As Evil Does Read online

  “Nickie! So nice to see you. Too what do we owe the pleasure?” He moved in for a half hug, which the jumpy man did back, ending in a hand shake. The kind that had Don holding his elbow. It was cuddly, compared to what most people did.

  The man huffed a bit then.

  “Gloria is being a bitch. I came in a bit high, like, twice and was a little late a few times and she threatened to fire me over it. Your, um…” He stopped then and looked at Linda, behind the desk.

  It was clear that secretaries didn’t call up major directors and have them fix things like that with a few words. On the other hand, she was older and while attractive for a woman in her sixties, was kind of dressed for that kind of work. Meaning the dull man didn’t know what to say as to her title.

  Linda shrugged.

  “I’m the temp. I spoke to Gloria St. James. Mr. Smith here is back in for the project. There are no more allowances being made, for poor performance. The problem seemed a bit more severe than he just mentioned. Still, he promised me that he’d stop the drugs and show up on time from now on, ready to work. Do we have access to that person you use, Mr. Holmstrum? The one that does the physical alterations? If she can change shape like that, for other people, she should be able to handle chemical addiction.” Which was true.

  Don made a face, then nodded.

  “Crap. That’s a million a pop to set up. At least for work like this.” He waved down at his own body, which got the other man to go wide eyed, just then getting how different the producer looked.

  “Holy… You look amazing, Don! Incredible, really. I don’t think I need a facelift. Not yet. I should get a card for whoever did your work…” The words were verging on rude, but Don just winked at the other man.

  “Yeah. Keeley Thomson. She uses magic, so it’s better than surgery. It costs. I think what, um, Linda here was suggesting was that we see if we can hire her as a kind of rehab for you. I should at least call and ask. She had a day, yesterday. Keeley did. I mean, I was shot and she fixed that for me at the scene. Right up, too. In the terror attack at the Green last night? You heard about that?”

  Linda was ready for the man to say he’d missed it, being too stoned, but there was a nod.

  “I saw that. I was watching CNN about that thing in D.C. With the flying aliens? They showed the terror thing, too.”

  Don made a sound then.

  “Right. Thomson was also there. The flying woman in front? She works for the Coalition of Nations. Really, we should probably try to get in touch with her boss there. Ty Gartner. He’s in the business, music side, so will probably be a bit more understanding than she will. She’s a great gal, but do not fuck with her, Nick. She used to be a Demon. A real one.” He held up both hands then looked at both of them in turn. “I know, that sounds like bullshit. I checked on it, with half a dozen people. It’s the real deal. So… We need to be careful there.”

  Then he looked at Linda and smiled.

  “Could you get Gartner on the line? At least put a call in with him, doll?”

  She nodded. The man would be at lunch, since dead or not, he ate a lot. Mainly because food could be processed into energy. He didn't need it, but Ann, his mother, could use it. Technically Ty was her slave. More than that, he was created of dead flesh, a puppet of death more or less and had learned, through hard work and intelligence how to power himself. Pinocchio, if he’s turned himself into a real boy, instead of some fairy doing the work for him. That one trick had turned him into one of the most powerful beings in existence.

  He was also pretty nice, so people like Don, and apparently Linda, could approach him.

  “Right away, sir.” The men both just stood there, meaning there was no way for her to lead Tyler into saying what she needed him to.

  Not without losing her game of the moment. It was entertaining, so she decided not to let that happen.

  “Tyler Gartner’s office. This is Fram, how may I transfer your call today?” The words were a bit clunky, but the other ex-Demon sounded professional, instead of bored.

  “This is Linda Demeny, calling for Don Holmstrum. Would Mr. Gartner be available to speak?”

  “One moment.”

  After a few seconds, the device picked up again. This time the voice that spoke had a very smooth tenor to it. There was no sense of death from the man, over the phone. His act was nearly perfect. The one where he pretended to be alive.

  “Tyler here. How may I help you?”

  “Mr. Gartner, I’m Linda Demeny. I work with Donald Holmstrum. Would it be possible to make an appointment for some work with… I believe it was a Ms. Thomson?” She looked at Don, to check that point, not wanting to get it wrong. “We need to have a man worked on. Talent, who has a bit of a chemical dependency problem. We can pay the full price. That’s a million dollars, I believe?”

  Tyler cleared his throat. It was fake sounding, as if he wanted her to know he was acting.

  “I can ask after that. I don’t actually do her booking. I think she can do the work, only, she’s not in right now. Could I call you back? It may take a bit to find her, if I can.”

  She nodded, even as Don held his hand out for the phone. Linda raised her eyebrows, then shook her head. It was her call, after all. It was as if the man thought she was his secretary or something.

  “That sounds fine. Thank you, Mr. Gartner. We have Mr. Smith right here, if she’s in town. We can wait, of course.” It wasn’t like they had a choice.

  Nickels bounced and shifted around, with Don frowning at her. Even if she was awesome at the job she was doing. Then, he really hadn’t seen what she was doing, just yet. Not all of it.

  Tyler laughed. It was friendly sounding. Almost flirty. The man was like that.

  “I’ll try to get back in touch with you, if I can then. Linda, you said?”

  “That’s right. Working with Donald Holmstrum.”

  “Well, very nice to meet you, Linda. Hopefully we can do this in person, soon?”

  She chuckled herself then.

  “That could work. Talk to you soon. Thank you.”

  “Bye. Talk soon.”

  The man was, of course, setting up a booty call. If he could. He had two girlfriends, and was also banging Marissa of the Vampire Council, who was a rather sweet hermaphrodite. That wouldn’t stop him from getting with as many other people, men and women both, as he could.

  Hanging up, she stood. After all, her personal cell phone was going to ring in a moment and being out of the room would give her away a bit less than taking Tyler’s call right there would.

  “I need the ladies’ room. Will you and Mr. Smith be in your office?” That was leading, but Don nodded.

  “Yeah, doll. Can you set up some drinks, when you get back? Some coffee. I don’t think we get to have booze right now, Nickie. You like cream and sugar for that?”

  The actor followed the other man into the office, speaking the whole time.

  “I don’t really drink that stuff. Too bitter. I could do a bubble tea though?” They discussed that idea as the door closed, as if she were supposed to simply know what the man would want.

  Which she could, if she wanted to read his mind.

  She didn’t bother with that, answering her phone instead. It was, as suspected, the head of the Coalition of Nations.

  Chapter three

  Oddly enough, the tricky portion of the game she was playing wasn’t getting Linda, her cover identity out of the room while Keeley came in. That just took throwing her voice while pulsing a bit of magic into the sound.

  “Please make sure we aren’t disturbed? I appreciate it. This won’t take long.” Her voice was sweet when she spoke to the older secretary. Pretending the woman was actually in the other room. Believing it, on a level that very few could have managed on short notice.

  Linda sounded a bit muffled, since throwing one’s voice was always an inaccurate thing.

  “I’ll see to it. Thanks for coming, ma’am.”

  As the door shut, Keeley straig
htened the blouse she had on. That part was the difficult portion. The clothing she had on. She’d very literally had to mug another woman in the building, in the shared bathroom on the third floor. The woman was, currently, spelled, sitting in a bathroom stall, in her underwear. That was a risk, except for the fact that the woman would imagine herself to be masturbating to explain why she was gone.

  Don smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.

  “Keeley! This is a different look for you. I love it.” He spoke as if she’d gotten some work done, or had done her hair in a slightly different fashion.

  She just looked like herself. Basically, like a brown-haired super model in full makeup, ready for the photo shoot. Her normal face. That form had fit the clothing she’d delicately lifted from the woman on the other floor.

  “I decided to try something new for the day. My other face will be back in a few. The government is looking for me right now. They aren’t pleased with my having tortured those terrorists last night, for some reason?” She grinned, as if that part made total sense.

  It didn’t, of course. It wasn’t sane of the feds to try and go up against her like they were. Even the DHS should have known better than to try that, really. That was the crazy part of it. They did know better. The men in charge simply couldn’t understand that some people, some individuals, were too much for them to handle. Even if it was obvious.

  Then, Human beings were always a little off, when it came to understanding reality. She wasn’t actually perfect that way, herself. A lot of that, she had to think, was due to having been a Greater Demon for most of her life. It had skewed what she’d had to think and believe. Worse, she’d figured herself more or less to be well balanced the entire time.

  That was pure delusion, of course.

  Still, as she glanced at Nickels and then Don, she winked. That was designed to make her seem older than she was. A habit that she’d kept from years before, when she’d been pretending to be almost a hundred years old, instead of sixteen. It had more or less fallen apart inside a year and six months. She’d kept some of the mannerisms after that, anyway.

  Mainly as a foil for the others of her own kind. An indication that she, and her friends, might just possibly be saying she was younger than she truly was on purpose. As a trick or trap for anyone foolish enough to go up against her.

  Enough of her own kind had died going up against her that at least a few of the others had probably wondered what the reality of Keeley Thomson truly was. Which had ended with some of them, nearly ten of them, going up against her. Trying to kill her, thrice. To end her life totally. Forever.

  It hadn’t worked, since Keeley had some good friends. Eve, for instance, who was a Vampire, yet had stood in front of several Greater Demons, holding a mega bomb that would have turned part of the Earth into the surface of the sun. Distracting the others for long enough that she’d been able to take them as slaves.

  Most of them had been let go, as soon as they’d decided to not kill her. Leaving only The Mimic. The one Greater Demon slave she still had. That… Was a problem, of course. The man didn’t even know that the rest of them had changed.

  She didn’t show anything on the outside, just smiling a bit at the movie star next to her. He wasn’t that important, naturally. No one as young as he was would be, in that industry. Without help, his current project would be his second to last one.

  Behind the desk, Don grinned up at her. Clearly wondering if she’d be willing to suck him off before she left for the day. He was a sex addict, after all, so even trying to be good, under orders he had to follow, the idea came up for him.

  For her part, she nearly shrugged. He was cute enough now, given that she wasn’t all that picky. Not by her nature. Sure, she had a new boyfriend, but that relationship was an open one. It had to be, since otherwise she’d cheat anyway. Her only real reluctance at the moment was that the man was her slave. If she held control of him, then it was abuse to do anything with him that way. At least she kind of felt that way. Making one Greater Demon, even an ex one of those, who felt that way.

  The producer broke off in his staring, after ten seconds or so.

  “Anyway, we have a problem here. Nickie is about to be dumped from his current movie project. We don’t want to have to pay him for the work if he isn’t doing it, but the director can’t play ball with him, given his drug use. I was thinking that you could do that thing?” The man shrugged, glanced at Nickels and then went slightly dark. Almost mean seeming. “Take him as a slave, so that he can’t fuck this up anymore?” He was going to go on, explaining his reasoning.

  It was interesting, since the man clearly meant what he was saying.

  She simply did it. Not waiting.

  Reaching out, she took the drugged man by force. Nothing changed on the outside, until she spoke.

  “Relax, Nick. You can’t struggle against me. You can’t lie to me, either. Do you understand?” She wasn’t worried about him fighting hard enough to escape. A Greater Demon and a few other creatures might make that happen. None had won against her, but it was possible.

  Not for this man. He simply folded, went slack with relaxation, slumping in his chair, even if he was jangly and tense from the cocaine he’d done all morning.

  She smiled at Don, since it was his play.

  “What do you want him to do?” She waited, expecting something odd.

  Instead she got a grim expression in return.

  “That was quick. I’d figured you’d tell me to go and fuck myself, actually. Can you get him to show up at work on time and to actually act, instead of phoning things in? He has the raw talent, but he only bothers to try about half the time.”

  She nodded, knowing that it wasn’t going to be enough. For the base line orders that was a good starting place.

  “Do you have that, Nickie? You show up for work on time now. All the time. In fact, you get there early and will be prepared for the activity at hand. You don’t do drugs any longer, either. Now, stand up, and move over here.” She pointed to the floor in front of her, the man almost hopping into place. Promptly.

  He didn't get a choice.

  Then, without bothering to make the air glow, she changed the man. Altering him instantly. It was fairly subtle, since he was good looking enough already. She left him with slightly better abs, since he was going to be working with his shirt off for the movie, but it wasn’t a major alteration at all. The big change was that he wasn’t addicted to anything. Not any longer.

  He also couldn’t get drunk, high or stoned from that point on. Not that he was going to be able to, but there would be no withdrawal for him. That would make his days and nights easier, since he wasn’t allowed to do it any longer.

  She waved at Don then.

  “There we go. I did a bit extra, so he won’t have any problems with drugs any longer. He can’t. Now… Nickie, forget all of this. You remember that you love doing your job well and are easy to work with. You show up on time and are ready to go, every day. Drugs aren’t a thing for you now. Understood?”

  There was a nod, then a smile.

  “Yeah. Thanks, um, Keeley, was it? I’m Nickels. Nick Smith.” He put a hand out, as if they were just meeting for the first time. To shake. She did it back, the man letting his hand linger for a while, suddenly realizing that she was incredibly attractive. “Um… Don? You wanted me to meet with her… Because you have a project in mind for us?”

  That was the fellow trying to get them all back on topic. The important work one, which, obviously, was why he was there.

  Donald Holmstrum laughed, if gently.

  “You know it. Later. For right now I just wanted you two to meet. Keels here is already in on a new project we have going on. Reality Wars? Krista Hall is directing that. Judy Swan is the lead and we have Avery Rome in, as well. Some other key players, as well. Really, if the timing works out, we should get you in as a walk on. It would be good for you to have the extra exposure and it’s different than the action things you’ve been in
, so far.”

  The man nodded, eagerly. That got Don to seem slightly surprised. The feeling flowed off of him that it wasn’t what the kid would normally be doing. As if a minor part would be beneath him, even if it was a good career move.

  “That sounds… Good, actually. I can do something in the background? I don’t know, maybe something with a bit more depth than what I normally do? In makeup, to show that I’m not all that vain. I mean, I am, but it will work better if people don’t typecast me. Not yet, anyway.”

  The producer pointed at the man.

  “Bingo. My thought exactly. Thanks for coming in, Nickie. We’ve had a chat with Gloria. I’m sure it won’t be a problem, as locked on to the project as you are now.”

  He stood, indicating it was time for the other man to leave. A thing that he did instantly. Even if he hadn’t had his bubble tea yet. Then, Linda wasn’t in the outer office when they went out. She was probably getting that, which was a thing for Keeley to keep in mind on the other side of things. She’d need to come back with two drinks.

  The younger man shook everyone’s hand again, then gave both of them quick hugs.

  “Nice meeting you, Keeley. Good to see you again, Don. I should get back to the set. I… managed to waste half the morning, somehow. No wonder Gloria hasn’t been happy with my work. Thanks. I should run.” He nearly did that, realizing that he had things to do.

  Don touched her on the shoulder as soon as the other man was out of the office, his hand landing on her gently. It was warm, since his circulation was good.

  “I don’t suppose you have some time? We could do some things, if you want? Totally unrelated to work, of course. It won’t get you a better job or anything.” He sighed then, as if that wasn’t going to work, even if he was better looking now.

  Probably because most of the women around him didn’t put out if they weren’t being paid for it. Not in a casual way, like he was suggesting. Instead of leaving him hanging, or telling him that he was fine that way, she nodded.

  “I have a few minutes? We should hurry. I don’t want your new secretary to think we aren’t working.”