Shield of Innocence (Alternate Places Book 4)

by P. S. Power

  The lesson itself took longer than he'd thought it would, since Eve could do it, but it took her a while to really get a hang of the whole thing. Troy got it faster, but was weaker in doing it at the end than Zack was. Eve, however, moved energy around like it was an ocean wave. Hard to make happen, but when she did there was pure force behind it.

  Equalizing all of it was going to take practice, but it was a good start.

  A great one.

  It was Nikki that came to find them, or more accurately find him, smiling as she watched them from the door.

  "The hungry masses are looking for their energy fix, boss man. Don and Kate took off already, since they actually need to study for finals, and Chris is willing, but we've been keeping him away from the Alede so far. Plus, I don't really have anything to trade him for it, since we've also been keeping him from getting any, in order to keep his brother happy. Are these two ready that way? I can do Troy, to pay for it?" Then she looked at Eve. "You too, if you want?"

  Eve tilted her head, and waved the woman closer.

  "Zack says I need to get the power level down, but if you want to try it, I can do it for free?" There was a hint of risk to it. A real enough thing.

  Looking at them both, Zack nodded.

  "Go really slow, and hold back as much as you can. This could injure her, and I don't want to explain why Claire's Lieutenant exploded all over the woodwork in here."

  Eve looked at the other vampire and smiled.

  "Interesting. In my world you two kind of hate each other. Then, there you're several hundred years old, and dress like a punk rocker. Also Lenore's sister. As in blood relative?"

  The process was done the same way as normal, and while strong forces moved, it wasn't so much that anything bad happened. It just went quickly, with Nikki moving back away after about a minute, instead of several.

  "Not... Bad. I'm full, by the way. I... Wait, if you can do that, can you feed yourself energy? I thought that you had to be alive to pass life energy that way?" She was baffled, and looked at Zack, a bit harder than normal.

  "Apparently not? The energy is coming from the universe, but it always does, no matter who does the harvesting. The source is the same for everyone, so... I can't see why it would have to work that way. It's just that humans do it normally, and vampires don't. Eve has to make herself do it, I bet. Worth it though, since it kind of means she can have unlimited power and not need to feed."

  Nikki seemed fine with that, if a bit impressed, so turned to look at the door, just as a crowd of people showed up. Having heard them walking down the hall, no doubt. It was a mix of Alede and vampires.

  Zack looked at them, and worked out something that he hadn't noticed before. Eve didn't have a sex drive. She'd mentioned that but the rest of what that could mean hadn't occurred to him. It could be that she might be able to pass energy to the Alede without any affect on her. Even if she did get turned on as a side effect, like the guys did, it probably wouldn't show that much, so might not be a huge issue to her.

  "Hey, um, why don't you do the Alede, Eve? Be careful, since you know, they will be over-powered pretty quickly. Troy, would you help out the others?"

  Two lines formed quickly, with the Alede just going however they happened to get there, and the vampires working out who was the most important at the moment. It was weird, since all of them tried to work out what they were going to trade, or pay for the service. Still, after a few minutes, it was decided that sex was a good enough trade for things, for that night. With the idea that it would probably not be good enough in the future.

  When it was done, with Lyn going last, she looked at Eve and smiled.

  "You, are going to be popular back home."

  The attractive, and somewhat youthful looking woman shook her head then, and sighed.

  "More than I already am? I don't think I love that idea. I mean, look at how everyone adores me already. Especially Gene. Why, add this to the mix, along with line walking and he'll be sending me a dozen assassins by express mail." She didn't explain, but Lyn seemed amused by the whole thing. Not doubtful though.

  "I hear that one. I get the idea however. Now, since we're all good here, what are the plans for the night? I don't need to sleep. Not if I get to be this topped off. So..." She was clearly drawing a blank, but expected him to come up with something, it was clear.

  Zack shrugged, then smiled at the girl that was, and wasn't, his Kaitlyn.

  "Lessons on finding things and how to use the shortcuts? Not everyone can do either, but Troy has both down now, so we can split into groups. Then, in the morning we all need to meet up at Lesser Shia, and see what we can do there, and then, if you two are up to it, we need to go and get you home. I'm not certain if time runs differently there or not." He looked at both of the new people and shrugged, then winced, but didn't let that show too much. "It probably isn't that different, but some events are clearly way out of order, between the two places. I mean, you already went to college, right Lyn? Our Kate just started a few months ago."

  Kaitlyn, looking adorable in a pair of fake glasses, and jeans that weren't too tight, nodded.

  "More than that, I'm twenty-four. She's only seventeen. At least in the here and now physical world way. Void stuff is different. Plus, you mentioned that my mother here is named Patty?"

  She was looking at Val, one of the Alede, who smiled at her prettily, and responded with a bold enough voice.

  "That's right. She's very nice. Does she have a different name over there?"

  Lyn grinned, then tilted her hand back and forth a little bit.

  "Kind of? Back home her name is Valerie, and she's... Well, you. I also think that our Nikki is older. By a few hundred years? Also Claire's sister. As in both made by the same vampire and having the same parents."

  Eve coughed a bit as the reactions to that info made its way around the room. Nikki didn't respond having heard it before but the others did. The math didn't work, from one place to the other, but neither of them had to be wrong. In one place Nikki hadn't been born for several hundred years, and had different parents, even if she were the same person. In the other, Valerie, his Alede wife, was Kaitlyn's mother. Even though in their world that was Patty, who was a totally different person altogether.

  So, it made perfect sense. It was what different meant, after all.

  Zack smiled at it, and stood up, having sat down to watch everyone else doing his daily chores. It was more fun that way, he decided.

  "That seems right. After all, things are bound to overlap in places, but they are, in the end, different worlds with slightly different rules, and probably even more varied interpretations of things. That's kind of cool. So, let's get to things? The first one being getting me food." He made a face to show that he wasn't trying to be a jerk about it all, but the new line walkers all moved then, like it was a competition to get that done.

  Which meant that Eve had a tray of fresh and still mildly warm rolls for him in the dining room when he got there, and both Lyn and Troy had headed out through the shortcut in the back to find things. Troy had to help Lyn through it, but that seemed fair. He got back first that way, with the girl coming in after Zack had finished about half the rolls, stuffing the raspberry filled treats into his face like they were going to be gone if he didn't.

  Troy had just gone to the food court at the mall and gotten Mac, Merry's brother, to set up a few large containers of fried rice and spring rolls. All vegetarian.

  When Lyn got back, she had three nicely large boxes of pastries. From her favorite shop. In Paris. France.

  After setting them down, she explained why it had taken her so long.

  "This world doesn't have that particular place, so I had to go home first, then find my way back. I'm counting this one as a win. Plus, using the shortcut things is really hard. I had to kind of memorize what I'd seen Zack doing earlier and use that to get through the thing in the back of the shop here." Still, even admitting hardship there, she seemed pleased enough.
>
  After all, she'd worked out how to travel between worlds on her own.

  It was just the four of them in the dining room at the moment, the others all figuring that they'd be better off doing other things. That, or at least watching television. As it turned out though, Claire and Chris were gone, on official vampire related duties. They all learned that when a phone call came in, just as Zack finished the fried rice, sharing the pastries with Lyn and Troy. Not that anyone else there ate as much as he did.

  It came in to his cell phone, which made him jump, the new thing being unfamiliar to him still. He actually slapped at his pocket at first, having forgotten the thing was there.

  "Hello, Zack Hartley here." He tried to sound warm and professional, not like the breath had been knocked out of him by the shock of being contacted directly. He wasn't used to it, but being that delicate would be seen as pretentious, he was willing to bet.

  "Mr. Hartley? Vaun, here. Of the vampires? I was hoping to enlist your hire? We've already contracted with Christopher the line walker, but it was suggested that we might be able to do more than he alone? There's... A rather unfortunate battle taking place at the moment, in Bangladesh. Normally we wouldn't wish to bother such an esteemed personage as yourself, but it might be best if the center of such a populous city wasn't rendered to dust? If I have this right, it seems to be the same invisible beings that attacked Lesser Shia? If not them, then something similar." That came out sounding tense, but more annoyed than anything else.

  Definitely not scared.

  "I'm on my way. We need help... How bad is it?"

  Vaun sighed, but it was nearly pleased, Zack thought.

  "It's not going too poorly, actually. Your man Christopher has procured the loan of weapons from Lesser Shia itself, so we may do battle in a more efficient fashion. Also armor that works very well against this particular foe. The difficulty at the moment is that over half of them are invisible. What we truly need are beings capable of spotting them for us? Is that something you could arrange? Kaitlyn the line walker, and your friend, Cavendish, perhaps? Claire was just speaking most highly of them both, the other day. So did those from Lesser Shia." There was no sense of faint praise in the words.

  Then, there shouldn't be. Those two had done about half the work saving that far away city. By themselves.

  "I can't promise anything, but I can ask? Regardless I'll be there as soon as possible. You're at the embassy there?" That one should be an official seeming place, rather than a Frozen YoGurt. Zack didn't think that would be the case anyway.

  There was a dry pause, but only for a few seconds.

  "Thank you Line Walker. Anything you can do will be most welcome. Would it be proper to arrange payment for this with Miss Hawthorne?"

  "Sure. Got to go. Be there as directly as possible."

  The others had all been sitting, but Eve had stood up, hearing what was said. To his shock, so had the new Kaitlyn. Troy did it as Zack randomly pushed buttons, hoping that one of the random things he touched would hang the telephone up. It worked, eventually, when Troy reached over and tapped one for him.

  "What's up?"

  Zack made a tight face, then spoke to Troy directly.

  "The war. An attack on us this time. Bangladesh. Chris is already there, and has the vampires outfitted with good weapons and armor, so they're holding for now. They need spotters. People that can see energy as it moves. So we need all of us. Cavendish, too." He stiffened a bit then, and looked at the new people, feeling a little bit ashamed of himself for his feelings there.

  "The man is a hero. Possibly the best fighter in the world. He also terrifies the crud out of me. It isn't fair though. He's entirely sweet. As long as he isn't killing you, I mean. I need to see if I can get him. Troy, can you get with Kate and Don? I could do without this happening when they should be studying for finals, but..."

  It wasn't like there was a real choice.

  Eve waved at him, and looked at Lyn.

  "Split up? You go with Troy, and I'll face this guy down. Not that much scares me anymore. Just mice." Then she faked a shudder, making fun of herself.

  He felt a bit cowardly about it, but decided having a safety blanket would be better than not having one, so he nodded about it all.

  "If we can find him, we'll bring him to the battle directly. If not... Well, then we come without him. Be careful. We aren't going there to fight, if we can help it."

  Lyn nodded then.

  "Good? I really don't know how. I can point at things though, if it will help?"

  That was a bit surprising to him, since their Kaitlyn was pretty close to being a martial arts master. All of the Alede knew how to fight, in the world that Zack came from. Apparently it was different in other places.

  Hopefully that meant that the Alede there just lived in a safer world, where being attacked wasn't all that common.

  The shortcut that Zack needed to use meant going to the back of Something Wonderful, normally. At that moment, the best bet would be Frozen YoGurt, since they'd be open all night. The other places would be closed down until morning.

  That meant going out the back, along with Eve. He didn't take her into the shortcut however, pointing at it.

  "It isn't hard. All you have to do is hit it right. But, once you do, you'll need to jump over to the node, and then go to the back of the vampire embassy here." He thought that might be too much to ask, but didn't offer to hold her hand. Not even figuratively.

  If she didn't manage it, she'd be stuck there, but safe enough. Still, he went first, and stood there for half a minute, in the back of the basket shop, wondering if she'd show up at all. She managed to stroll through just as he was about to give up on her.

  Smiling, happy that she'd managed the trick on her own, he followed the plan, calling out as soon as he was in the back of the yogurt shop.

  "It's me, Zack Hartley. Eve Benson the line walking vampire should be coming in..." Before he could say as well, the girl was there, Keane, the Assistant Ambassador was there, holding a large knife that could have been a baby sword.

  "Line Walker? Demons?"

  "Nope. New line walkers. You'll like her I think."

  The girl moved into the space, looking natural, like it was the easiest thing in the universe to pull off. Then she stopped dead, furrowed her brow and smiled at the same time.

  "Cormack?"

  The blade didn't drop, but the man laughed.

  "Keane. No one calls me Cormack here. Have we met?" He seemed concerned, inside, that he'd forgotten someone as striking as Eve, but didn't say anything more about it.

  Zack shook his head.

  "Not in this world. She's from a different reality. No time to explain. We need to run. If all goes well we'll be back in a few minutes. If not... Well, it might be longer. We need to find Cavendish if we can." He didn't explain who that was, but got a nod anyway.

  The scary man was famous, after all.

  He started to run, passing Keane, moving as fast as he could, by both slowing time, and pushing his life energy out in front of himself. Eve kept pace with him, walking as he tried to sprint for all he was worth. Zack needed the shortcut at the end of the side parking area, but didn't know how to explain the whole thing to the girl. In the end, he just didn't bother, since she seemed to get the idea on her own.

  After stepping through he waited, the girl still taking about thirty seconds to hit the rift in space correctly. As soon as she did, he waved across the street. There were cars, since it wasn't that late, but it was enough to keep him from running across the road.

  "That's my old house. We need to go this way." That got him to turn to the left, not wanting too. "This green house here."

  It probably seemed strange to her, but she just followed and then spoke calmly to him. Then, she didn't seem to know who, or what, they were about to meet.

  "I used to live there. In my world? With Zack and Troy. A few years ago, when I was about sixteen. In case you're wondering, no, Zack didn't have sex
with me back then. Troy did. We were kind of going out for a while. In the end he hooked up with my friend Barb. So far I haven't seen her here. Um, she's a vampire, back home." She started jogging, which meant he had too as well, and looking at him, picked to go around the building to the front door.

  Staying back a bit just meant that Eve was pounding on the door, calling out loudly, before he got there. It was an emergency, but Zack didn't know what the man they were there for would think of that kind of announcement of their presence.

  "Hello? Cavendish? It's Eve Benson. There's an attack on Bangladesh, in India. Like the one at Lesser Shia?" Then she pounded some more, until the door opened.

  The man came out, holding a small rectangular box that was all silver, and wearing what seemed like latex fetish gear. It was actually super strong armor, but it looked form fitting and hugged the man's lean form.

  Looking at Eve, the guy froze in place, which was odd for him. Zack would have accepted fighting suddenly, or acting polite and slightly happy, but this was different. His face was covered with latex, but that melted off, showing the slightly tan skin underneath.

  "Evelyn? From high school?" He seemed baffled.

  So was Zack, since it meant the man knew an actress, who while not famous really, did get work. Then, Zack was willing to bet that Cavendish probably didn't get out to things like that a lot. He wouldn't have known about it at all, except that he'd seen a movie or two that Troy had borrowed, a long time before.

  Eve smiled at him and shook her head then.

  "Not this time. Eve Benson, from an alternate reality. Just like there you're Tyler." Turning to Zack she explained that one, leaving Cavendish out of the loop totally. "Think of Bruce Lee, if he were a zombie that learned how to use death as a direct weapon?"