The Living and the Dead (Tyler G Book 3) Read online

  "Here he is." She moved it away from herself, holding it out to him, like it was a snake, rather than just a call from a buddy. It was his work phone though, so that made sense. He didn't have one for friends and family to get in touch on.

  Unhelpfully she didn't call out who he was speaking to first or anything, so Ty was going in blind. He glared a bit at the Vampire, who moved back, not speaking, or looking at him too much. That wasn't a great sign, actually.

  "Hello? Tyler Gartner here."

  There was a sound that was a bit like breathing, though wet and a bit harder than it should have been for a friendly call.

  "Gartner of the Nation?" The words were drawn out, deep and almost cracking.

  "Yes. What can I do for you today?"

  "Is Merisy. You come fight for me? Little thing fight? I be challenged, say, Gartner come, fix. I no kill today. That right?"

  "Uh. I need to know more. Can I come to where you are? It..." He was about to say it wasn't the best time ever for that kind of thing, but the incredibly deep voice perked right up and didn't let him speak.

  "Good. You come. I no kill little thing that annoy me. New place of bassadors." Then the phone hung up.

  Sighing he tried to think of who to call about the whole thing. The new place of the bassadors was probably the new embassy complex, as spoken by someone that either wasn't fluent in English, or who had some other reason from not saying the exact words. Some mouth and jaw shapes might make that hard. Tyler had never thought about it before, but that was probably a real issue at the place like that. That meant, if he could figure out where that was, he could possibly find out what was going on. Hopefully he hadn't been promised to fight to the death or anything like that. It wasn't his job, if that was the case.

  So he tried to call Ginger, since her number was in his phone and she might at least know who to get in touch with. She picked up on the third ring, her voice normal sounding.

  "Hi Ginger! I just got a call, from Merisy? I don't know him, and didn't get the whole thing. It sounds like I'm supposed to go and fight someone?" He didn't want to, but it really had seemed like that. There was a low chuckle from his girlfriend then.

  "Probably not. The Dragon Shifter Assistant Ambassador is freaking out a bit, and wants to kill the Elth Lord that came in earlier today and started to order everyone around. I ended up having to hold half our people here back from that. The guy they sent is an... Well, I won't say that, but he isn't easy to get along with. It might be good if you could come and talk to him? Otherwise I think that he might be taken out. Not in a good way, either."

  "Okay... I'll... I need a ride, I guess. I should probably change clothing too. This isn't a great time for this. I look all lopsided at the moment." How he was going to set that up, he didn't know, but Ginger was talking to someone quietly, and after a moment got a bit louder.

  "Evan is going to come pick you up. It should be about fifteen minutes?"

  That was the name of the Vampire that was about to become a Master. Hopefully it was the same guy, so he could meet him.

  "Sounds great. I'll be ready."

  In order to get that done Tyler would have to hop quickly. The whole thing was awkward, but he did notice as he changed that the wound itself was largely healed already, and that he had a tiny foot, one that looked to belong to a baby, sticking down from where a stump had been not long before. It was pink, little and could wiggle a bit when he tried. Honestly, he needed to get pictures of it, since it was really adorable.

  Maybe even get a tiny footprint in ink. He could keep it on the fridge.

  That meant he needed full length trousers on, and that folding the end up probably wasn't the best idea in the whole world. Things were simply coming back online for him a lot faster than he would have thought, to tell the truth.

  Holding the wall, after he changed, it was a struggle to get down the stairs. In fact he had to sit on the steps and rapidly scoot on his backside in order to make it in time. Scotty waited at the bottom, not even smiling at him, when he got there. In his right hand he held a length of wood that was lacquered and had a silver top to it that was round, like a doorknob. A very fine one.

  "Here you go. A walking stick. What anyone is thinking, making you go out like this... Well, they probably don't know. This is from an old costume of mine, from when I was doing the All Vamp Band a few years ago? Rebekah thought it made me look debonair. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was a silly affectation for one of us, so I kept it. It's yours now. Use it in good health."

  That was a funny thing to say, so Tyler stood up on the bottom step of the large staircase that led to the second level where his room was, and took the proffered stick. It was easier to kind of half hop, half walk after that.

  "Thanks. I should head toward the door. Really, all the way out, or I'm going to be late." That would be embarrassing, but he didn't have long left if this Evan guy was prompt. That turned out not to be such a big issue.

  Tyler moved to the end of the long driveway, by the gate and even outside of it, with no sign of anyone driving along the road. Finally a blue truck that looked to have seen better days pulled up. Given that he didn't want to eat the driver in particular, and that the man looked half panicked for some reason, it was probably his ride. Only half an hour late.

  He waved, which got the man to pull a U-turn and come back around. When he stopped it was evident that the vehicle had seen better days. It had a large primer spot on the passenger side, which was facing him at the moment, and the Vampire that got out and ran around the thing seemed like a very normal person. That was he had very light brown hair, that was visible under the lights from the house and headlights of the truck, and his eyes were a deep blood red. Even though he was clearly a classic Vampire, who should have had a far more normal color. Probably brown, given the hair.

  Other than that he looked a bit like Ty himself did. White, thin, though Evan had more body mass to him and was a bit taller. Maybe three of four inches, marking him as being over six feet.

  Not wanting to wait too long Tyler hobbled with his stick over to the blue thing, waving as the worried Vampire came around. There were no fangs out, so he was taking it as a sign of distress over something, as opposed to him about to be attacked and killed.

  "Evan? Ty Gartner." He waved again, rather than putting a hand out to shake. That was probably rude, but he needed his right hand at the moment, unless he wanted to hop for real.

  "Ahhh." It was a strange reaction, and sounded like he expected a beating. "I'm sorry it took so long. I kind of got lost coming out here. It really isn't far, but I overshot the driveway, twice."

  His body language was still nervous, even as he got the door for him, like he was a girl. Or someone very important.

  "No big. I'm the one begging a ride. Um, I don't suppose you could kind of push me up into the truck a bit?" He hated to ask, not wanting to seem weak, but he wasn't used to only having one working leg yet.

  The Vampire was efficient, and didn't seem worried about that, just giving him a boost with a hand on his behind. There was no feeling him up. It was just like the man knew what had to happen, and did it without compunction.

  That was probably why Ginger wanted him to learn to be up all day. He also wasn't bad looking, though the fact that neither of the Vampires had real sexual feelings probably meant the man had a lot more to offer than just a pretty face, or someone else would be getting the spot.

  They drove in silence for a bit, the Vampire still seeming really nervous about things. That was kind of odd. For a moment Ty wondered if it was a kidnapping attempt. Before he could ask about it, the Vampire spoke, his words a bit rushed and stilted at the same time.

  "I was told... That you were coming to see to the situation that blew up earlier? That Shifter and the Elth?"

  "Right. If I can do anything about it. Really that kind of thing isn't my job in particular. I'm kind of the Human slash Other groups rep, but I was asked for, so I figured I'd see what i
t was about." It was the truth, or close enough to it that the other man just kept driving for a bit.

  When he spoke there were still nerves showing. A subtle tremor to the whole thing that was out of place.

  "Assistant Ambassador Harris mentioned that. Do you think there will be a war over it? I can call in some of the others, if you want? We were told to back you up, by The Bey. Even if it means fighting to the last death."

  Tyler shook his head slowly. That would have made him a bit nervous, if he didn't know who he was dealing with too.

  "Nope. If we can't talk this out like adults, then we'll leave them to their own devices. We can't have a threat of violence every time someone has their feels hurt." Then, changing the topic, he looked over at the guy. He wasn't really that much better looking than Tyler was. It was hard to judge people that way, but he didn't think that Ginger was just going to promote the guy for his style or anything. "So, I hear that you're going to be working with Eve? Are you excited? It sounds a bit miserable, from what I hear, but if you can do it, really worth the effort."

  That got him looked at, the pale face baffled.

  "Um, sorry? Eve? I was told there might be some training, but no one mentioned what, exactly. There wasn't time, I think."

  Not knowing if the man was being kept in the dark or not, Tyler nearly said nothing. Then again, if people wanted to pull things like that, they needed to let him in on the secret first. Otherwise they could kiss his behind.

  It occurred to him that he was being a bit of a grump. That could have been the kidnapping and missing leg thing, or even a response to re-growing it. Looking down at the thing that had been a stump, it looked longer now than it had. Not even close to being ready to walk on, but the little foot bulge in his black slacks was slightly over halfway down the shin of the other leg it seemed. That meant there was work going on in his system. Some kind of magical effort, since nothing physical would do that.

  Then, being called out for some kind of pissing contest might be enough to make him a little surly too, he realized. That was no reason to take it out on Evan though, since he might well know the man for a long time, given that neither of them would die too easily.

  "Yep. Eve Benson is coming into town in the morning, to help a bunch of you learn to stay up all day and become Master Vampires. Ginger set that up for you. By name. It started with Rebekah and Scotty. Um, you know, they used to be in the All Vampire Band? Now they're in Living Proof. The Council signed off on it. A couple of other people too, so it's kind of a big deal."

  The Vampire nodded, then shook his head a little bit.

  "Fuck. The Snowflake is coming here? I know that Miss Harris said that she knew her, but I figured that it was just from training. Felicia worked with her, too. The whole thing sounds hard, doesn't it?"

  Tyler could see that. Horrible torture and for the first days or weeks an almost drugged disorientation, until they all adapted. During the day. The night time was better.

  Still, it wasn't his place to comment on that.

  "You'll do well. It was why you were chosen." They were just pulling into a large parking lot. The whole thing was about the size of Westfield, but held more than one building in the complex and each one had at least five levels, meaning the whole thing was much bigger inside than the other place was, as to what could be held there.

  It was, in short, kind of impressive. Then, The Mistress of Souls put the whole thing together. Evan waved at it.

  "The Center. The largest and most complete embassy facility for non-Humans in the known world. Not just our part of it, the whole thing. There are hundreds of groups represented here. Even regular Humans, like the Mages. You know that though, being their representative. We want the big building. There." It was large and white, with a slightly reflective sheen to the outside.

  Pretty, but he was willing to bet it had to do with some kind of solar process, rather than just seeming classy.

  Evan pulled to the very front, where there were two armed guards. Neither was strictly normal looking however. At least if Human was going to be the standard for that. Given that was probably bigoted, he gave each of the beings a nod. One was kind of reptilian, had blue scales and a nifty tail, and the other was a female creature that had white fur. She didn't have much as far as a chest went, but made up for that with a tail. It was smaller and more fluffy than her fellow guard's.

  "Hi! Tyler Gartner, Coalition of Nations." He didn't know if he needed I.D. or not, but the answer came a half second later when the Lizard man, who was at least seven feet tall, bowed. Shortly after that the white furred woman did the same. She was about the same size, and he realized, was a Trollienkeine.

  Or more exactly was very related to them. As far as he knew they didn't have tails. Hilda, his friend, had mentioned that she had to shave a lot though, and this would explain why that was.

  Both of them had matching black outfits on.

  The blue one spoke gently, his voice a lot higher than Ty would have guessed it to be.

  "Gartner. Be welcomed to this place. We can call for a guide to lead you to your hall?"

  "I... Actually, I need to find Morisy? I think that would be the Shifter Embassy. Is that possible?"

  It turned out that it was, and the request was called in on very tiny, but efficient seeming, walky-talkies, or cell phones. It was hard to tell, since the things were little more than ear pieces for the large people at the door. They didn't let him in, and Evan moved the truck. Still, it took long enough to get things around that the Vampire was able to run up on foot, after, presumably, finding a good parking space. The lot wasn't full after all, and was all outside, rather than having a covered garage.

  The person that came for him wasn't anyone he knew. She was a woman, and had on a blue skirt and a matching blazer. Her hair was a dyed red color, but looked professional enough. Her youthful face was pale, and she had piercings however. That was a little out of place. He would have guessed her as being about twenty-four from a distance. When she got closer though, that estimate went up.

  She was dead, after all, and that would throw things off a lot.

  It was cute, but she bowed too, like the people on the door had.

  "Mr. Gartner, sir? I'm Felicia. Ambassador for the Vampires here. Everyone else is trying to set up a proper welcome for you, but Ginger said that if we took too long you'd probably just walk in anyway."

  He smiled, and waved to her, left handed. If they wanted bows they could wait a few days. His balance wasn't allowing for that at the moment.

  "Thanks. Yeah, we need to get to Morisy? You know about that?" He just meant to ask if she could find the right place, but the Vampire started to walk, very slowly, allowing him to hop along behind her. The floor inside the place was all carpeted, which had to be a bitch to take care of in a place that large. It did look nice. The place had a homey feel to it. Decorated like people would be living there, which, for all he knew, was the case. It seemed large enough.

  The Vamp lady led, he hopped along in the middle and Evan walked behind, still seeming nervous about something. Given the reaction at the door, and from Felicia, he was kind of starting to suspect that had something to do with an awesome Tyler being there. If so that probably meant that there was a propaganda machine around someplace that was helping him out. Otherwise it made no sense.

  Giving a look back over her shoulder, the woman in front seemed to take a breath.

  "The Elth Ambassador Summerhold came in earlier and started pushing people around, as if we were all his personal servants. There was a bit of a misunderstanding there, since Summerhold is a Prince of his people, and kind of thought for some reason that he was going to be in charge here? That isn't the case, so several of the others took umbrage at the mistreatment. Not that I blame them. I nearly handed that idiot his ass, too. Still, we're not supposed to kill people here, so the Shifter's Second called you in to handle it. That..." She walked for a bit, and pointed to the elevators along the center of the large space they w
ere in. There was a help desk, or security thing, off to the left. It took up most of the far wall. The whole place was vast however.

  When they got into the little box, which was, he noticed, not that small for that kind of thing, the woman kept speaking. Her voice dropped a lot however as they rose.

  "We aren't supposed to do that. Technically it's a breach, calling you in. Ginger told me about what was going on with you, so this is a big deal. Do you want us to handle this?"

  "By us you mean the Vampires in general, or are we just going to get Evan to go in and fix it all?" He glanced over at the man, who had light colored eyes, now that they weren't blood red, he noticed. An off blue color that had a lot of gray in them. "Good call. Evan and I will see if we can fix this. Hopefully without an actual fight. Morisy mentioned that there was a challenge and that I was supposed to come and handle that? It will be awkward for me, in that case. My leg is only about half re-grown. It will be another day or so before it's back to normal."

  That seemed to be about right too. On the good side, it was just coming back, filling out and getting longer. There was no itching or anything, just regeneration. Which was, he had to consider, pretty cool. True, he couldn't die properly, and might have eaten that kid and then been forced to forget it, but he did have some abilities that were worth noting. You had to focus on the positive from time to time if you were going to keep on moving in life.

  Felicia just nodded at him, as if that was enough to explain anything.

  "There was some talk of that, but I think everyone got her calmed down enough to prevent bloodshed. I'm sure that you and... Evan can deal with this." She looked a bit hurt, and the other Vampire seemed slightly scared.

  Tyler took his own turn to nod as they reached the fourth floor and the doors opened.