Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) (35 page)

Tyler didn't know what to say to
that, so smiled.

"Glad to help. In the
future, I'll let you take on the Vampires. I liked that head explody trick. I
just reacted, and ended up in the way, didn't I?"

Eve, who was right behind him,
having been carrying him in her arms while she ran, draped a limb over his
shoulders, moving in next to him.

"Yep. Not that you aren't
bad-ass. Still, that was a surprise when you just went for him like that. Even
more of one that he failed to compel you. I know he
tried
. In the future
though, you
should
throw one of us at your Vampire enemies first. What's
the point of being in charge if you can't get your minions to do things for you
like that?"

It was cute, but Bey actually
nodded along, as the others started to appear, walking in from outside, like
normal people.

"Indeed! There is wisdom to
that line of thought. Perhaps we should, if you have time in the coming weeks,
discuss such things? There may be ways to get around many such difficulties, if
we plan ahead of time."

"Sounds good. We should make
an appointment for that. I'll have to look at my schedule." He meant the
one from work, but it worked for a lot of things, so everyone just acted like
he wasn't talking about his nine to five job like a working stiff would have
to.

Ginger glanced at the arm that Eve
had placed across his shoulders, but didn't do more than lightly seem bemused
by it.

"Would it be all right for
us to go now? Tyler should be at his party on time, if not early. It's at
my
house, so I should go, too. I think Lenore said she was driving in for
it?" There was certainty in the words, which got the Vampire man he didn't
know to grin.

"Ah, so I see where
this
is going, don't I? All the important people get to go off and have fun, while
David is stuck here, cleaning and selling blood. Well, it's my lot in
life." He waved at Tyler though, and locked eyes. "Happy birthday. I
can sing at you, if you'd like?" He started, but was so off key it kind of
hurt.

"Thanks! I'd offer to save you
some cake, but..." Vampires didn't really eat, as far as he knew. Really,
he needed to get some blood then, if he had guests that were going to need that
at his little shindig. "I should get some refreshments for you all. I...
Don't have any way to pay yet. I don't suppose I can get a tab going?" No
one did things like that, but the Vampire he didn't know, David, just reached
below the counter, and pulled out a notebook.

"Tyler Gartner? I'll need a
phone number and an address. You work here, so mall employee discount, but...
Do we do that for blood? It's never come up before. All the Vampires work
here
,
so far."

Eve shrugged.

"I'll cover this one,
anyway. Animal blood." She glanced at Ty and then Ed. "There will be
Humans there. It would be rude to drink that kind of thing in front of them.
Call it ten bottles?" She had a card on her, and paid full price, but
nudged Ty as she did it. "I own the company that makes it, so I'm not really
losing out here. Next time you get to buy. Oh... We should have a beer run, too.
We can't send you, since you're still just a baby. Someone with a car should
go. I'll set that up, if you're really good here, Dave?"

"Yeah, go and have fun.
Don't worry about me." There was a faked up sad tone to the voice, but he
probably got that it was just going to be a little thing held in the front room
of Calley's house.

It was really strange though,
what happened next. Ginger took his hand, because he was clearly
hers
,
as far as this group went, and lead him away. He was a tiny bit sore, but even
his middle had gone numb, during the fight. He had to look like, well, he'd
been beaten by a Vampire. If so, his Vampire girlfriend didn't mention it.

"We should make sure it's
all getting set up. You have a friend here? Judy Swan? I never met her. Is she
nice?"

"Yeah. Really sweet in fact.
You'll like her, I think."

"Maybe. It can be hard, for
Alede to get along with Vampires. I know it doesn't always seem like that, but we
work at embassies, which means that everyone is always pretty understanding.
That may not work for a famous actress." There was a look then that seemed
only mildly bothered by that fact. Her pale face still showed a few freckles
over the nose, if you paid enough attention.

Brushing a wisp of hair from her
face as they walked, she kept looking around. More than normal.

"Then again, I don't know
her, and she's a friend of Kait. She's pretty nice for an Alede. I mean, I have
a boyfriend and she hasn't actually stolen him yet or anything. Unless... Does
that mean you aren't good enough for her? I hadn't thought of that."

He had to agree. It would
normally be a great question. If only he wasn't so devastatingly awesome.

"That makes sense. You
should ask her about it. Then, after she tells you how she longs for my tender
flesh, you can feel secure in the knowledge that I was the one that turned her
down. So far. Really, it was that a bunch of people pointed out that getting
distracted by the girls there would make it nearly impossible to get anything
done. I suppose I
could
do her though, if you need me to, so that you'll
know she wants me." She was an Alede, so, unless he was really wrong, Kait
would do it, and not even think about it really.

Ginger was smiling though, her
face happier than he'd seen it before.

"All good points. So, what
do you want for your birthday? I haven't had a chance to get you anything
yet."

He just moved on, not having any
ideas at all. What did he really need from life was a great question, but the
things he wanted weren't objects really. He wanted friends, and to make
something of himself, but that was pretty hard to tuck into a pretty box with
shiny ribbons on the top.

Instead he took the girl's hand,
which was cool to his own. That reminded her that she was actually dead. Not
living, like he was.

Changing the subject, as they
walked across the parking lot, he glanced over at her carefully.

"I think I'm dead." It
was probably the strangest thing that he'd ever said out of the blue like that.
If he'd told her that he thought he was really a woman trapped in a man's body,
or actually a horse, it wouldn't be as different from what they were just
talking about.

Ginger though just nodded.

"Yeah. When I first saw you
I thought you were New Vamp. No heartbeat, but out in the sun. Plus, you'd just
kicked five Vampires' butts at one time. I mean,
I
could do that, but it
was kind of a big deal for a Human. It would have been for a New Vamp, too,
really. They aren't very strong, I hear. You smell different than you should
have. Good, but... Old. So it was confusing. I don't know what that really
means for you though, or why it's happening. You're different, but that isn't
bad
.
You eat food, and are warmer than I am. Not as warm as a normal person though,
so that one could go either way."

It was hard to remember what he
was talking about, suddenly. Rather than try, he shook his head a bit, and then
smiled.

"I can introduce you to my
mother tonight. If she comes. I invited her, but she may have to work. It's
Saturday, which is a big day for waitresses."

Ginger didn't speak for a while,
just walking along. After a bit she squeezed his hand.

"That would be fun. The
trick will be explaining that I'm older than you, and
don't
want to
drink your blood. It will be easier for you, when you meet my family. With them
you'll just have to show that you're not going to hurt me, emotionally. My dad
is a little old fashioned that way. Not bad. Conservative? Politically, I mean.
They do the whole church on Sunday thing. They didn't use to, before I
vanished, but after that they found God. It's a little annoying, to tell the
truth. They keep wanting me to go to church with them."

"You should go. It can't
hurt for people to actually see Vampires in public, doing normal things like
that."

As they got to the house, which
had people in the front yard, there was a scent of smoke from a mobile grilling
unit. Palma was dressed all in white, looking tidy, and was moving around like
a possessed person, spinning and lashing out, making food appear as if by
magic. It wasn't really, but she was doing everything perfectly, and it managed
to be really effective. That reminded him to try and do that kind of thing
himself in life. If you saw a trick that worked, copying it was wise.

There was other movement going
on, with several tables that hadn't been there before, when he'd left home
earlier, having sprung up, like magic. Though it was really possible that
things had come in the large white truck that was across the street. On the
side of the semi-truck trailer there was a logo that claimed it was Marco's
Party Supplies Rentals.

One of the tables held nothing
but food. Well, drinks too. These were near the house. There was, on a
different table, a curtain around something. Hopefully strippers.

He meant it to be funny, but
shook his head at the idea. After all, his mom, Lucy, might be there. While she
probably wouldn't be uncomfortable just because of a nude person dancing
around,
he
would be, if it happened with her right there.

So far there was no one there
really, who wasn't working on part of the party. Calley was home already, and
had set up music. The system wasn't one that he'd seen before, being really
large. Probably a lot more powerful than a Bat-girl like her would ever need.
Really, a pair of headphones at about fifty feet away would work for her. That
probably meant that she'd borrowed them for some reason.

Just so his party would be cool.

As much as a party for him could
be. That was sweet of her. Still, when he tried to help, by putting a table
cloth on one of the large picnic tables, Palma practically flew at him, her
voice sounding annoyed, and not just a little.

"No! You're the person of
the day. You can't do that. Go away! Inside. I'll summon you when you're
needed. Go now!" She waved him away, her face smiling, which didn't match
the voice in the slightest.

He got the idea. He was not
needed at that moment. Tyler also didn't have anything else to do really,
though a shower might work for him. That required hurrying, but allowed him to
change into some nicer clothing and change his bandages.

It was when he looked down that
he noticed something strange. His wounds, the ones from the bullets, were gone.
Totally. Not even the stitches were left anymore. His middle was smooth and
pale. There weren't even scars left to show that anything had ever happended.

Yelping about it was tempting,
but wouldn't help much. It probably had to do with that little problem he had.
The being dead one. Just considering that made the whole thing feel dreamlike
again, and not real. Hard to hold in his head. That was...

Probably some kind of mind
control.

Fighting to remember what he'd
been thinking about, he showered and put on his good clothes. Well, the nicest
things he had that would match the tone of the day. Jeans, a belt, and a button
up shirt that was clean, if not that new looking. It was an older thing. One
that Lucy had gotten him about four years before. It still fit him. He was
taller now, but rolling the sleeves up worked to hide that fact.

Then he sat on the sofa, kind of
happy with the turn out that was already happening. Calley and Palma were
there, and Ginger. That was huge.
Three
people that had come, just for
him. New friends, but real ones that bothered with things like parties, for
him. How wonderful was that?

It was enough for him to feel
pretty good about it all. True, he wasn't going to have some kind of huge
thing, but there was music playing, and dead animals being cooked. Not that he
ate them, but Calley could. They could probably get Zack to eat some of the
leftovers.

Before he thought about it all
too much, Judy came in, along with two other youthful looking Alede. That was
what he thought at first, but then he understood something that hadn't really
gelled for him before. Alexis looked about twenty, no matter how old she
actually was. Kait looked about twenty-four or so. The same was true of her
mother, Valerie, who was the hot blonde in front of him. Judy was about the
same age, in appearance, and the other woman was about the same. Perfect, on a
level that would have made her seem unreal if she showed up on television.

She had red hair, brilliant green
eyes, and a face that was lovely, but slightly rounder than the other two
women. Standing, he stuck his hand out, since this was almost certainly the
person that he was supposed to be meeting.

"Hello. I'm Tyler."

The hand was taken, almost
professionally, like a business man would have. It was firm, and not a soft
caress or anything like that. That alone was a tiny shock, since the only Alede
that he'd met like that so far had been Kait, really.

Valerie touched his arm, which
was
a bit of a caress. It meant something, he bet. Some kind of marker, for the
others, maybe. Not that he could prove that.