Shield of Innocence (Alternate Places Book 4) (28 page)

He grinned, looking at the
picture on top. It was gray, with a bluish tinge to it, and had rough looking
shingles on the outside. That gave it an old feeling, and a sense of having
seen a lot of weather over the decades. The shadow of the place spoke of it
being mostly water tight, and sound, however. It would have a bit of a musty
smell, probably, but nothing he couldn't handle.

"This seems great! I'll
probably go in first thing in the morning, if you need me for anything. Are you
and Maryl leaving today?"

"After I get done here. Kate
is taking us to Lesser Shia. I figure that we can try and find some new goods
or services to steer people toward?" Her inner shadow looked at him,
happily, and projected at him the idea that she wasn't going to be
that
silly. It wasn't about turning the week into work. It was going to be
all
about her girlfriend.

Zack smiled at the idea, since it
was good to see her working that hard at it. Maryl was sweet, and hard working.
That meant she deserved anything good that came her way. Lisa did too, so it
wasn't hard to be happy about it all. Not for him.

Holding the papers carefully, he
pocketed the keys, which were on a small metal bobble, a flat piece that said
Candles
and More
on it. That got him to smile, since it was one of the things they
sold there now. He'd dusted the rack of them just a few days before.

Perversely, that thought reminded
him that it probably needed to happen again soon. Much like Lisa, he wanted, on
a very real level, to run and do it right then.

Instead he clapped his hands,
awkwardly, since he had things in them.

"Now, let's leave. The kids
can handle it. Or not, and if that's the case, then it will
still
be
fine. Come on... Leave it... Leave it..." He drew the sound out, and made
it playful.

Her shadow glared at him. There
was no speaking however, so he winked, and gestured toward the door. On the
deep level he pointed a bit more firmly, which got the woman to stand and pack
up for the day. It was time for them to let someone else take over, and far
past that.

Then, with no more than some
waving at Kate and Jen, who felt like him inside still, he called out.

"We're out of here! Talk to
you in a week. If you really need me, I'll have my phone." That was a
normal enough thing to do, he thought.

Kate ran over and gave him a
warm, but not too close, hug.

"See you then. We won't need
you, unless an attack comes. In that case, well, then all rules will be broken
instantly, of course. I have a plan for it this time. Anyone trying to come at
us will be slapped down so hard that they won't ever want to try it again."

"Good. One of us needs to be
ready for that kind of thing. So, see you then. Jen." She got a wave,
since it was only a week, and the girl and he, while close now, weren't
physical in that way. Alede held to very different ways with family, and it had
taken Kaitlyn a long time to understand what that really meant as far as how to
treat him like they were close. Without just jumping on him blasting away with
lust. Alede mothers didn't have sex with their kids, but a lot of what they
considered casual contact would have had them arrested if they were human men.
They were just different that way.

Trudging he walked into the node
in the back, and moved quickly, so that he'd end up in a different reality, in
the back of a different Candles and More. The rapid movement let him avoid Big
Shadow, who was, it seemed, still trying to find him in the void. Zack ended in
Westfield, barely having to work to make it happen. The place was nearly
silent, lacking the chatter that the Underwood location had going on. Really,
it was a little sad.

Dusty for one thing, and a bit
off, as to scent.

The other Lisa, who seemed a
little younger in some ways, but also a bit more worn down in others, was in
her office, just sitting there with the door open, sipping at a cup of
something that wasn't coffee, or tea. Not any kind he could determine by scent.
Some kind of herbal thing however. Like medicine, rather than a thing to enjoy.

Looking up she seemed troubled
for a bit, her face going harder than he was used to seeing it.

"Um... hello?" She knew
that he looked like a younger version of how Zack used to,
and
that he,
new Zack, existed, but it was also really possible that this was a Greater
Demon, or an illusion. She was tempted to try a breaking spell, but it would
take about five minutes, and
wouldn't
work on a demon anyway. That meant
she kind of froze for a few seconds, looking at him.

Her shadow explain all of that to
him, as she stared, not knowing if being afraid was the correct mode to slip
into or not.

"Hi, Lisa. Um, it's just me,
other Zack? How are things going here?" It was kind of obvious that the
answer was that things simply weren't going well.

The woman gestured at the store
out front with a flip of her left hand. Then she sighed. There was weight to
it, and it hung heavily in the air for a long time.

"Like always? All my help
keeps drying up, and this job is too much for one person. As soon as I get
anyone to come in, they end up being called away to do something else. I don't
suppose you came to get a job? It pays ten dollars an hour to start." She
knew that wasn't going to happen, but he smiled at her.

"
I'm
actually going
off on vacation. Want to come with me? I got a rundown little house at the
beach. In a different world, but it's basically the same as here, I bet."
It was pretty safe to ask, since there was no way for her to get away at all from
her day job. Even if there was, he felt bad enough about her plight to actually
take her with him. This was a woman that needed help, and fast.

Otherwise her world was going to
melt down around her ears.

"Sounds fun?
I
can't,
of course. There's no way I can get away from here. My own private work prison.
So, what can I do for you today?" She looked up, behind him, as a rather
cute blonde girl slid in behind him, touching his shoulder. That part was a bit
weird, but after a moment, his whole life being sucked into the nice looking twenty-something
seeming greater demon, she pulled back.

"You know, if you want,
I
could fill in for you here, Lisa? Zack here, this one is...
Very
safe.
Really old too. I'm not even certain how much so that is yet. I'm still processing
the information, and will be for a while." She smiled at him, her blue
eyes shining. "Darla Gibson. Greater Demon, as you guessed already. I'm
Zack's aunt here. His mentor as well. I figured that I'd come and check you
out, once I realized that you were here. To make sure you weren't one of my
people, plotting against us. You came to get Eve for the evening? That sounds
wonderful, by the way. What you have planned? Honestly..." Holding a smile
she stepped back a bit, to signal that she wanted to do something. It was a bit
dramatic, and meant to be, in order to hold his attention on her.

She pulled her phone out, a small
silver thing that was tiny compared to the one that he had, and put in a number
by hand, calling someone or other. Her shadow explained it to him, or started
to, then paid all her attention to the thing in her hand.

"Hey, Lenore? You don't know
me well, but we've met. I'm Darla? Zack's aunt?" She stopped, a smile on
her face. "That's the one. Anyway, Eve is going off to another world in a
bit, and I think I can get you in on the trip? It will just be a few hours, but
I
think
it might be worth your while to get in on this. The people over
there know how to return sexual pleasure to classic vamps, and are holding a
training party for it tonight."

Then there was listening, and the
pretty shadow, rolling her eyes and bobbing her head side to side while making
fake talking movements. She looked as solid and full colored as her other self
was, so it made for an entertaining few moments.

"I don't know, let me
check?" She pretended to cover the mouthpiece, her face bland on both
levels. "What would this trip to your world cost, Zack? She doesn't really
believe that you're just a human, being mostly sane like she is, so she wants to
know in advance."

He hadn't invited her, but the
idea of meeting another Claire, and that was who he thought this lady was,
seemed intriguing enough to be worth trying.

"Um, nothing? I just want to
get Eve in so I can teach her how to rekindle sexual responses in vampires.
I
can do it, so I'm betting that at least some of the others can too. I don't
know if Eve will be able to, but it seems right. Are you willing to let her try
doing that on you? We can count that as your payment for it. The worst it will
do is nothing, in which case I'll hook you up, so it's a win for you, if you
want to do it." He just spoke, since it was clear that the other woman
would hear her.

She was a vampire after all. For
that matter, Eve, who was across the way, would be hearing the whole thing too.
Probably better than he was. After a bit her shadow appeared hovering off the
ground, in front of him, wearing a smile.

Niiice. If I can do that, I'll
have leverage over a lot of the others.

Which was, in the end, simply
true.

The nice looking girl, who was a
movie star, if a pretty minor one, in his own world, looked away, her voice
projecting silently.

Can Bey come? He's here, in the
back. A friend of mine?

Zack smiled and figured that
taking three or four more Vampires in wouldn't hurt really. He wasn't planning
to leave before morning, after all.

"That sounds fun. Your
friend Bey can come, too. We should take Nikki back as well. At least for a
visit. How is that going? Or, I'll ask again in a few minutes. Be right over.
Lenore..." That felt funny, since he was thinking of her as
Claire
.
"Do you need me to come get you? Or Eve, if you'd rather? I'm sure that
either way would be fine. Not that, you know, I can really volunteer other
people like that. I mean, I
can
, clearly, but you know, she doesn't
actually work for me, so..."

There was a laugh that was hard
enough Zack heard it, if only in the faintest measure. Then speaking, which
seemed to be about getting the information to the demon lady, the youthful
looking Darla.

Her voice was smooth, and
unworried for some reason, which probably had to do with the fact that she,
unlike everyone else involved here, knew that this new Zack really
was
a
nice person. The blonde woman, with her nearly perfect skin, which was like
porcelain, nodded slightly, her eyes sparkling at him from the side.

The dust from the shop nearly
made him sneeze, which he fought off without it showing on the outside, for the
most part. The place really needed to be cleaned up and taken care of. At the
same time it shouldn't have been that hard to get people to work at the mage
embassy. Not if it paid actual money, and the work conditions weren't that
harsh. Something like a help wanted sign should work, or an ad in the paper.

It was
also
within the
bounds of reason to think that just telling her own people to send along a few
bodies for the job might be enough to get her help. The other people there
seemed to be doing all right, though his own Candles and More had been hard to
fill positions at for a while, too. Then
he'd
gotten work there, and
fixed it.

Blinking, he stared at Lisa
directly, and smiled a bit. Then he shook his head, as Darla hung up the phone,
and smiled at him.

"She's in Sparks, visiting
her daughter Ginger. I believe she's at Tyler's house? I can get you a map, but
you should be able to find her, since she's
basically
your wife. In
Nevada, in this world. I don't see that as being too difficult for
you
to manage. Now, this was my idea, so, what do you want in return for it? That's
kind of important here, when dealing with my kind. If you don't charge enough,
then everyone will think you're a push over, and then attack. Given that you're
actually
a human, that could go worse than you might think." It was
clear, from her shadow, that she was both serious,
and
for some reason,
teasing him.

As in, she thought he was cute,
being all human and delicate like he was. Probably stupid too, since his kind
simply was. After speaking to her inner self for a while, and seeing that
Lisa's was shying away as if it was going to be a big problem, since her Zack
used to be a bit soft on bargaining, he smiled gently. That meant, being armed
with information, that he was able to shrug, switching gears instantly.

"Sixty million dollars, to
be paid to my people here for their use, Eve or Kaitlyn. That and five
employees who aren't spies, to work here. They get paid, but only normal wages.
I'd prefer mages for it, but that's between you and Lisa.
Good
employees, not just any hobo off the street."

The blonde woman, or demon as the
case truly was, went a bit still, her lips suddenly climbing at the sides,
almost happily.

"Ooooh! Nice. All right
then, if you refuse to be a hippy about it, how about thirty million, and two
workers?" Her shadow let him know that wasn't really enough, if they were
playing by greater demon rules. Really, his opening bid had been a little too
low to her way of thinking, but that
had
to be expected, given it was
his first stab at it.