by P. S. Power
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.
Plus, there was a woman that used to work there that was a shifter, who Darla thought she could get to come back, since the woman needed the money. It had been part of a punishment, working there, since no one else wanted to. Her real end point was to get Vivian in as well, since it would save her work and effort.
Zack tilted his head.
"Sixty million, but one of the five people can be that bear shifter that used to work here? She gets part of the money though. Not a lot, or she won't work very hard, but enough so she won't starve." Because Lisa was actually concerned that way. The woman wasn't that interesting to her, but they were both lesbians and had become friends more or less. It was sort of a solidarity thing.
Darla glared at him, not meaning it at all.
"Forty million, four, and Viv?"
He shrugged. After all, he wasn't going to get anything from it, and it didn't matter because of that.
"Fifty, four and Vivian, but the others need to be mages. We should get an assistant ambassador in here. If I'm working from here part time things will be picking up, and that shouldn't all be dumped on Lisa." He knew that his face was too pleasant about the whole thing, but the demon touched his arm, taking in a tiny sip of his being, which she told him all about, on the deep level. Even as she did it, which was interesting to get a report on.
"All right. Forty-five million, four mages and Vivian. Or Five mages, if I can't get her? Or do you want me to force that into being?" That was cold, and meant to throw him off, since she didn't think that he'd be in for slavery.
As a rule that was true, but the bear shifter had been kind of shunned by her own people, so needed the help. Something about her having beaten Val, who was, in this place, Kaitlyn's mom. That was different, and nearly threw him off for a few seconds. It had come up before, but was just wrong, somehow.
Then he nodded. The greater demon wanted him to agree, saying something like deal, so he did.
In a sudden rush, the world slapped at him, a wall of overwhelming force trying to take over his mind.
That went away after a few moments, leaving him untouched. After all, he was used to sitting in the void between worlds. Simply pushing at him a bit like that wasn't even close to enough to enslave him. It was a thing that the woman should have realized, having all his information.
Darla smiled at him, and put her hand out to shake.
"Fine, then. I'll have those people in here inside a week and the payment in place by the morning?"
He smiled at the pretty woman, locking eyes with her, "that sounds wonderful. Thanks."
Then he went to the node in the back, and tried to find Lenore Hawthorn. It was, in the end, incredibly simple to do.
Chapter fifteen
Zack followed the thread to Lenore, who was both very similar too, and most certainly different than Claire. For one thing, he loved Claire, and the link there stretched off into the distance, past nothing and back again into a different reality. When he focused, Zack really could feel that line between them.
The space Lenore was in however wasn't one that he'd been to before, in any world. There was no node nearby, but there were shortcuts all over the place, so he was able to go into the Montana node point and almost instantly walk outside, into the snow, to find that about a mile away there were three choices that took him to Sparks directly. From there it took two switchbacks to find the big house where the woman was. It was a mansion, and while different than his, being a little smaller in footprint and taller by what looked like two floors, it was still pretty nice.
There was a shrub carving in the center of a circular driveway, of a hippo. Pruned to look that way, he thought, not carved really. Not that there was a lot of difference really. You started with a whole thing and removed parts of it to create a design that looked enough like another object to fill in the blanks. This one was a bit cartoonish, but still called to him.
Plants did that, from time to time. It didn't really want much, just some water. There was a hose by the side of the house, near the left of the front porch area, in a tan container. It only took a few minutes, but Zack was still standing there, making sure the bush had what it needed when a strange man came out of the house.
Water spilling from the end of the green garden hose, Zack stared more than was polite at the smiling guy. He wasn't huge, but was a little bigger than Zack himself was. More muscular, and very pale, but not a vampire. He also wasn't alive. In fact, death rippled from his being.
Since he was Cavendish, that part made sense. This fellow was a bit younger looking, and seemed to be in shape, but the face was close enough to give the idea away. Plus, this man was different than the strange and deadly man from his world. For one thing, that man was the incarnation of death in a figurative way.
A being so dangerous and skilled at killing that Zack was afraid of him, all the time they were close.
This guy gave off a powerful aura of death, but... It was a part of him. A contained flow of black energy, that made the shadow inside of him actually black, which was different than most had going on. Demons sort of did, the ones from his world, but this man was shaped like himself inside, not a family sized soup can. The darkness was there however, and pushed at the flesh, forcing it into motion, in the exact opposite of what life most often did.
What he wasn't, however, was frightening.
"Hi! Um... I'm Zack Hartley? Or, technically, I'm a different Zack, from another world? I know I look different than the one from here. Do you know him? He's way more Japanese than I am. Better looking, too." It was all true, but sounded insane enough that he kind of expected to be attacked about the time he stopped talking.
Instead the guy just walked toward him, and nodded.
"I meant to get to that earlier. Sidetracked, you know? Sorry bush. I'll do better in the future." There was no attempt to challenge Zack or anything, just help in turning the water off, and getting the hose to actually coil up into its little round case again. There was a crank on the top, which the other fellow worked at, looking like it wasn't his first time.
He spoke calmly, seeming a little bit too happy for him being there. It was dark out already, and cold, but not frozen yet. Hopefully it would be warm enough to let the plant do what it needed before everything froze. That seemed right, since the shadow of the hippo bush went down a good seven feet and it was warmer down there.
"I'm Tyler. Gartner. I... Don't know that I've ever met anyone from a different reality at all." He grinned, which was big and broad, seeming really happy. His shadow made him do it, pulling the strings of the body to get it all done. "Which is awesome! Though, the other lands that people come from, a lot of them do say that they are from pretty far away. I..."
Zack nodded.
"That one got me at first, too. The other lands thing? Most of them are from different realities, but those are ones that are accessible through different
routes. Places are interconnected, which makes sense to me. So people from other worlds are probably a thing you do every day, I bet." He didn't know that, but it felt right, and the man laughed a bit. He was friendly at least, which was nice.
So many people weren't, really.
"Neat. Anyway, can I ask you in? Or, do you have a message for me?" That part had a bit of stress to it, as if he were asking a question.
About a message from a different world. Even though he didn't know that he'd met anyone from there before in his life.
"Nope! I came to pick up Lenore? Hawthorn? That will be wild. She's..." He didn't know how to describe it all so just jumped in with both feet. "Back home she's kind of married to me. One of my wives. I have eight of them, but this world is really similar, so I guess she's not that different here?" The feeling was similar, after all.
Tyler gave him a slightly worried look, and went still. That was kind of an undead thing. They froze like that, when they were taken by surprise.
"Um... Is your Lenore a vampire? That's kind of a big thing, but I don't know if you have that there?"
"Oh, sure. Claire, not Lenore, but she is a vampire. I don't know if they look that much alike though. I mean, you look like Cavendish, but... I don't know, like you could be brothers, though I think you're this world's version of him. Vice-versa, of course. His version of being an incarnation of death is much more alive, though. Scarier, too. Great guy, but he makes me feel like I'm going to pass out most of the time."
That was a lot to dump on this young man, but he snorted a little, or perhaps chuckled softly and nodded.
"Can't wait to meet him. Anyway, we can go in? Lenore didn't mention anyone was coming, but she's probably just inside the door, since all the vampires will have heard all of this." There was warning in the words, which was nice of the man.
Not that Zack couldn't see the people waiting for him. There shadows were right there, after all.
There were several of them.
Four, and all of them sort of recognizable to him. Lenore, who he'd tracked was there, standing in the front. She moved forward, letting herself be seen through the door. The beast shadow inside of her was standing firm, but greeted him with a bow. He was expected, so it made sense.
Her face was very familiar. The only real difference was the fact that this version had shorter hair, which was in a nice shoulder length hairdo that seemed both summery and sporty. She was in a dress, but it was a bit more modern seeming than the things Claire often wore. Like she was dressed up to go out to a club that night. The thin straps on her shoulder exposed a lot of pale and smooth flesh. So party ready. Which for all he knew, she had been planning. She was in black, and showing enough flesh to be interesting, holding a black, expensive seeming, clutch purse.
"Mr. Hartley?"
"Ms. Hawthorn?" He smiled when he said it, which got the other three women there to push forward, not touching one another.
One of them was Libby, and he thought he recognized the taller bone white person with red eyes, but the youngest looking girl, who was sweet looking, and seemed about fourteen, wasn't anyone he recognized from his own world.
Until he got it. That required him to flip the genders and squint a bit, but was all right there if you paid attention. Then it was hard to keep his shock inside. This one was a vampire, which was different, too.
Lenore waved at the others, laughing a bit, not certain inside if she was allowed to be playful with this incarnation of Zack. He was said to be human, by a being that might actually know about it, but that wasn't certain yet. Even if that was the case, he was clearly a being of power, regardless of his nature. So she didn't want anyone to misstep and anger him, or cause a fight to break out. They would, perhaps, win if that happened, there being only one of him, and Tyler being on their side, most likely. Plus three master vampires and a mercenary. That was enough that even demons would have feared them.
Zack smiled.
"Hi everyone! I'm a different Zack? Human, and from a place where the demons are pretty different than yours. Um, energy beings that possess people? All of you have counterparts there, but some of them are different. Lenore is named Claire there, and married to me. Um, Libby Patterson..." He looked at the bat shifter, who was nearly identical to his, moved forward, looking him up and down.
Like Libby always did. It was lascivious, but that fit for the high energy girl. Girls, it seemed.
"Calley Hale. Ambassador for the Nevada embassy, Shifter Nation, which I bet you guessed. Patterson... I have a grandma named that. She's a wolf. So, if Lenore is Claire, and your wife, then I'm... Dead, for sleeping with you on the side?" That got a laugh from several of them, and thankfully wasn't the truth.
"My girlfriend? Still alive and well. We all live together. Not an ambassador though. She used to be second in command at Underwood, but... Well, some small things came up and she was sort of exiled for a while, from the community? So she lives with me now. She's the first of the shifter line walkers, so that's kind of cool, if not a promotion like you have."
The tall white lady smiled, her skin so pale that it was like real chalk, her eyes being the color of fresh, bright red, blood. They shone a bit, and her mouth was filled with about a hundred fangs. No regular teeth, just the ones meant to break the flesh to get at the yummy juiciness inside a being.
"Ooh! Do me next! Am I a famous singer there, too? Hmm? Or own the human blood concern?"
The words got him to blink and shake his head a bit.
"Not exactly? Rebecca is one of the younger vampires that Claire is watching. She's quiet, and a bit shy. Nice? Not famous or anything. The vampires there aren't public, so that kind of thing isn't one that really happens."
The last person didn't push forward, but did just stand and wait.
Finally the Claire that wasn't her bowed her head a bit.
"Ginger Harris, Assistant Ambassador for the vampires here in Nevada. My daughter."
It was clear from the beast inside the girl that she was dying to know all about who she was in that other world, but Zack decided not to make too big of a deal about it.
"Hi Ginger, nice to meet you. Anyway, we should be getting back. Um, are you all going? It will only be for a few hours, and I can get you back before morning. Then I'm leaving on vacation, but it will be fun? I mean, in a different world. You all have probably done that before, but it's different when the places are kind of the same." It was, and he tried not to sell the thing too hard. They probably could all arrange to go when they wanted, being famous and important there.
Lenore and Tyler both knew Eve after all, and that was enough to get them a visit he was willing to bet. Ginger would have been able to pull it off too, though she didn't know it yet. That one was going to be fun, if the right people were around.
He expected reticence, or fear at the idea, since being stranded away from home was kind of a big thing if you were in a different world, but Zack was met with several smiles, and a head bow from Lenore.
"That is most kind. What kind of payment do you suggest we arrange for this?" She meant it, but was also wondering if it would be free. It wouldn't have been normally, but they were invited to go, by the person doing the work. That should at least allow the others to call it a gift.
"Well, we're doing a thing, on the other side? If you want to try it, any of you, that could work? It's why Lenore is going, but Ginger... It should work for you as well." He looked at Rebekah, her shadow giving him the name by spelling it for him, and picked up that she already had a sex drive.
All of her kind of vampire did. That was different, but then, so was she. In his world there was only the one kind of that being, as far as Zack knew. Here there seemed to be more than that.
Lenore looked at him and bowed again, but didn't speak for the girl. She was young, barely into her twenties, and less than that as a vamp. She was also an important person in her own right, having managed to become a master vampire after only a few years of unlife, and an assistant
ambassador less than a year after that. On her own, with only a bit of pressure put into play by Tyler, who was her boyfriend.
Calley's too, which was indicated by the interplay between them all.
The girl, Ginger, who had hair that was straight and just past shoulder length, looked pretty young, but wasn't. She had a smile on her face however, and managed not to seem to shy about accepting, having knowledge of what was planned. Not that she totally trusted it all, but inviting them to all go along meant it was a real enough thing. A gift meant to soften them up for some kind of bargaining later, probably.
Which, if it got her a sex drive, would, she assured him happily on the inner level, probably work out for him.
No one whined about the bit of walking that going through the shortcuts entailed. Surprisingly enough most of them had done it all before, with the greater demon version of him. It wasn't his only trick, and most of the time other Zack made his own nodes now, but before he'd known about being a demon it had been what had happened with him, too.
This all came from Lenore's shadow, her outer words not matching that at all.
"This is most exciting. I do wonder, is the version of me there nice?" There was a grin that went with the words, as they walked along. That kind of thing that women did when they were flirting with you gently, but also wanted to be able to deny it later, if they had to for some reason.
He just answered the question.
"Oh, yeah. She's great, really. You probably have a lot in common. Enough that you'll either get along or we'll have to pull the furniture back so it doesn't get trashed in the fight. Don't do that, though." He looked at her, a bit of worry on her face, as if that would be the real response to herself. Both of them seemed pretty cool to him, so it wouldn't be happening that way. "Then we'd have to wonder who the evil one is, and you'd both be all 'No, she's not the real me, I am!' and all that. No, much better to avoid that part of things. Though if it comes up, the secret code word is... Grapefruit. Everyone got that?"