Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (34 page)

Tyler ignored him, after a gentle
nod.

Then he turned to the director of
the Vampire show that was set to play on a cable channel in the Fall. One of
the good ones that he'd never had as a kid, since it didn't come with the basic
package. The man started to get that things weren't really working for him, and
seemed to be panicking a bit. Floundering, rather than thinking he needed to
run. It hadn't gone to plan, and it was like the man couldn't adapt. Which told
Ty a bit about how the guy expected his world to go, day to day. He waved a
part in a show, and panties, or underwear for the guys, was expected to just
hit the floor. Rebekah had trumped all of that by simply not caring about what
he had to offer.

It wasn't blood after all, or
anything that would impress her. Like being able to back her up on a good song.

That meant bailing him out a bit
was probably in order.

"I think that we can get
Rebekah and Scotty for your show, as long as we have the schedule ahead of
time? They'll need to work at night. Also, we can come up with some music for
the show, if you want? I'd like a background piece, too. A character?" He
didn't know what to call it, but the man turned to him, his face suddenly
shifting. After all, this was his language.

"Well, we can tuck you in the
back of a few shots. Make you food for a Vampire or have some guy doing you
from behind in the background? We're trying for progressive here, so we want to
match the naked men with the women. It's part of our thing."

That got him to nod, since it was
one way to make the project both different and a little more realistic.

"Sounds good. I want
lines
though, and it's for Steve York, not
me
. He can pull it off. Let's get
together later and talk about that? Over the phone will work, if you
want?"

The man moved and took his arm,
like he was in charge now.

"Can we use that first song?
And the last one you did? They pretty much screamed Vampire, didn't they?
"Among the Living."
Haunting
."

It was the right path to take it
seemed, since Rebekah engaged again then, her voice warming a lot when she
spoke.

"That... Would be fun. There
might be a few other things we can do? Steve, Scotty and Tyler here can do some
amazing
instrumentals..."

That got the group talking about
that kind of thing, except for Eve, who was watching him, and The Cleric, who
gestured toward him, his face fatherly and the gold rimmed glasses glinting a
bit. It was a subtle thing, but enough for him to get the idea. This was
Tarsus, The Librarian, not The Cleric that he'd met earlier.

The man waved to him slightly,
hinting that they should withdraw together. As he floated back, Eve grimaced
and moved along with the guy, letting Ty follow. His mouth would have gone dry
if that was possible. He didn't think it really was. Part of the charm of being
dead the way he was, no doubt. On the good side, even facing a dangerous being,
he didn't really feel afraid. He could stop being, but he didn't feel pain.
There were things that could happen he might not like, but none of those could
break him.

It was, after a fashion, a
position of power.

So he smiled and waved at the
man, "let's head outside, where we can talk, Librarian? You too...
Snowflake." That last one was just funny sounding, and he made a face as
they moved, not saying anything until they were in the front yard of the giant
place, walking to the left a bit, away from the few bodies that had collected
there.

Then he looked at the Vampire.
Her skin was pale, but only about as much as his own. As a group they were
very
white. The moon was out, and the sky was clear, showing more stars than he was
used to seeing by far. It would be fun, some time, to go and stand there,
watching the points of light above. He did it for a moment anyway, and then
took Eve's hand.

"Romantic, isn't it?"
It was a joke, of course, and she pretended to cuddle into him, then giggled.

"So, at least you're up on
things enough to know who The Librarian is? Good to know."

That got him to nod.

"Yes. Some things have come
up, in my position at the Coalition of Nations. I'm going to need you to back
off of The Cleric for a bit, Tarsus." The words came from his mouth, but
he wasn't controlling them he noticed. For a second he wondered if his mom was
doing it somehow. That pretty much had to be it.

Except that he also kind of knew
it wasn't.

"Excuse me there?" The
man, who still had his soda, seemed truly confused for a moment. Then he made a
movement that was kind of like a bob. His whole body shifting a bit. Not to
fight. It was different than that, at least in any way that Ty understood.

His voice came again, smoothly.

"I know, it's a bit odd. The
Void
isn't
a threat to you, or yours. In fact, you're on the same side.
He is, however, not a thing you can understand. It's in the nature of his
personal powers. You know, like The Mistress of Souls ability to enslave
people, or yours to understand the true cataloging of information? This scares
you, given that. You, perhaps alone in the Universe, can see the gaps left by
his passing. He isn't a threat however. Not to you. At least not if you allow
me to handle this for you."

The Greater Demon gave him a look
that seemed genuinely annoyed.

"I see. So you think to make
yourself important at my expense?"

Tyler laughed, even as the
Vampire girl next to him moved back a step. It was pretty clear that she
expected them, the dead man and the Greater Demon, to fight. That simply wasn't
in the cards however. Not only couldn't he win if they did, but it felt wrong.

Plus, his mouth was still moving
on its own.

"
Nope
. I'm just doing
my job. All you have to do is trust me, beyond anyone you've ever known. That's
all, Tarsus. Let
me
handle this. After all, if I fail, you'll have lost
nothing. Plus, seriously, blaming The Cleric for this is just incorrect.
Misguided. He's a pawn, being used by others at the moment. All you're doing is
keeping him from useful work he needs to be doing for me right now. So, what do
you say? Trust me for no reason at all, and win? Or would you rather destroy
your only hope, here and now. Those are the options on the table at the moment
that will aid you. Pick one, and we can move on." The man, Greater Demon,
could do a million things really. Walking away for instance, was a very real
position to take as well.

The thing there was, as evil as
his kind were, and Tyler knew that suddenly, on a level that he'd never dreamed
of before, they were also smart. Cold, logical and brutal on levels that were
rarely seen in Human kind. Also easily bent to the will of a being that was
willing to play things the right way. If he was willing to lose everything, he
could win.

Because that made any kind of
sense.

Still, the middle aged looking
man nodded at him after a bit.

"Perhaps we can work
something out, Tyler Gartner, of the Coalition of Nations. What do you offer
me?" It was a trap, without a doubt. One being set for him by a being that
had claimed once to have invented haggling. That was the kind of thing that
probably predated fire, as a tool.

Tyler smiled, happily, his mouth
working against his will.

"Offer you? No, you don't
understand. I offer you
nothing
. I'm telling you that you, through no
fault of your own, have walked into a web that another has made. This being
isn't interested in harming you however. On the contrary, you have his full
support in most things you do. You don't have to change anything you are doing,
nor does The Void. This
isn't
a negotiation. This isn't even a warning.
This is me showing you how to win, without any work. Stand back, and take the
victory, Librarian. It will be confusing to you, and hard to understand, but I
can deliver this to you. It will take no work or effort on my part
either." He reached out and touched the man on the back of the hand. It
tingled a bit.

Not in the normal way either. If
there was a flow of information, it was different.

Powerful, but not coming from
Tyler, somehow. A thing that was much bigger than that.

The Greater Demon staggered back,
his eyes going wide. He rallied though, after a moment, sucking air in a few
times. Eve looked wild for a moment, even as Tyler held out his hand.

"Don't worry, Eve Benson.
Daughter. Our friend here has merely been allowed to see the true nature of
reality. It's a bit of a shock, but he'll adjust. He is my child after all. You
all
are."

This was news to Tyler, but he
kind of got it. God, the Universe itself, was speaking through him. Most likely
because he'd asked for him to help out The Cleric, if it was possible. It
looked like it
was
. He just hadn't thought that he'd be involved in it
that closely, that was all. Then, if you open your mouth like he had, you
couldn't bitch about getting what you asked for.

The Librarian, one of the eldest
of his kind, seemed slightly shaken. Taking a step backward, he bowed toward
Tyler, which was returned in the dim light afforded by the floodlights in the
yard. They were mainly designed to be pretty, he thought, showing off the
fountains off to the side, and making the place glow a faint purple.

The man straightened then, his
voice grave.

"I see. Very well. If you
are as you claim to be, then I shall remove my current plans from play. If this
is a trick, then your existence is forfeit, Clerk. Know that."

He grinned then, his lips back
under his own control.

"Yeah. That's always the
way, isn't it? So, back to the party now? I want to hit the buffet,
myself."

Tarsus shook his head, slowly.

"I think not. This is... I
can't credit it. My domain is that of information, if this is real... If not,
then... I must think. Thank you for your hospitality. The music was very nice,
earlier." Then he stepped to the right, and slightly back, moving away
instantly.

Not that Tyler could track that
kind of thing in particular. He'd just been around that kind of thing often
enough that he could sort of tell the difference between line walking and what
Eve or Ginger did when they ran. Even if the net effect was outwardly similar.

The Vampire gave him a look that
was pure confusion, and spun to face him after a moment.

"Okay, so, what the fuck? I
was standing right here and barely understood what just happened. Are you...
Actually a Greater Demon? I mean, the thought
had
crossed my mind, but
both Zack and Keeley have assured me that isn't the case. Darla too. Were they
lying to me? The last I heard Tarsus wanted to hunt Gregor down, thinking he
was The Void. Is that over then? Are
you
The Void?"

Tyler shook his head then, kind
of putting things together.

"Um, no. God, Angels, that
kind of bullshit? It's different than we've been told, but real too. That's
what Tarsus thinks of as The Void. You know that though?"

After pause that seemed a little
fake to him, the girl crossed her eyes. It was just visible in the night.

"Yeah. I even know that
Gregor is one of them. I didn't know that
you
did. Not really."

"Right. So, um, I think that
God just took over my mouth and used me to get Tarsus to back off his people.
He, I, did something. When I touched him? I'm not certain, but I think that
all
the other kind of info in the world was dumped on him, all at once. The things
he couldn't understand before? A gift. Or a curse. I doubt that we'll know for
a long time which it ends up being. I'm really just me. Tyler G. Dead boy at
large."

"Ah." Then she moved in
and patted him on the back.

"Well, there are worse
things to be, Tyler G. I like that, by the way.
Tyler G
. It sounds
musical. So, we should get back inside and make sure that you get a part in
Krista's show. I bet Scotty would be willing to do you from behind on camera.
It sounds hot, actually. I
do
love me some gay pron."

He nodded, "who doesn't?
Anyway, sounds like a plan. I'm kind of reeling at the moment. I mean, God,
right? What kind of B.S. is that?"

"Seriously, that fucker
never cut me a break when I was alive, you know? Constantly being raped and
then the whole thing where Greater Demons were all over my life? What a douche,
right?" She turned, gracefully, and led him toward the front door. It was
companionable enough. There was talking, off in the distance, and a man moved
toward them, from about fifty feet away. He felt other than Human, now that Ty
knew how to tell that kind of thing.

At least he didn't feel like
eating whoever it was.

Eve touched his arm, then shook
her head a little.

"So, what do you think, is
there some kind of plan to it all?"

He looked at the shadowy
silhouette that was coming their way, and shrugged. His thin shoulders pulling
up expressively.