Other Places 3: Detours (22 page)

It
was nearly like she actually liked him, or something. She didn't though, he was
certain. She wouldn't let herself feel anything like that, in case he died in
the next weeks, months or years. Or... Well, that might not be the truth. He
had to think about it for a bit, but she could just turn those feelings off,
after
he bought it,
if
that happened. So she could afford to be a little nice
to him now, and not hate the sight of him, if that made bothering to spend time
with him less annoying for her.

Poor
thing, having to put up with a crazy little demon kid like himself. Zack
smiled, and got back to work, peeling the golden potatoes and then slicing them
with knife work that was a lot more confident and quick that he would have
credited himself with being able to learn, even a few months before hand.

There
was a sound that was suspiciously like giggling, then, a few moments later, the
toilet flushed. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Lisa had been
holding drugs and that they'd just gone away. Probably after a covert strip
search. It had to be that, since there was no sound of crying from the Human,
or angry muttering. In fact, she seemed happy, if what he was getting was
correct. Probably because the hot cheerleader was climbing into the shower with
her. It made for an awkward visual, but he didn't block it out, just getting
the kids' blood ready for them.

Rowan
came out first, being about ten years older than the other Vampire in the
house. She yawned, which was cute, and her red eyes looked at the bottles on
the stove, in their bath of warm water, instead of at him.

"I
don't suppose you have some to share? If not, I need to go hunting."

Zack
waved at the pot.

"One
for you, and one for Roland. There are four more in the fridge, and it should
last a few days. If I'm not here when you wake up, make sure you both have some
each day, first thing. Breakfast is the most important meal, after all."
He made it sound funny, or tried to, and it worked well enough for the woman,
who was still in the same clothing from the day before.

From
the
months
before.

That
wasn't going to work, he decided.

"I'm
going to put you and Roland in early, so you can get new clothing from the
mall. I'll send you with cash. Can you be in charge of that? Get stuff from the
Chasm, since they'll be open late. Grab a full wardrobe change for each of you?
If you have time. You'll need to be in to spell Madeline for the night. The Bat
Shifter spy that works for us?"

She
kept staring at the blood, her eyes locked on it, as if she wasn't allowed to
touch it until told to. He pulled it from the water, and dried it off with one
of his many kitchen towels, then popped the top for her and passing it
carefully. She drank then, without being ordered to, which meant that Roland
was there just in time for Zack to repeat the whole thing and pass the second
one over, which was perfect, since that meant he could use the small pot for
gravy.

The
shower scene didn't take that long, really, and Lisa came out looking cleaner,
if in the same clothing as before. It was probably an oversight, but his
ex-boss didn't have a spare set of things at his house for some reason.
Luckily, even if it was going to cost him money, Darla was willing to outfit
the woman. That meant, since she was serious about not leaving Zack alone and
he was still cooking, that they had to wait.

It
was a bit of a time crunch then, since Rowan and her angry seeming cohort
needed to be sent off to work, and Zack had to eat
and
not let anything
burn. Darla would make fun of him if the food wasn't perfect. Then make him do
it again, until it was.

So,
that meant Zack had to think for a bit, managing to do it hard enough that an
idea came from the memories that Tarsus had given him, seeming to hit him from
outside of himself, from the right, in this case. As if they existed in a
matrix of information for real. It was something he'd noticed before, but
hadn't spent any real time thinking about. If he could locate the things in
space, that meant he might figure out how they were organized.

For
now though he picked up on two things. One was how, and more importantly,
why
,
he didn't have to jump when going through the lines. It was because of his personal
intent guiding where he was going.

The
second thing was that, about four thousand years before, Tarsus had figured out
that very same thing, and that if a node was held open for a being that
couldn't travel on their own, with the terminus placed closely on the other
side, so they didn't get lost, then that intent could be held inside the body
of another person. Meaning he didn't have to physically
carry
them
through the line himself. Or even a node point. Oh, it would take a bit of
magic, but as long as he used enough discipline, that wouldn't be too big of a
burden.

As
soon as the biscuits were out of the oven and on the cooling rack, just before
the potatoes were done, as the meat still sizzled, Zack formed a node, linked
it to the shop, and gestured at it. Then, using a bit more power, he made it
glow a nice deep purple, so they could actually see it.

"That
will take you to the store. Remember to... Crud. One second." He ran then,
grabbing some cash from his room, and handed it over. It was enough for the two
of them to get what they needed, he thought. If not, well, they could go again,
in a few days.

Zack
muttered that, and stuffed the cash into Rowan's hand.

"Roland,
listen to her. She's in charge." That made sense, being that Zack liked
her better, if only slightly. Eighties hair had his moments, after all. Mainly
highly annoying ones, but that wasn't completely without its charms. Then,
thinking about what Darla had to be doing to put up with him, Zack made himself
really believe it,
while
holding the node open.

His
mentor watched carefully as they went into the glowing expanse, the node room
visible on the other side, if you paid close enough attention. He had to work
to place his intention inside of each of them, but it was clear they both made
it, at least to him. Then he dashed across the room back to his potatoes, since
they needed to be drained already.

Lisa
sat at the table, nibbling a tiny almond cookie, her face blank. After a while
she sighed.

"You
really are a Greater Demon, aren't you?" As if there had been doubt inside
of her, which there wasn't.

He
nodded, but kept working right along, not wanting to lose time later, redoing
it all.

"That's
the claim at least. If it comes up, I'm
also
supposedly one of the evil
insane ones." It was true enough, but Darla laughed, as if he were
kidding.

"Except
that you're also possibly the nicest of us, Zack. Even Keeley is harder inside.
That isn't horrible, but you have to remember, you
are
evil. You have to
be, or the others will kill you. When it comes time, don't let them see you as
weak."

Zack
snorted, spinning in place, and moving in the shortest line possible to get to
the butter in the fridge. He should have taken it out to warm already, but
hadn't, being distracted by his freaking bizarre life.

"That
was for your benefit, Lisa. I already know that I have to be evil. Well, at
least I'm still not taking slaves or raping anyone. For now. That probably
means I'm going to have to kill a bunch of people to make my points, instead. I
guess I could offer people a choice? Part with some tail, or die?" On the
good side he was so far removed from feeling much at the moment that the idea
barely impacted him.

His
old boss and current... He didn't know what she was. Future asset? Pet?
Girlfriend
?
Zack shrugged a little and watched her work things out. It poured off of her,
so he was able to track it before she spoke.

"So...
In order to stay alive, you have to be a monster, or at least make everyone
think you are?"

His
mentor looked at her and smiled.

"Close
enough. Only, you see, by our standards, Zack
isn't
strictly sane. That
was probably done to him, not how he was born, which means that..." She
stopped, and went so still it was almost as if a Vampire had taken her place.
"Of course. It's a bit convoluted, but it makes sense, doesn't it?"

She
looked at him, as if he were supposed to have worked it all out at the same
time.

Which,
somehow, he actually had. That was impressive, for him.

"The
Adversaries are trying to change the balance of power? If they can create more
insane Demons, then..."

Darla
popped a whole cookie in her mouth, crunching it quickly as if making a point.

"If
that's the case, then Xenses and his team might well have been trying to do
something completely different than I thought, in regards to you. They put you
on the lines, turned you into both victim and predator when you were too young
to do anything except adapt, in order to bolster their ranks... Well, it
explains why they don't want you dead. If they do that, whoever comes next will
probably be on our side." She included Lisa in that, as if it made sense.

The
Mage wasn't stupid, if you subtracted the things with the drugs at least.

"So,
your side, our side, I guess, won't
they
want to kill him?"

Zack
felt a flash of panic, then made a point of melting some butter in the
microwave, doing it carefully so it wouldn't splatter too much. He added some
herbs to it, in an attempt to make it seem like he was planning the whole thing
and not just covering for the fact that he'd forgotten earlier.

The
pretty blonde girl nodded, slowly. Her face was actually too happy seeming.

"Except
that, so far,
they
aren't doing that either. It means that, either we
were fooled the whole time, in which case they'll try for you now, Zack, or
they had a good handle on the whole thing and are using us to draw someone out?
As bait, perhaps?"

He
didn't say anything for a long time, just setting the table, and finally, once
it was all ready, and still warm sat and dished up his own food first. That was
the polite thing to do. Then he did a small plate for Lisa, since she was...
His. At least as far as any Greater Demon went.

Changing
the topic, he waved at Darla.

"So,
you had sex with her in the shower? You didn't ask permission."

His
mentor actually seemed pretty happy about his mentioning that, for some reason.

"I
did. Have sex with her. What do you want in trade?"

Zack
didn't need anything, but shrugged, and tried to not be a jerk about it all. By
their rules, if what he knew of them was correct, having sex with Lisa, who was
a person he was claiming as his property, if not personal slave, was a small
enough thing. It wasn't even worth money, since the woman had clearly consented
on her own. With a Greater Demon too, which was probably a good thing, really,
since Lisa had issues there.

"Eve."
He took a bite and swallowed politely, while she glared a bit at him. She
didn't say no though and let him finish speaking before starting to hit him or
even negotiate. "For the morning shift this summer, at my store? I'll try
to get her in part time with the Vampires too. That's the point, right? She's
scouting them, to see if she wants to join up? I can make some decent
introductions." He took another bite, and didn't add sex with the girl in.

Not
that he was being polite or too noble for that, she was hot, and old enough, or
would be legal by then, so it wasn't a problem. He just already had that kind
of permission.

Which
Darla knew.

"All
right. You still have to ask her, and she can say no, however."

Lisa
was watching them, her face a bit bitchy looking, as she glared between them.

"I
think that
I
choose who I have sex with. Thank you."

Darla
nodded.

"Yes,
that's right. What... Zack basically just told me that if I tried to do
anything with you, without his permission, that he'd fight me. In a way it was
a sign that you're protected, not just from me, but all Greater Demons. Lesser
ones too, I imagine. True, it isn't going to stop some of them from trying, if
you come on their radar, but a lot won't want to face him, not over some Human
woman. I know it seems rude, but, well, the fact is, you don't want to be a
slave, and he's putting himself on the line to make sure that won't
happen."

It
was a bit more well thought out than he'd been thinking of, but close enough.

His
old boss and current... He still needed to call her something. Friend, he
supposed, would have to work. She looked at him, her face going a bit red. Her
thoughts were embarrassed though, not really angry.

"So,
I'm what, your property? A vassal? How is that different than being a
slave."

He
ate for a bit, pouring melted butter from his second gravy boat into a biscuit,
then letting it soak in for a few seconds.

"Well,
you can say
no
. Go where you want and do what you choose to. Sure, today
I'm being pushy with you, but just because I'm your friend, really. That's all.
If I can help you, I will. Then, later, if someone else needs help, maybe
you'll do that, passing things along?"