Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) (34 page)

The head tilt he got from the
nice seeming actress was somber, and out of place, considering it came with a
frown that was half scared, and half angry. A little nervously she pulled at
the bottom of her pink shirt, the thin cotton straining over her chest as it
happened. That kind of thing was probably subconscious behavior for a person
like her, Ty figured. When she got upset her go to move would involve sexual
signaling. He hadn't noticed it in the others, but it was too powerful of a
weapon not to use like that, most days.

Her voice was too smooth, really.

"I... I can take you away
from here, if you wish, Tyler Gartner. Only... I don't think you can outrun
that sort. One of them found me in the middle of New Zealand once, in the
middle of nowhere. I ended up in an isolated cabin in Australia while he took
my place. It's nearly impossible to stop that kind of thing, if they want it to
happen. The only reason I lived was that The Defiler was afraid that The Line
Walker would hate him if he killed me. Staying here isn't a good idea anyway,
not if that many Greater Demons are paying attention to you."

That was the kind of thing that
everyone seemed to be indicating lately. Why that was, he didn't really know.
So far none of that sort had actually done anything to him. Not in a negative
fashion. Zack had given him a job, and Darla's big trick so far had been
getting him to fill out a notebook filled with info she probably already had.
The Rotted had traded some fairly easy and interesting work finding things for
some favors, which even if she never paid off wasn't exactly being in a torture
dungeon.

The Storm had tossed some threats
around, but apparently
she
could be bribed with cookies.

He got the idea. They were
incredibly dangerous beings when they wanted to be, but so far they really all
had just been acting like normal people. Not perfectly, but enough so that he
couldn't see painting them all with the same brush as being reasonable yet.

Still, he nodded, since Judy was
there to help him, and had come from wherever she'd been just for that, if he
had the right idea. Just so some random Human wouldn't be screwed over and lose
everything for having helped one of her people. That was pretty darned noble,
considering there wasn't even one person in the world who would have thought of
that as being her responsibility.

"It's part of my job. The
other one, I mean. I have to be able to work with everyone, and past a certain
point that means trusting people to be reasonable. Even the frightening ones.
There
is
a good point in there. What you just said. I need to work out a
second in command in case one of them kills me." Who he could get for that
he had no clue. Really he didn't know that many people. More now than most of
the rest of his life combined, but most of the new beings around him weren't
exactly great choices for Human-Other liaison positions.

He knew Vampires, and Shifters,
Alede and Trollienkeine, Mages too. They might be able to do the trick, of
course. They had powers, and were a little different, but it was pretty clear
that they lived in and around Human societies all the time, so should know how
to navigate that way. So far all that had been really needed was a phone. If
that kept up, maybe some of the others could pull the job off too. It wasn't
really that hard so far.

People had basically wanted to
get along and help out so far. If they didn't, then things wouldn't work, but
it wasn't like he was planning to swing in on a vine and fight lions or
something. He just needed a person that could sit back and call things in.

Two things happened then, as he
looked at the far wall. The owl door opened, and Judy reached out and touched
his arm gently. It reminded him of what Greater Demons always did, with their
data collection telepathy thing. The big difference here was that a soft pulse
of desire flowed across his skin, making him far more interested in the
attractive actress than he had been. Considering she was famous and pretty, as
well
as there to help him out, that was a bit more forceful than was really needed.

"Hey, cut that out." He
smiled when he said it, and glanced at his arm, which got her to chuckle.

"Oopse. You know, most
people can't tell when I do that. It's a bit distracting, I hear." She
seemed a little embarrassed by it however, which was probably acting on her
part.

The second thing that took place
was that Kait came through the large wooden door on the other side of the room.
Followed by Satan.

At least it was a giant creature
that had reddish brown skin, a heavily featured face, large white horns on his
head that were a lot like a bull's, and a few tuffs of fur that didn't hide the
fact that he was hung like a rather large horse. His feet ended in hooves, but
there were no scrapes or dings being left on the floor, so Tyler decided not to
have a problem with him. The rest of the body looked like a bodybuilder that
didn't have the sense to ever stop growing.

In short, he was freaking awesome
looking. A thrill of fear ran through Ty as he looked over, but he smiled and
waved at the man. Whatever he was, he was definitely male. A thing that the
suddenly freaked out feminist attack group realized too, it looked like. They
all froze in place, except for Sue, the smart one, who ducked down behind a
shelf of books.

Kait looked nervous now, but
walked over to Judy, trying to smile.

"This is the Lesser Demon
Balthias. The Fear Demon. He agreed to help us out today, in exchange for an
invitation to your birthday party, Ty. He loves cake."

The huge creature smiled, showing
that he had fanglike tusks. His voice rumbled, but also had a slightly cultured
air to it. A scent, like cedar, came off of him.

"Verily. Who does not enjoy
sweets? Now, where are the miscreants that have attacked the good and fair
workers here? I shall begin their torture and rapine immediately!"

It was incredibly intimidating,
and Judy actually shrunk into herself, holding her arms over her erect nipples.
She backed up a few steps though, clearly considering making a run for the open
front of the space. Kait took a few steps that way too.

Tyler smiled, and spoke in a low
voice.

"We need to keep the
real
torture and rape to a minimum. They're vandals and annoying, but we need to
keep some limits in mind. You can work inside those lines?" For a moment
he didn't know if he was being clear enough, but he didn't really want to
explain to the being too loudly what he meant. That might reassure the forced
labor crew, and left them feeling secure, which was clearly counter to what
Kait had planned.

The looming giant, who had to be
nearly twice his own size, or at least felt like it, leaned across the counter,
hitting him with a wave of fear that got him to smile. It tickled a bit, after
all.

Terror always did.

"Worry not, Clerk. I have
been informed as to the particulars of this situation. I shall wring panic and
teach a lesson that few would ever forget, but not more." Then he let his
voice rise. "Except for the one that I will take away, for a life of
servitude and torture. You say I may pick from these?"

He let his hand wave out, but
covered Kait and Judy with it, as well as the rest of the store.

Tyler shook his head.

Then he walked out onto the
floor, pointing at various people.

"Not Alexis, or Will here.
He's in trouble, but also pulled out not being an asshole at the last minute.
He did get me shot though, so
that
wasn't great, but it was a mistake,
so we should probably just let him work his part of things off with cleaning
and book shelving. This one, this one..." He moved quickly, considering
how he felt, and pointed at the various ladies, who didn't mouth off about how
they were untouchable suddenly.

That would be thanks to the fear
that rippled off of the Demon, no doubt.

"These are all in the pool
of people for the job you mentioned.
If
they don't work hard enough and
learn the lesson you have to teach to your satisfaction. I suppose that might
mean you end up without a personal slave from this. You
could
also end
up with several. I mean, what are the odds they'll learn anything?" He was
being mean, since they weren't stupid really, just misguided.

Trashing stores and protesting
Alede... It was about as dumb a thing as he'd ever heard of.

Almost as if trying to prove that
the Lesser Demon was going to end up with a new slave the short haired one that
had spoken earlier moved forward and started talking.

"You can't do this! He isn't
even covered... You're threatening us with rape. I'll, I'll call the
police!"

Balthias laughed, a rumbling
thing that got the lady to take a step back.

"The Human authorities have
left
you here, under our power. It was done as a gift for
you
, Carol. The
Clerk interceded for
you
personally, as did The Line Walker. Those of
your kind gave you over to them, for as long as they wish to use you. Now, get
books upon those shelves, or you will find yourself sore used in ways you
cannot imagine. None can, nor
will
, protect you from this. Only your own
work and learning not to attack your betters will save you now. Fail in that,
at any point, for the rest of your days, and you will be forfeit to me. Do you
understand what that means?"

She seemed to get it, since his
member stiffened just enough to catch her attention. Hopefully he didn't really
mean it, and was just living up to his Fear Demon name. Regardless, the people
being punished got to work and all did a great job after that. Tyler helped,
getting things on the shelf, and no one walked into the place, until nearly
three, when two police officers came in. They were in uniform, and looked like
they wanted to wet themselves when they saw Balthias, but they came in anyway.
One was a familiar looking older man, the other a woman that looked to be about
thirty.

It took him a bit to remember the
names, and he'd never met the woman himself, so it was a guess, but he nodded
at them and waved them over.

"Officers Robertson and
Smith?" They were supposed to be the ones working with him, after all.

It was enough to get the two
people in blue to walk toward him, rather than harassing the Lesser Demon, even
though they kept touching their weapons and acting like they were there to try
and fight him. That was silly, of course. They were on the same side. The side
of right and justice.

"Mr. Gartner? We had a
report of supernatural activity, and people being held hostage? That meant the
Chief sent
us
in. Thanks for recommending us for the job, by the way.
You can give a eulogy at my funeral. Remember to tell everyone how the women
loved me."

Rather than act like a joker, he
just nodded.

"I will. You can do the same
for me. Anyway, I think what we're looking at here is some prisoners whining
about their jailer. That would be the Lesser Demon Balthias. You can guess
which one that is? The Fear Demon. Um, basically he's law enforcement, so you
should go introduce yourselves to him." Then he grinned.

"Oh, I know, you two should
also come to my party tonight. Birthday. It will probably be just a few people,
and some cake, but if anyone shows up, you can make some connections, which
will work with your new jobs. Here, let's get you introduced to your new
colleague." He was making stuff up again, but Balthias seemed pleased to
meet the people in blue.

Especially when it was suggested
that they'd be working together.

Under the waves of terror it was
actually kind of funny, to tell the truth.

At five the extra bodies got to
go home, with orders to be there the next day at nine. The idea was that the
slave labor was going to be there every day until the place was fixed. Even
with Balthias standing there several of them whined about that, because they
had real jobs to be at on Monday. That got an angry roar from the giant Demon.

"You shall serve in silence
or face my wrath!" Then he closed with the mouthy ones, a fist that was a
little larger than Ty's head clenched, ready to enforce his will. It got them
to shut up, which was nice.

The troubling thing was that it
was hard to actually tell them they had to
finish
the work. Will, the
only guy in the group for some reason, actually volunteered to stay late, to
help them all out.

Balthias turned on him and
growled. It was a low rumble that had bowel loosing properties, even from
across the room.

"Nay, William. You may
not
stand for them. These are women that claim they wish equality. Let them have
it!"

Then, almost as if he were about
to kill some people for bothering him, he pointed a giant finger at the front
of the shop. "Away now! Do not be late on the morrow, or my bane you shall
know."

It didn't take more than one
suggestion that they leave, Tyler noticed. Not when Balthias did the work.

Then, suddenly, all fear was gone
from the room. Shut off like a spigot, it felt like. The others didn't close
with the giant instantly, even though he smiled at them all.

"I will return then. This
was pleasant. It is a shame that our agreement did not allow for the rapine of
our prisoners. Next time we should suggest that as part of their punishment. Is
that not the Human way?"

Glancing around, trying not to
seem like a jerk, Tyler shrugged.

"It's not
supposed
to
be, but that isn't wrong really. It isn't official, so I bet that none of the
police go for it. I bet Zack would." Not that he really had any idea of
why that was. "Anyway, you need directions to my house. It isn't far from
here." If the Lesser Demon came it would be at least one more person
showing up.

Ty had to like that.

After a bit, since it didn't take
long to explain where the thing would be, Balthias vanished into thin air. It
was more impressive when he did it than the others, because he was simply so
large. It left a hole in the world for a bit, or at least in his own
perception. After that happened Judy came back over. She'd been off to the
side, taking turns with the other Alede, servicing people in the side rooms.
That had meant having to run and clean them all each time, but it wasn't hard
work, if that was all you were doing.

They had to eat though, just like
anyone else.

Smiling, the pretty actress moved
over to him, and touched his arm. This time there was no sense of pleasure in
it, other than the contact itself. Not that it was
bad
.

"Calley says that she's
about to get off work, and will need to take Palma away with her. Ang is
driving the food over. You just need to show up at seven. Valerie wants you to
come over to Pretty Plus, so she can introduce you to someone. Eve the Vampire
requests that you aid her however, in your capacity with the Coalition. There
seems to be some trouble involving a local Vampire... Robs? He's been sighted,
and appears to have some hostages. The local Police Chief?"

It was clear that she was just
standing there,
talking
to people. It was like magic though, to him. He
could just barely hear her, since she was kind of whispering.

"Fuck. Okay, um... Valerie?
Can you and your friend come to my party? At seven? I hate to leave you hanging
like this, but Chief Sims is kind of a friend of mine, and while she can handle
herself I bet, I think I see the problem here. She's a Vampire, but not
publically. So..."

A delicate hand came up, to stop
him, and then there was a nod.

"I see. Valerie says that
sounds fine, and that she and her guest understand the emergency. Eve is
readying a strike team, but wants you to go with them, as cover for Althea?
Does that make sense?"

It kind of did, so he nodded,
then spoke out loud, since odds were good that even a Vampire couldn't hear his
head rattle.

"Right. I'm coming. Are we
meeting at the Yoghurt World?"

That got a nod, and a touch on
the arm.

"Is this... You're already
injured, maybe you shouldn't go?"

It was a great point, actually,
but he was feeling better. Not good enough to run across the city maybe, but he
could talk on the phone if needed. Maybe even in person, if he could get a
ride.

Judy kissed him, warmly, when he
started to leave.

"Be careful. Vampires are
dangerous."

That was just the truth, so he
nodded, his lips still tingling a bit.

"Got it. I'll try not to
forget that part of things. They're always so polite and cuddly, so it can be
hard to remember. Well, not
all
of them, but most of the ones I know
actually kind of are. Still, I get the idea. Are you good here? It isn't much
fun, but I'm betting it will be better than wherever I'm going right now."

She nodded, and touched him
again, her hand warm on his arm.

"It will be fine. I can go
wait at your place? I'm invited to your party, aren't I?"

"Of course you are. If you
and Balthias come that will be
two
whole people there. If I get Ang and Palma,
Calley, you two... This might even be a party! Like a real one." It would
be neat, if it happened that way.

He moved, traveling at a slow,
but very smooth, jog. It was how he practiced running, most days, since it was
easier on his joints. Now it let him move faster than a walk, without bouncing
his middle around like an insane person. In that way it was kind of paying off,
having skills like that. He'd always kind of thought he was just being a
running nerd, practicing things like that.

A minute and a half later he was
at the front of the other shop. Inside there were several people, who were all
Vampires, if he had it right. Eve, Ginger, the tiny bald man, Bey. There was
also another man there who was better looking than Tyler was, standing next to
Ed, the Ambassador.

Bey bowed toward him when he
walked in.

"Thank you for coming, Mr.
Gartner. I believe the plan is for us to all go together? Robs the Vampire has
taken several of the police hostage. His powers do not allow for great speed,
but his mental abilities are fine enough. He can compel beings well, and has
used that to isolate Althea Sims. The other police have him surrounded, but he
is threatening to kill nearly fifty of their own, if he is not allowed to leave
with the Chief. It is a bit of a miscalculation on his part, since of course,
Althea is one of us, and easily his equal, if not his better, in a fight."
There was a tight, slightly sour looking, smile then. "If she uses her
abilities to subdue him, however, it will end her covert operations here. It is
a problem for her."

The words were a little odd, but
Edom explained for him, locking eyes a bit. He had good eyes. A warm chocolate
brown that were a bit distracting.

"She isn't acting for the
Council. Our pretense here is that we were asked by the Coalition to help out,
since it's a Vampire related issue. Otherwise she'll be on her own."

That made sense. She was a
grownup after all, and had her own projects to work on.

"Right. I
am
asking,
since it's exactly the kind of thing that we should be doing. Good call,
setting this up so fast. Can we take him out safely?"

That got several nods at least,
everyone being in agreement on that idea. Robs, it seemed, while a Master
Vampire, wasn't exactly a threat to any of them.

Eve looked at him and winked.

"Really, we should send
Batman here in, just to fuck with him. You know... That might not be a bad
idea. I mean
with
the rest of us. I'll carry you? We'll stand there
while
you
kick his ass. I mean, if there's only one of him, and he isn't
that fast, you can take him. I've been sparring with Ty. He's
better
than I am. It's a bit galling to admit, but in raw skill, it's true." She
glanced at Bey, who looked at him, and gave his agreement with a smile.

"Wonderful! We should be away
now, before we lose the day. It would be good to handle this quickly, so that
we may be at the party on time later? I hear that many are attending?"

Before he could even blink, he
felt himself shift, and then staggered a bit, a blurry time later. The world
had turned into a smear, and then, boom, he was on his feet, standing in front
of Althea Sims, her desk, and five police officers that had their guns drawn.
They were all pointed at the door of the office. Next to the Chief, who was
sitting there looking calm and slightly bored, was a pale man, with black hair,
and of all things, a fucking
cape
. A tux too, which made him look like a
cheesy magician, instead of a cool Vampire, which was probably what he was
going for. His fangs were out, and his eyes blood red. It was what certain
kinds of Vampires did right before they attacked.

It had been in the talk that he'd
heard on the subject at the library.

Not thinking, just seeing that
the man was lunging for the Chief, Tyler turned his stumble into a forward run.
It hurt, he thought, but that was only pain, and not so bad he couldn't handle
it. Even when he collided with the Vampire, it wasn't too bad. Honestly, he
barely noticed it.

They fought then. It was fast,
hard, and hurt slightly worse than being shot. He hammered blow after blow at
the side of the man's head and neck, and was hit several times in the middle in
return. It wasn't enough to push him back, since he was holding on to the cape,
which didn't just pull off as easily as he would have figured.

As fights went, it was oddly
even. The Vampire was faster and stronger than he was, but his skills were, it
seemed, a bit more up to the task. At one point he was tossed back, into the
wall behind him, caving the drywall in a bit. He rallied though, and managed to
come back instantly. All of his force was, finally, aimed at trying to hit the
Vampire in the eyes. There was a lot of gouging going on, but he'd heard Eve
call that out to him.

"Rip his fucking eyes out.
Even Vampires hate that." Her words held merit it seemed, since when he
got one of the things hit properly, there was a bellow of pain.

After that he managed to keep
things going until he hit the other one too, and about three minutes later the Vampire
stopped moving. Eve moved in then, smiling.

"Do you want me to kill him?
Or... Does anyone have a knife? We could let Chief Sims do it? You
can't
hold a Master Vampire, not here."

Tyler was gasping for air, but
his middle didn't hurt. Nothing did really, for some reason. It had when he was
hit
, but not very much. He'd taken some punishment, but wasn't dead yet,
so that was nice.

That thought reminded him of what
Zack had said. The Storm, too.

He was dead. He had been the
whole time.

The
Bey
bowed, and moved
forward.

"This was a problem created
by one of our people. We should not force this action on others. Robs of
Clermont, you have been found guilty of attacking innocent Humans. Your
punishment will be death."

Then the Vampire, who wasn't conscious
yet, died. His head exploded, into a red mist. All of the police standing there
seemed to come back to themselves then. That meant they started aiming at the
Vampires, which was about to not go over too well, when the Chief cleared her
throat.

"Weapons away. This is our
backup from the Vampires. Good to know that we have the help, if things like
this come up. From the Coalition of Nations too, I see. I wasn't aware your
organization was so proactive." She glanced at the wall that had partially
caved in, seeming a bit curious about it, rather than upset. "Do you need
medical help?"

The thing there was, he didn't
think he really
did
.

"I'm good. He made a mess,
but wasn't a very good fighter. Anyway, I need to get back to things. I have a
party in a bit. It's my birthday."

"Oh? How old are you, or is
that a secret?"

"Eighteen."

"Really? I would have
guessed older. It isn't everyone that can take on a Master Vampire and win, is
it?"

He didn't know, since so far he'd
done okay against that kind of being, really. Though Robs had been the only
Master in the group, he thought.

Then, before he could say
anything else, or invite the woman to his party, the world smeared again, and
he was back at the Yoghurt World, the rest of the people all standing there a
few minutes later. Bey had been there when he stumbled though, and had helped
to steady him with a dry, but unlined hand.

"Most impressive, Mr.
Gartner. I see that aligning with this new Coalition has merit. I shall inform
the others on the Council. I had thought it would be the case, but it is good
to see that being confirmed. Thank you for coming to our aid this day. I shall
make an effort to inform Tara the Manthori that the prime threat against her
has been handled so neatly."