Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) Read online

  So the Bear Shifter lady had been sentenced by the Alede Ambassador, to seclusion on an island for two weeks. That one had been interesting to watch happen, given the biological and cultural differences. The Shifters had figured that Viv would have been tucked away for years, if not decades for her crime.

  Even after being beaten unconscious by the large and powerful woman, with a gun, the Alede Ambassador had nearly cried when she said two weeks. It wasn't because she wanted to say more either. The idea of being alone that long was, it seemed, a true horror to that kind of person. It had been about two weeks before though, he thought.

  Keeber shrugged his vast shoulders tightening enough to show that he had a lot of muscle on him. Maybe all of his bulk really was.

  "We're headed out tomorrow to get her. Normally there would be a big thing, with the Ambassador going, but Catherine isn't a fan right now. Not that she's holding a grudge, but it's only been a few weeks, so it isn't that big of a deal."

  Tyler nodded.

  "Can I go with you? We should ask Valerie as well. I know that she might want to make certain Vivian is all right. She was really upset when she announced the punishment. We should set that up. Actually, if that works for you, I can try to set that up right now?"

  He had his phone, and the woman's number was in there already.

  Rupert made a cute face, his bushy brown beard moving a bit.

  "I... Think we can do that. Viv will like seeing you, I think. She felt pretty bad about the whole thing. She's a hothead over some things, but not a bad person. That might help, yeah. We'll leave at about six in the morning? We have a van. It's a bit of a drive."

  He nodded. That all seemed right to him.

  "I'll be there. Let me check with the Alede?"

  He moved back a bit, behind the booth, and dialed the number. It was a holiday, so it was possible that the lady wasn't going to pick up. On the third ring he thought that was likely. Right until the line clicked, picking up.

  "Hello?" It was pretty much a purr, designed to send shivers down the spine of anyone that was alive enough to respond that way. On the good side, he was.

  "Hi, Valerie? This is Ty Gartner." He was about to go into the whole thing about the Coalition, in case she didn't really remember him, but it seemed like she did.

  "Oh? Hello, Tyler. May I help you with something? Are you looking for Kaitlyn?"

  That hadn't occurred to him, but Kait had announced to her own people that he was kind of her territory, as far as sex went. That was all about keeping the others off of him, so he could work. Still, to her people, his coworker was the boss of him. It would make sense then, to their minds, that he'd seek her out often. For sex. Because that was what they did.

  "Actually, I'm calling to see if you wanted to go with me tomorrow morning to get Vivian from her island exile? I know that you were worried. It's fine if you don't want to go as well, since she did kind of work you over a bit. She'll understand."

  There was a hesitation, but then a soft sound that was a bit like a sigh.

  "Thank you. I'd love to attend. We should take her things. What do you think she'll wish for, after that ordeal?"

  He didn't know, but made some guesses.

  "Food? Clean clothing. Um... She likes girls I think and just had a breakup, so bringing her a friend that way might be cool? Maybe not. I don't know enough about women to know if that would work for them. Probably best to stick to the food and clothes. Maybe a toothbrush?" He knew that would be something he'd want, if it were him in the same situation. If they hadn't left her one.

  He would have, and honestly, should have made sure it happened. Instead Ty had just let the Shifters deal with it, like they always did. What that meant, he didn't know, to be honest. He hadn't even asked.

  Valerie made a soft sound, which seemed a bit strange. Moist and intimate. Probably due to the fact that she was busily having sex at the moment.

  That wasn't embarrassing or anything. Not to her, at any rate.

  "We need to meet up at six tomorrow. I..." He walked around the face painting booth, and waved at Rupert, who was in charge of the whole thing, as far as he knew. "At Westfield, or should we meet someplace else?"

  The Bear Shifter nodded.

  "That works. At her place? She's the important one."

  "Got that? We'll meet at your store. At six in the morning."

  That it seemed, was fine, thankfully. He was able to get away then, and go off to find the Mages. He didn't really know any of the people there though, since he only really knew two Mages. Hiram and Lisa, their Ambassador. There were two openly marked booths, side by side. One selling food, having sandwiches and baked products, and one with jewelry that was supposed to be magical.

  A black woman smiled at him, her face kind looking. She was even sort of pretty, he decided. Not drop dead gorgeous maybe, but decent enough to get his attention.

  "Can I help you find anything? We have some nice croissants. I just made them this morning." Because that was what all eighteen year old boys wanted.

  It sounded good, but he didn't have any money on him, and couldn't really afford that kind of thing if he did.

  "I'm actually just checking in. Tyler Gartner, Coalition of Nations."

  Before he could explain that, the woman started nodding.

  "I didn't know you folks were part of this. Do you need us to do anything? I can get away for a bit, if you need one of us?" She stopped, and called out to the woman behind the counter of the food booth. "Erin? This is the Coalition of Nations rep. I don't know-"

  The woman nearly ran out, not letting him explain, so he crossed his eyes and smiled at them both. It was an attempt to be charming.

  Erin, who was white, about forty and had brown hair that looked really even, like it was dyed, came out directly, looking scared. Even with the funny faces.

  "Ginny? What's happening?"

  He broke in, being rude and interrupting, but not wanting to start an issue.

  "Not much, to be honest. I just didn't get to that part yet. I'm checking in with you to make sure there are no problems? Thankfully it really doesn't come up that often, or hasn't so far."

  That got the women to go silent, and oddly, a cute girl who looked like she might have been about fourteen to walk over and offer him a cookie off of a small tray.

  She nodded at him, rather officially.

  "We haven't had any issues, even with a sign up saying who we are. It's scary, but so far almost everyone has been nice, and the ones that haven't just kind of walk past. I'm a bit nervous. I mean, what can I do if something happens? An attack or whatever."

  It took him a second, but he finally had an idea of what might work pretty well.

  "If that happens, you can call on the Shifters and Vampires. They'll back you up. They would anyway, but letting them know what's happening can't hurt. Just like you should back them up, if it comes up. It probably won't, but you know, better to have a plan than not? I can give you my cell number, too." He meant give it to all of them, but the girl acted like he was flirting with her.

  That got him to have to fight a grin. She was pretty, but also a kid. A real one, not one secretly older than he was by two years. It was enough that he nearly forgot what he'd been thinking earlier. He looked young enough that no one would have thought much about it if he'd taken her out on a date. Even the women there with her didn't think her attention to him was strange.

  So he entered her info into his phone. You never knew who was going to be needed.

  "Rebecca Soars? Mage. I should get the rest of you, if you don't mind?" It probably seemed like he was deflecting, making it seem like he wasn't there just to get the girl's info. If so, he was decently smooth about it.

  Those were the three main groups that he'd worked with, except the Alede. So it was a bit of a surprise when he got away a few minutes later, and found a booth that marked the people working it as Elth. One of them was even a person he knew.

  Kent, the hamburger guy from the ma
ll.

  He waved at the copper haired man. The guy was exotic on a high level, his locks actually being like metal. The guy had cool eyes too, which were multi colored in rings. The outer rim was a deep green. The center was more of a metallic gold color. He was a bit over five feet tall, by a few inches, but shorter than Ty was. Fit though, and having very even skin that was slightly metallic in the sunlight. An almost subliminal sheen of copper again, but very light.

  "Clerk! Welcome to the Day of Independence!"

  He got it, and answered in kind.

  "Happy fourth of July!"

  Then, almost as if it was planned, his phone rang in his pocket.

  Chapter four

  The call was for, of all things, a magazine subscription.

  "Um, no, thank you. Please take me off your calling list." Then he hung up.

  Tyler didn't have anything against telephone solicitors, he just wasn't going to be buying anything from them, so it was mean to waste their time. Kent looked at him and smiled, as if commiserating with him.

  Glaring at the phone a little, he faked a grimace.

  "Hmm. On the Fourth too. You know what that means?" He glanced at the copper haired man, who seemed confused.

  "Nay?"

  "It means that someone is being made to work today. I feel a bit sorry for them. Not even here, where it's at least a little bit fun." Not that he didn't feel for Kent, but the man didn't seem offended by the idea.

  "This is truth. I get to see many here, and all of them are festive and bold. Three have walked up to my very space and inquired as to the nature of the Elth. That rarely happens at Westfield. The sales are good as well. As long as battle does not begin, I have to suggest this day might have been well planned." There was a look at the world around them, which didn't stop at his regard. Foolish of the universe, or at least the people in it, no doubt. "We stand ready however, in case of the worst. These people are not warriors however, so I like our chances."

  It was a different way of thinking, but it had kind of been what Rebecca had mentioned, after a fashion.

  "Well, the goal is to avoid violence. If something comes up, give me a call and I'll try to get it handled. Hopefully nothing will be all that bad."

  "Luck to us, then!" He held up the spatula he was using for his food preparation, like a sword. It looked about right. Like he really knew how to use it.

  The rest of the people with booths, and there were about forty of them lined up, were Human. Unless they were hiding themselves for some reason. If that was the case no one ratted them out, and he couldn't tell the difference.

  The whole thing was still just starting, the crowd not being all that intense yet. It was still about eight hours until the big show. That part would be impressive, of course. Then would come the massive crush of people walking miles to get back to their cars, followed by gridlock that would last for hours. It was an annual tradition. There would also be a few fights, but that would be the responsibility of the cops in the area to deal with, as long as none of the other Nations were involved.

  Things were relatively happy for the time being. Some music started, coming from the bandstand area. He knew it was called that, because a man came on and told them that they'd have live bands playing until nine. After he did the mic check, which was just him saying random words. It was a bit loud, but only a bit distorted.

  Nothing much happened of note, until he got in front of the Vampire food booth. The name for it was funny, but no one seemed to be sprinting away from them. Possibly because it was daylight. Everyone knew that Vampires only came out at night.

  Which was true, except for the most powerful.

  When he got there though, standing in the front of the white and red thing, a push came from behind. It wasn't hard, but it did rock him a bit, which got him to spin in place. Before he turned all the way around Ed, Eve and Ginger were all there. The youngest looking one had pure blood red eyes, and her fang teeth showing.

  It was a woman standing there, who seemed a bit shocked, to tell the truth. It wasn't the Vamps that did it either, but the slightly blood covered knife in her hand. The one that had just stuck him in the shoulder. Looking over, he smiled, and then rolled his eyes.

  "Well, you could have just said hello. Some people say that when they just meet new people? I don't suppose you'd like to drop that? Please?" Ty wasn't that worried really. The big issue was that he was going to need another shirt already. That meant going home, or at least getting Eve or Ginger to run and get him something.

  The lady went wide eyed, and took a breath. It was like she was going to scream. Then she didn't.

  "I won't let you ruin Reverend Blythe! I won't!" She stabbed again, so he blocked, and carefully took the blade away, by grabbing it and twisting. It cut his hand, but it didn't hurt, so he didn't worry about it.

  Then she tried to beat him up with her bare hands. It was poorly done, and ridiculously slow, but at least she seemed committed to her protection of the old cult leader. That was nice to see, he guessed. Ginger grabbed her from behind and held her easily, locking her arms to her sides.

  The fun part was trying to explain what was going on to nine-one-one. The woman on the other end got that there had been a stabbing, and sent someone out to handle it. One of the Officers that was dressed up in shorts and had a bike with him, so he could get around the festival area quickly got there first. His yellow shirt was pretty, and tight enough to show he must work out.

  The man looked at the sign, then the fact that he'd been stabbed... And promptly sprayed him in the eyes with pepper spray.

  "Get on the ground! Do it, now!" When the spray did nothing he drew and fired a taser, almost instantly. It made him dance around, spastically, but didn't let him lie down in particular. The man started to freak out, even as Eve moved in. Possibly to kill the guy.

  Ty managed to gasp a single word out.

  "No!" For some reason that got the fellow to pull his side arm, which was stupid on a level that he couldn't even start to imagine. First, he was pointing it at the wrong person, though he probably didn't need to have it out. Second, there were people all around them.

  On the good side, he managed to get on the ground before the panicked man fired.

  "I'm the one that was attacked. The woman being held by the girl there is the one that did it. It's okay, you don't need to hurt people."

  That got him kicked. Not that it did anything to him really, other than make his ribs creak a little.

  The officer was still clearly afraid, probably that he was going to be killed by Vampires. Given the expression on their collective faces, that really was about to take place, so he was at least up on where things were headed. The strange thing there was that it was Barb that was moving in. Tyler barely knew her, but she clearly had decided that he was her buddy, and was going to make the bad man stop. Probably with a bit of blood involved. It wouldn't be hers, either.

  He spoke between the kicking's, his voice relatively calm.

  "Stay back. He's just scared. He doesn't know... He has backup yet. Don't... Let him be hurt." The whole thing was punctuated with him being hit, laying there and trying to do what he was told, like get his hands behind his back. The man knelt on his face while doing that, which had to be softer than the cement under them would have been on his bare knees. It would have been painful though, for most people. Real abuse, most likely.

  Barb had blood red eyes now, and looked to be ready to make the police go away. A car came, which made things worse at first. The two men that got out hit him hard, laying on top of him and punching occasionally, like there was any need for that kind of thing. He had both hands behind his back, cuffed already. Short of breaking the things, he wasn't going to get up and fight them. Except that he probably still could. Not without risking everyone else however.

  He didn't resist, or even say anything, since that seemed to be scaring the men. That meant he was beaten in silence for a while, as one of them manage to pull his shorts down, leaving hi
m there, mooning the world. Really, that one had to be on purpose. Hopefully his rear looked cute from that angle, since at least a few people were getting it on their cell phones. Ty smiled for the cameras, trying to seem mildly amused by the antics.

  In the end there were at least five cars there, and while the police didn't keep piling onto him, since they weren't stupid enough to think it was needed, they did leave him there. Half naked, and seeping a little bit of blood. The wound was healing already at least, and didn't hurt. They just stood there, posturing and puffing their chests out, as the yellow shirted bike cop tried to lie about him.

  That ended a few seconds later when a man he didn't know walked up, holding a cell phone out.

  "That's not exactly what happened. Here, look at this." He held the screen up, which had the other cops stand down a bit, looking annoyed. One of them grabbed the phone, and started trying to open it, to get at the sim card.

  "Evidence. It's illegal to video the police."

  Eve shook her head.

  "Nooo. It isn't. Maybe in Illinois, but not here. In fact it's illegal for you to claim that. Besides, fifty odd people got that down. It's probably already on Youtube. Your best bet is to calm the fuck down and realize that the man you attacked here is the crime victim. Don't make me call the Coalition of Nations on you." She didn't even smile when she said it.

  Ty nearly lost it at the words, and he was nearly certain that Edom grinned, though he turned away. Still, one of the cell phone people came forward, having the whole thing, including the stabbing in the background. The woman had been trying to covertly get the Vampire food stand, since it was kind of novel. She seemed embarrassed about that part of things. It was why they were there that day however, and lucky for him that she had.

  Looking at her from the ground, still cuffed, Ty smiled at her.

  "Don't worry, if they didn't want to be seen they wouldn't have marked the booth so clearly. You should talk to some of them. As soon as this is over, I mean." He sounded very reasonable, which he hoped made him seem badass. Rather than insane. The woman nodded and checked out his behind rather shamelessly.