Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) (26 page)

He waved a bit and walked out,
not looking back. It was a relief to get away from those two. Not that he was
turning into a Greater Demon bigot, but being that near people that knew
everything about him like that was kind of hard to bear. Each little hatred
he'd ever had, they both knew about. His secret desire to boink Zack in the ass
was in there, too. So was the idea that The Rotted was a creepy little girl.
That one could have been worse, because she was kind of cute, and while he
didn't go for kids, that didn't mean his subconscious mind wouldn't consider
it, knowing that she was more than old enough in reality. It was sick to think
about.

Also probably a thing that he
couldn't help, now that he'd considered not wanting to think about that kind of
thing. At least it was like not thinking about a pink elephant, rather than
something that was always there for him.

The thing was, she'd know about
him thinking all of that, if she didn't already.

Tyler had a rough idea about
where the Mages were located, that being the candle shop across from the
Vampire yogurt embassy. Eve was there, behind the counter, so he waved at her,
and spoke, understanding that she'd get the idea.

"Visiting the Mages. To see
if they want to hook up with the incredible machine that is the Coalition of
Nations. That's a good line, right? Make it sound like it's not just me and a
cell phone?"

She spoke back, which meant that
he had to read her lips. Thankfully she looked at him.

"Lisa's nice. Do you want me
to introduce you?"

"Yeah, that might be good? I
know
I
wouldn't trust me if I walk off the street and said 'hey, I'm
here to help you.' I need to hurry. The store needs to be cleaned up before the
shipment comes in.

"Got it. Ed, will you cover
for me? Thanks. Be right back."

Then she jogged, at very human
speeds, out of her shop. She didn't even take her apron off, just walking
toward him. It was a flowing kind of thing, one that reminded him that he
needed to pay attention to that kind of thing for himself. If you moved right,
doing it economically and in a well balanced fashion, you didn't use as much
energy. You also wouldn't risk injuring yourself as much, at least when
running. It was slower though, when he tried it, which meant Eve led him into
the little candle shop, holding the red painted door. The frame was wood, but
the center glass. To the left there was a sign that said the place was closed,
even though all the lights were on and the door unlocked.

Inside it smelled a bit of incense.
There was no smoke, just a hint of a variety of things that might be more
pleasant if they were on fire. There were probably hundreds of scents, but the
strongest one he could pick out was wax. A tiny bell tinkled above him when he
went in. Other than Eve and himself, the place was empty, or seemed that way at
first.

After about five seconds there
was a voice from the back, and a head poked out from around a corner. That, or
the woman it was attached to could walk through walls. She was a Mage, so that
could be the answer, as far as he knew.

"Hello? I'll be right there.
I just need to finish this phone call." The woman, who at a guess was
going to be Lisa, vanished again. It was just a pulling back however, unless
magic was involved that he couldn't discern.

Eve just stood there, not yelling
back. Then, she was probably listening to the phone call. It would either be a
really handy trick, or incredibly annoying, depending on what you had to listen
to, he bet.

They just stood around, for
nearly five minutes, until a well enough dressed, but kind of plain looking
lady came out. She was, as Zack had mentioned, cute. She wasn't wearing any
makeup though, and had on clothing that was probably meant to be trendy, but
seemed a bit like it had seen better days. A black sweater, that practically
bagged off the woman, and a pair of black slacks.

"Sorry about that. What's
up? Did you bring me a new prospective clerk? I... Things have been a bit hard
for a bit. Todd still comes in on the weekends, and Lyn is a great help, but
with the rest of it..."

Eve shook her head a bit, and
waved over at him.

"This is Tyler. Ty Gartner.
He's the head of the Coalition of Nations. The new group that's being set up to
liaison between the Humans and the rest of us. It's a real thing. He was on
national radio for it earlier today."

That got him looked at, but
unlike Rochelle from the radio station,
this
woman just shifted gears.
Sort of.

"That doesn't mean he won't
want a job here though, right?"

Eve giggled. It was a light and
happy sound, which fit her better than most of the Vampire things did. Then,
he'd lived around Humans all his life, so that was what he knew. The rest still
seemed strange to him.

"He works down at the
bookstore. Human, though, so I bet if you offer to blow him a few times a week
he'll come in and help out here."

The blonde woman tensed up, her
face going hard. Then she glared at Eve for a bit.

"After that stuff with
Warren..."

The Vampire looked at Tyler then,
and explained.

"He used to work here. A Mage.
He used magic to rape Lisa, the old Ambassador, and me. I used to work here,
back when I was a Human. Not that we remember it. Though..." She took a
deep breath, which was probably not real, considering the whole thing where she
was dead, and sighed. "Bob turned out to be a Greater Demon. The Mimic.
Keeley took him as a slave, but before that I doubt that Warren could have
really used his magic on him to do that. Rape him, I mean?"

Tyler turned and looked at each
of them, one at a time.

"I... See. So, this Warren
is in prison?"

There was a bit of shifting then,
and a head shake from Eve.

"
Dead
. He was also
trying to start a war, using other people as pawns. I can tell you about it
later if you want? My point here is that Lisa shouldn't use that stuff as an
excuse anymore. Yeah, we were used. Get over it. Neither of us remember it."

Lisa looked away, and Tyler shook
his head after making eye contact with Eve.

"That's kind of cold. Is
that a Vampire thing, or just an Eve one?"

"Both, probably. We'll probably
have to get Zack or Darla to turn you into a girl first though, if Lisa's going
to make that trade. She likes girls." There was no hint of playing in the
words. It was just a fact.

"Or, and I'm not saying no
to any of those ideas, Lisa, but what if we worked out how to get the Mages
into the Coalition first? Then I'll see if I can't get you some help around
here? I may be young and horny, but
I
try not to be an
asshole
about it. Most days at least. Not that I know of."

No one so much as smiled, but
Lisa did let that be an excuse to change the topic and seemed grateful for it.
Then, he was only average looking at best. That could be an issue, along with
all the other stuff. That Eve had been that mean to the other woman was a bit
shocking. You were supposed to be nice to people that had been attacked like
that. On the good side they wouldn't have to kidnap the man that had done it,
Warren, and bury him in the woods.

The Ambassador for the Mages
licked her lips a bit, and then rubbed at her nose, which was a little red, he
noticed. Like she'd been crying, or had a cold. That, or snorted drugs. It
wasn't his business though, so he tried to pay attention to what she was
saying.

"I've heard a bit of talk
about this coalition. What kind of services are you offering? Basically, what
do I get out of it?"

"Ah. Great question. The
real answer is nothing that you couldn't do yourself, except that, if the Human
authorities find out about something going on that involved your people, or
might, then they can call me up and I'll get in touch with you, or your
national reps, and help them coordinate with law enforcement. So far it seems
to be working a hundred percent of the time.
Two
whole issues
down." Not that they really were yet. Still, they'd been started at least.

"Okay, I can see that as
useful. What will we need to do for it? The Mages, I mean?"

"If a problem comes up that
you can help with, that won't cost too much, then you do. That's all. I may be
wrong, but I'm still thinking this will mainly be stuff done on the phone.
Maybe
some paperwork. You know, some mage guy uses a spell to harass his
ex-girlfriend, and I pass that along to you, if it's needed. That kind of
thing?"

There was talking about the
particulars, but in the end he asked her if she wanted to come to his party on
Saturday.

"If I ask enough people, I
just know one or two will come. I know it!" He tried to seem hopeful, but
Eve cleared her throat, and then shook her head a little.

 "Don't buy it. Half the
Vampire Council is already coming, and at least a quarter of the Ambassadors
here. If you don't come it will look like you're giving up. Don't do that.
Anyway, now to
my
thing, since you seem in on that. A blowjob every time
he comes in? I know you like girls, but it won't hurt you to broaden your perspectives.
For your part Ty, that will mean eight hours of work. Good stuff, not just
filling space, leaning on the counter. I hear you know how to work a mean mop."

Instead of screaming for them to
get out, like she probably should have, Lisa sighed and shook her head.

"Is it wrong that I'm
seriously considering it? I
could
use the help." Then she looked
away, seeming miserable.

Instead of pushing the matter, he
looked at Eve and then shook his head a bit.

"
Eve
will come in.
She knows the job, right? You don't sleep, do you?" Ginger didn't, but
he'd never asked the other Vampire about that directly.

"I don't. Aaaand I
can
do some time in the evenings, a few days a week, I
guess
. We can get
Zack in, too?" That was a question, and Lisa stiffened up a lot.

"I don't know. I... We
haven't been close in a long time. He's a Greater Demon. Who knows what he
might do to me?" She seemed scared, but really, there was no real reason
why that was, as far as Ty could tell.

"He won't do anything. I
hit
him earlier, just to test something out, and he didn't even do it back, which
would have been totally fair. I bet he likes
you
better than me,
too." She was cuter, and could probably pull off more than that, if she
tried. That never hurt on the whole being liked thing. Not for women. Probably
not for anyone.

Finally, after a bit of cajoling,
she decided that it was better than letting the whole place suffer, since
she
couldn't keep up with it all. After that, Eve hugged him with one arm as they
walked out, not speaking until they were in the hallway. Out of Human, or Mage,
hearing.

"I know that seemed like me
being a bitch, which it was, but she hasn't been doing well for a while now. If
you can, you should try and be her friend. Yeah, I know, the guy code says you
shouldn't waste your time, since she won't put out, but it would be good for
her. There are other things you might get out of it. Like contacts? Really, if
you want I can get Kait to sleep with you. You know, in exchange for all your
hard work and Lisa centric help?"

Like he'd let himself be bribed
with sex? The answer, the real one, was that he
would
, but he could
probably get that on his own, if he was careful. Doing things like, oh, asking
the would-be bribe for sex himself, if he wanted. Eve seemed to understand that
he knew that though, so grinned at him.

"Or
I
could do it.
She'd just get to actually enjoy it. That's one of the things I miss most, not
being Human now. No sex drive, or pleasure from it. The whole world seems
different in a way, due just to that. I also miss food. Not that much, since
blood is more than a substitute, but enough that I notice it. Anyway,
I
need to get back to work." She walked away then, abruptly, as if she
hadn't
just offered to do him.

She totally had. It was kind of
hard to understand, but what Zack had said earlier came to mind, about keeping
women interested by making sure they knew that other women were interested in
him. Still, he was willing to bet that he got a few days with Calley and Ginger
that way. Then again, the Bat-g irl had made it pretty clear that she wasn't
going to be turning down a lot that way, if it came up. From anyone. That didn't
mean they weren't in a relationship, but it did mean that he had a lot of
possible competition there. Ginger would be easier that way, he bet. He just
had to keep her interested outside the bedroom.

Suddenly that didn't feel like
the simpler thing at all. After all, he wasn't exactly someone that was vastly
intriguing or anything. Just a guy that worked at a bookstore, and even if the
coalition thing took off, it wasn't like it
paid
anything.

Still, that gave him something to
think about when he went back to work. No one mentioned him having been gone,
so he started right in on getting everything ready, like he had the night
before. The same crew was there again, but the order was only half as large, so
they had it taken care of by about eight-thirty.