case, I'll just sit here and read for a few hours. Can I have coffee in here?"

  She could, so Tyler ran to get her one, with a lid on it. After all, it was cute, and what the room was for, in part. Being friends now, she did let him clean a bit, though the other room, the first one, nearest the front desk, was filled almost constantly after that. He loaded the older woman, who had gray hair, wrinkles and a loose white shirt on, with buttons on the front, with coffee and some cookies. They were large and fresh, Palma having made them herself.

  After an hour and a half she got up, and patted him on the arm.

  "Thank you for being so nice to me. It's rare that I'm treated like that anymore. The cost of getting older, I guess. There was a time, about four thousand years ago, when I used to turn heads, I'll tell you that." She seemed really pleased by what she was saying, and patted him again.

  Tyler nodded about it, his mind moving slowly, being only a normal Human like he was.

  "Four thousand years? Your hand was warm, so not a Vampire. I don't know if Dragon Shifters live that long. Greater Demon then?" He spoke softly, but it wasn't a whisper. Others would hear it taking place.

  "Oh, yes deary. Very good, noticing that. I'm The Storm. A little bird told me that a certain Line Walker was seen talking to The Rotted about me. I did rather steal one of her slaves. Not that I hurt the dear thing. I promise you that. She died peacefully. Would you be willing to tell her that I stopped by? I was planning to kill you, at first, but you gave me free cookies. Such a nice young man you are. Let her know that I'll be seeing her?"

  Twisting his mouth a bit, he nodded. "I can put a call in? I don't really know her. We don't hang out really."

  That got a laugh, as if it was different than that.

  "Don't you? You might want to think about that. I won't give her away, but she's been around, more than you know. Now, I should be going. Can you put these books back for me?"

  "Sure. Don't worry about it."

  Then he paused.

  "Oh, um, hey, are you in on the whole Coalition thing? It's just getting started, but it can't hurt to get in on the ground floor."

  That got the older looking woman to stop, look at him like he was mentally defective, and then pat him again.

  "I promise nothing. I won't work against you in that. For now that's all I can grant you. Thank you for inviting me. I'll spread the word to the others, if anyone asks?"

  Then before he could thank her, she stepped to the side and wasn't there anymore.

  Tyler did another cleaning of the room, then took the six books out. They were all about pottery, for some reason. Ceramics, glazes and things like that. After they were on the shelves, he clocked in, even if it was still a tiny bit early. Any day he had to deal with strange Greater Demons like that, he deserved an extra two dollars and forty cents, or whatever he'd get from it. Then he waved Zack down.

  The man looked at him instantly, but didn't seem worked up or anything.

  "The Storm stopped by? She said something about not killing me because I delivered free treats. You're good with that, right? I'm pretty much handing out cookies to anyone too Demon-like from now on. Not that she was. She actually seemed really sweet."

  Not being shy about it, Zack held out his hand, like he wanted to shake, which he explained. "All of us, my peopl
e, can sort of download information on contact. It's one of our racial abilities."

  Thinking back, all the Greater Demons had tried to touch him, he realized. Most people didn't do that all the time. Some did though, so it wasn't that odd. Ty took the other man's hand, wondering if it was like reading minds.

  "More like getting everything, all at once. I already had a copy of you, so this is just an update, which is easier to deal with. I'll get you Anne's number. It might be best if you do the talking, since it was your life that was saved. Heh. Cookies."

  Letting go of Ty's hand he kept going. It had been warm, but just nice, not blistering hot. He didn't seem any more worried now either. It was reassuring. Also, the guy was really hot.

  Tyler lashed out, without warning, and punched him in the chest. There was a twitch, but no instant death to follow along behind it.

  "Did I get that right? I didn't think about it until after the contact broke, did it take you by surprise?"

  There was a considering look, tightened lips and a head tilt that reminded him a bit of an old movie with Robert Deniro that he'd seen.

  "Not bad. I probably could have gotten out of the way, and most Greater Demons wouldn't be hurt by what you can do physically yet, but I didn't even catch that you were going to, which is your point?"

  "Coolness. Sorry there, I couldn't think of anything else at the moment. I should have kissed you. Well, if it comes up again, I'll go that way. Anyway, if I'm not fired for boss abuse, I guess I should get on that? Talking to Anne, The Rotted."

  "I'll get that number for you. In the future, well, if you feel like you have to hit people, do a better job than that. Too many around here could accidentally kill you, if you don't manage to bring your 'A' game each time." Then he left the central stack floor to go, and presumably, get Anne's number for him. Except that wasn't it at all.

  Instead he came back about ten minutes later, with a tiny school girl, who was in a different little outfit than she had been before. The glasses were the same, but the skirt was bright yellow, though she had on a less eye splitting top that was merely white.