Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) (4 page)

Then she waved and went right
back to work.

"She's a Hsreth. One of two
that work this place now. Right now we're closing at night while Carla is on
vacation.
Wonderful
cooks, bakers, homemakers and pretty much the best
around at anything domestic. If anything comes up that's food related at all
here, she's in charge of it. Do what she says, even if it doesn't seem like
your job at the moment. I know you don't love the idea of being in food
service, but there's two levels to that. The kind you're worried about, and the
kind that people pay a lot of money for. Guess which kind she's into?"
There was a smile, but Zack's eyes locked with his.

It was a bit intimidating.

"Ben is a regular Human,
like you. He does the role playing game guides, science-fiction and fantasy.
Everything else too, but he specializes in those areas. What kind of thing do
you like to read?"

The question was sudden, but he
was being interviewed, so answering a few things wasn't unexpected. The whole
thing kind of was, and he felt really underdressed, but that was survivable.
Almost as if reading his mind, the man across from him gave a small nod.

"Mainstream fiction, action
adventure, survival guides. Martial arts. I read a little mystery?" It
felt dumb, making that a question, but it got a smile.

"Great! Like I said,
everyone does all of it, but let's face it, the girls aren't going to get that
much done, most days. Hiram won't be in until noon. Can you come back
then?" There was a glance at his arm, but Eve waved at it.

"I'm going to see if Lyn can
heal him for us? I think that will work best. Also, there might be a
small
issue with some Vampires he roughed up a bit. Actually he kicked their
collected asses pretty hard. Can we tell them that he works for you now?"

That got the slightly muscular
guy to give a faint smile and a one shouldered shrug as he started to eat
again.

"Sure?
Or
you could
both go back, and kill them all? I've met Tara before. That makes her one of
my
people. We need to stop being so kind to everyone that tries to kill our
people."

That seemed to be the end of the
conversation, but Ty had a few questions, so sat, even as Zack went back to
eating, and Eve stood, to get on with whatever she had planned.

"Um..." He felt red
faced, and a bit like he was going to pass out, but said the words anyway.
"Two things. First, how much do I get paid? Second, what are you? You said
everyone here is
something
, but then didn't add yourself to the Human
list. Just Ben and me. I think."

The guy didn't seem annoyed. In
fact, he looked almost relieved, as if it were the right thing to do. Stand up
for himself and ask uncomfortable questions.

"Fifteen dollars an hour to
start with. This really isn't a bookstore, though you
do
need to try and
sell stuff. That means we can pay more. You have to do more work for it though,
so it's fair. I run the node travel business, next door. Through the door with
the owl carvings over there? You can tour it later. Um... Node travel...
basically it's long distance teleportation? I take people to and from places
that are very far away. Alternate realities too, not just Asia and Europe. It's
in demand, since I'm the only one really doing it. As for what I am..."

He stopped and started to eat
another pastry. Tyler got the dramatic tension building part, so just watched
him patiently, and waited. Finally the guy smiled around a bit of flaky crust,
and rolled his eyes a little.

"
Fine
, be that way
then. All in control of yourself and cool like that. I'm a Greater Demon. We
can go into what that means later, but for the time being, it just means that
I'm not a horrible person to work for, as far as scaring off would be Vampire
assassins. Still, and I'm not joking here, you
should
go and kill them
all. We can't let this kind of thing happen in public. They were trying to kill
her on a street. What would have happened if some poor regular jogger came
along just then, instead of Tyler here?"

Eve snorted, which got Ty to
stand, and not answer at all. He didn't know what would have happened, to be
honest. Probably death for whoever was there. Possibly nothing. For all he
knew, those Vampires would have let him go, if he'd just moved on past.

They would have all been busy
watching Tara be murdered, or helping with it.

That got a nod from Zack.

"Exactly. That's the best
case too. I should probably get down there and check it out myself, but if I do
that too often everyone will think I run the place. I
don't
. Really, I
don't even get to have an opinion on the matter. You two both do. Please,
consider what I've said."

It sounded really polite, but Ty
sighed.

"I'm not going to kill
people for a job at a bookstore. Not even a cool one like this. Not that I
disagree with you. Shouldn't we try to find out why they were going for her
first? If it was something stupid, or that can't be fixed, we can kill them
then?" Which made him tighten his face. "Of course, if I go in right
now and chop their heads off, then even I can do it without a fight."

Not that it wouldn't be gross to
do that. Messy too.

Eve shook her head then.

"We should take them out
into the woods first, if we're doing that. Less bother on the clean up and
carrying. I'll need to borrow a truck, and have someone else drive. Ginger
doesn't have her license yet. She's twenty, but it's hard, looking so
young."

"I have mine? Not on me, but
I can get it, if someone will take me back to my place?" Then huffing a
bit of air out, he fixed Zack with what he hoped was a stern look. "
Not
that I'm doing it to get a job. I can see that it might be needed."

Eve walked away, and Zack started
eating again, but smiled up at him like he was being cute.

"You know, you really should
get with Calley. She's a
total
love. Here, let me get you a card. Call
in if you're going to be late?" He didn't have one in his pocket, but
moved to the front desk with him, as Eve got out through the front. It was a
wide open space, with no specific door, just paths made by rows of book
displays. The whole thing was done so smoothly that Tyler had the thing in his
right hand, and was moving out before he'd even had to break stride.

It was like they'd worked
together for years or something.

Demons were a thing, of course.
Everyone had seen the one that had been on television, but Zack didn't look
like that. At least not that Ty had noticed. That one had been something like
ten feet tall, vastly muscled, red in color with gleaming white horns on its
head.

Zack was just sort of attractive
for a guy. Fit, but a bit smaller than he was, actually. Or, well, he didn't
know that for certain, having never seen him standing up, but at a guess that
seemed right.

Looking to his left, he saw Eve
entering her store. That meant jogging to catch up with her. Slowly, and
without jostling his arm too much. It took a bit to get there, but he moved
quietly. Enough so that Edom looked up at him from behind the counter he was
manning.

"Um... I think we're just
going to kill those bad Vampires, if that's all right? For trying to take out
Tara. I... I'll go do that, if we can get a big enough vehicle for it? Um,
Ginger can come too?"

That got a small, slightly
irritated look, but it wasn't about saving the innocent Vampires like he
figured it would be at first. Not that at all.

"That means I need to call
someone in. Is Eve going. too?"

The question was firm, but asked
of him, like he knew the answer?

"I don't know. I can drive,
but I probably can't bury anyone really. Not quickly. Unless we burn the
bodies? I can douse them with gas as well as anyone." It was probably
true, anyway. There might be some sloshing around, but the idea of making the
young looking woman do it wasn't a thing he could really consider.

Which was, no doubt, silly of
him. She'd probably killed a thousand people in the last six months. Not that
Vampires
needed
to do that kind of thing, but at least a few of them
were pretty violent.

Then,
he
was planning to
kill some of them. It really wasn't much better. Zack was right though, if they
did it right, then these five weren't going to come after him again, even if
the new job thing didn't work out. He hoped it would. Fifteen dollars an hour
might not be a lot, but it was a
good
start, just having graduated like
he had.

The Vampire Edom gave a single,
rather somber, nod.

"We have a spot for that.
Several, really. Ginger can get you there directions wise, and do the digging.
I was planning to keep them alive, given that there's a Human involved. I can
see you aren't going to have massive issues on this one however. That's good.
Useful. Did the thing with Zack not go through?" He seemed ready to
commiserate if that was the case.

"I got the job, actually.
Uh, he didn't give it a name, but I guess I'm supposed to do everything? Like a
clerk, I guess?"

"That's the best kind of
job, if you can swing it. Make yourself indispensible and move up the ranks.
It's a great place to meet people and make contacts too. Just don't let
yourself get
too
sidetracked with the girls there. Wonderful people, but
the whole reason they need
you
is because it's so hard for them to find
help that won't just go and have sex all day long."

He hadn't seen anyone that would
have gotten him to do that. Maybe once or twice? He wasn't dead below the waist
or anything, but the man standing in front of him seemed to have a good idea
about what would be needed. Not having sex at work was just kind of normal. If
he was at Burgerville, or Mickey-D's, that would be enforced too, so it wasn't
unfair or anything.
Everyone
kept mentioning it however.

Even though he hadn't seen it, he
kind of started to imagine the place being staffed by Swedish swimsuit models.
That
could
be distracting.

"I'll do my best. Especially
since if they're really that great my natural shyness will protect me by
putting me into a coma every time one of them comes around. As it is I can just
barely
stand to talk to Ginger and Eve."

With a very serious look, the
dark man moved to go back to his real job, whatever that was.

"Cultivate that, young man.
Succubi can be addicting, but regular people aren't meant to have that kind of
thing all the time. After a while it will make most people kind of useless. By
a while I mean far sooner than a body might think."

With a cell phone to her ear, Eve
moved out of the back and waved at him.

"Good! We'll have it back,
with a full tank of gas, before six. I promise." Then she pulled the small
silver and black thing from her face, and grinned. "Lars, from the power
lifting gym heard how you handled those thugs, so is lending us his truck. I
promised gas, which will take some funds." She glanced around, then pulled
a card from her pocket. "Use this. The PIN is three-three-two-six. That's
for gas, and maybe snacks. If you need more than that, you have to ask. Don't
lose it. It would be a pain in the rump to get a new one."

He took the thing, and wondered
if that meant they were dating now. It wouldn't of course, but who told you
their PIN number and handed you their card like that? Either someone with
almost no money, or a person that knew that there was no way in the world you'd
steal from them. Given that she'd been one of the people that Tara had called
for help, and that she could run
very
fast, with bodies on her
shoulders, Ty had to figure on that second one.

"Right, so gas, snacks, and
the down payment on my new house?" For once he managed to say the words in
a totally deadpanned fashion.

Eve made a sound that was between
a snort and a chuckle. A snuckle. It was cute, but her words were just nice.
Like he didn't really mean it.

Which he didn't, wanting to live
like he did.

"You can't do that on my
card, silly. If you want to buy a house, there's a whole process you need to go
through. Do you though? I have some friends that can help you find a
place."

"Not really. I do need to
leave home soon. I have a personal goal of letting my mom off the hook by the
time I turn eighteen. That's in eight days. I don't think I'm going to make it.
Maybe if I find a roommate?"

Those just didn't grow on trees
and he didn't have even a single friend in the whole world that would be
willing to go in on a place with him like that. Eve gave him a fairly blank
stare, but Edom grinned.

"You should talk to Ginger.
She makes enough, and has been looking to get out on her own. Her mother is the
regional manager, which
also
means the Chief Ambassador for the Western
States. She's older than she looks though, and can afford it."

It was a bit strange, but Eve
just nodded, and so did Ginger when she came out.